Meet The Photographer Who's Spent 35 Years Capturing The Beauty Of Transgender Individuals

Priscilla Frank, The Huffington Post, 06/06/14 09:12 AM ET

Photographer Mariette Pathy Allen was traveling in New Orleans for Mardi Gras in 1978 when she realized she was staying in the same hotel as a group of stunning cross-dressers. When that group, donning glittering gowns and extravagant wigs, invited her to breakfast, Allen brought her camera equipment along.

"I took my first photograph of the group as they stood around the hotel's swimming pool, and when I did, my life changed," Allen explained in a statement. "As I lifted the camera to my eyes, I found myself looking into the eyes of the person standing in the middle of the group. Suddenly, I no longer saw a man or a woman, but the essence of a human being, a soul. Through meeting this person, I had the privilege of entering a hidden world that offered me a passport to travel beyond boundaries."

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/06/mariette-pathy-allen_n_5441303.html