This photo series featuring transgender women in 1950s Paris will totally blow you away and make you realize that the emancipation of the LGBT community is not a new trend, it’s something that has been around since… forever.
Gays, lesbians and transgenders have a pretty tough life in most of the countries on Earth, now in the 21st century, so you can imagine how hard it was for these transgender women to fit in with the crowd of 1950s Paris.
This outstanding photo series featuring transgender women in 1950s Paris was captured by Swedish photographer Christer Strömholm, during his visit to the city’s red light district. He managed to become accustomed to the nightlife found in Paris, near Place Blanche, where prostitutes and young trans struggled to make a living.
In 1983, Christer Strömholm published a book called “Les Amies de Place Blanche, where he included the photo series of transgender women in 1950s Paris. Christer Strömholm became to be known as the “father” of Swedish photography.
“This is a book about insecurity. A portrayal of those living a different life in the big city of Paris, of people who endured the roughness of the streets.”
“This is a book about humiliation, about the smell of whores and night life in cafés.”
“This is a book about the quest for self-identity, about the right to live, about the right to own and control one’s own body.”
“This is also a book about friendship, an account of the life we lived in the place Blanche and place Pigalle neighborhood. Its market, its boulevard and the small hotels we resided in.”
“These are images from another time. A time when de Gaulle was president and France was at war against Algeria.These are images of people whose lives I shared and whom I think I understood.”
“These are images of women—biologically born as men—that we call ‘transsexuals.’ As for me, I call them ‘my friends of place Blanche.’ This friendship started here, in the early 60s and it still continues.”
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His book starts with an introduction to what his work is actually about, as you will see in the photo descriptions inside the gallery.
You can view other photographs and purchase his work, right here.
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