AUTHENTICITY IT IS!

From photography to embodied characters, RAYA MARTIGNY is guided by a deep sense of humanity and a desire of documenting her story and that of the trans and queer community. After the success of her photo project Kwir Nou Éxist with her partner Édouard Richard and her role in the award-winning short movie Queen Size, the Réunion Island-born and Paris-based artist continues her 360° commitment between her homeland and the city where she has made her name. In the middle of fashion week, we took the time to slow down and discuss both creative and wider social subjects. An authentic moment with an authentic soul, who prioritises the need for sensitivity and emotions to cope with the violence and growing senselessness of the world.

Left Full look **Prada**
Right Dress **Bottega Veneta**, socks **Wolford**, shoes **Paul Smith**

I would have loved to meet you in person, but it's a bit of a crazy week...

Super crazy! It’s fine, I need to be at home a bit. Otherwise, we quickly lose touch with this intensity and don't have time for anything.

Do you manage to take time out even during these busy periods?

Over the years, I've learned not to let myself get overwhelmed. I've understood the importance of compartmentalising: being 300% present at events, and totally present for myself when I'm at home. Being in a constant state of rush creates unnecessary stress.

Left Jacket, shirt and tie **Louis Gabriel Nouchi**, jewellery **Patou**
Right Shirt, pants and belt **Tom Ford**, jewellery **Patou**

You're everywhere – runways, movie sets, media, social networks. How do you manage to compartmentalise all the facets of your life?

My life is shaped by what I've built and dreamed of living. I undertake all of this with a lot of passion, determination, and emotion. I try to live my life and to positively document it in multiple ways, whether through photography or characters. My goal is to change the narrative, to offer other facets of the history of trans people by telling mine – a girl from a small island who realised her dreams in Paris – as well as the story of other queer people. Supporting people and giving them a little strength to keep moving forward is really important to me.

Is it necessary for you to start from the personal to address the collective?

For a long time, I had trouble putting myself in my own shoes, so putting myself in someone else's shoes isn’t easy. Speaking into a microphone is not my strongest suit, but I find that there is nothing more sincere than what comes from deep within oneself and becomes universal. It's essential to speak authentically by staying connected to ourselves, in the middle of a world where we no longer know what we're looking at or hearing. Emotions are our deepest strength, and knowing how to share them is the most important thing to me. Artists like Patti Smith, who explore their souls and share them with the world, deeply inspire me.

Left Jacket, skirt, and jewellery **Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello**
Right Full look **Dior**

You say you're not very good at putting yourself in someone else's shoes, but what about the runway and cinema?

It does sound a bit contradictory. [Laughs] Well, on the runway, it's always a perfected version of myself with a twist. There's an identity in fashion you have to catch and then play with. Everything I show on runways comes from me; it’s a unique identity which gives me a lot of confidence. For cinema, it's different: I use my imagination and my emotions to meet the character and progressively become them. I may have known or know these characters in real life. They can be versions of myself that I might never have the strength to be. The most beautiful part of cinema isn’t the finished product but everything you create around it; the way you develop your characters and how they accompany you in your life.

It looks like you always start from yourself to embody something, and then it comes to reveal something in you in return. Like a constant transformation that allows you to reach your own authenticity.

Exactly. This authenticity is the most important thing to represent, because we'll need to return to it in the years to come, in order to reconnect with certain things. How do we find ourselves in a world steeped in AI, opulence, visual saturation, political shows, all these things that ring false?

How do you look at AI?

I try not to include it in my life because I see it as a danger. We’re at the peak of stupidity, and I hope we'll come down from it one day. In an increasingly superficial world, we must continue to tell stories that come from the human spirit and soul.

Left Top skirt and jewellery **Alexander McQueen**, shoes **Maison Margiela**
Right Shirt and jewellery **Patou**, jacket and pants **Acne Studios**

Added to this superficiality is daily violence, particularly towards LGBTQ+ people. How do you perceive and experience this violence as a trans woman today?

