This series features photographs taken during the 2nd Polish Miss Trans Beauty Contest which was held in Warsaw on June 2, 2012. The contestants were transsexual, transgender, and transvestite persons.
All captions consist of the self-introduction of each candidate on stage and their answers to the jury questions.
These photographs were taken with 1965 Polaroid Land Camera and processed using image-transfer technique. None of the images has been digitally altered.
FULL SCREENTransphere
Legs and short skirts of contestants are seen at the Second Polish Miss Trans Beauty Contest in Warsaw. The contestants are transsexual, transgender and transvestite persons.
Good evening, everyone. I came from Koszalin. My name may appear a little different; it changed from Artur to Artimea. I'm interested in photography, painting and acting. I also like sport; I like jogging and bike-riding. That's the gist of it.
Marina waits backstage for her turn to go in front of the jury.'Hi everyone! I am a transsexual person at a diagnostic stage. This means I've been in sex therapy and psychotherapy for about a year now, but I started hormonal treatment only three months ago. I love cooking and baking. That's it, really.'
Artimea adjusts her pantyhose backstage.
Jury: 'Imagine you win big in a lottery, 22 million Polish zloty. How would your life change?'Artimea: 'It's a really difficult question. I definitely wouldn't use all this money for myself. I would share it, though it's difficult to say with whom. It's hard. Perhaps I'd share it with my closest [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc67ad').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "friends, if I stroke up a close friendship, of course, and if I met a few wonderful people.'", gravity: 'n', maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Artimea is seen at the Second Polish Miss Trans Beauty Contest in Warsaw.
Vanessa gets a manicure backstage. 'I am a shoeaholic. I was born in Szczecin, but I live in Warsaw now and have been undergoing hormonal treatment for a year and a half.'
Jury: 'Vanessa, one writer once said that 'In love, happiness is an unusual state.' What would you tell him?'Vanessa: 'That's a difficult question. But I would be OK about this unusualness.'
'My name is Emilka. I am from Wroclaw. I've been into reincarnation recently and I believe that I will get a better body next time.'Jury: 'Which car fits your image best and why: a Mercedes, a Subaru, a Fiat 126, a Syrena, a Rolls-Royce, a Bolide, or perhaps a motorbike?'
Emilka: 'Well, let me [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc6e68').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "tell you. The Bolide is as fast as I am, but I've had too many speeding fines so I'll go for something slower. The Syrena!'", gravity: 'n', maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Kinga is photographed at the Second Polish Miss Trans Beauty Contest.'Listen, all I can say is that all this is fleeting and that we are merely a brief moment in the eternity of existence. I live with this conviction. The conviction that everything has its own beginning somewhere but it ends right [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc6fd5').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "away. On a more existential level, I can say that I am a citizen of the Earth, a citizen of the world, meaning that I am a tough person with broad views. I am also European, Polish, a doctor, sociologist and an unfulfilled vagabond. A vagabond is someone who likes to travel, and who also travels mentally.'", maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Telimena checks on her make-up.'Good evening. To say something about myself, I am fascinated by femininity. So much so, that it is not enough for me to be close to and with women. I want to share in what they experience, to be on the other side of the mirror, that's what I call it. I am a transvestite [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc7179').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "and I like to cross this border from time to time. It fascinates me. This is why I'm here. This is why I was here last year, when the contest was announced, this is why I appear on TV and meet students. I like to present myself in this way. Though I don't measure up, far from it. But when I cross the border, I feel comfortable and become myself.'", maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Edyta Bauman waits for her turn to go in front of the jury and public.
Contestants of the Second Polish Miss Trans Beauty Contest wait backstage.
Crossholly/Filip Zagorski checks on her makeup. 'I came from Krakow in order to have some fun. Well, I teeter on the edge. Sometimes like this, sometimes more to the masculine side. To be honest, I haven't made up my mind yet. We'll see, maybe in a little while, when I open up onto my own world a bit more, [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc76fd').tipsy({html:true, fallback:
"when I know which way I want to go, then - I think - I would feel more fulfilled as a woman. I am still thinking about it.'", maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Jury: 'Chatting on social networks, computer games, an outing to the cinema, theater, museum or perhaps a good book, or a preview of a modern art exhibit; which of these pastimes are your favorite and why?'Crossholly: 'Theater. Definitely theater. I was an actor at the Ludowy Theater from 2001 to 2009. [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc79d2').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "And I think that I've always been fond of theater. And certainly also art exhibits. I have a great interest in modern art.'", maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Good evening. Greetings to everyone. My name is Aldona Wisniewska. I've been through a complete sex change surgery. I did it last year in Gdansk and I don't regret this decision. My interests are nature, animals, music.
