In honor of “National Coming Out Day” today, I thought a look at some of the fantastic fotos shot by Gilles of transvestites were in order. These are from his “Idols” series and book of the same name.
From an interview in Slamxhype:
Vice: The photos from Idols were first published in a French magazine called Zoom in 1972. Did you shoot them as an editorial for the magazine?
Gilles Larrain: No, I never shoot anything for any purpose. I shot them because I found those people crazy enough and fascinating enough to be photographed. I saw some of them at Max’s Kansas City and I thought, “I have to get those guys in the studio.” I became friends with Taylor Mead and John Noble. One came, then they all came.
When you photograph someone, do you shoot many photos or just a few?
At the time I shot a lot, now I shoot very little. I shot thousands of photos for this series. The book is only a small part of what I have. I have maybe 5,000 of these Kodachrome… more? click here.
SF Bay Arts 