RACE*SEX*POLITICS*RELIGION 2012
Dazzling is a series of photographic portraits taken at the Platinum International Newcomer’s Pageant and at several subsequent pageants. The portraits are of the men who attend and compete, who mostly dress as women (drag) though there are some men whose elaborate costume is of a male character. They are competing to become Mr. and Miss Platinum International Newcomer. The subjects are primarily African American, and the Pageant is held in an improvised club in the town of Fairfield, Alabama, a previously white steel town outside of Birmingham, Alabama, whose population is now 90.23% African American.
I was surprised to find an intricate social network called the system that operates at the pageant and reaches into the community life. There are entertainers, dressers, dressmakers, and judges as well as the contestants. They have family names – St. James, Sarr, Onasus, Carrington, and Foxx. Each member has a mother and father in the system, and in turn daughters and sons. Some have taken thirteen extended children into their pageant families. The pageant Queen and King have duties for the entire reign to promote the system and to educate and encourage others. Contestants, entertainers, and audience members come from Memphis, New Orleans, Atlanta, Montgomery, as well as other parts of Alabama, Arkansas, and South Carolina. The system provides an environment and support system for young men who may not have another place in the rigid society of the south.