January 2015, Lia, with her roommates in San Francisco, getting ready for a night out on the town.
As fate would have it, they were destined to cross paths. In 2011, while a freshman at The New School, New York, Mark Woodward met Antonio Romero, who was an RA in the dorms. Woodward had played rugby while growing up in Hong Kong. He played soccer with Antonio and remembers, “a funny story that lead to a bloody nose.”
Over winter break, Antonio began to transition to Angelita (Lia for short). Woodward was captivated by what was unfolding before his eyes and reached out to her on Facebook with an open heart and mind. From that initial encounter, a connection was made and a compelling collaboration had begun. Lia began her transition in January 2012; in the spring of that year, Woodward began to take photographs of her experience with the intention of capturing the totality of her experience in both the significant and the everyday.
September 2012, Lia, on the Hudson River. The Hudson River was an escape and a sanctuary for her in New York City.
Woodward observes, “I was friends/acquaintances with Antonio, but through this project, Lia has become one of my closest friends. I’ve seen bravery emerge. She has always been Lia. She’s just been in the wrong body for part of that.”
A selection of 30 photographs taken over the past four years are now on view in Lia: Photographs by Mark Woodward at No.4 Studio, Brooklyn, March 4-6, 2016, with an artist’s talk on Saturday, March 5 at 3:30 p.m. The exhibition, curated in collaboration with Megan Paetzhold, presents a quiet, compelling look at Lia’s journey. Woodward’s portraits explore the physical and psychological changes taking place, offering an open expanse upon which to gaze. Throughout the series, Lia shares with us without an ounce of exhibitionism. It is, as with any great subject, the inner knowledge they are a sight to behold.
October 2012, Lia, about eight months into hormone treatment, New York City.
Woodward reveals, “Early on, I was captivated with formal portraiture by Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, and Irving Penn. I was trying to capture things as honestly as possible. No frills, no bullshit. Lia would ask me, ‘How do you want my hair and make up?” and I would say, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I wanted these photographs to be as stripped down as we could get. There was no stylist. I didn’t want any third energy in the room.”
As the years went on, they both continued to develop in separate and mutual ways. Woodward recalls, “We both went through big years together. I had a family member pass way and went back to Hong Kong. We both had big, early 20s. We had to find the strength to get through them.”
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In some ways, it was the bond developed in this project them pulled them through, providing each of them with a purpose and an understanding through practice and use. Woodward observes, “There is so much importance to that invisible bond between photographer and subject. My pictures have changed through these years; our interaction and friendship has grown immensely.”
January 2015, Lia, in the Redwood forests of Northern California.
In Lia, Woodward shows us something few ever reveal and brings us face to face with a fearless spirit made flesh. Woodward observes, “Lia is bubbly and charismatic. Subtlety is not in her vocabulary. In those early pictures, she was identifying as female. I wondered what that dance would be like. The early stages are really unique and I wanted to explore that. There is a raw tension and vulnerability in her eyes in those pictures. I see so much fear, like, “Oh shit. I jumped off the deep end.’”
As the years progress and Lia’s transformation continues, Woodward invites us to consider the journey she us on. He observes, “I have witnessed a transformation and development not just visually through the lens but also of her character and confidence, and undoubtedly mine too.” The result is a deeply felt study of an experience that most will never know, but can quietly consider when beholding these photos.
All photos: ©2016MarkWoodward
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
