Monday, January 28, 2013

dr.a.g. The Coffee Table Photography Book


This isn’t your father’s drag, wearing your mother’s old dress and fake pearl necklace for Halloween, though I appreciate his courage for thinking those shoes go with that bag.

Raja by Peter Palladino, dr.a.g.
The book dr.a.g. is a tome of bold characters created by people who confront homophobia, sexism, and gender politics with fabric and lipstick.

Being a gay man on ‘that’ side of thirty, thirty-one to be exact, I was introduced to drag by Ru Paul, To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar, Birdcage, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Yes I referenced movies, because like many of my generation living in Suburbia, USA this was my greatest exposure to positive images of drag queens and anything queer.  There was a sense of other icons of ‘gender bending’ such as David Bowie and the gimmicky Twisted Sister, but those meant little to me.

So when I think of Drag Queens I think of the words of Miss Noxeema Jackson, ‘When a gay man has way too much fashion sense for one gender he is a drag queen.’

Between television and the internet there are usually plenty of images to inspire my imagination and provoke thought but when I looked at this book at 160 pages I was overwhelmed by the number of performers and photographers in this collection.

You and a guest in the living room, or let’s face it the bedroom, can flip to any page and find something of interest to talk about: style, attitude, and fierceness these models have it all.  There is an image for every taste, from the classic idol to the stunningly exotic.

The book can be purchased at: http://www.bookthefilm.com/

Check out a full list of models with links to where you can find them on the internet at the bottom of the page.

With the permission of the copyright holder I have reproduced a few below to wet your appetite.


Classic Idol (Jimmy James by Walter Melrose)
Stunningly Exotic (Nina Flowers by Norman Dillon)