Over 30 Years Ago, Photographer Mariette Pathy Allen Set Out to De-Freakify Cross-Dressing

It was 1978 in New Orleans on the last day of Mardi Gras when photographer Mariette Pathy Allen happened upon a group of crossdressing men in a hotel—a chance encounter that would lead to a multi-decade exploration of the transgender community. Shot throughout the 1980s, Transformations compiles portraits of crossdressers in their homes and with their loved ones in an attempt to offer society a different view of a group that had been quite mis-characterized at the time. Allen was a pioneering powerhouse at the inception of this work, which was published into a book in 1989. She has since continued to inspire gender consciousness with the publication of her second book, The Gender Frontier that compiles photographs, interviews, and essays exploring political activism and transgender youth. Allen has also been a valuable consultant to several films about gender and sexuality over the years.

Change shoes, change gender

Beth and her husband, Rita, near Boston

Sheila, crying in church, Provincetown, MA

Vicky doing the can can with Cori and Julia, L.I., NY

Davida and Diane, couple

Rachel, watching her father transform into Paula, Philadelphia

Joanne and sister, Claudia

Dan and Yvonne, reversed couple

Pajama party

Line up, Mardi Gras, New Orleans. The moment I started on my exploration.

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