The situation is complicated. Harassment on the street and the weight of non-acceptance of our identities are still present. I get hassled every day, not even being considered as a woman in public spaces because of my height. There is a difference between my journey on social media and the reality of my daily life. I manage to not give a damn anymore because I've realised that this is how it's going to be for the rest of my life, unfortunately. I'm not going to completely change the world, so I've learned to navigate this world, which is very violent. Today I know who I am, and I've stopped being naive or disappointed. But I think about my sisters who are less mentally strong. All eyes are constantly on us, and it's sometimes hard to tell if someone wants to kill you, love you, or both.

Violence has also taken on a form of permanency with social media – there are no more barriers, no more filters. From this daily violence and gaze you describe, how do we move forward?

The world is becoming increasingly fascist; it’s a fact. The more people assume they are transphobic on social media, the more they will assume it in reality. There is no miracle solution, but we're not going to hide, transform ourselves, or become something else. Happiness is found where we expect it to be. We have to go after our dreams, our little moments of validation, the things that make us feel good. We forget what's important because we scroll all day long and end up being controlled by this system. We need to live for ourselves and the people we love, to gather at strategic moments to do ourselves good. Community spirit saves lives; it saved mine.

You created this sense of community both in Paris and La Réunion, particularly with the association Requeer you are part of and the project Kwir Nou Éxist you did on the island with your partner, Édouard. Do you feel aligned between your homeland and the place where you live?

I feel aligned today thanks to the people who are asserting themselves in La Réunion, who are living the years I fled from with pride, connected to their land and to their families. They are building a community that transcends what could never officially exist. Édouard and I started this project five years ago because we saw an urgent need to document what was being created by the queer community on the island. I experienced my freedom through the stories of others, which allowed me to repair my own. I understood that my two identities – being Creole and being trans – are completely inseparable and meant to exist in harmony. The project moved me deeply, awakening memories of my childhood, things I couldn't have, but also joy, emancipation, pride, and understanding through the archival work we did. It's an incredible joy and freedom to see the community thriving today.

How did photography come into your life?

My grandfather taught me how to use a film camera when I was a child. Then I started using digital and doing self-portraits. It allowed me to explore different characters, to recognise myself in images and understand my identity. Édouard reconnected me to that by putting a film camera back in my hands and telling me I needed to document my life.

I lost a friend, Dora Diamant, who documented many things. Her friends made books with her photos that deeply moved me when I saw them at Centre Pompidou. The project in La Réunion was a tribute to her and others who had this desire to make a mark on history. Images have an inexplicable power; they convey emotions and transmission.

Left Shirt, jacket, tie and shoes **Paul Smith**, pants **Emporio Armani**, jewellery **Patou**
Right Jacket and bag **Stella McCartney**, denim **Maison Margiela**, Glasses **Burberry**

Are you working on a new project right now?

I'm starting one about the underground scene in Paris. I want to archive the last 40 years of people who have revolutionised Paris’ history and who aren't talked about enough. The youngest generation should have access to these stories because they're the ones that have made me and others who we are. I want to represent the dirty Paris that we love, where we hang out in basements and party. It's a 360-degree project, like the one in La Réunion.

If we switch to the other side of the camera, will we soon see you back on screen?

I have a film coming out, Les Matins merveilleux by Avril Besson. It's a lesbian love story about emancipation and supporting someone through grief. I've also just finished filming with Jeanne Herry, alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos and Sara Giraudeau. Two films in one year is already huge! I'm continuing to take acting classes at the same time to enrich myself emotionally. I now feel comfortable enough to play a wide range of roles.

At the beginning, you talked about the dreams that led you to become who you are. What are you dreaming about now?

I dreamed for so long, and so many of those dreams have come true. I continue to dream every day, to manifest. I left all my modelling agencies to surround myself with a team that I love and trust. My dream is to let go and feel things 300%, even on a photo shoot like this one that touches on a more natural, simple and vulnerable side of me. It feels good to show myself without having to go through a lot of artifice. My dream is to be there and to be well, and everything else will follow.