Bugis Street: An exhibition by Alain Soldeville

Bugis Street features portraits of the transgendered community in Bugis in the 1980s. Taken by French photographer Alain Soldeville, the exhibition shows a side of Singapore history that many might be unfamiliar with.

Taken mainly at night, these photos show the girls on the streets as well as in their apartments. Explaining the photos, Soldeville says, ‘Looking back, I believe I meant those photos to be portraits of these people I had come to consider friends, wishing to show their fragility, their humanity rather than documenting a situation, news style.’

About Alain Soldeville

Alain Soldeville became a member of ANA Photo Agency in 1987. He has travelled in Europe and Asia for French and international magazines (Stern, New York Times, Newsweek, Geo, National Geographic France, Vogues men, Figaro magazine, Marie-claire…). He became a member of Rapho Agency in 1990. In 2011, he joined Paris-based photography collective Picturetank. For the past ten years, he has worked extensively in Thailand, making work related to globalisation. His work has been exhibited in Europe and in Asia.

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Deputy Editor

Gary is one of those proverbial jack of all trades… you know the rest. When not writing about lifestyle and culture, he dabbles in photography, graphic design, plays four instruments and is a professional wearer of bowties. His greatest weakness: spending more money on clothes than he probably should. Find him across the social world as @grimlay