In his project 'Transmongolian,' Alvaro Laiz (1981, Spain) depicts a world of solitude and crushed dreams within the Mongolian community of homosexuals and transgender. The Secret History of the Mongols, considered to be the oldest Mongolian language literary work, is the single significant native account of Mongolia's rise to power around the 12th century AD. It recounts how the warrior Genghis Khan was able to organize more than thirty tribes battling for control, and how once in power, with the objective to augment his population and face his enemies, declared homosexuality illegal under death penalty. Today, more than eight hundred years later, Mongolia is a sovereign country with the lowest population rate in the world, lower than two inhabitants per square kilometer and being a homosexual, continues to be taboo.

Transmongolian was presented at the London Slideluck Potshow edition IV. To learn more about the project, read our interview with the photographer.