BENGALURU: Laya has longed to face the camera for professional shoots, but her dream came true only recently when she was approached by photographer K Venkatesh for a project, photos of which would be displayed at a photo exhibition. “It’s the first time I am doing a photo shoot and I am really glad that my talent is finally being tapped,” says the cross-dresser who has faced the wrath of society for dressing like a woman.
Laya, along with transgenders – Sumithra, Deepu, Stella and Sushmita – has collaborated with Venkatesh for a photography exhibition titled ‘Bonding Lonely Trees & Lesser Mortals,’ which opened to the public at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Kumara Krupa Road, on Monday.
With focus on trees being axed, the exhibition compares the disfigured trunks of trees to the lives of transgenders. “I’ve noticed massive trees on main roads being cut down ruthlessly. The shade and green cover they provide have been completely overlooked. Many of them are half-cut and stand without branches. I found a similarity between these trees and the lives of transgenders, who have also been ignored by our gender-based society. They deserve more respect, dignity and acceptance,” says Venkatesh about the idea behind the exhibition.
Fifty photographs mostly shot on Jayamahal Road, Sadashiva Nagar and Nandi Durga Road, have made it to the four-day exhibition. Some captures depict bold and expressive models dressed in yellow, black and blue colours in both modern and traditional attire, sitting next to tree roots or disfigured trunks.
“When Venkatesh sir told me about this concept, I was really impressed. With society’s judgments and ignorance, our lives have been affected and hurt just like those trees in the pictures,” says model Sumithra, who is also a Kannada actor. However, she rues that unlike “regular models” they didn’t have support. “We didn’t have the resources to sport luxurious outfits. So we just had to adjust with what we had. Otherwise the photo shoot would have come out even better,” she says.
Right on the first day of the exhibition, the public seemed to warm up to the show with many locals and foreigners turning up to view the works. Kurt Anneliese, an Australian tourist, pointed out that the pictures convey a strong message of gender equality and bring to the fore the relationship between man and nature. Another visitor, Shylu, a transgender who stays in Sheshadripuram felt that an exhibition on these lines gives them hope.