Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Rae.
Amanda, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I am a trans woman living in the heartland of the U.S. I transitioned when I was 18 years old, and for a year I simply lived as any other woman. However, all the time I would read and hear of news stories of trans people just like me having terrible things done to them and even losing their lives because of who they are. I decided I needed to do something to gain a platform and visibility for us, so I turned to modeling.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Mostly I am a model, and my modeling has taken on a vast range of forms. Sometimes I model for print, sometimes I model in fashion shows. Through the notoriety I have gained from modeling, I have been asked to speak a couple of times about topics like feminism and transgenderism. I hope that people will see me and my work and realize that we are people just like them. I hope that maybe they are drawn to the beauty in my photos, and then stay to listen. I have had many people tell me that I have changed their mind and educated them to what it means to be us and what we go through.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I think the role of the artist has remained the same, and that is to make people think. My own work is so that people will be taken outside of their comfort zone and be made to think about trans people and who we are and the struggles we face. Some of my work is centered on social progress and statements and activism, but even just in the work that is more typical of modeling, I hope that they will see us less as other and different and more as people, some of us creative and successful even.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can see my work at http://www.facebook.com/AmandaRaeOfficial and http://www.instagram.com/AmandaRaeOfficial. Anyone can support me by showing my work to others and spreading awareness and visibility for us.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/AmandaRaeOfficial
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmandaRaeOfficial
Image Credit:
Kerri Jean, Chie Sharp, Julie Powers, Nicky Parry, Jan Stankewitz, Shaena Rae, Sherman Orendorf
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