PEOPLE LIKE US - Work in Progress

PEOPLE LIKE US is a participatory photography project exploring AFAB (assigned female at birth) trans and non-binary identities and experience; masculinity, gender dysphoria and gender euphoria, cis expectations and the magic of gender non-conforming bodies, why they are or are not looked at, rituals and individual complexities.

I began this project about 18 months ago with a few friends who make up some of the 10 participants now involved who include Jen Smethurst, Krishna Istha, Sabah Choudhury, Azara Meghie, Felix Lane, Lucy Hutson, Chiron Stamp and Anna Wates, plus I’ll be working with more people in the new year as the project expands.

When I started the project I didn’t know what it would look like like, I just knew what I didn’t want to do which was a series of sombre editorial portraits. It is also very important that the work is collaborative and that the participants have autonomy over their images, they possess them.

Starting with chats over tea and spicy ginger beers, I soon found that this was a very welcome project from the participants and that they trusted me to do it which was affirming and exciting. It came about when I realised that I knew quite a number of AFAB people who identify as non-binary and trans within our community and I felt they weren’t getting as much attention as others perhaps, but more to the point they had something very interesting to say. A friend had started to trial a new name and I was learning about some of their issues and dilemmas. Another friend had come out as non-binary and was literally bouncing about the scene as if they’d been born again, I was learning what it was to really ‘see’ my friends as they took about being ‘seen’ themselves.

“Being visible isn't always possible or safe but being seen for who you truly are is a beautiful thing”. (participant quote)

initial shoots have taken place in the studio and have become a space for continuing the dialogue, both in conversation and through image making.

Binding has been a popular subject due to the day to day issues of dealing with breasts both physically and emotionally. Along with documenting various situations and forms, we have also used humour to play with the absurdity and difficulties in concealing ones chest area.

We have discussed bodies and how they don’t conform to cis expectations and why should they. Some of the participants are on T (testosterone) as hormone therapy , some are not but people often assume they are because apparently AFAB bodies are hair free for example - well this project disproves that one and shows real bodies.

The messiness of gender is very much at the heart of this project, as well as celebrating the magic of gender non-conforming bodies and the humans within.

The images below are a peak into a series of portraits (yet to be revealed) that make up part of the project which searches for a state of gender euphoria and also plays with campness, sexiness and the homoerotic showing the beauty and empowerment of the participants.

This is just a snapshot of the beginning of a long project which will carry on the conversation, work with more people and follow the lives of some of the participants as their identities continue to grow.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and watch this space for more from the project in the new year!

THE HOLLY REVELL ARCHIVE - LAUNCH EVENT

My archive launched at Bishopsgate Institute on the 27th February 2019 with an evening of talks and the browsing of images and video dating back 10 years. It will soon be available for all to use as part of the LGBTQ+ collections at Bishopsgate Institute.

Bishopsgate Institute is home to one of the UK’s most comprehensive and accessible archives documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) histories. They started collecting LGBTQ+ materials in 2011, as part of their commitment to recording hidden histories and to preserving and sharing the history of protest and radicalism.

Here’s a link to my page on their website which includes some bio and lists the scope and content of the archive.

Alongside my digital archive there are prints of some of my earlier work which concentrated on the gay male nude predominantly, including many images made with adult performer Ashley Ryder and other muses from that time, when I was immersed in gay male culture and a very proud ‘fag-hag’! Some of these were on show at the launch alongside images made in my Darkroom installations and a slideshow showing a selection of digital images from my archive of London-based queer performance, promotional imagery and portraits.

Limited Edition set of postcards made specially for the launch.

A large part of the evening was taken up with talks starting with Stefan Dickers (archivist at Bishopsgate) and me doing a Qu. and A which went a little something like this but not entirely!

Qu. How did you start taking photographs?

A.  I’m from a fine art background and always had a fascination with photography, making more theoretical work at university, using found photographs – I never wanted to be a photographer – that wasn’t art in my mind back then! 

I have always been an obsessive documenter I realise and have kept a diary since I was 8 years old which holds very important information such as the first time I grated cheese! My written records became more visual in the 1990s when I was following local bands and became part of something I only thought I’d dream about, living a ‘kind of' rock n roll’ lifestyle, it had to be recorded but again I didn’t see it as anything more.

I never fitted into the fine art world and always felt inferior even with my friends at private views, I was an imposter, a visitor despite having trained like they had… I realise this has something to do with class as much as anything else now. I don’t really fit into the photography world either. It was the queer performance scene where I found my home and my people and they have become my work and I have always felt welcome and equal!

Before this I was spending all my time on the male gay scene which was influencing my work, I was making homoerotic nudes with some of my friends such as Ashley Ryder who I met through Mouse – it was her who initially helped open a few doors getting me on at the Erotic Awards parties to experiment with my installations – I even won one of their flying penises for ‘Innovation’! They were very open and made me feel very welcome and respected - they helped me build my confidence as an artist for sure.

DARKROOM was my first proper project which I did at art events such as Act Art in 2010 where I found myself on the same bill as some of my favourite performers such as Scottee and Jonny Woo which was really exciting. Here I had a huge room with a transient audience and guests became living sculptures performing to my camera and me performing the photography. I’ve created Darkroom installations in all sorts of places such as club toilets, a dungeon and a tent at the Barbican. I was more interested in the liveness of this, a happening, than the resulting images but I realised people wanted to make good photographs as well as have fun and be liberated, so I had to step up my game!

DARKROOM - Erotic Awards - Night of the senses - 2011

This image is from one of the DARKROOM installations, I had a number of boys set up in a tableaux for guests to interact with and make images – DARKROOM was a play on the terminology of analogue photography and the darkrooms at gay clubs where I often found my night ending as the boys I was out with continued into the night – I created my own space where all sorts happened! The theory was also about slowing photography down, making minimal images in a world that had become saturated with digitalisation.

