The Drink

The Drink - Blog-Beitrag von Model Sophie / 21.04.2024 20:31

Tara asks me, to attend her, for a charity gala in some bigger German city, because Tara's NGO was nominated for a civil society price and get two cards for her NGO. – But nobody of her team likes glitter, long dresses and make-up, so for sure, she asks me. And double-sure, I say yes, because, we will get a make-up from some professional MUAs before the show.

I'm so simple structured and easy to catch. So, if you need to convince me for something in the future, prepare a red carpet and book a MUAs. Afterwards I will do anything. 😅

The show is funny. The idea behind the price is primarily the empowering of charity projects, who are driven by women. – But you don't have to win a Nobel prize in economics to understand, that 80% of the nominated and introduced projects are driven by some housewives with some rich money-earning husbands. – So yes, let's celebrate the autonomy of females. I love it.

We're leaving the show quite quickly. Tara's NGO didn't win anything. Sure, she doesn’t have a rich husband, and we're looking like lesbians, who have read too much feministic literature.

We start to walk around the harbour, breathing stormy cold air, start freezing and shamble back on our high heels to the hotel, to decide for a private party at the bar. Laughing, talking, enjoying this crazy world, with all these important evenings, to fill up the empty gaps in our exitances.

Half an hour later, the bar-keeper come over and set two new drinks on our table.

From the Mister right over there. – He turns his head to a male, who smiles on us.

Thank you, we whisper and cheering well-behaved the drinks into the direction of the stranger.

Five minutes later the strange take a seat at our table and introducing himself. We start a little chit-chat, but Jens is not a lonely sales man only, he's also quite horny, and his eyes and interest is focusing me.

Wow, this is new for me. The first invitation for a drink from a stranger. Crazy. Unfortunately, I’m not interested. Sex with strangers is a no-go. I need some time to explain my body, my mind, reading together in my manual first, until we understand the basics. – But yes, it’s my first invitation as a woman. My first drink as Sophie. But, 100ms are enough to understand, that he isn't rich, humorous and unmarried. So, I decided to be honest, instead of playing.

Jens, thank you for the drinks. But to be honest: Nothing will happen between you and me today. No kissing. No sex. Nothing. I'm not interested to fuck with you. We can have a little talk, but nothing else. Are you okay with that?

Tara looks on me, with her mouth open for two seconds, until Jens speaks on.

What a shame. You are so randy. Really. You make me really horny.

Thank you, Jens, that's nice. But no, means no.

Jens looks through his wet alcoholic eyes on me.

No fuck?

No fuck!, I answer.

Not even a little fuck?

Not even a little fuck Jens.

He shrugs the shoulders, and left. Tara opens her handbag to look for her countenance.

Sophie, you're so straight. I would have talked to these guys for an hour, because he paid the drink.

Was I to rough? Or unfair? – I never get invited to a drink from a stranger before. I mean, it was a compliment. A really compliment. And I rejected him. Maybe I was too rough?

We're leaving for our room. Attending the elevator, I look on myself in the mirror. Everything changed with my coming-out, with my life as Sophie. – And I still need to developing my female dating capabilities.

Henning muß mehr Bilder machen..

Henning muß mehr Bilder machen.. - Blog-Beitrag von Fotograf Henning Bruns / 10.01.2024 12:48

Ganz frei nach Astrid Lindgren zog ich mich in meinen Schuppen zurĂŒck und schnitzte ein paar Bilder im Labor. Zum Teil von 30 Jahre alten Negativen, die meisten von Bildern aus dem vergangenen Jahr.. Ein paar AbzĂŒge in der Fixierbadschale aus Dortmund möchte ich Euch hier zeigen. Mario Dirks organisierte die Location in der Kokerei Hansa, 3 Models, Visagisten eben das Drumrum was ein Shooting so ausmacht.

Ich fotografierte ausschließlich auf Film. Fomapan400 und AGFA400.

Die VergrĂ¶ĂŸerungen entstanden auf Fomabrom Barytpapier.

