Take a Drag -Portrait Sereis - Bali 2005-2011
An intimate and colourful portrait series of transgender,
diversity and community.
For five years Cynthia Sciberras observed the world of drag queens – men who make a living impersonating women. Cynthia spent time in the noisy and popular Balinese drag district and in the cabaret bar, Hulu Café. Opened in 1990 by a Melbournian butcher, the Hulu café, located in the back streets of Kuta, was the first drag and gay venue in Bali, staging professional drag shows six nights a week.
In the beginning, Cynthia’s photographs were taken from the perspective of an audience member, capturing the performance of the impersonators as a voyeur. However, she quickly became determined to become part of this underground subculture and ventured backstage into the dressing room of the performers.
‘Take a Drag’ is an intimate series of portraits developed over a number of years, that sets out to explore the boundaries of culturally‐defined gender within marginalized community. These images have, as the artist puts it, ‘an authenticity of the kind found in theatre’. However the portraits also provoke the question of what drives gender and the place of individuality and tolerance in a world full of judgment. To these men, who wish to be viewed as women, gender becomes a performance, a parade in which they get into their props that are somewhat associated with femaleness.
From behind the camera, she watched the exaggerated female‐like poses be replaced by the more natural and feminine. Backstage, and among other transvestites, it seemed that there was less of a drive to perform, as her subjects began to ignore the camera and reveal themselves as ordinary, alienated men.
‘Take a Drag’ has exhibited at the Sydney Seymour Centre, commissioned for the 2010 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, and at Can't Think Straight Gallery, Daylesford VICTORIA
To view this gallery of images click here