The similarities between Schell’s poise as a self-actualized adult and the belting, colorful sprite she was as a child are many. Schell is much too self-aware for this to be completely true.
“I kept wondering, ‘am I trans?’ I hadn’t fully considered that yet.” “I understood their stories so deeply,” Schell told COV Advocates. A chance meeting with community leader Lou Weaver led to Schell photographing a group of other frontrunners in Houston’s transgender community including powerhouses Monica Roberts and Dee Dee Watters. Schell was reconfiguring her life after a tumultuous romp in New York City found her living in Houston, closer to her parents.
You would recognize her laugh from across a dank and crowded leather bar. Her body is spotted with tattoos of queer imagery and reference. She sports a buzz cut, but recently donned a long, flowing ombré wig for Instagram. Eric Edward Schell has a bright, wide smile.
