Walter Schels Germany, b. 1936

The series includes portraits of 27 transgender people. The youngest participant was 11 years old at the time of the first photo, the oldest is now 23. The sitters decide for themselves how they want to be presented and at what moment. Stages of bodily transformation only become an issue if the sitter expressly wants it. More important than physical appearance are questions of identity, consciousness and personality. “What is the core of a person’s being?", the photos ask, “why are they like this and not different? What possibilities do they have? Where are their limits?”