Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V

Images of drag performers, photographed mid-transformation inhabit an ambiguous and undefined place. My subjects are beyond female/male impersonation and their transformation is beyond gender; they become a more pure and more essential version of themselves. This place of transformation is as empowering as it is subversive through the infinite possibilities of the “self” that it creates; as Madame Vivien V boldly exclaimed during our shoot “when I’m in drag, nobody can touch me.” By taking drag artists out of the nightclubs, I attempted to capture them within their own moments of both vulnerability and empowerment.

LSilberman-02.jpg
Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Sherry Poppins
Sherry Poppins
Sherry Poppins and Barbarella
Sherry Poppins and Barbarella
Sherry Poppins
Sherry Poppins
The Dragon Sisters (Kimono)
The Dragon Sisters (Kimono)
Issa Drag Queen Tending to Her Wig
Issa Drag Queen Tending to Her Wig
Sister, Sister/Mirror Mirror
Sister, Sister/Mirror Mirror
Instagram Live
Instagram Live
LSilberman-019.jpg
Patti Spliff
Patti Spliff
06_DragQueens.jpg
Patti Spliff
Patti Spliff
Sade
Sade
Maxxx Pleasure
Maxxx Pleasure
Manifestany Squirtz
Manifestany Squirtz
Untitled Queen (Matisse)
Untitled Queen (Matisse)
Untitled Queen (Matisse)
Untitled Queen (Matisse)
The Dragon Sisters (Crown Heights)
The Dragon Sisters (Crown Heights)
The Dragon Sisters (Fox Beauty)
The Dragon Sisters (Fox Beauty)
The Dragon Sisters (Selfie)
The Dragon Sisters (Selfie)
Madame Vivien V
LSilberman-02.jpg
Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Sherry Poppins
Sherry Poppins and Barbarella
Sherry Poppins
The Dragon Sisters (Kimono)
Issa Drag Queen Tending to Her Wig
Sister, Sister/Mirror Mirror
Instagram Live
LSilberman-019.jpg
Patti Spliff
06_DragQueens.jpg
Patti Spliff
Sade
Maxxx Pleasure
Manifestany Squirtz
Untitled Queen (Matisse)
Untitled Queen (Matisse)
The Dragon Sisters (Crown Heights)
The Dragon Sisters (Fox Beauty)
The Dragon Sisters (Selfie)
Madame Vivien V

Images of drag performers, photographed mid-transformation inhabit an ambiguous and undefined place. My subjects are beyond female/male impersonation and their transformation is beyond gender; they become a more pure and more essential version of themselves. This place of transformation is as empowering as it is subversive through the infinite possibilities of the “self” that it creates; as Madame Vivien V boldly exclaimed during our shoot “when I’m in drag, nobody can touch me.” By taking drag artists out of the nightclubs, I attempted to capture them within their own moments of both vulnerability and empowerment.

Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Madame Vivien V
Sherry Poppins
Sherry Poppins and Barbarella
Sherry Poppins
The Dragon Sisters (Kimono)
Issa Drag Queen Tending to Her Wig
Sister, Sister/Mirror Mirror
Instagram Live
Patti Spliff
Patti Spliff
Sade
Maxxx Pleasure
Manifestany Squirtz
Untitled Queen (Matisse)
Untitled Queen (Matisse)
The Dragon Sisters (Crown Heights)
The Dragon Sisters (Fox Beauty)
The Dragon Sisters (Selfie)
show thumbnails