Qu. What was it that attracted you to start documenting queer performance?

A. I was working alongside the BEST performers, the most interesting people around in my mind and I couldn’t believe it, but I wasn’t interested in taking photos of them on stage until I started to get to know them.

Scottee taught me the importance of documentation and its creativity plus he provided me with very stimulating subject matter of course – it was him that got me into it really when I was wanting to do my installation on one of his shows he wanted someone to document them and although I had no experience really in that kind of photography he was happy for me to learn on the job and I loved it - being part of a team seeing all that goes into the making of the shows I was into and meeting all the people I’d admired from afar.

David Hoyle invited me to do a DARKROOM installation on his show for the ‘Hot August Fringe’ at the RVT back in 2010. I’d been going to his shows as a punter for some time on and off and never felt the need to photograph him on stage as there were always lots of people there doing that and I wanted the full live experience – oh dear look what happened! I remember forcing myself shyly to enter Pam’s installations like her summer fetes in the urinals, little did I know that I’d one day be doing my stuff in there! I guess it was inevitable that I’d turn my lens onto David – all this access but it wasn’t until I got to know him that I became interested in documenting him and I spent a lot longer getting to know him before taking photographs back stage – he was always very welcoming to me but I didn’t feel comfortable getting my camera out in this intimate setting – the tiny dressing room at the RVT until I’d spent lots of time just chatting – now it’s part of our process and relationship and has become a ritual.

David Hoyle - Slurry - RVT - 2010

'David Hoyle to David in 1258 seconds' - Transformations - 2015

This image is one of the first I took of David on stage back in 2010 at Slurry which was on Wednesday nights at the RVT, they weren’t always that busy and this was the time I really started to get to know David. Here he is showing off his Umbro pants which have been going longer than I have – if you check out our book you’ll see they’ve been well documented over the years and have almost fallen apart now.

This next image of David is from my project Transformations which was a series of photographs documenting the transition from drag back to self in one long exposure, or prawn cocktail to ready salted in David’s words. I chose this one alongside the stage one as its really important to me to work on personal projects and images with the performers I document and to develop individual relationships – it all goes hand in hand for me. This image took over 20 minutes to expose!! The longest of the series with the shortest taking under 3 minutes. I don’t think David quite understood the technique at the time and with the lights off and the camera open I had to humour him as he got chatting, while I was panicking about the exposure as you only get to do one shot but as you can see it worked – this is the magic of photography which never fails to surprise and excite me! 

Qu. Are there specialist skills/attributes you need to capture queer performance in photography?

A. I think it’s really important to capture the queerness of the work as best as possible and the atmosphere, make the viewer feel like they were there.

Being an insider – my interest and understanding is real. I love being part of a creative team getting to see how a show is made and I really appreciate the access I get and seeing behind the scenes, shooting the whole process from rehearsals to the live show…

For me, it’s really important to have a connection with the performer and to get to know them, I find it hard to take interesting photos of people whose work I’m not into – I need to be turned on to find the magic. I shoot what I LOVE and I am keen to preserve it in a way that is honest to the work and the performer. You have to CARE about the work, I can be quite OBSESSIVE too and photography is a great way of HAVING them – KEEPING them!! 

I hate it when you get press photographers who don’t know the work coming in and taking boring sterile photos. They often don’t consider the audience or the performers either using flash in low lit spaces rather than a bright lens for example and taking too much space… Or seeing drag performers shot in the style of Sunday paper editorials; all clean and superficial.

Queer work is often messy as being queer can be a messy business and I want to capture some of that in my images, the grit and the glamour!

I asked Stefan to choose an image from my archive that he thought stood out and he chose this one of Ginger Johnson (2018)

Ginger (Donald Marshall) and I met when we were both starting out doing Scottee’s Hamburger Queen at the RVT – we just clicked right away and I’ve always felt so comfortable when Ginger’s around – I used to feel quite intimidated arriving pre show when Amy Lame, Scottee and maybe a celebrity or 2 were having their chips and a good ol gossip, they were very welcoming but I wasn’t as loud or confident as them so having Ginger to chat to and have a laugh with bought me out of my shell and I felt more at home. We soon started making our own photographs together and have always been able to make strong images whether it’s a 3 minute exposure at the end of a show in the toilets at the RVT like with his Transformations image or a full day studio shoot like this one – we understand each other and our capabilities when collaborating and I LOVE him.

Qu. What are your relationships with the performers you photograph? Is it important to build relationships

A. This question leads on well from talking about Ginger and as I’ve said for me its really really important yes. 

Each relationship is very different and here we have Scottee who was the one who really got me into documenting queer performance as a creative act and as a job, he was always very savvy about documenting from the start and look at what he has now!! Others like Travis have caught on too and they are including me in their budgeting which is great for both of us – I think it’s these forever relationships that make the work strong. 

Scottee and Russella - Hamburger Queen - RVT - 2012

I love the drama caught in this shot, the tension of the moment which happens a lot in queer work which is often messy as I said earlier. There has to be TRUST both between the performers and with me

I also picked this one as it was through Russella’s regular turns on Scottee’s shows that I got to know her beyond drunken encounters out and about and we started to work together on portraits and videos at her home and in the studio developing our friendship along the way. Photography is a great way to get to know someone and spend some quality time.

Jen Smethurst 2019

Qu. 5.   Do you have new projects coming up?

A. I’m working on a participatory photography project about trans masculine identities with some brilliant people who I know from the community. I realized I didn’t know so much about their stories compared to the trans femme side and I was starting to learn and become interested, I also found that they were not so well documented as their trans sisters and when I started to sound them out they appreciated the attention and I knew I was onto something special – it’s early days but I’m really excited about this project.

