Corinna at 62
Corinna Salazar (b. 1945)
Polaroid photograph, hand-colored
A self-portrait taken by Corinna Salazar on June 30th, 2007, during her first Pride Parade in Mexico City. Salazar spent thirty-one years as an engineer under a name she describes in her journal as a stranger's. She began her transition at sixty, shortly after the death of her wife, Graciela, who had known her secret for the entirety of their marriage.
The photograph shows Salazar at arm's length, standing in a crowd, wearing a vibrant yellow sundress she made herself. She has colored the dress in; the original Polaroid shows her in gray.
When the photograph is held and viewed, the audience experiences seven seconds of profound joy. Viewers have described the sensation as belonging somewhere completely and being loved without condition.
Salazar is an active AWCY? member and intends to keep making work "for as long as she is able."
Nunca había sido tan feliz. Tenía sesenta y dos años y no tenía miedo. Quiero que sientas lo que sentí aquel día, aunque solo sea por un momento. Sé lo que es esperar toda una vida. Puedes quedarte con una parte de la mía.
This was the happiest I had ever been. I was sixty-two years old and I was not afraid. I want you to feel what I felt that day, even for a moment. I know what it is to wait a whole life. You can have some of mine.