BILLY MAYNARD: TRANS/TENDER

BILLY MAYNARD: TRANS/TENDER

Returning from four months in East Timor, where he immersed himself in a Catholic community of transsexual prostitutes, its hardly surprising that 19-year-old artist Billy Maynard feels his boyhood fading away from him as he reflects on his time on the tiny island. One of the most marginalised communities living in East Timor today, these individuals are caught in the strange no-man’s-land between their faith, their social isolation, and their hopeful and loving bonds with one another. Maynard’s collection of photographs documenting his time living among them, aptly titled Trans/Tender, is a small and heartfelt look at the life of these clandestine workers. Shot entirely in the cover of darkness on black and white film, with only whatever light was available to him, the pictures have an incredible graininess and immediate drama to them. Obscured faces, the subject’s touching modesty, and the sometimes unnerving dance of shadows portray the fragile emotions at play in the works, which Maynard uses with a maturity that belies his tender years. Trans/Tender succeeds beautifully in capturing the lives of its subjects in a way that is just that: tender, reaching towards reconciliation of the tensions at work in the community, and bringing a profoundly touching and human sensibility to the images.

Until May 28, Damien Minton Gallery Annex, 583 Elizabeth St, Redfern, 9699 7551, damienmintongallery.com.au

 

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