I’m also planning an archival book for 2020 which will include much of what is here in my archive at Bishopsgate along with some of the more intimate images I’ve shot backstage and for projects.

Nando Messias - Shoot the Sissy - Promotional Image - 2016

I initially admired Nando from afar dreaming of documenting their beautiful work and we talked for quite some time about shooting something together based on walking which was a regular theme in their work at the time and I thought it would work well with the long exposure photography I was doing back then but that never happened however my dream came true and we have become quite close over the past few years with me documenting much of his work and making some of my favourite images I’ve ever made.

For the launch he did a beautiful talk about working with me and his interest in queer archives - here’s a few extracts:

“I met Holly quite a few years ago. I used to see her documenting other artists’ performances and was always intrigued by her—and maybe a little bit jealous of the artists she was documenting as well, I must confess. It took us a while to start working together but once we started, it was always a celebration. For those who don’t know this, working with Holly comes with lots of laughter. One of my earliest memories is our collaboration for Shoot the Sissy. She was not at all fazed by this idiosyncratic idea I had. She was tickled, though.”

“Bodies are archives too. Scars, spots and wrinkles mark events. They are milestones in our journey through life, documenting the passage of time. This notion of a living, organic archive is where my interest lies where I stand today, at the beginning of my path into this topic. In looking at it this way, I allow myself some agency in organising my own archive in a way that suits me by shuffling things around and privileging certain items/discourses over others, which might be engaging a less redemptive narrative, for instance.”

“In terms of queer discourse, it can be said that archiving is about keeping memories alive, not letting them die. It is about making space where there was none before. This is what makes the collaboration between Holly—a documenter, photographer and artist so committed to recording queer work—and Stefan at the Bishopsgate Institute—an organisation whose ethos is strongly rooted in preserving narratives which are in danger of extinction—such a good match.”

We had these lovely video messages from collaborators who couldn’t make the launch; Scottee and Travis Alabanza.

Video Message from Scottee

Video Message from Travis Alabanza

And to round things off we had the legendary Lavinia Co-op sharing images and stories from the Bloolips Archive. I would often see Lavinia who was always friendly and charismatic at the parties and gigs but it wasn’t until I invited her to the studio to be in my Transformations project that we met properly - I was quite nervous as I’d done some research and seen Lavinia had been photographed by the greats such as Peter Hujar one of my favourite photographers but she soon put me at ease and gave me some of the best advice “don’t rush – this is your time” I had a habit of being apologetioc for taking up people’s time with the technical side and didn’t want to bore them… I am still a bit that way even though I know my worth now… she also told me lots of stories and like with David I felt like I was getting a one on one show!!

Posters and flyers from the Bloolips Archive also held at Bishopsgate Institute

I was so happy with how the launch went - it was a truly queer family event with long term collaborators and newer ones all together in a room full of love. This beautiful Facebook post from Gareth Joyner aka Myra Dubois written that same evening says it all!

“And I'm back home! I spent the evening at Bishopsgate Institute at an event inducting selected works by Holly Revell into the Institute's LGBTQ Archive. 

It was an unexpectedly moving evening. Suddenly there we all were! Younger, thinner, a bit more obnoxious and a little braver. It brought an awful lot of memories back, and most of them, despite the tantrums and the fall outs, I'm pleased to say were happy. I'm grateful for this. I've given such a lot of time recently to wallowing on the things I've done wrong that it was joyously refreshing to sit and silently celebrate a silly, highly creative and very exciting part of my life. It's also a little surreal to now find myself at an age where thing's that I've been a part of are considered 'history' (albeit of the very recent type) and I find my formative creative output (alongside many, many contemporaries) 'documented'. In my early 20s I would read about troupes such the Cockettes or Monty Python and long to be involved in some kind of scene or movement. Tonight I saw that as it turns out; I was! 

It was comforting to share this with so many familiar faces from those years, some of whom I've not seen in some time. Nando's words resonated a great deal with me. In particular, their words on archiving as a process of making room for the new which was a viewpoint I hadn't yet considered. The whole evening felt like a warm nostalgic hug; and now, after making it all about myself and my feelings, I've got to hand it back to Holly and end on a note of congratulations. Your keen eye for a moment, your perception of character and your own individual artistry were quite rightly celebrated tonight and I felt the same thrill I always get when one of 'our lot' does well. 

In short, what a thrill to have Myra's image included in an archive! She's a real museum piece!”

Myra Dubois to Gareth in 499 seconds’ - Transformations - 2014

I should also add that my archive is very much a PARTIAL recording coming from a specific perspective – my personal lens and doing this archive has made me realize how much the work is about me as well as my many muses!

Read the Muse did a lovely and perceptive review too.

“Through this intimate proximity, between photographer and muse, Revell perceives an underground world of the avant-garde, queer, and punk performance through her lens, and documents these moments into a tangible history for a community that has so often been erased, discriminated against, and scorned for its flamboyant, creative expression, and its daring to be different. In a time where hate speech and legislation has targeted and threatened the livelihood of the trans community, and has proliferated across the media landscape in the UK, there is no greater need for documentation and recording of the LGBTQ+ community’s history and presence than today.”

And finally I must say a MASSIVE THANKS to Bishopsgate Institute for having us and to everyone who made this launch such a beautiful success and of course to the many of you who have let me in with my camera!

Watch this space for details of the archive going live at Bishopsgate and how to use it.

SCOTTEE: I MADE IT

LOTS of our photographs are now published in Scottee’s book; Scottee:I Made It.

