A new photo shoot featuring Elliot Page has once again put his physical transformation at the center of the conversation.
The actor from Juno and The Umbrella Academy posed topless for The Boys in the Baths, a production by photographer Ryan McGinley at New York’s historic Russian & Turkish Baths. The images show his defined abs, tattoos, and visible chest surgery scars.
The photographs quickly prompted comparisons with images of Page before his transition, when he was still publicly known as Ellen Page.
And opinions were completely divided.
While some celebrated that he can now present himself more freely, other users used the comparisons to harshly criticize his transformation. Among the comments shared on social media were people claiming that “he looked happy before” or directly questioning his decision to transition.
But that interpretation contrasts with what Page himself has said.
Speaking about this new photo shoot, he explained that his comfort with spaces like public baths is relatively recent: ““Only in the last few years have I thought, ‘Yeah, it sounds nice to go somewhere and sit like this in your body.’””.
Page came out as trans in 2020 and later spoke openly about his chest surgery. Since then, he has shown his body on various occasions and has linked those images to feeling more comfortable with himself.
The new photograph once again showed just how much his transformation continues to spark discussion online.
For some, the old images represent an appearance they preferred; for Page, by contrast, being able to pose this way now represents a freedom he says he hadn’t felt for years.