Inspiration
Nan Goldin
“I was eighteen and felt like I was a queen too… they became my whole world. Part of my worship of them involved photographing them. I wanted to pay homage, to show them how beautiful they were. I never saw them as men dressing up as women, but as something entirely different – a third gender that made more sense than either of the other two. I accepted them as they saw themselves I had no desire to unmask them with my camera. (N. Goldin, quoted in The Other Side, 2005 p.5) (Netter, 2014)
Goldin has photographed two males (Jimmy Paulette and Taboo!), one black male (Taboo) facing what is presumably a bathroom mirror, and the white male facing the photographer with his hand on the shoulder of the other. He has on his hand a wedding ring and he has a full face of makeup, both have no wigs on their heads. They are naked from the waist up, although their bottom halves aren’t visible. The black male is wearing what looks to be a contemporary piece of jewellery with diamontes or diamonds, which is very glitzy. The viewer cannot see whether the black male also has makeup on.
It looks as though the two males are in a relationship together, Jimmy Paulette is showing empathy and care towards the other male, and the look in Paulette’s eyes is of a very caring nature. Considering the positioning of the photographer, she is in quite a vulnerable position. Jimmy Paulette looks as if he is inviting her into his private life, rather than life outside as a drag artist. Jimmy seems to have put a lot of trust in the photographer, there is a vulnerability to him in this image.
The composition of this photograph has both negative and positive space and is cleverly done. It is difficult to tell whether the photographer has taken the photograph from inside the bathroom with the two men, or through a door with a part of the door frame showing on one side of the image. It is also difficult to know whether there is a message about race and interracial relationships in the image, given the time within which this photograph was taken, it could be that the image communicates a message of inclusion and openness. The year the photograph was taken in 1991, was during the AIDS epidemic, and only eleven years after the legislation of homosexual consensual sex in New York. (Alexa, 2017)
I feel it is a very natural shot as Goldin intended. Her work was spontaneous and in the moment. She was part of that intimate moment rather than separate from it. It seems as though both the people in the image and Golden herself had ideas about what they wanted to capture. The communication must have been fantastic, they just got on with what they were doing and they were relaxed and trusting with Goldin. The lighting looks as though it was quite natural. It is difficult to know whether Goldin bonded with the drag queens. There is a sensitivity and gentleness to the image and the relationship between the two drag artists.
It looks as though Goldin has used a lens hood that helps with sunlight. In the case of this photograph, it would stop the flare on the face, allowing for a clearer definition. The use of light can be seen in other examples of her photography, including her famous image: Nan one month after being battered, this is something I should have done whilst taking my own photographs.
Goldin wanted the viewers to understand that there is a downtime to drag, and that these artists are human beings who have a life outside of their performance. They have a home life and it’s just nice for them to be in the company of their partner and feel like they are just like everybody else. They’ve got the work, they’ve got their home, they get ready at home where they feel comfortable, and when they come back it’s their time.
Goldin is known for her approach which gives an “insiders perspective” and which depicts candid moments” in the lives of her friends and lovers, including the drag queens she repeatedly photographed for a number of years (McCord, 2017). These “candid moments” were important to Goldin, who stated “I used to think that I could never love anyone if I photographed them. In fact, my photographs show me how much I’ve lost” (McCord, 2017) . Goldin wanted to display her subjects in a “respectful light (McCord, 2017).
“When I do my photos I go out and the drag queens are in work but behind closed doors, it gives them the opportunity of showing more of their humanity and vulnerability” (McCord, 2017).
I feel this is a very effective image. The photograph itself is day-to-day life, it is effectively portraying warmth, home and intimacy, verging on documentary photography. There is no judgment or question and a sensitivity to it which breaks down barriers between the viewer and the subjects. This image is true life behind closed doors. It is possible that the subjects asked Goldin to go in and capture the moments when they are most vulnerable because in 1991 being homosexual was still not accepted by many people. They clearly wanted to be accepted by the wider community and not be judged for who they wanted to be. Nan Goldin was one of the first photographers to look intimately at those with ‘alternative lifestyles’ and to portray them in all their true humanity.
There are definitely elements of Goldin’s work that have influenced my own, particularly when taking the early photographs. The first photographs with Mark were not just about seeing their performance, it was about before and after the stage performance. Goldin’s almost documentary approach can also be seen in my own work, trying to uncover the life of a drag queen beyond performance.
David LaChapelle
This is image is a homage to Warhol’s ‘My Marilyn’ but uses transgender model Amanda Lepore. It is a portrait that looks like a screen print. The image is very vibrant, using the same colour palette a s Warhol’s ‘My Marilyn’, giving it a pop art feel. However, LaChapelle’s image is covered in black smudges. These smudges remain unexplained, however, some sources suggest there is an element of dark humour to it (Mercier, n.d).
It could also represent a dark smudge on the life and memory of Marilyn Monroe. The photographer himself has voiced admiration for the “black smudginess” seen in Warhol’s original image. “The application that Andy used, the offset silkscreen that left black smudginess was kind of dirty in a sense” (Woodward, 2018).