Art and the Self: What did Narcissus see? DIY with Nando Messias

Another week another DIY - this time I was assisting Nando Messias on their DIY workshop ‘Narcissism’ at the Freud Museum with another amazing group of artists. What’s so great about these LADA (Live Art Development Agency) DIYs is the coming together of artists who you might be aware of or might never have heard off spending quality time together, making, creating and discussing.

Day 1 of the workshop included a seminar on narcissism led by psychoanalyst Tamar Schonfield, a discussion on the intersections between art and narcissism, including 'selfie' culture, a survey of self-portraiture in photography sharing inspirations and some drawing exercises.

Day 2 was all about the participants making their own individual self-portraits with my assistance which was like a photo-shoot mini-marathon!

Philip Bedwell

Augusto Cascales

Caitlin Griffiths

Oriana Fox

Rebecca Moses

Chanje Kunda

Ira Brand

Paula Varjack

Lorena Johanna

Sam Reynolds

And then we made an image together and I got to be a narcissist too!

Augusto took it further and created this.

And then we made ourselves edible for the DIY picnic with this cake!

Published work

Published work in a trilogy of zines by Pilot Press.

TRANSFORMANCE - DARC DIY

Following our Transformance collaboration with Tempting Failure, our collective DARC (Documentation Action Research Collective) hosted a LADA (Live Art development Agency) DIY. This happened over 3 days in October at Dance4 in Nottingham with 11 participants; Fenia Kotsopoulou, Alisa Oleva, Samuel Barry, Maddy Costa, Paul Hughes, Bettina Fung, Xinyue Zhang, Andrew Hayes, Hector Dyer, Noa Carvajal, Priya Mistry, and us; Holly Revell, Tara Fatehi Irani, Ernst Fischer, Jemima Yong, Manuel Vason.

Transformance is a practice-as-research project, a process of artistic exchange and creation, in which live performance, documentation, translation and transformation meet.

The workshop seeked to blur the lines between live performance and documentation. The idea, to generate a hybrid live practice by bringing together photography, video, drawing, writing and alternative forms of documentation, over the 3 days at Dance4.

We put together a programme of exercises and discussions concerning creative responses to live performance, and the ‘translational’ relationship between performance and its documents, exploring what remains (and does not remain) of a performance, and the seeming contradiction governing notions of the ephemeral and the fixed.

Traces of Performance - capturing what might remain using light sensitive materials.

Exercises on liveness in the act of photography 

Collective documentation via writing, drawing, movement and sound

Exercises on memory and the body as tools for documentation

We had a social on the Saturday night where I learnt more about Fenia’s Vulvography, here’s an image she made in her Vulvamera during the workshop!

DARC are so proud that this DIY brought together such an amazing array of artists with strong practices who were all open to new experiments and discussions; this multidisciplinarity made the experience extremely rich and polyphonic.

And here’s a video capturing some of the activities from the 3 days.

2017 Highlights

Here we go again has another year passed already?! However looking back I seem to have squeezed lots in! 

Of course creating, publishing and launching my first photo-book was the biggest highlight of the year and probably of my career so far, it pretty much took over my life since its October launch and there's still work to be done re distribution but it's been worth every hour!! (see previous blog for more). 

I also made my first zine 'PAM', which I did in conjunction with the book and found to be a lighter way to reproduce material... expect more of these this year! 

I was extremely proud to work with Nando Messias on his seminal piece 'Where four roads meet: death and the sissy', where he killed off all 3 characters in an emotive performance. I made the gallery portrait with him as well as shooting the production shots for the show. 

I really enjoyed working with Hackney Showroom on their first full theatre production 'Frau', which involved making the promotional images, a trailer and the productions shots. 

Working as a photography mentor on Milk Present's production Bullish which addresses trans-masculine identities was a wonderful job with some fantastic results for the accompanying exhibition. Scroll down to full blog on this. 

I have continued to document most of Scottee's work which continues to evolve and challenge vehicles for queer performance, in exciting, controversial and original ways. I've travelled the country rain and shine with my camera in order to preserve his work which appears in the most peculiar of places from his living room to a boxing club! I absolutely love working with him and being in his gang of weirdos! VIDEOS here

I've worked on making portraits with some more amazing people this year and intend to do many more, these will go alongside the live documentation I have shot over the years for an upcoming book in 2020...

I have talked at a number of events about my work this year including 'The Manchester Drag Symposium', DARC Sully night and VFD 'Recording Queer Histories' with Lavinia Co-op and Lyall Hakaraia. I find this exciting, nerve wracking and well worthwhile. 

Our collective DARC continues to find its feet and evolve since its launch last year and we have recently received arts council funding to develop our project 'Transformance'; a practice-as-research project where live performance, documentation, translation and transformation meet. We will be dedicating our time to this in 2018 with related Sully nights. 

I'm really excited about this new year; I'll be working with Scottee on his 10 year publication 'I made it', along with my own archive which may be finding its own prestigious home... ! I will continue my portrait work with notable queer performers and hopefully get more nice gigs like some of those listed here! 

Thanks for reading! 

DAVID HOYLE: PARALLEL UNIVERSE - Launch and Round Up

October 2017: I couldn't have wished for a more fabulous launch party, it really was epic! A lot or our wonderful crowd-funders appeared to grab their copies along with a variety of characters from the community and beyond. David and Nick read from the book before entering into a dialogue with me about the making of the book and our working relationship... I was slightly tongue tied and overwhelmed but I think I did ok! 

Its been non stop since the launch with admin for the crowdfunder (the price you pay for a successful one!), posting books, promotion, doing stalls at various events and further distribution... 

We've had some lovely press, some of which I've rounded up here.

