QUEENS
We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.
RuPaul
The world of drag has been widely documented over time, whether for aesthetic reasons or because of the attraction of a counter-current subculture. Punk even, some would say.
Although there is a generalized idea in society of what a Drag Queen is, QUEENS seeks to show that there are as many ideas of Drag Queens as there are artists.
It is believed that the word drag originated in the theater at the end of the 19th century, because the dresses that the men wore - when the women didn't have a stage - dragged on the floor. In Japan, drag as a form of theatrical expression - Kabuki - dates back as far as the 17th century. And in the roaring twenties, it was incorporated into Vaudeville until Prohibition came into force and performers started performing in underground clubs.
This paved the way for a form of artistic expression that challenged notions of sexuality, identity and identification.
At the time - and still nowadays -, this artistic expression plays a role of resistance in the fight for the right to be in a context and system that is binary, patriarchal and heteronormative.
QUEENS aims to reflect on diversity itself, not just as a psychosocial concept, but by portraying a plurality of artists through a photographic and anthropological approach that is also plural. In QUEENS there is a dialog between the author's vision and that of the people portrayed, through archive photographs, photographs taken by the people portrayed themselves or interviews that were carried out throughout the project.
It would be expected that the fight for the right to be would no longer have to be. But when, during the course of this photographic project, there was a censorship motion to stop a festival with Drag Queens from taking place, it becomes politically real that, however many works there are on this subject, it is still frankly necessary and relevant to talk about it.
Because “we were all born naked and the rest is drag”.
Drag Queens portrayed: Alejandro Beauty, Allan Lynn, Belle Dommage, Cherry Flavor, Dyanne Star, Eva Brown, Inny Legs, Katy Wandolly, Linda Xennox, Joyce Martinez, Kina Karvel, Naomy Beauty, Nany Petrova, Stefani Duvet.
Archive photographies: Kina Karvel
Photos from disposable cameras: Kina Karvel and Cherry Flavor
