A Visit with “TransCuba” Author Mariette Pathy Allen

Mariette standing beside 2 images of Cuban transwomen from her book “TransCuba.”

By Jan Brown

I had a very pleasant afternoon visit with Mariette Pathy Allen in her NYC apartment recently to talk about her art and just get to know each other a bit. I’ve met Mariette several times over the past few years and she had presented several years ago to my support group in the Hudson Valley of NYS. We actually had rooms in the same rented house during the recent 2014 Fantasia Fair and we spoke there in passing but it nothing like my recent visit to talk about her new book TransCuba. She was honored as the Fantasia Fair 2014 Pioneer Award Winner for her body of work.

You do know who Mariette is don’t you? Mariette started out graduating with an art degree in fine arts and still to this day has a very good eye for the visual arts. She took a photography class after graduation and found it was great fun. She could use her background in this “new to her” medium and eventually became a professional photographer. She was good at it because she had a good idea about composition of a picture which include the subject and background as a whole presentation. She loves all visual arts and has art throughout her apartment. This passion had led her to being a photographer, writer and speaker.

Mariette with one of her favorite pictures.

She’s the foremost photographer of the gender community since she happened upon a group of Mardi Gras revelers in New Orleans in 1978. Mariette said “I saw this group of people, dressed in evening gowns, with full makeup and cascading wig and they invited me to join them for breakfast. When we finished, I took my first photograph of the group as they stood around the hotel’s swimming pool, and when I did, my life changed. 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 woman, but the essence of a human being, a soul.”

After this, Mariette attended gender conferences and found a niche through her portraits and her ongoing documentation of the “transgender community” in its’ many forms. She’s been very active giving slide presentations and has published groundbreaking books of photographs and interviews:

• Transformations: Crossdressers And Those Who Love Them (1989)
• The Gender Frontier (2004)
• And her latest is TransCuba (2014 – published by Daylight)

TransCuba is a delightful coffee tabled sized book about the lives of transgender women in Cuba.

Here are some Web references specifically about TransCuba: Lens Culture; The Advocate — Photos: Explore TransCuba

My visit with Mariette

It was a cold sunny afternoon with the sun brightly shining through the windows of her apartment on the 15^th floor overlooking the Hudson River when I visited. She made me a cup of tea to help revive frozen hands as the wind chill was into the teens. We spoke about our families. Mariette has 2 daughters and 2 grand-twins who are in 3^rd grade. Her apartment is filled with elegant furniture and tasteful art and framed photos throughout. I was given a grand tour which included seeing her studio and office.

Mariette in her office by the computer and in front of all her many saved photographs.

My questions were not intended to duplicate her answers from other interviews. I think I surprised her by asking what question have you never been asked but wished would have. Her answer was “in the trans world, people always ask about the subjects of my photos but they rarely ask about the art itself. They don’t dig deeper so it’s usually what they see on the surface vs. how was this photograph made? How does it become art rather than just a snapshot?”

When I asked what is art to Mariette, she responded “For the viewer, it’s many things as each individual experiences the images, emotions and expressions in different ways. In portraiture, it’s the relationship established by the artist and the subject in a collaborative way.”

Mariette standing alongside the picture she took of Felicity with the child and mothers’ picture behind.

When we spoke about TransCuba, she was very animated. She said that the book was a result of her first trip to Cuba in 2012 when she participated in a conference with members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), who were invited by Mariela Castro, President Raul Castro’s daughter. Mariette said she met many gender-nonconforming women and took an interest in how they live. She traveled to Cuba three more times in 2013 and is very excited to be able to journey back to Cuba in December, 2014 for a solo exhibition honoring the trans women who opened their lives to her. Mariette feels that in her own way she is working in tandem with Mariela Castro whose mission is “to eliminate discrimination against gay and gender-variant people” Mariela is working to reverse the damage done during the communist revolution that started in 1959.

The time passed quickly as we enjoyed each other’s company. It was over all too fast but not before I took a picture of Mariette in front of a photo she took of my friend Felicity who passed away a few years ago. The picture shows Felicity sitting at her home in upstate New York in front of a picture of a young girl and her mother. It was actually the picture of Felicity as a young boy dressed as a girl with a feminine haircut with his mother. This was well before Felicity started dressing but it’s a favorite picture for Mariette and me. It was a delightful afternoon and I appreciate Mariette’s time.

Do check out Mariette’s website and Art talk.

Bonus Photo: Mariette chats with a big haired Angela Gardner at a Renaissance meeting in the ’80s.

Tags: books, featured, Mariette Pathy Allen, trans photos, Transgender

Category: Transgender Community News, Transgender History