ID: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/vb349b/the-parallel-universe-of-david-hoyle?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

Run Riot: http://www.run-riot.com/articles/blogs/parallel-universe-holly-revell-photographing-and-collaborating-david-hoyle

Loverboy: http://www.loverboymagazine.com/david-hoyle-parallel-universe/

This is cabaret: http://www.thisiscabaret.com/david-hoyle-holly-revell-went-one-night-lasted-three-years/

Huck: http://www.huckmagazine.com/art-and-culture/print/david-hoyle-performance/ 

And David was a guest on radio 4's Loose Ends in November where both he and Clive Anderson mentioned the book! 

As well as my website and some pop up stalls I've managed to get the book into a number of prestigious book shops in London including Foyles, The Photographers Gallery, Gays the Word, Donlon Books, Bookseller Crow and LADA Unbound. Watch this space for further availability, I'm hoping to stretch beyond London in the new year. It is also available to view in the queer archives at Bishopsgate institute and LADA's (Live Art Development Agency) library. 

I love hearing people's comments on the book and seeing snaps of it in their homes!

" 'Being Photographed Shows That Someone Gives a Shit' is a quote from David Hoyle.... taken from a wonderful catalogue of beautiful, truthful and graphic portraits by the inspirational photography of Holly Revell. Parallel Universe' chronicles the life and times of one of the most outstanding, revolutionary and considerate (avant garde) performers that this country has ever had or will be likely to be emulated ever again, the One the Only David Hoyle.
To quote Dorian Black/Dusty Limits (in the book) 'If David Hoyle didn't exist we'd have to invent him. But hardly anyone has that kind of imagination'.
It's a rollercoaster of an insight to this remarkable, historical and most majestic of performance artists. Thank you Holly for your vision, brilliance and moving Portrayal.... and being a conduit into the avant-garde". Lenard Pink

"There is some great community in there with real friends of mine like Lois Keiden, Christeene, and Bougeoise and Maurice and other lovely people I don’t know well, It comes complete with many of David Hoyle's paintings. I am going to set it up on a book stand and have David’s paintings like a daily mantra ! Believe me you need this book! Parallel Universe. It is an all purpose oracle!" Penny Arcade

"Never had a coffee table book before. This shall replace ALL my furniture". Darren Etherington

So with over half of the limited edition sold, I wonder what 2018 will bring for the book? I plan to get it into university libraries, The British Library, more art institutions and shops outside of London... watch this space and THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us so far and or bought the book!!

'BULLISH' - Photography Mentor

One of my favourite jobs this year has been to mentor Leo Skilbeck from Milk Presents; a theatre group I have worked with on a few promotional images in the past. This time my role was to mentor them in producing a photography exhibition for their new show Bullish which addresses Trans-masculine identities in a fresh and original way.

Lucy Jane Parkinson

"BULLISH pits ancient mythology against modern gender navigation to furiously disrupt, traverse and rewrite the rule book. Stepping into the ring with a gender fierce ensemble of hopers and renegades, BULLISH is a story about packing, passing, and gambling your way out of the labyrinth." Milk Presents

The job involved some technical training and collaborating on a concept for the shows themes. We wanted to show the performers in a positive light with a feeling of being free, being powerful, being at one with themselves, of tranquility and peace. 

Cairo Nevitt

On the day of the shoot I kinda became the lighting technician and creative director which was strange without a camera in my hand but very enjoyable and I'm really proud with what we achieved. 

The show is running from now until the 30th Sept 2017 at The Camden People’s Theatre. 

'David Hoyle: Parallel Universe' - Gomer Press Visit

Last week David Caines; my designer and I went over to Wales to visit the great people at Gomer to check in on the printing process and do a final check of the proofs.

It was fascinating to see the whole process and WOW I couldn't ask for more eye popping luscious colours - I'm so happy with the quality - its well worth doing things properly!

And so exciting to finally see my work in print - blimey they get through up to 150 of these sheets to get the colours right - thats a lot of recycling but I carried as many back as I could manage - they'll make great wallpaper! 

Dillan our printer fine tuning every page.

These are the 'end-papers', I've learnt some new words doing this project! 

The printing plates are really cool - wish I could have bought these back with me. 

All printed and ready to go - one final proof to check although I can't imagine we'll be able to change anything now and then it just needs binding before I have 500 books landing on my doorstep!

The official launch party is on Wednesday the 18th October at the Bethnal Green Working Mens Club. 

Gillet Square 'Everyday People'

I first started working with some of the 'regulars' of Gillet Square, Dalston in 2013 when I collaborated with social documentarist Roland Ramanan  setting up a Photo Booth to make some artistic portraits in my signature painterly style of the time which would contrast with Roland's often raw black and white documentation of the people. 

I have since returned on a number of occasions to make positive street portraits with the same group of people... 

some of which were then exhibited in and around the square as part of Photomonth and the Dalston Street Show last year... 

These visits have resulted in me facilitating a series of workshops starting today with some of the regular users of the square and other locals where they will be getting behind the camera and taking control of the documentation of their environment... I can't wait to see what they come up with!! 

A New Muse!

I met Laurie at the Manchester Drag Symposium, they came up to me after my talk and quietly complimented me on my work, I was immediately taken with this beautiful seemingly shy creature and we kept in touch after the event... So when I returned to Manchester a few weeks later we made a date for a photoshoot. 

I arrived to a hungover and sleep deprived Laurie and we laughed at the fact that there was a builder literally filling the other side of their window delicately painting the sill (and blocking my main light source to my horror!) 

This was only our second meeting so we chatted, had a laugh and looked at some art work and inspiration. I asked Laurie about Violet Blonde; their drag character - I wasn't prepared for the hard truth of why they'd created such a monstrous drag persona but took it in my stride as ever and understood the desire to go against the grain... 

However I was here to shoot Laurie as that was the person I had met and become interested in. What I LOVE about photography and particularly photographing people in their homes is the intimacy it creates - a precious couple of hours or so really getting to know someone and connecting with them. If there's a bit of a vibe between you, you know it's gonna be a good shoot and its integral to the photos you make together...

