Gallery: Voguing
Book on the New York house ballroom era celebrates the art of striking a pose
All photographs © Chantal Regnault, courtesy of Soul Jazz books
The movers and shakers of the New York vogue scene at the turn of the eighties are the stars of an arresting new picture anthology from Soul Jazz. Photographer Chantal Regnault spent time with the outlandishly dressed ‘ball children’ between 1989-92, resulting in a stunning body of work that captures the phenomenon in its baroque prime.
Regnault compliments her photography with a series of interviews conducted with the scene’s leading voguers — who regularly popped, dipped and spun their way down catwalks as part of fiercely fought competitions presided over by judges — and the ‘fathers’ and ‘mothers’ that founded the various houses they belonged to.
In addition there’s an introductory essay from Tim Lawrence delving into the roots of ball culture, which date back as far as the 19th century and had parts to play in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, and the civil rights movement and Stonewall riots the of the 1960s (black balls were set up as a result of perceived bias towards white competitors in voguing contests).
Lawrence also sheds light on the controversies surrounding vogue’s brief entry into the mainstream, via the cultural bandwagoning of Madonna and Malcolm McLaren, and Jennie Livingston’s award-winning Paris Is Burning documentary. Activist author Bell Hooks thought Livingston’s film exploitative, and clearly many of the principals felt the same way — a total of $55,000 was paid out to 13 claimants in 1991.
Most of all, though, there are the wonderful images. Of the people featured in the book, Regnault informs us that two thirds have since passed away. It’s a distressing statistic that can’t detract from the bewildering array of gender poses struck here — enough to make a Mail reader spontaneously combust, you suspect — by a cast of people who dared to be beautiful in the face of often-grinding poverty and appalling bigotry.
The book’s cover is below, click the pointers to explore a selection of images from the anthology.
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