"If these photos had been shown to the public at that time, it would have been devastating,” says Felix Hoffmann, chief curator of the C/O Berlin gallery, describing a collection of pictures taken in the 1950s and 1960s at Casa Susanna, a safe haven for crossdressers in Hunter, New York. ⁠ ⁠ The photos, discovered at a flea market in Manhattan in the mid-2000s, are now part of “Queerness in Photography," an exhibition that documents the representation of identity, gender and sexuality in photography through the years. The show also includes works that offer a glimpse into the life of Marie-Pierre Pruvot, AKA Bambi—one of the first trans women to undergo gender confirmation surgery—and photographs from the early 19th century when cross-dressing was still a crime in many countries.⁠ ⁠ Ranging from amateur photography of the 19th century to contemporary forms of expression, the exhibition explores the concept of identities and their documentation throughout different eras. “There have always been men who wear women's clothes and women who wear men's clothes,” Hoffmann notes. “This makes you wonder if it makes sense at all to assign someone a gender on the basis of outward appearance.”⁠ ⁠ “Queerness in Photography" at @coberlin is open to the public until January 2023. All photos c/o C/O Berlin EDIT: This gallery previously included a photo of Tilda Swinton, which was obviously not taken in the 1950s, but is also on show at the "Queerness in Photography" exhibition.