Film; Primer

October 31, 2019

Film; Primer

Paris is Burning

Paris is Burning is a social documentary illustrating the life behind the 1980s Manhattan Drag Ball Scene, of which the LGBTQI African-American and Latinx communities were able to access a safe space for self expression. The events were pageants which combined fashion, drag performance, humour, break dancing and the origin of voguing. In a world where being gay was still illegal, there was extreme danger in being transwoman, or a gay POC, and the Drag Ball scene gave an opportunity for LGBTQI individuals to create extravagant personas for themselves and express themselves in a place where it was safe to do so. The voguing scene allowed working class people to emulate the upper and middle class personas they would be unable to achieve on the outside world. Filmmaker, Jennie Livingston, beautifully illustrates the scene and her documentary has gone on to be one of the most influential aspects of our culture as LGBTQI individuals.

Sources: https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/3104/1/paris-is-burning https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-paris-is-burning-review-20190703-story.html

Susanne Bartsch

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Bartsch is a Swiss events organised who's career peaked in the 1980s and 90s with her iconic NewYork nightclub events which combined fashion, and the club scene, becoming one of the pioneers of the Queer Club Kid scene. Inspired by the Harlem House Balls, studied in iconic Queer documentary Paris is Burning, Bartsch created her own infamous balls to raise money for the AIDS crisis.

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Sources: https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/gallery/20712/9/susanne-bartsch-fashion-underground
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/9avakz/get-to-know-suzanne-bartsch-the-snazziest-dresser-in-new-york-club-history
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/nyregion/how-susanne-bartsch-night-life-queen-spends-her-sundays.html

Charles Jeffrey - LOVERBOY

https://video.vice.com/en_uk/video/club-kid-explores-new-yorks-underground-queer-club-scene/5808d45a30ad33f6621bcb28

Jeffrey is a Scottish designer, illustrator and creative who studied at Central St. Martins. Since graduating their career has grown, featuring in Vogue, Dazed and GQ, their fashion line LOVERBOY is a successful creation influenced by the club-kid scene and DIY. Their career began in 2014 when they set up a Dalston monthly nightclub event LOVERBOY, which created a safe space for LGBTQI people to dress up extravagantly, combining the world of fashion with Queer Nightlife. Named the ring-leader of London's next generation of Club Kids by Dazed in 2015, Jeffrey describes the LOVERBOY club event as 'ITS GENDER-QUEER, ITS POWERFUL, ITS MISFIT, ITS ANGRY, ITS SWEATY'. Both Jeffrey's club night and their subsequent fashion brand, emulates the Club Kid scene with it's unapologetic boldness through make-up, fashion and attitude.

Instax from Charles Jeffrey, features in Dazed:

Charles Jeffrey,instax, LOVERBOY 1

source: https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/gallery/19881/11/charles-jeffrey-instax

Spring-Summer 2019 LOVERBOY Collection:

source: https://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/spring-summer-2019-menswear/charles-jeffrey-loverboy/collection

Richie Shazam

Shazam is a photogropher and self-proclaimed NYC Bollywood Princess. They have walked for designers such as Vivenne Westwood. They describe their own creative style as pushing boundaries and helping to destigmatize; 'If someone isn't saying 'What the Fuck?" then we're not doing something right.'
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Source: https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/a3xwmb/photographer-richie-shazam-fashion-acceptance-new-york

Waltpaper

Walt Cassidy is a visual artist based in Brooklyn, during his teenage years Cassidy, then known as Waltpaper, was integral to The New York City Club Kids, a youth movement of art and fashion.
NEW YORK; CLUB KIDS, Cassidy's first book is a visual diary of the 1990s NYC club scene, curated from archives of the prominent artists and photographers of the time.