Over the past three years, I have photographed 36 drag queen elders in seven cities, each styled with a custom floral arrangement. The first four portraits were published on Vogue.com in April 2019, and an additional eight portraits premiered on Harper's Bazaar in June 2020.
In January 2021, I signed a publishing deal with Abrams to expand the project into an art book, which will feature 75 queens across 12 cities. 'Legends of Drag' will be an essential contribution to the queer archive, and the first photo book of its kind.
Mainstream drag's preoccupation with youth culture rarely creates space for elder queens, despite their fundamental role in securing rights for today's queer youth, and in shifting the broader societal conversation surrounding gender.
As millennial queers, we inherit the loss of an entire generation to AIDS. The magnitude of that loss informs my commitment to fostering intergenerational exchange through the creation of this work.
It is imperative to document the queens who are not on television, the unsung heroes of local dives, the performers who have championed their art form for decades, even when it meant risking their safety. The portraits honor the legacy of these queens as survivors, trailblazers & cultural ambassadors.
Through this work I’ve found a lineage of camp, tracing its way back to the origins of performance and struggle for gender liberation. Beyond the book itself I am devoted to creating a platform to uplift queer and trans elders.
