Alain Soldeville

1981 and 1984
In December 1980, I left Paris for a two-year trip to Asia and Australia. After spending a month in Bangkok, I arrived in Singapore where I checked in at a backpackers hotel. I had read about the transgender community that used to gather around Bugis Street. A few days later, around midnight, I headed for Bugis street where I stroked up a conversation with Anita who was 23 years old. During the following weeks, we became close and she introduced me to her friends. They liked having me photograph them and would pose like stars. After five or six weeks in Singapore, short of money, I had to leave for Australia. I would return in 1984 only to learn that Bugis Street was about to be torn down to make way for the subway.