existential boner

existential boner is a personal work about obsessions related to the body, identity and sexuality. mahalia taje giotto is and has always been a trans person, this work retraces their journey in a compulsive way.

existential boner is a personal work about obsessions related to the body, identity and sexuality. it is presented as a book and an installation. mahalia taje giotto is and has always been a trans person, they chose to identify as non-binary and started their gender-affirming hormone therapy in November 2020. They monitored the changes they were undergoing, as a way of reappropriation of their own self. Doing so, photography was for taje the best way to record all of these steps, following the never ending rhythm of their compulsive thoughts. With a compilation of images and text using collages, vernacular photographies, studio shoots, iPhone snapshots, and scans, taje’s body of work evolved same time as their body to develop in a direction that is not only about identity but highlighting a feeling of urgency. 

Inspired by photographers and artists such as Helena Almeida, Francesca Woodman, Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman and many others, taje drew from these influences their creativity looking to explore the limits of photography.