After an initial bout of the giggles and apologies for the chain smoking we got to work (by which point the builder had gone thankfully!) It felt very natural from the start and I wanted to catch Laurie's spirit, his sweetness and a sense of freeness... It was playful and lots of fun - we just clicked in both senses of the word!! 

I left Laurie's with a skip and a hop, that old familiar feeling of falling in love a bit, meeting a new muse and having had a beautiful afternoon and a creative exchange with another artist. I left them resting before their next gig judging a drag competition later that night... and no doubt another adventure... !! 

I'm currently collecting people I am drawn to within our community for a book of 'beautiful queers' to be produced in the future...  

The Manchester Drag Symposium

What a BRILLIANT day - held at manchester Central Library which is rather grand and funded by the Heritage Lottery, there's obviously an interest in drag as a subject for discussion and I felt honoured to be invited to present my work amongst performers, academics and historians. 

Some hi-lites for me included the British Library who presented some archival material specific to Manchester such as newspaper articles reporting men being arrested for that 'age old sin' of wearing 'women's clothing' and a fascinating radio programme titled 'The Night People' from 1966 where Barbara McDonald explored the streets of Manchester after midnight and spoke to those 'other' people such as Homosexuals!! Jacob Bloomfield's paper 'Soldiers in skirts: Cross-Dressing Veterans in the 20th century English Stage' was an interesting romp through a very British social history!! And it was really interesting to hear about other people's projects such as Timberlina and Lisa Lee's Mothers Ruin and Mark Edward's Council House Movie Star! It was all GREAT!

Here's a few slides from my presentation...

YES - Drag artists and photographers make great friends!! But when there's so many wonderful pictures out there and the queens are so good at documenting themselves - what can you do to be original and interesting?! Why add to the millions of pictures now out there? The world is full of photographers and drag artists... !

I guess my work is as much about the individuals as it is about drag and thats a start - getting closer to them and taking part in their lives... finding out why and how... it's a life long project... 

Of course I spoke about David and our work together - I LOVE this quote from an interview we did and him saying things like that to me gave me the confidence to pursue documenting him more intimately without worrying that I was being a nuisance...! 

Haha this is where it all began for me - with the wonderful Kenny Everett - I remember coming home from school and putting on my shiny blue sports shorts (the closest I had to french knickers) and swinging my legs around "in the best possible taste"!! I've always been drawn to men in dresses!! 

I showed work from my project TRANSFORMATIONS which is about the process of drag and the connections the performers have with their drag selves... 

I talked about some recent ideas based around drag, the body and the work that goes into it...

and the marks and scars it leaves behind...

I also showed this response to drag post Rupaul from Scottee over a year ago as I think it was very clever... He's "divorced" drag now as he doesn't feel he needs it to say the things he wants to say and he realised he just likes wearing 'women's' clothes so he does that on the day to day now... 

I'm pursuing a number of ideas around drag and the performers I'm interested in at the moment and have lots more research to pursue. I hope to have my David Hoyle photo book out later this year and will be revealing more about 'The Drag Files'... 

The symposium provided a wealth of inspiration and was as much a day of research for me as it was an opportunity to share my work - I am extremely grateful to Jez Dolan for inviting me to take part and to all the kind people who gave me such positive feedback! Gotta keep going!! 

2016 Some Highlights!

I've had a few exhibitions this year! I finally showed my project TRANSFORMATIONS both at Limewharf and at the Glory where I also took to the stage and did a talk about my work with the one and only Dr. Sharon Husbands! My opening at Lime Wharf was a dream with performances from Ginger Johnson  and Fabulous Russella who pulled out all the stops! Huge props to Tam Vibert for her support and encouragement too!

and... OMG the Glory made coasters with some of my images to celebrate the show!!! 

View fullsize

I also had some portraits on show in Gillet Square which I made with some of the 'Regulars' and I showed work in group shows; 'We R' for pride and the Dalston Street show, part of Photomonth .

Our collective D.A.R.C. has expanded and we have put on a number of events in our studio space in east London, as well as a workshop at Roehampton university. This year we will be focussing on a new project 'Transformance' which invites performers to collaborate in the making of documentation for new performance work. 

I worked with MA and PHD students at Central School of Speech and Drama making promotional images and documenting their research based performance work with a view to doing some workshops on image making from performance practices...

I continue to work with wonderful Scottee documenting his work and making portraits with him, some of which have been published...

and of course David Hoyle's live performances and backstage portraits... 

 It was a momentous occasion when Christeene returned to renew her wedding vows with David!

Last year I spent a lot of time collating and collaging my pictures of David Hoyle from the last 6 years to make a photobook which will be published this year! 

I had a great time over the summer working on portraits with a number of BRILLIANT people from our community - an ongoing project which will become a book and an exhibition in the future... Watch out - I'll be calling you!!

I continued to work in-house for The Glory and their events along with some promotional images with Jonny woo and co.

and for Duckie documenting their big events and doing a Photo Booth for their 21st birthday party where the punters had to strip for pics - what a hoot!! 

I worked with Nando Messias on his promotional images and documentation for his brilliant new show 'Shoot the Sissy'. 

My pop up photo-studio SHOWOFF has made a couple of appearances including one where I worked with the lovely Darren Evans 'make up artist of the stars' doing 5 minute David Hoyle faces! 

I have also loved meeting and working with some exciting new young performers this year!!

My first gig with Fender (hopefully one of many!) Here I worked with the lead guitarist from the Fews showing off his new guitar! They were supporting the Pixies at Brixton Academy and there's Joey Santiago in that backstage snap! 

