My subject is a straight gentleman that likes to dress as a woman in private. He learned about me and my more open minded liberal approach to life and asked if I would do a photo shoot with him and create an album for his own personal use. I agreed. After an afternoon of shooting I asked if I could use his portraits for some of my own use, promising not to use them locally or reveal his identity, he eagerly agreed. Please keep in mind that we live in a very rural part of the US and his reaching out and risking exposure is huge. I was flattered to be trusted with his confidence.
Portraits are only a small fraction of my photographic work. I was flattered when approached and trusted with discretion for this shoot. I realized afterward, and while editing, that this opportunity afforded me a look inside a world that I was familiar with, but don't identify with beyond support in my thinking and my world views. I treated the shoot and my client's poses with dignity and an open, personal approach and was able to work as not just a straight forward portrait session but an artistic session as well. I refrained from any softening of the portraits as that would not have accurately depicted my client.
