Trans*Visit

The book "Trans Visit," an artistic report by Swiss photographer Martin Bichsel, is due to be published by Kommode Verlag at the start of October 2014. The voice of Conchita Wurst echoes from speakers all over the world as the diva with a full beard and stunning voice wins the Eurovision Song Contest. Finally, there is hope for more tolerance and respect for all genders and gender identities. But have Europeans actually become more tolerant? And what does a glance at the rest of the world reveal? Was the success of Conchita Wurst a sign that Europe, at least, is becoming more open, and that its people have more tolerance and respect for their neighbors? Or was the drag artist nothing more than a tokenistic media construct designed to boost the continent's reputation? The answers to these questions can be found in places where the show business spotlight has gone out. Swiss photographer Martin Bichsel has been accompanying transgender people all over the world for nine years, gathering together personal stories from Albania, Japan, Greece, Tunisia, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Switzerland. Now, in October 2014, Kommode Verlag is publishing "Trans Visit," a book that combines photographic documentation with people's personal stories. The photographer is not looking to criticize society with his book; instead, he is trying to tackle a subject in a sensitive rather than voyeuristic way, a subject that remains steeped in taboos, even in a supposedly enlightened 21st-century Europe. The book launch in Zurich will take place on 20 November, the official Transgender Day of Remembrance, at Zentrum Karl der Grosse. In Bern, the Trans Visit project exhibition will also be opened to coincide with the book launch in the PROGR city gallery on 22 November. The "Trans Visit" book has also benefitted from the support of Transgender Network Switzerland and its president Henry Hohmann and co-president Alecs Recher, who will be guests at the launch.