Terrace

Terrace - Blog-Beitrag von Fotograf Rufus / 28.12.2023 22:54

Buenos Aires has an old quartier named San Telmo with many old, colonial styled townhouses, sometimes defined as PH’s (ie “horizontal property”). However wonderful and labyrinthine they are, the most distinctive space is always the terrace on the top floor and roof.

I had the chance to explore one with Eunice Balbi and take some shoots. Shabby, sunbathed and lovingly filled with old charm.

Summer learnings of a trans woman

Summer learnings of a trans woman - Blog-Beitrag von Model Sophie / 03.10.2023 19:54

Puberty is a time span of ten years. – But if you start your transition afterwards, you will go into a second puberty, into a second time span of 10 years. But this puberty is much harder. We transitioners trying to catch up everything we missed. – While having a fixed identity from our first puberty. – And beyond the experiences from the new identity, we have to overcome old socialisation and patterns, of our non-conforming gender behaviour, which crashes into our daily life, while we're facing a lot of changes in our mind (and hopefully bodies), by the new hormone level.

And we're working against 100 reasons of shame, 1000 obstacles in the mirror, and some very deep written pictures of cis-gender in our-selves and others. And one of the main duties in transition, is to glue all this together, into one human, one existence, into one life.

Transition can be a full-time job. But you have to cope with it, as one task from multiple others: Earning money, looking for help, care for family members, explaining yourself to the world (even if you don't have an explanation for yourself), attend the gym, cooking, maintaining other relation*ships, filling your social media accounts and office chair and feeding the cat.

We learning, to accept ourself, the status quo, becoming patient in dozens of topics (e.g., legal changes, changes by hormones, etc), and we adopt new behaviours, changing old pattern and requesting ourself always: “Is the person, I’m becoming now, feeling right?”

Or do we behave like copycats, who overtook some strange behaviour or styles, which didn't fit into your life and beings, because we wrongly assume, they belong to our official gender now.

I'm in the middle of my second 10-year puberty, and I learned a lot during this summer. First and most important: Pain is for growing, and I hope, I dived into any stitch which was presented me, by this summer. – I learned, how to cope with my phases of trans-downness in a better way, and about my optimal reaction of getting misgendered. (I understood now, that this is like a Terry-Pratchett message, out of the parallel existing universe of cis-heteronormativity.)

I also meet persons, I thought, 'Wow I would like to date!', and that I will use the non-binding term "dating" in future. Stopping the desire for a never-ending-true-deep-love-lifetime relationship. – Spending two evenings per week together, giving our skin touches and kisses to your necks, should be adequate to stay healthy and enough to push each other into a stable state. – But this means a lot of honest communication. (So maybe it's easier to stay in the never-ending-love narrative.)

This is what I learned in my summer of '23.

Vote for the Cover of STRKNG Editors' Selection – #70

Vote for the Cover of STRKNG Editors' Selection - #70 - Blog-Beitrag von  STRKNG / 22.09.2023 11:20

1 »BLOND« © Photographer HANNES WINDRATH

2 »Giorgia« © Photographer Andrea Arosio

3 »Moroi Metabolism (2nd v.)« © Alexandru Crisan

4 »Friday« © Photographer Eugene Reno

5 »MovieTime« © Photographer Stefan Dokoupil

6 »***« © Photographer Mecuro B Cotto

7 »Upside down« © Photographer Heinz Porten

8 »stay strong« © Photographer Jens Klettenheimer

9 »that's what this storm is all about« © Photographer Michael Everett

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Publication covers so far….

https://strkng.com/en/publications/

Teilnehmer: Fotograf Alexandru Crisan / Fotograf Andrea Arosio / Fotograf Eugene Reno / Fotograf HANNES WINDRATH / Fotograf Heinz Porten / Fotograf Jens Klettenheimer / Fotograf Mecuro B Cotto / Fotograf Michael Everett / Fotograf Stefan Dokoupil