Maria Gabriela Leon Paez Garcia, Gender Dysphoria (Student (2018))

At what point do we define what makes someone male or female? There lies a stranger – an unknown reflection staring back. A mirrored disheartening image, day after day. The reflection isn’t who you want to be, and the life they lead isn’t what you want. Who is she? She swims in a raging sea, drowning in the pools of her mind, pretending to be someone she isn’t – but you can only lie about who you are for so long without going crazy. Stuck between two realities she suffocates, trapped in a unfamiliar body. “This isn’t who I am” she repeats softly, yearning to feel comfortable in her own skin. At the other end lies a clear sky, as weightless and limitless as her imagination. A sanctuary, a vision for the life she was meant to be born into. A place where no one knows her real name. At what point do we define one’s identity and gender? People change their personal things all the time, they dyed their hair, they changed their names and careers, their husbands and wives. They changed religions and political parties. Even moved states and countries or even changed nationalities. So why is gender the one thing we aren’t supposed to change? This series explores the idea of transsexuality. It illustrates the journey one of my friends went through and the feelings she felt at the time. At the time we were living in different countries, I created these images by listening to the voice messages she sent. These photographs are my response and interpretation to that.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.