From the gorgously striking to the beautifully mundane, this post celebrates photography collections featuring transpeople from all walks of life.

The first book is BODY ALCHEMY: TRANSSEXUAL PORTRAITS by Loren Cameron (1996). This collection features portraits and stories of Female to Male (FTM) Transsexuals that celebrate body modification, masculinization, and every day life in the face of immense oppression from both straight and LGB persons alike.

Next is CASA SUSANNA by Robert Swope and Michel Hurst (2005). When Robert Swope found some old photographs of men in subdued and conservative women’s clothing at a flea market, he had a feeling he had found a goldmine of transgender history. He has turned these personal photographs into a book that celebrates Casa Susanna, a place of refuge for these MTF’s from the harsh gender expectations of the late 1950’s.

Finally we have PERSONA by Susan Brown (1997). These black and white portraits capture the dramatic, sexual, and gender-bending world of drag queens, MTF transsexuals, and other ‘gender illusionists’ who use their talent and gender performance to entertain. Each photograph is accompanied by an essay or interview about their identity and their act. . . .