Platinum Tornado
Platinum Tornado
(September's Cover)
Defiant, raucous, and constructed with grace and daring, September's cover hearkens back to the lampoon origins and performative roots of drag. It also revels in the delicious ridicule of hetero-normative convention, which for so long has denied anything different the right to exist, scorning that which deviated from its flat rules and bland logic. Aside from celebrating queer culture, Vigil's photograph is also packed with energy, bravado, and irreverent joy. The queen's laugh occurs as a resilient roar. The world is her court and all spectators bow dutifully. It is worth noting that photographer Vincent Vigil is both a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation and a drag queen who performed and photographed his subjects in Tucson, Arizona, before moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to complete his formal education in photography. ~ Brian Alessandro, Editor-in-Chief
Rialto Theater
Tucson, Arizona
2013
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