Transgender women pose as ‘mainstream models’ in photo exhibition

Kolkata, March 24 (IANS) Capturing their beauty and poise, a recent photography exhibition here featured transgender women as mainstream models as a tribute to the "female souls" who have overcome stigma and discrimination to give wings to their desires.

Photographer Chaitali Chakraborty wanted to celebrate womanhood in her debut show and she chose to highlight transgender women as models in a contemporary look in the exhibition "Shakti Rupena".

"As a woman, I had wished that whenever I do my first photography exhibition it should be on women. Moreover, I feel transgender women are glamorous and can be a part of mainstream entertainment and fashion industry, including ad films etc. We must give them a chance. I want to carry this forward by incorporating them in commercials," said Chakraborty, who has a background in advertising.

Chakraborty says she was intrigued by the fact that audiences couldn't tell they were trans-women.

"We didn't disclose at first that they were from the transgender community. They felt honoured to be showcased and I believe as a society we must give them that respect," the photographer said, adding she selected eight transgenders for the shoot.

Bengali cine-stars Debashree Roy and Indrani Halder also featured in the event and were portrayed as mythological women.

Shree Ghatak Muhury, one of the first trans-women to legally marry, was one of Chakraborty's muse.

"It feels like a dream... to do theatre and now modelling... its as if I have got wings and I will fly off," Muhury said.

Shreya, another transgender, said: "We are female souls in a male body."

The event ran from March 17 to March 19 at Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) here, in collaboration with India World Foundation.

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