During his photo project Sonnenstraße during which Frank Gaudlitz (Born 1958 in Vetschau)
followed the tracks of Alexander von Humboldt over the Andes in 2010 he time and again
encountered transsexuals-strong proud women who live in male bodies. Marginalized by society
exposed to discrimination and physical violence on a daily basis it requires the courage of
the Amazons to publically admit to their choice of gender identity. Between 2013 and 2015
Gaudlitz lived among them for several months. In his portraits he consistently succeeds in
capturing the fragility and vulnerability that slumbers even underneath thickly applied makeup.
Highly stylized almost painterly still life arrangements support the melancholy of this
pictorial narrative and come across as metaphors of beauty and impermanence of paradise and
torture. After having been presented in numerous exhibitions the images are now being
published in this sophisticated volume of photographs. Exhibition: Galerie Haus Schlangeneck
Euskirchen 5.6.-16.7.2016
