TEJAL SHAH.

"These images were taken in a field near railway tracks with a friend of mine who was a closet cross-dresser. Afraid of societal ridicule, he had never shared his secret with anyone. This was the first time he walked the streets in drag in the dead of the night. The experience for him was like going to the Front. Me? I had a niggling feeling that my friend might have something to share with me and so I pursued. Funnily, he was the one who dressed me as a drag king for the first time in my life!" --Tejal Shah





Back to Front I, II & III, 2000
Tejal Shah
silver gelatin on paper

Tejal Shah (b. 1979) is a visual artist working with video, photography and installation. Her work, like herself, is feminist, queer and political. She has exhibited widely in museums, galleries and film festivals including, Tate Modern (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Brooklyn Museum (New York) and National Gallery of Modern Art (Bombay). In 2003, she co-founded, organised and curated Larzish – India’s 1st International Film Festival of Sexuality and Gender Plurality.
Tejal grew up in central India, eventually moving to Bombay in 1995. She holds a BA in photography from RMIT, Melbourne, has been an Exchange Scholar at the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently enrolled in the MFA (Film/Video) program at Bard College, New York.