To end the year I went on a tour of Penge with local poet Barbara Brownskirt taking promotional photographs for her upcoming solo show this year - a truly bizarre and wonderful day out indeed!! 

So that was a selection from the many wonderful people I've worked with over the past year. Watch this space to see new projects begin to unravel and others hopefully reaching fruition... !!  

THANKS for reading!!  

LOOKING BACK 2014

It's been a busy year for me with my freelance cabaret and performance photography work, and in developing some personal projects ready for fruition and exhibition next year, so why not have a look back at some of the highlights!

I was very proud to do the promotional imagery and videos for Scottee's Hamburger Queen - the final season.

 and of course to document the show for the third year running both in pictures and in video.

I have made numerous videos for Scottee this year so have set up a playlist just for them

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBvVFP9iyzrxPEwEN6JN1e7YjdOORl9im

So happy to be part of Scottee Inc. and his Hamburger Queen family!

I continued my work as the official photographer for Duckie's major events which has been a blast and Duckie are wonderful to work for!

I met CHRISTEENE and fell head over heals in love with her and those ponies!!

But she fell in love with David and they got married at Vogue(waye) Fabrics!

 

However, I was their wedding photographer and videographer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weBO02SDWr8

I was in a fantastic group exhibition called Sin in My Heart which was curated by 'two little birds' Paul Darling and Peter Gwyn and I was proud to be exhibiting alongside David Hoyle, Lee Baxter, Jamie McLeod, Matthew Straddling and many more... we showed in Manchester and in London

as well as having work on the wall, I had my DARKROOM installation which was a huge success, making lots of new friends and collaborators in this intimate setting...

Here's a video of the space we had in London

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRMqgYq1xEQ

The Edinburgh Festival is always a treat of course!

  

Working with Scottee and his gang at Bestival has been a highlight of my year for 3 years running now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iZk-OyI14  

I have also been shooting more for LADA and their events and shows such as Steakhouse Live and their charity auction...

This led me to discovering LADA's DIY initiative and I participated in an intense 4 day workshop with Live Art Photographer extraordinaire Manuel Vason called 'The Photo Performer' - OMG how could I have not have done this workshop - it was so good to meet like minded people who exist somewhere between performance and photography like me... it was both physical and theoretical and just what I needed in terms of taking my performance documentary work further, contextualising it and reconfirming its validity and importance... next year is looking to be very exciting in terms of taking this forward and collaborating with others...

I also did a 3 day workshop with Anders Peterson which was equally fantastic - he is a master and was so generous in what he gave us - it was a weekend of pure photo indulgence! I had a portfolio review which has given me the confidence to complete a couple of projects I had ongoing and plan for exhibition next year, I was also given invaluable advice on a longer term book project which I knew needed to get deeper - I am so excited about executing this work in the new year!!

Shooting David Hoyle's London shows is an ongoing pleasure and obsession!

'Still Life'

'Illustration' RVT

'I Victim' Chelsea Theatre

 

... and this has led to an intimate relationship back stage where David has given me full access to document him pre-show, post-show and in the intervals during his shows - we are working on making a book with these images and some other stuff from the 'Parallel Universe'.

  

I created a 'Living picture' at the RVT during one of David's shows - a photographic installation mirroring the stage with our own platform opposite where the audience could join in and create pictures with my beautiful assistants Zachariah Fletcher and Alfie Ordinary... a lit variation of my DARKROOM...

...when Pippa Dee stripped off and joined the picture she cmpletely and deservedly stole the show!!

I have shot so many wonderful artists this year and seen some amazing shows - I love working with these people and really enjoy the role I play in the community and the connection the camera helps to enable with other artists...  a few of many here...

Borgeoise and Maurice

Ben Walter's eclectic variety show 'Come with me if you want to Live'

So I am now working to finish a few projects ready for exhibition Easter time... and am looking for venues - please get in touch if you have any ideas!!

'Boy with...' is a series of pictures based on old master paintings of 'girls with ... ' something such as Vermeer's 'girl with a pearl earing'

'TRANSformations' features drag artists and the transition back to their original self all in one shot...

'Performance Portraits' capture the essence of a full performance or concept in 1 image.

Thanks so much for joining me in my look back - it's been a FANTASTIC year and I am very excited about 2015!! Stay with me if you like pictures like these!!

Last night I was of course with Scottee at his ultimate NYE party CAMP and look here he is - Eeeeek I have an edit to do now so best be off ... no rest for the wicked!!

SIN IN MY HEART 2 - LONDON

Following the success of our show in Manchester - SIN N MY HEART came to London for its second coming at the perfect venue - a dungeon in North London called the Bunker. Here's a quick video of the show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRMqgYq1xEQ&feature=youtu.be

My DARKROOM installation was open for business once again and we made some stunning pictures. This time I had my faithful assistant and collaborator Zach Fletcher to lend a hand in his own special way - he certainly added a certain draw to the DARKROOM for some and features in many of the images made!!

                                                

Friday night started with the liberation of a series of women posing nude or semi-nude for the first time...  I love it when this happens - new people pushing their personal boundaries and taking home new experiences and hopefully feeling a little more confident or fulfilled in their daily lives...

           

We had some beautiful men in too making classic images ...

                                                    

        

People became very playful and were having fun - the camera facilitates this HAPPENING of actions and intimacy - participants are playing to the camera - it allows people to exagerate themselves and play out their desires...

"It's like the camera gives you the licence to take of your clothes and create a scenario" (participant saturday night)

                                                     

... and as the evenings progressed, the wine and conversation flowed around the dungeon and things got quite steamy down our corridor - the venue of course lent itself to a more sexual experience and our art lovers took the opportunity to fully experience the powers of the DARKROOM...

