About This Picture...

"No matter how young you are when you transition, you always feel that you missed a lot of years of experiences you wish you had, if you had only been born in the right body to begin with.

One reason I chose this picture to be in my favorites is that it strikes me as a girl in her late teens or early twenties.  There's something about the pose, the perkiness, the thin frame, that just say "youth" to me.  Of course, it's just a pose.  I know I don't look like that from every angle, all the time!

The picture wasn't intended by the photographer to be blurry.  It was just a quick shot she grabbed by the window, and didn't have a chance to adjust
the shutter speed.  But, I think that makes it even more artistic, and I must admit that the soft focus helps hide those smile lines and crows feet to make the look consistent.

After all, I'm 53 as of this writing (and when the picture was taken), and though I have been blessed by my family traits to look 12 or 15 years younger than my actual age, I think "early twenties" is pushing it a bit!

When I was studying as a cinema major before eventually getting into the film industry as a writer, producer, and director, an instructor once said to the class, "You know, they say the camera never lies, but in fact, it always lies."

He was talking about what you don't show that's outside the frame, or the way lighting and shadow can be used to create a mood or context about an image that doesn't exist in reality.

But as for this picture, though the camera may have made me look like the young voluptuous thing I wish I'd had the chance to be when I really was that age, I can honestly tell you that I feel like I'm in my twenties during every one of these photo shoots.  And quite honestly, as long as I can take a picture that makes people say, "Oh, wow!" rather than "Oh, GROSS!" who am I to quibble over a few years.

(And yes, I do live my life in the real world wearing younger clothes like spaghetti strap bra-less camisoles and tight jeans.  And yes, I get a favorable response in the real world too, so it isn't make-believe, though perhaps the pictures enhance things a bit.)

I've worked too hard to get to this point to hang up my spurs before I have had a chance to live the life I so much wanted, as long as the world at large will treat me as I appear, not as they might expect me to act because of the date on my driver's license."

~~Melanie Anne

Melanie is a prolific author, musician, composer,
teacher, theorist, and successful businesswoman.

She is also the founder of the first Transgender Forum on America Online
and the creator of the world's very first Transgender Support Web Site.

Visit Melanie's Home Page

The world's very first Transgender Support Web site

Melanie's web site has received over three million visits since 1994
and currently receives more than 1,500 unique visitors per day

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