Jury: 'This is a question you might associate with Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia,' if you've seen it. What would your last thoughts be if a meteorite were to hit the Earth at this very moment?'Telimena: 'It's very difficult because there are so many things that I would want to keep. I would like to [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc7cf8').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "know that I've done everything I could.'", gravity: 'n', maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Kinga is seen at the Second Polish Miss Trans Beauty Contest.'The Buddhists would have a laugh. Each time I am asked who I am, I have this doubt. I am a different person now than who I was yesterday, a week ago, last month, last year, or five years ago. I was a different person and though there is some [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc7eb2').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "physiological continuity, there is no mental permanence. My identity? Is it a blessing or a curse? It's my drama that goes back to my childhood. I was pushed aside, stifled. A little like an underground river whose current is hidden from the whole world. But it cannot be kept like this forever. Hence my transgenderism, but it makes little sense to go into details now.'", gravity: 'n', maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Jury: 'Marina, what dishes can you cook and what flowers would you put in your bedroom?'Marina: 'Red roses, of course. And what dishes can I cook? Anything actually, as long as I have a recipe. But my favorite thing is the traditional Silesian dish - beef roulade, potato dumplings and red cabbage.'
Marina is photographed at the Second Polish Miss Trans Beauty Contest.
My name is Edyta. I am from Poznan. A girl up for grabs - everyone's welcome! You can get my phone number later.
Jury: 'If you've undergone a complete transformation, as you've mentioned and as we can see, it means that you are a woman, you're not transsexual anymore, aren't you? What are you doing here, then?'Aldona: 'I wanted to win. I am a woman, but the contest is open for everybody.'
Marysia is photographed at the Second Polish Miss Trans Beauty Contest.'I came here again this year because last year I had this sense of uncertainty and fear. I didn't know what it was that I really wanted, but being here last year helped me make a life-long decision. I did the tests and next year I [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc87c1').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "will start taking medications to finally become a girl. I love dancing more than anything, I love theater. I have an interest in acting now; a great interest. Thank you all for your support, and that you voted for me last year and gave me the chance to make this decision. Now I am permitted to start taking hormones. Next year I will be a beautiful girl.'
Jury: 'If you were to act in a movie, which role would you choose: a sex bomb, a cook, or a housewife?'
Marysia: 'I'll say this: I like housekeeping. I like cleaning, I like doing the laundry, cooking and baking. I've always loved it, ever since I was little! So I'd choose the housewife.'", gravity: 'n', maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
'Hi, I'm Urszula and I hope to remain that. I'm so happy to be here and to receive such a warm welcome.'Jury: 'Urszula, you said that you would like everything to work out for you and that you would like the world to understand you. What do you mean when you say you want the world to understand [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc892e').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "you?'
Urszula: 'I just want to blend with the surroundings so that I can be a real woman, so that I could be treated like a real woman. I just want to get lost in the crowd. That would make me really happy.'", gravity: 'n', maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Jury: 'Edyta, if you were to choose between sneakers, high heels and valenki, what would you choose?'Edyta: 'Definitely high heels. They are sexy and I feel great in high heels.'
'Hello. I come from Warsaw. My name is Maria Dagmara Kowalska. What I can say about myself is what I've already written; that I like painting and walks in the park. I have a romantic soul. Thank you.'Jury: 'Which of the tasks traditionally assigned to women do you dislike most and why: laundry, house [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc8b9c').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "cleaning, cooking, ironing, doing the dishes or sewing?'
Maria Dagmara: 'Ironing. Because it is in fact an unnecessary activity. I mean, I simply don't like it.'", maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
Jury: 'Imagine this situation: you are in a shopping mall and you can buy anything you want, but you only have 20 minutes. What do you do?'Kinga: 'I have to say one thing - you can never buy everything. But if I were really to buy anything, then the most important thing for me would be some sort of [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc8d0a').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "spiritual community. But can you really buy that? I would like to buy the possibility of all extreme experiences, like flying a glider. I can delight in some things for a little while, play a little, but buy?'", maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
'Above all, let me send my greetings to everyone and to the jury. My name is Faustyna. I am from Warsaw. From Lower Silesia, to be more precise. From Gryfów Slaski. I work at a theater. Generally, I sing in a comedy theater. Broadly speaking, I am myself.'Jury: 'Which fairytale character matches you [READ MORE]$('#captionMore6484855cc8f37').tipsy({html:true, fallback: "best: Snow White, a dwarf or Baba Yaga?'
Faustyna: 'All three are a good match, but Baba Yaga is perhaps the most important. Because I like flying on a broomstick.'", maxWidth: '500px', fontSize: '12px', delayIn: 500, delayOut: 3000});