   

         

... and finally here's Paul Darling - without him and his colleague Peter Gwyn none of this would have happened - massive LOVE and respect to these 'two little birds' who put the show together and whole heartedly support the queer arts... !

TRANSformations (work in progress)

Working with drag artists, these images are about the transformation back from drag to boy; I am fascinated by the way many artists I know take forever lovingly applying the drag for a performance or shoot… but cannot get it off quick enough at the end, armed with baby wipes they return to their former self in minutes.

                     'Ginger to Donald in 306 seconds'

The images record that transition starting with a posed portrait in drag, the exposure keeps going while they wipe it all off and put their boy or day clothes on and are repositioned to complete the image. The length of time it takes to remove the drag makes the title of the picture.

                            'Myra to Gareth in 499 seconds'

Harking back to early portraiture, I use long exposures and limited light sources in order to capture the transitions. Some of them also echo spirit photography and the viewer may well question is that really the same person in  the image - perhaps they challenge the notion of the photograph as a truthful image. They capture a period of time where something is happening, a change is being made in one single frame or image.

'Sharon to Justin in 277 seconds'

They evidence the person behind the drag and reveal the often, contrasting characters. They record traces of post performance fatigue and the melancholy that can often follow a show after the adrenalin runs out...

Sometimes I find it difficult to shoot the performers I know when they are not in character or drag as I haven't studied them as hard off stage; I know their character's moves and expressions and so do they - they are used to being photographed in all their glory but can become awkward or a bit stiff without the face and clothes... (sometimes not always!!)

'Scottee in 297 seconds'

It is interesting to see how they position themselves from their drag character to their natural selves and the way they interact  with their two selves - it is a collabortive process and I want to get as much as I can of the relationship they have with their character in the image.

'Tom Harlow in 263 seconds'

I have a fair number of people who I want to work with for this project and once it is finished I plan to make large prints for an exhibition in London next year so watch this space!

'Divine to Zach in 381 seconds'

Entering the Photographic Portrait Prize - an emotional rollercoaster!

This year I finally got my act together and entered the National Portrait Gallery's annual exhibition 'The Photographic Portrait Prize'. I chose to enter one of my portraits of David Hoyle snapped in his dressing room at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, as this is a sustained project that we have been working on for a couple of years and I feel we have got to a point where we have a number of good portraits.

Initially all you have to do is give the NPG a title and pay them some money, so I had a while after the initial deadline to make a final decision on which one I would choose from the series 'David Hoyle - Paralell Universe'.

Upon entering I was confident that I had lots of pictures to choose from that were strong enough, my main concern was that they were snapped spontaneously using just the available light in the dressing room, there wasn't a sitting as such and no special lighting which is part of what often makes a stunning portrait, however I felt that his character radiated through as well as our relationship and the intimacy he has allowed me in giving me full access backstage...

Once I began the process of selecting that one amazing portrait that would hopefully capture the judges eyes and hearts, I began to lose my confidence and question whether I was good enough. I scanned catalogues from previous shows and wondered did we fit in, did we have a hope in hell? Many of the portraits chosen are beautifully lit and there is a bit of a trend in the types of portraits that make it through... there certainly hasn't ever been anyone who looks like David in there! I wondered do I think these portraits are good because I love my subject, what makes a winning portrait?! At times I thought who do I think I am entering such a prestigious prize and doubted my talents but other times I thought WOW these are great and could fit in!

With about a 1% chance 60/6000 entries I think roughly, I really will be amazed if we make it but the process has been massively beneficial in analizing my work and thinking to the future... I asked a number of friends and colleagues for their opinion and have really appreciated their input...

This is David's choice, of course he went against the grain in choosing this rather messy one showing him in a beauty pose amidst the chaos of his dressing room,

which he rather cleverly compared to Fragonard's 'The Swing'!!

 His choice made me think differently in what I was looking for and I thought perhaps you're right - lets just go for it...

But after talking with others, I lost my nerve and decided to go with something more traditional - in David's words "the old man with a painted face..." Oh no, don't say that,  I said - is it a cliche...!"

I eventually got it down to 2 portraits and had them both beautifully printed at Metro. Much of my work doesn't make it to print these days so the process of making a professional print was also of great value.

This portrait was the favourite and has indeed appeared on one of David's flyers and posters... It was descibed as something less familiar, it draws you in...

Whereas this one, which was my favouite initially was descibed as a more familiar image, like an actors portrait almost, I hadn't realized this so that was interesting, although it put me off a bit until I saw it in print - and as suspected the colours really sang, so this is the one that I chose in the end.

I hand delivered it to LCC and out of the few I saw in the que I thought yes it held its own and even stood out so who knows - I really will fall of my chair if we do get in, but it's about time they had this wonderful representative of the "trans-spirit" on their big posh gallery walls!!

Ann Liv Young at DUCKIE Gay Shame and Lesbian Weakness

I dont intend this blog to just be for my nude non Facebook friendly photos, however here we go again! For this years Gay Pride (anti-pride party) I was shooting for Duckie at their annual ball of FABulousness of course! and amongst all the wonderful stuff to see and do including LEGENDry CHRISTEENE (see here for pics of them!) we had the AMAZING dance company that is Ann Liv Young!

What emerged was a full on dynamic ritualistic animalistic performance of beautiful nudity in many shapes and forms... I think the pictures tell the story, however the live experience was something else!! As the performance grew and grew moving into the crowded audience and bringing some of them naked up to the stage too - this was a HAPPENING of mammoth proportions! and with the projections reflecting from stage to audience, everyone was truly involved...

 

It was a total joy to shoot this performance - making pictures from something so organic and exciting - you can't beat the liveness of this kind of work but it is important to have some kind of document - my aim was to capture the energy and create a beautiful visual from what was before me... The second half found me on the stage with the performers fully immersed...