Hira Mandi

Socio-documentary photographer Robert Knoth takes us to the red-light district of Lahore, Pakistan, and into the secret and illicit world of the hijras - defined as 'neither men nor women,' they are transgendered men, hermaphrodites or other males who take a female role. In a luxurious, full-color, silk-bound volume, Knoth's portraits paint a picture of this particular aspect of Muslim society, where the strict separation of the sexes has given men and boys particular roles in the sex industry. With powerful attention to detail, Knoth's work has received international acclaim, and this photos have been compared to the work of Diane Arbus, Eugene Smith and August Sander. An invitation to a hidden world.