Kay, ex-Green Baret Possibly 1980 - 1989

Mariette Pathy Allen created this photograph, "Kay, ex-Green Beret," and it offers a complex interplay of color and form, challenging conventional notions of identity and representation. The dominant reddish-pink hue of the walls and bedsheets creates an intense backdrop, framing the figure in a space that feels both intimate and performative. The composition is carefully arranged, with the subject, Kay, reclining in a pose that is both relaxed and deliberately staged. Allen uses the formal elements to destabilize established gender norms, creating a visual tension that invites us to question the boundaries of identity. Consider the glossy texture of Kay's red jacket against the matte finish of the walls; this contrast in materiality serves to highlight the constructed nature of Kay’s presentation. Allen captures a moment of deliberate self-fashioning, a semiotic act that challenges fixed categories and opens up a space for fluid and evolving identities.