EMMA : LIFE AS MARK & LIFE AS ME - LFOFOTO Photography
EMMA : LIFE AS MARK & LIFE AS ME
Category: Photography
Entered By: FLOFOTO photography
Date: 2018.04.17
Description:
“I approached Tennille with the thought of shooting some photos to accompany the announcement that I was transgender in 2016. I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted, but I expressed to her that I’ve always been exclusively perceived as intelligent, & wanted to be perceived as beautiful for once. Tennille was enthusiastic from the get-go, but things happened to distract us both. I became impatient with my closet, made my announcement with a mediocre selfie, & let the project slip from my mind. But Tennille’s continued enthusiasm was infectious. In 2017, she proposed that we create a high concept series that highlighted the struggles of my past & the peace I’ve found in the present. I’ve never wanted to compartmentalize my past the way a lot of trans people do, but there is an undeniable distinction to be made between my life as Mark & my life as Emma”. I’m very honoured to have worked with Emma & I’m happy she found this concept therapeutic. The entire shoot was shot in my house on 2 separate dates. The frame depicting her male identity as a cage was shot in very hard studio light with intense shadow to make it feel cold & isolated. The concept being that Mark, in actuality was in fact the makeup all along. I asked her to dress as she always had when living as Mark & then we began to discuss the difficulty she had experienced coming out to her family in order to capture a very real emotion from her. The frame depicting her female identity was meant to exemplify the extreme state of comfort she experiences living now as Emma. I wanted to reveal to the world what Emma feels AS Emma, her real self.
Credits:
Model : Emma McAllister
Hair : Jerica Wentzell
Makeup : Jessi Smith
Photography : Flofoto Photography
Guest Writer : Emma McAllister
