ANGELINA BERTRAND

LILI ELBE SHOW. ON THE STAGE.

This exhibition revolves around the ballet created by Sasha Riva and Simone Repele. It is a true story of the Danish landscape painter Einar Wegener (1882-1931) who was one of the first transgender women to undergo sex reassignment surgery in 1930. She died three months after her uterus transplant.
“It all began with the first show in Geneva in 2021 when we first met with Sasha and Simone to discuss monochrome-style pictures for the new play. Each photo session was planned for a different day and time as artists arrived in Geneva from various places. The photo setup was full studio lights with a black back-ground for each shoot, and it didn’t matter whether they would last 20 minutes or one hour. They all needed to have the same lighting as others.
I remember the first photo shoot for the main pictures where Sasha holds Yumi in his arms. In the briefing, we thought about how it must look and how he needs to hold her. But when we set up the lights and studio settings, it looked like they were on a stage. I looked through my camera lens and felt goosebumps – Sasha became Lili Elbe holding his new soul in his hands, bringing a new, strong message there.
Since then, we have been shooting together for Lili Elbe Show in different places: rehearsals, backstages and on the stage in Italy Montepulciano, Geneva. I love to see how this show grows and changes with new choreography, costumes and artists who play in it, but the most amazing feeling is to see it through photography – the story has stayed the same – Lili Elbe Show.
It was a fantastic experience for me as a photographer to learn and discover stage photography, learn to challenge low light situations and mainly to work with so many talented and professional artists.
Thank you once again, Sasha and Simone, for this opportunity. I think we should do the following project in monochrome style as this one was set in colours.”

– Angelina Bertrand