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Within anthropology and gender queer and sexuality studies, Hijra communities in India are an area of research for the study of sexual and social difference in that country.

In April 2006 in Mumbai, I was given permission to meet with and photograph members of the Hijra community at the Dai Welfare Society. Although my allotted time was very short – under 40 minutes – and despite my not speaking/understanding Koti (Hijra Farsi) and their very little English, through good will, I think that on the whole we managed to connect and establish trust. I hope that my images show something of this but that they also bring up issues around the ‘reading’ of a portrait image.