I am really happy to write this post today.

When i started taking pictures of boys in 2004, i had no idea that it would develop into the XX Boys project. I was just figuring things out for me, and in france by this time, i was pretty much isolated.
Even in paris, i had no other FtM friend i could talk to, someone who could give me informations and listen to my feelings about what i was just discovering about myself, someone from whom experience of the transition i could benefit and ask the thousands questions that i had.
I was divided in two parts, that i could call mind versus heart.
In my mind i was scared, i was trying to be reasonable, methodical, to learn as much as i could about hormones, surgeries, and the life i was picking for myself (did i really wanted that?). All i could read about the transition was processed, it was like storing a lot of informations but desperatly never really been affected by it.
I came accross Loren Cameron's "Body Alchemy" book and i felt something. Not like a full echo because the men i was looking at seemed "done" and i was just lost in the illusion that i was "considering" taking this road (i was already on it), and i certainly was more boysish than manly. I couldn't picture myself that far in my life. I discorved Del La grace Volcano's work soon after and it touched me deeper with its vivid colors and sensuality, it was not only giving me a glimpse of "who" i was but placing it in a mix of identities that were familiar to me, drag kings, lesbians, leather and feathers.
Actually the person that really help me figure out what i was, what i wanted for myself, were i was going, and feel good about it was a boy named Sebastian.
Sebastian had a blog, dark blue, he wrote about his transition, month after month and posted pictures. He posted picture of his changes, of his hair growing, of his muscles mass changing, he posted clips of his voice deepering, and that, the pictures, not only passed the information i was longing for in my mind but more importantly in my heart.
I realized how empowering and important it was to have a positive reference in your journey, with images to touch your heart and words to touch your mind. And that we are all role models. That is when i started to take pictures and collect stories of other FtMs...

I discorved the great diversity among us, not two stories were the same, not two perceptions of this experience and evolving identity were the same, the boys were all differents yet they had all two things in commom, this experience in their past and this beauty shining intensely out of them.
Beauty is so not about facial features, six packs, white teeth or prince charming hair.
Beauty is not about body definition, muscles or customization
Beauty is an energy that you can feel.
Beauty comes from life.
Not always from the most joyfull moments of our life, but from those who made us who we are because they affected us deeply.
Beauty is about being authentic. And when an authentic person comes standing proud with his true self and shares a gold piece of himself, celebrates a moment in his life and the road he has traveled, with the desire to empower others and to create more visibility for all of us, we're instantly taken away by the beauty shining out him.

The XX boys photo project has been running for 5 years through photoshootings, exhibits, press articles, and our blog on 20six. Boys from all around the United states participated, boys from canada, boys from England, Germany, Ireland, Spain and France participated. And the project received hundreds of emails from boys who want to particpate from all around the world, to Argentina to Bosnia Herzegovina, from Sydney to Tokyo.

We are everywhere, and we are beautiful.
We need to be seen for who we really are, we need to celebrate ourselves, and change the ideas carried on by medias that transmen are sad, that transmen are freax, or lonely or incomplete.
Yes, this project ambition to create a change.
A change in society's mind, in people's eyes, and in boys' hearts.

8 months ago we were achieving the conception of the website.
What started as a photo project website with testimonies has become in our computers a entiere portal of FtM photography and a community site designed to run for years with the participation of everyone to creative, artistic and political events such as our photo contest, and dedicated to promote trans artists and culture.

Working on this site has been a magical, complex, and a new and exiting experience. And today, I'm deeply happy to annouce that XX Boys.net will open in a beta version on thursday with your favorite boys. More still need to be developped and with your help and our dedication to create a huge ressource of growing informations accessible to the most will soon achieve this goal.

This is the just begining of the story and of our website, thank you for having been there all theese years and for your support, your friendship, and warm messages, comments, emails, and energy!

See you on thursday on http://xxboys.net!


Kael t Block