WORK - NELSON MORALES

MUXES

Musas Muxe

This project started ten years ago when I started photographing my culture in the isthmus of Oaxaca where I came from. I started by documenting the daily life of the muxes, attending their festivities, learning to understand their world, which led me to create a special relationship in the group. Over time I went deeper into the subject and became part of my life and personal project.
The project became more and more an introspective process, in which questions about my own identity intertwined with the images and experiences of the photographic sessions with the muxes. I began to develop a relationship of admiration and desire for the muxes. In each session new and disturbing emotions began to emerge. The images seemed to be born of deep drives, and at the same time the same images awoke other sensations where my own identity were in a play.
More and more the series has become a mixture between the desire to merge with the muxes, to be one of them, to enjoy the same untimely and transgressive freedom, and the clash with her exaggerated notion of the feminine, the tension between desire and rejection before them, but also to myself and my own sexual and cultural identity.
The Muxes are part of my culture and myself. They are beautiful and terrible. Dual beings who, rather than defining themselves as homosexuals, have transcended the idea of gender to assume a deeply new identity in a constant search for a notion of beauty. Two genres in one body.
During this journey my work has traveled through many facets. The muxe has become a central project, covering different planes and moments of my life.
Gradually I developed a free and particular aesthetic, with a challenging attitude, disquieting characters, I realized that I was finding something very special in my work and that made me feel happy with what I was doing until now which satisfied me and not I have been able to stop.

TRANSAMAZONICAS

The Colombian Amazon is a natural paradise with enchanting landscapes, exotic species and endless rivers. Some time ago I had the opportunity to travel to this fantastic place. I had many expectations, but I was not sure what could happen, I just wanted to get into the jungle, its landscapes and try to know its sexual diversity. For two days I walked through Puerto Nariño, one of its villages, I could not see any trans girl, I was a bit disappointed and some of the locals told me it was a taboo subject for the people of the Amazon. One rainy afternoon after having lost hope, I found myself lying a lipstick on my way, I picked it up and kept walking, a few meters later I met Jairo a gay stylist, I talked to him and he told me that his ex-boyfriend He had stolen many things in his house. Jairo introduced me to the Ticuna trans community of Puerto Nariño, I joined one of the activities they did, I was impressed by the attitude that had much resemblance to the muxes of the isthmus of Oaxaca. They exaggerated in their movements, they wore miniskirts, a lot of makeup and above all they wanted to be women like the muxes, but they could not exaggerate because of the fear of the homophobia of some inhabitants of the town. Fifteen years ago, none of this happened in the Amazon jungle. Only in recent times, thanks to the influence of the media, transgenderism has begun to emerge in these communities.
I showed them some pictures I had done with the muxes, they were so excited and wanted to immediately be part of this photographic series, one of the members said that she wanted her own reallity, Amazonas next top model. They took me to the rivers, the jungle, to their houses, they used their best costumes and I always hoped that the photo sessions would take a little intensity until they became very sensual and transgressed the camera.
They cry out to be recognized by all of society, mainly by the leaders of the tribes who do not agree with these expressions, but they will continue to fight and express without limits their beauty and sensuality.

FANTASTIC WOMAN

Marsha Tegard is a seventy-two-years-old transgender woman living in North Carolina, she made her -gender change in 2015. Since I met her, I realized that she had the need to show the world her story, her life and she could also be an example and an inspiration for other transgender women.
Marsha became my muse, a very special one, also a dear friend. I was able to hear and feel her fascinating story, from her newborn adoption to her rebellious and troubled adolescence. For many years she was a Marin, I spent hours listening to all her anecdotes.
She gave me her entire collection of photographs, absolutely everything I took to my studio. I started to make a collage and experimenting with all of her memories. For several months I was photographing her in many ways, it was a challenging experience for me, it was exciting and new at the same time. I feel that I achieved to portray her deepest emotions, full of passion, and nostalgia.
Talking about a transgender older woman is a relatively new topic, although the politics around the subject is still somewhat complicated, given the current rejection the conservative government of the United States, Marsha has accomplished to get away with it because she has a good job, a family that loves her and a lot of love for herself.
Day by day Marsha challenges a society that subjects her to a certain degree of rejection. However, she has been a strong woman, who has lived intensely and has also enjoyed the simple things in life. For these and many other things, Marsha has been one of the most fantastic women I have ever met.

CROWNS
Since I was a child, I had this fascination for beauty pageants, especially pageant crowns, their symbols and meanings, their beauty, and the variety of them in different cultures. I have previously been portraying transvestite and transgender beauty queens in Muxe culture and was struck by their obsession with becoming a beauty queen. This series is more introspective and conceptual images where the play of colors, fabrics, shapes, imagination and mystery seduce us. Behind the fabrics and shapes are hidden stories of life, longing, and fantasies in which all of us at some point in our lives have dreamed of.

I WANT TO BE A QUEEN

In the towns on the Isthmus of Oaxaca Mexico, festivals and balls are an important part of our culture. Almost every day, many festivals are celebrated.
The Muxes are considered a third gender in Mexico and they are also considered a blessing for their families. For almost ten years I have photographed them since I am also part of that community.
For the Muxe community, it is very relevant to be part of the party because we participate in the design and construction of the balls, and we love to be part of all the celebrations.
It is very common that at celebrations there is always a protagonist. The queen of the party; the dream for all of the girls.
The Muxes from childhood always look and admire the queen of the party, and it becomes an illusion, and when they grow up their highest dream is to become a queen.
Currently, there are many exclusive festivities of the Muxes in all the towns of the isthmus in which they can wear their party dresses, dance, and share with all the people of the town.
Being a queen has become an obsession, no matter how much it costs to buy all the goods they need or how long they need to save money. The important thing is to be the queen of the town and feel like a woman.
This series portrays many details in the intimacy of the Queen Muxes; the accessories, the fabrics,wigs, their intimacy in their homes, there are also crowns and face shapes that show a more conceptual part of this project.

All this universe of colors and fantasies is to achieve being the most beautiful of the night.
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