Transvestia

"

"Oh, definitely, Mr. H. replied, at once demon- strating a competitive urge to out- do Mr. S.'s visibly inadequate efforts. In fact, Mr. H. went on to say that he had never worked with a female impersonator before and considered it a challenge! It was with no anxiety at all that I set about my makeup and dressing, again in Mr. H.'s studio, as we carried on a friendly conversation.

The photographs were absolutely marvelous.

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Or so I thought. My skepticism was a result of Mr. H.'s rather clumsy efforts at printing my stage name in the bottom margin of the photographs which, were, actually very good indeed. But dissatisfied, not with the fact of now having my stage name in bold letters on the photograph, but with the lay-out of the name in general. I sent a copy to a photo studio which I had heard specialized in theatrical work. The photo, and a letter, inquiring about copies with the name laid out in a more neatly professional manner.

A phone call to Mr. W. then, resulted in the surprise of his explaining that he could do an ever so much better job than Mr. H. The pose was static, he said, it had no life, no feeling. He explained that he was accustomed to working with theatrical people and had the 1 pose while they were singing, acting, or dancing and what- have you.

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I was now intrigued. Mr. W. s price for a setting was $25 fifty dollars for a "delux- sitting." But his prices for finished photos were fantastically reasonable: $15 for 100 glossy 8X10 s: (Mr. H. had charged me $1.50 for each 8X10!, though his sitting fee was exactly half of Mr. W. 's

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$12.50.)

I decided to drop by the W. studio and look things over. Particularly, I wanted to check on the parking situation because Mr. W. was located in the high-crime section of the bristling down-town district. It had now become my experience that everything leading up to a femme photo session had to be free of anxiety; I had to like the photographer; his studio needed to be comfort- able; I couldn't be rushed, or worried. And above all, I was putting out $25.00 for this sitting.

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