The photographer has highlighted the strong cheekbones and large lips of his model, in contrast with Marilyn Monroe’s features. The LaChapelle portrait is taken more from the side of the model, while the original Warhol is taken front-on, which comes across as a more gutsy and attitude-filled pose.
LaChapelle has taken a photograph of his model, Amanda Lepore, then printed it onto a silkscreen in the same way Warhol did with his image of Marilyn Monroe. It seems as though the two models (Amanda and Marilyn) have similar expressions however as already noted, they are photographed at slightly different angles. The more angled image produced by LaChapelle works to highlight the strong cheekbones and lips of the model, which are the result in this case of plastic surgery.
Andy Warhol had passed away and LaChapelle wanted to continue the work of his friend. it seems as though LaChapelle was creating a homage to Warhol and he also believed he could put a different stamp on it, using a model that was transgender and who was well known. LaChapelle is renowned for his style that suggests surrealism, sexuality, uniqueness and humour. The relationship with LePore was very unusual as he was gay and after research, it seems to be the case that he was in love with her.
The image is effective, it is wanting to make a statement but it is like a copycat version of Warhol’s work. The effectiveness of LaChapelle’s image relies on the fact that is based on Warhol’s original. The original image played on the idea of commodifying celebrities, making and selling the image of Marilyn Monroe in her transformation. It is possible that LaChapelle chose Lepore for this photograph because of her affinity with Marilyn to the point where she modelled her whole image on her.
Technically screen printing limits the number of colours that can be used, and LaChapelle has clearly based his colour choices directly on the Warhol image. The colours are very vibrant and the thing that stands out most is the lips. It is difficult to know whether this is something that was an artistic choice on the part of the photographer, or whether this was something the model had chosen. Did he choose to do it this way in order to create more of an impact?
When compared to LaChapelle’s other work, some of his work (‘Jesus is my homeboy’) is very religious but also has an element of sexuality to it. It is possible that there is something sexual in this image of Amanda LePore as well. There is something erotic in the highlighting of her lips and seductive in her expression and the angle LaChapelle has shot the portrait. The Warhol image, on the other hand, contains a mellow expression, closed off and more vulnerable than the raunchy expression of Amanda LePore. LaChapelle’s images seem as though there is no limit, as though nothing is left to the imagination.
Similarities to My Own Work
At the beginning of shooting the drag queens, I was more standoffish and didn’t know how to move forward with the project and how to approach the images. I had never been to a gay bar. As I have worked through this project I have become more confident about what to shoot, although I am still wary of images for the public and what I could do with them. In my more confident images there might be some similarities in my work with LaChapelles’s in the vibrancy, which comes from the drag queens themselves. I have also been trying to capture the personalities of the performers, which I think LaChapelle was also trying to do.
Magnus Hastings
“Drag has always been my world”, says Hastings. I”I see drag queens as incredible creatures; I don’t see men or women really – I just see these incredible gorgeous creatures. It’s a world I understand and immediately felt a part of, because – the exterior I have now – I’m really a screamingly girly queen. I just happen to have grown into this six foot-four burly man …. Though I do have the best drag legs you’ve ever seen in your life”. (Purdy, 2022).
This analysis focuses on one particular image of the drag queen Courtney Act in the printed book collection, Why Drag? The image is made up of nine separate images, a bit like a journey from male to female. It is made to look like polaroids stuck in a scrapbook.
“They might not realise that I’m not actually a woman and be in for a very steep learning curve” (Qureshi, 2017)
The images depict the transition from male to female. It goes from a male having a shave transitioning into a female, wearing makeup, a wig, dress.
It looks as though Hastings has done this shoot in a studio with the model sitting down on a stool, in front of a mirror. The model’s makeup and hair accessories are in front of her. Hastings is capturing the images by looking into the mirror. It suggests flat lighting was used due to the consistent lighting throughout. All the images are central in the frame giving a lovely composition and each of them is crisp and clearly defined. The use of colour is not overpowering throughout. When working through these images Hastings has wanted to use the model in the beginning as a less confident person turning into a confident and strong one, hence the colour red in the latter images.
The first and last photos, on initial viewing, look like a separate man and woman as the drag queen is extremely convincing as a woman. In the third image, the model has shaved his eyebrows off. From then on, there are three images showing the model adding foundation with the hair held back. The seventh and eighth images show the model adding more makeup, accentuating and drawing attention to the eyes, while the final image is the final product.
Throughout the images, the model remains unclothed until the final image, where the model is wearing a red dress which is complimented by red lipstick and nails. The performer seems very sophisticated, high end and glamorous. It could be that this performer is drawing on cultural ideals of how women should be.
It looks as though the images were originally taken on film, as shown by the strips of negatives showing ‘Kodak T-max’. These appear to have been placed on a lightbox and then scanned, but the negative images are then displayed as positive images.
I believe these images are extremely convincing and the end product is very well put together. It would be interesting to know how many photographs were taken to create this body of work.
I have been photographing behind the scenes of drag artists for over seven months and am thinking of creating a similar story as a photographic narrative for the artists I have worked with. My lighting is different due to where the images are taken however my images were taken before the performance with no staging. It made me considerhow to exhibit my photographs in the future.