Girlfriend

Girlfriend “Impersonation is the supreme act of creation,” –Yukio Mishima, Forbidden Colors In 1992 the AIDS epidemic had been devastating New York for almost a decade. Drag performers were at the intersection of nightlife, (which was changing forever), and political activism. I made these portraits of artists that I knew from my late night “research” at legendary venues like Jackie 60 and Escuelita, during Wigstock, the performance festival held annually in Tompkins Square Park. Drag, in 1992, was still an act of civil disobedience. All photographs are made with a Pentax 6x7, tri-x 220 film rated at ISO 320, photographed in natural light.