Queens at Home è un progetto del fotografo documentarista con base a Londra Jan Klos che, affascinato dal mondo drag, ha deciso di andare oltre i palcoscenici e la vita mondana per sbirciare dietro le quinte.
Lontane dai club e dalla vita mondana a cui spesso sono associate, le drag, come il titolo suggerisce, vengono immortalate nelle proprie case in quanto estensione dell’identità di una persona.
TeTe Bang is an infamous bubblegum legend in London’s underground queer drag scene. Her strong feminist point of view has been pushing the boundaries of what drag is and making people reassess the inclusivity of women in a predominantly male dominated space. Born to a working class single stripper mother, she has taken her upbringing and struggle and morphed it with her own queerness and campiness to bring Girl Power to all!
Queens at Home presenta e giustappone l’alter ego creato con cura nei minimi dettagli e l’identità quotidiana del suo creatore, mostrando ogni personaggio nelle sue diverse sfaccettature. Ogni fotografia è accompagnata da un breve racconto biografico.
Guarda tutta la serie Drag at Home o segui Jan Klos su Instagram.
Holestar, a biological woman, has been performing internationally in the guise of a female drag queen since 2003. A belting vocalist, DJ of other people’s music, writer of popular culture, promoter and Mistress of Ceremonies. A former British soldier, brothel receptionist and dominatrix with an MA in Fine Art (from Central St Martins, London) who blurs the boundaries between gender, the avant-garde and mass entertainment, pop culture and the underground through music & performance.
Eileen Bothways is the self-indulgent creative overspill of 32 year old queer non-binary pansexual witch, Sarah. Sarah used to produce theatre shows in the West End and on national tour as well as manage large scale creative events. They also spent time as a music journalist and exhibiting artist because they wanted to make the most of their two, otherwise pointless, university arts degrees. They got bored making other people’s ideas come to life and at 30 decided to make their own bizarre creative dreams become a reality.
Bimini is the ridiculously seductive drag entity of Tommy Titbits. Imagine a streetwalking clown with big lips and an even bigger…heart. Trained as a yoga instructor and regular pole dancing practitioner, Bimini uses these talents to emphasise the doll like character – find her in box splits or hanging upside down on a pole. Tommy played around with makeup and wigs when he first moved to London before leaving the city to travel around various parts of the world. Upon his return, Tommy remembers going back to his usual hotspots in East London and seeing an increase in drag performance and DJ’ing and thought, “I can do this, I want to do this”. Thus Bimini was born in February 2017.
For a long time Dan’s mum was carrying twins and she didn’t know until they told her at the birth that one didn’t make it. Dan has always felt the presence of his twin inside him, and with each glass of Prosceco more of her comes out. He calls this other person Barbs. Classy yet tasteless, gorgeous yet repulsive, Barbs defies all boundaries. Created as an escape from Dan’s hectic life as a classical musician where everything has to be perfect and fit to a mould, Barbs is his chance to explore his creativity through different mediums, giving him the chance to improvise and let go. Dan has always loved to challenge people and their perception of things, even within the drag community. Why can’t a gorgeous girl have a huge pair of hairy balls and an orange tash?
Shane first started using the nickname ShayShay at university when they were a radio DJ and event host. Later, when they started performing in drag, ShayShay was the name they continued using. Now commonly going by their stage name in and out of drag, there isn’t much difference between Shane and ShayShay, other than a change of outfit. The Japanese side of ShayShay’s family were forced into interment camps during WWII which resulted in their family pushing away and hiding their Japanese culture. In the photo ShayShay is wearing a kimono, a family heirloom that was hidden away for decades.
A dystopian diva, Karma was born from an unhealthy obsession with all things glamour and horror but, unlike starlets from old Hollywood movies, she does not long to be saved by some random dude. Often blurring accepted depictions of gender, she prefers to use her costumes and make up to transport the audience to a world that is equal parts beautiful and grotesque, and uniquely Karma.
