SJSU Transgender Awareness Week 2010

Known for her compassionate and revealing photographic images of underground subcultures, Bay Area documentary photographer Jana Marcus¹ award-winning work, "Transfigurations," is a startling and groundbreaking photographic series on the transgender community.

Transfigurations explores transsexuals and their notions of masculinity and femininity as they change gender identities. Discovering that gender is both real and illusory, natural and constructed, Marcus' photographs shed light on the transformation from one sex/gender to another. The series also explores the importance of the body to gender identity as well as the effects of transformative practices on the body, creating a reality beyond ordinary experience.

In large black and white images with text, Marcus' photographs focus on what it means to be a man and a woman, by people who have transitioned to the opposite sex, blurring the lines of gender separation, stereotyping, and discovering cultural influences.

"Transfigurations" was awarded the prestigious Best Photos of The Year in both 2004 and 2005 by Photo District News of New York. It was also included in The International Photography Awards 2005, the Phelan Art Award 2005, the Excellence in Photography Award from San Jose State's School of Art & Design, and The Center for Photographic Arts Awards 2004.

Panel following the slide show! Read more about the participants: Beth, Kara, Lyle and Stephan