Men and Make Up: Anusha Yadav's Gender Bending Portraits

Initially wary of Yadav, Cory Walia relaxed once he realised what Transfixed was trying to capture; (right) Abheena is one of the 16 people who have been photographed

Five years ago, city-based photographer Anusha Yadav was looking to explore portraiture in a way she hadn't done before - with studio lights, sitting and preparing for a portrait. As an ally, she was also interested in knowing more about the queer community. "It was important for me to know about different thoughts and ideas when we live in the same world - how we negotiate our lives and feel appreciated," she shares. It's then that she embarked on a project delving into the concepts of femininity and vanity through the lens of a born-male sub-culture who celebrate themselves with cosmetic embellishments.

The photo series titled Transfixed will now go live on Monday on Chemould Prescott Road's online viewing room. The title stemmed from Yadav's idea to establish eye contact with her subjects; an intimate, conversational feel. So, the viewer is transfixed by their beauty and uniqueness. There are 16 portraits of individuals who volunteered to be shot, and Yadav shares that the collaboration was organic; people came on board through word-of-mouth and the project concluded in 2017. "It was all about sitting with them, lunching, dining and chatting at my home. It was a lot like friends getting together even though I didn't know a lot of them. There were clothes, jewellery and makeup everywhere. It was fun. I enjoy the idea of vanity," she recalls.

Anusha Yadav

As a cis-woman, Yadav also shares that her biggest learning was that different people think of themselves differently. Her photographs, hence, invite us to participate in the "magnificence of gender fluidity." That fluidity, she says, inspires us all to not get stuck in ideas. "I wanted to also share this uniqueness with people who don't understand it or have no interest in understanding it. The idea is to keep an open mind about everything. That's what makes this world interesting - everything is different yet the same."

On November 30 to December 31
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