In Someone Else’s Body

This documentary preserves the essence captured through the lens of Benjamin de la Calle, a pioneer in portraying the transgender body. The characters featured in the reenactments are real, mostly trans women from the Red Trans de Medellín, some of whom are part of the vibrant nightlife scene in downtown Medellín. Benjamin de la Calle, a photographer from Antioquia, was not only a precursor in the representation of the transgender body but also a transgressor who broke many taboos in his photographic studio, taboos that were common in the conservative Medellín of the early 20th century. In addition to creating extensive series of men dressed as women, or even women dressed as bullfighters, his lens deliberately avoided the rigid military figures, the solemn bishops, and the overly formal upper-class families, seeking instead with curiosity the other forms of affection and sexuality that emerged when one abandoned the marital bed. From this came photographs of men with their lovers (whom he discreetly labeled as ‛companions’), of mismatched couples — elderly men with young women, or young boys with older women — and of actresses in revealing or sensual poses, amid a city that was bubbling with the energy of a growing industrialisation.