honorable mention
Patricia Combacal francePhoto © Patricia Combacal
title
S(H)e
For a while, the small envelope of photographs lays untouched in a drawer.
By summer of 2014, one of them has contacted me anew. She remembered that I wanted a portrait of her and her naked torso.
Her decision for a transexual transition has been made and she wants to know if I prefer shooting before or after the operation. I ask her if I might shoot the whole intervention. She agrees : the eye of the camera could be a companion to her new self image.
So that her privacy, both professional and intimate, is preserved - but also in order to make the series more universal - she must not be recognizable.
I will shoot mostly objects of her environment, as invisibly as possible, in a discreet manner. As a gaze concentrating on details that were already present and that reveal themselves now.
This work was shot between july of 2014 and october of 2018- four years that are said to be necessary for a transexual transition to be settled.
"S(He)" is about our encounter. And it tells the story of a small letter E. The small letter E in his name ; that letter E of French grammar that my friend as a feminine boy likes to see appearing in pink and italic.
Influenced by Fashion Photography and Intimate Photography, she conducts several long-time projects in which are also associated drawing and writing. The shooting process is different to each series in which natural light and a low quality camera are used to create pictures aiming at evoking a universe.
All of the series focus on mental life and its creations (affects, dreams, memories) and also on the body and the idea of mutation.
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entry description
During the autumn of 2011, I have shot a series of portraits of young people in my vicinity. Their androgynous beauty fascinates me.For a while, the small envelope of photographs lays untouched in a drawer.
By summer of 2014, one of them has contacted me anew. She remembered that I wanted a portrait of her and her naked torso.
Her decision for a transexual transition has been made and she wants to know if I prefer shooting before or after the operation. I ask her if I might shoot the whole intervention. She agrees : the eye of the camera could be a companion to her new self image.
So that her privacy, both professional and intimate, is preserved - but also in order to make the series more universal - she must not be recognizable.
I will shoot mostly objects of her environment, as invisibly as possible, in a discreet manner. As a gaze concentrating on details that were already present and that reveal themselves now.
This work was shot between july of 2014 and october of 2018- four years that are said to be necessary for a transexual transition to be settled.
"S(He)" is about our encounter. And it tells the story of a small letter E. The small letter E in his name ; that letter E of French grammar that my friend as a feminine boy likes to see appearing in pink and italic.
about the photographer
Patricia Combacal was born in France in 1971. She lives and works in Toulouse. After studies in Clinical Psychology and Orthophony, she returns to her previous interest in photography with her participation in workshops in Toulouse.Influenced by Fashion Photography and Intimate Photography, she conducts several long-time projects in which are also associated drawing and writing. The shooting process is different to each series in which natural light and a low quality camera are used to create pictures aiming at evoking a universe.
All of the series focus on mental life and its creations (affects, dreams, memories) and also on the body and the idea of mutation.
back to gallery