“I’ve always been intrigued by the life and theatre of Christopher Street. I’ve noticed the photographic possibility out of the corner of my eye for the past couple of decades—an Ellis Island for freedom of expression and gender identity. More recently, I’ve noticed it vanishing. My interest in photo documentary led to the building of a series of portraits, which led to three summers of shooting. At first I didn’t even realize I was shooting trans stories, just stories of people who found their way to Christopher Street. As I began to talk about this project, I realize that everybody has a trans story, that being trans is something that affects all of us.” — Mark Seliger
On Christopher Street there are all kinds of sexual orientations and gender identities, endless possibilities of potential selves: transgender, transsexual, non-binary, genderqueer, femme, butch, cross-dresser, drag kings, drag queens, and many other identities that shift, adapt, and challenge our understanding of gender. This street nestled in the middle of New York City’s Greenwich Village is heralded as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. Today, the intersection at Christopher and Hudson Streets has been renamed “Sylvia Rivera Way,” after the pioneering trans-activist and the annual LGBTQ pride parade ends its procession on Christopher Street, where the revolution began at the Stonewall Inn.
Renowned photographer Mark Seliger, best known for his portraits of celebrities, musicians, and artists, has called the West Village home for nearly two decades. For his latest book, ON CHRISTOPHER STREET: TRANSGENDER STORIES, his curiosity inspired him to shoot a handful of portraits—documentary style—in hopes of capturing the color, flamboyant characters, and theatre of a famous, but vanishing neighborhood.
What Seliger discovered was a nightly carnival of personalities that open up the visual discourse about sexuality and the constant ebb and flow of the transgender world we all inhabit today. The end result is a collection of 74 beautiful, black and white portraits, all taken with Seliger’s Hasselblad camera, and never-before-published.
These forthcoming portraits of trans people on Christopher Street combined with their moving and deeply personal stories remind us of our need for sanctuary, for a space to call our own. Their presence challenges us to redefine home, community, and ownership. Their presence challenges us to stop and reflect. No longer will we remain idle and pass by them in fear and prejudice. We will stand with them, recognize them, and see them. These are our streets, and these are our people. ON CHRISTOPHER STREET: TRANSGENDER STORIES stands out as some of Seliger’s most powerful work.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Seliger was the chief photographer for Rolling Stone for more than ten years. Born in Amarillo, Texas, Seliger now lives and works in New York City, where he contributes to Vanity Fair, GQ, Italian Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, Time, and more. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, and his previous publications include Rizzoli’s Listen and In My Stairwell. Seliger is the recipient of such esteemed awards as the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award, Lucie Award, Clio Grand Prix, Cannes Lions, and ASME. Janet Mock is the New York Times bestselling author of Redefining Realness and host of So POPular!, a weekly MSNBC digital series about culture. She is a sought-after speaker and the founder of #GirlsLikeUs, a social media project that empowers trans women.