Before Night Falls – story of the cuban transformers:
Pabo is a boy who sells the fruits in a poor suburb of Havana in a daytime and turns to a charming dancing lady and a queen of the stage at night.
Malu is a transgender and is homeless. He occasionally earns money by cleaning the streets of Sancti Spiritus in a day and performing as an beautiful singer and dancer in the night. He was sold by his parents at the age of 3.
The Huffington Post:
„When photographer David Tesinsky first heard about Malu, a transgender woman who has achieved somewhat of a celebrity status in her native Cuba, he instantly wanted to meet her. He told The Huffington Post that when he finally made it to Cuba in January, he was immediately struck by Malu’s determination to live authentically, in spite of the political and social challenges the Cuban LGBTQ community continues to face.
A performer at a Sancti Spíritus theater, Malu is one of three subjects that Tesinsky captured for his “Before Night Falls” series. The others, Natasha and Alina, identify as gay men. Still, both challenge gender stereotypes in their own right, making a second living as drag performers in Havana nightclubs.
“I’m inspired by contrast,” Tesinsky told The Huffington Post. “That somebody could just be selling fruits and vegetables during the day for a living, and then can turn into a queen of the evening on stage at night,” he said. He was struck by what he describes as a lack of a distinctive “community” in the traditional sense as far as queer Cubans are concerned. “They keep it very low profile,” he said.
Short documentary video about me "making of" this photo series
By Ryan Schiele: TRES TRANSFORMISTAS (Youtube)
