DRAG IDOL, April 2005

My intension for this project was to explore the issue of identity from an outsider point of view. I was very interested at the time to dive into unfamiliar territory and have the challenge to work with subject matter that I have no familiar relation to. Much of my personal work deals with the subject of personal identity -- internal and external struggles of the self. I'm very interested in our method of trying to unify our internal and external identity through material objects that symbolize the self. I chose to document Drag Queen culture and managed to get an opportunity to go behind the scenes at a weekly drag show and competition called Drag Idol which took place somewhere along the gay district in Toronto. I started shooting with intensions to do one-on-one portraits of the Drag Queens but ended up absorbing the madness of the backstage craziness during their preparations for the show.

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