the third sex

Who is Captain Outrageous

I saw my first ladyboy way back in 1980, on an assignment in Singapore. Someone took me to Bugis Street, the original Bugis Street, not the insipid re-creation you see today. It was my first night on my first trip. I was jetlagged, drunk and totally disoriented, and that was probably the best light in which to see Bugis Street.

The market and all the little restaurant tables were packed with people. Then around midnight these most gorgeous creatures emerged from the shadows and moved amongst the tables. I had the kind of feeling you get when you are an adolescent and you start noticing girls for the first time: I was breathless at the sight of them. I didn’t know what they were. And they spoke so dirty! As an experiment I took one back to a short-time hotel and that changed things for me.

I kept quiet about it all at the time. I made one comment about it in my local pub back in London and the hostile reaction I got convinced me to keep my mouth shut in future because no-one was ever going to understand. The funny thing is that those who like ladyboys are usually regular people, like me. I get emails asking if liking ladyboys means you are gay. No, it doesn’t. I have no attraction to masculinity at all. I love women and I love ladyboys. They really are the third sex. When you are with a ladyboy, you’re with a girl who has a dick, and the rule book goes out the window.

I went looking for porn magazines that featured ladyboys. In a little shop opposite Victoria Station I found a couple of publications, with mostly black and white photos and featuring hefty-looking American transsexual models. That wasn¹t what I wanted at all. But within a couple of years I had moved to Bangkok, which has the world¹s most alluring ladyboys, and I had no need of printed material anymore.

Nonetheless, when the internet came along in the mid 90s I immediately set off surfing for pictures. There wasn¹t very much available, only US pix, mainly scans from magazines. A little later a couple of sites came along that featured Thai models, but the pictures were very bad. I thought, I can do better than that, so I went out and bought myself a camera.

Over the course of a couple of weeks I rounded up a few ladyboy friends and photographed them in my apartment, and in a hotel. When I had finished I emailed the webmaster of one of the sites and asked if he would be interested in buying the sets. He was, and it grew from there.

I had done some photography with girls before, but I had always balked at the prospect of taking a roll of film with ladyboy pictures into a process shop. So the digital era changed everything.

It was funny doing my first photo shoot. I was in a relationship at that time with a ladyboy named Jeab. She was my very first model. I had seen her undressed many times but when I saw her in front of the camera, pulling her pants down and acting a real tease, it was so erotic, so totally different through the lens.

All this was towards the end of 2000, and I carried on shooting for other sites for a couple of years. But it was very apparent there was a growing demand for ladyboy pictures, and that this was going to continue. So I set up my own site at the beginning of 2003.

Although I have been involved for years with the Thai ladyboy community, the photography has increased my circle of ladyboy friends to an unbelievable degree. I always treat the models fairly and with respect. During the shoot I get them laughing and make everything as relaxed and enjoyable as possible. In return I get respect back. I have made many close and lasting friendships by doing this. And I never, ever have any shortage of models. They come from everywhere: the colleges, universities, cabaret shows, beauty salons, mainstream business, and of course the bars.

The growing interest in ladyboys worldwide, and the enormous number of emails I receive, has prompted me to start this blog. I like to think it will become a prime source of information on this endlessly fascinating subject.

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