Calendar Boys

Behind the scenes of Sarah Green's 2011 "Glitterlip" calendar.

by John Vettese

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Published: Nov 17, 2010

North Philly warehouse is awash in hues of red, black, white and yellowish brown. A carnival-esque crowd fills the wings: contortionists stretching, a pole-walker strutting, an acrobat hanging, musicians playing. An androgynous figure stands at center, sporting a top hat and striped tights, a light moustache, shirt slightly unbuttoned, head slightly cocked, looking slyly at the lens.

This festive scene is a standout in Sarah Green's 2011 "Glitterlip" drag calendar (being released in a Dec. 4 variety show at Adobe Café on East Passyunk), even though the Philly photographer would tweak it if she could.

"Oh, I definitely like it," she says of the shot. "I just had this vision of a crazy carnival, people blowing fire or spinning fire. I had this concept of filling up the empty space with a wall of loud people doing loud things."

To a degree, the calendar shows Green's vision. To a degree, she wants to respect the vision of the people she photographed. Some are performing drag queens, some are friends who felt like dressing in drag; many are both. Green asked each what their dream photo shoot would be, and she made it happen through brilliant art direction.

A colorful photo starring performer Dave End is set in a candy shop. Our subject wears a bright pink cake dress, adorned with pinned-on plastic fruits: red raspberries, yellow lemons, orange oranges. In congress with the multicolored checkered floor and jars of jelly beans in the background, the colors practically leap out of the frame.

By comparison, a mostly monochromatic image can be just as much of a blast. Joey "Juicebox" Parzenese dresses as a superhero: black Uma Thurman-circa- Pulp Fiction wig, black unitard, black shoes, gray cape and tights, standing on a gray sidewalk against a painted black wall (pictured). A bright red ray gun is pointed at some unseen enemy, and Juicebox makes a comical, aggressive sneer.

Each subject picked his idea and wardrobe, while Green scouted for a matching location.

"I'm attracted to color, and I'm always paying attention," she says. "I look for bright places, but plain bright places."

This is the second year Green has put together a drag calendar; the project evolved in response to a photo shoot she worked on in 2009 for a pinup calendar. Green describes the scene — two gay soldiers kissed on Penn's Landing behind a girl in a Marines shirt. Green remembers the art director standing out of frame, shouting, "Show more panties!" The misogyny grossed her out.

"I can't say it's not a political calendar, because it is all in support of crushing the gender binary, supporting the idea of gender being more fluid," she says.

Green calls it her "genderfuck" calendar — one that has touches of home for subjects. But I also wonder if it engages in the kind of stereotyping she sought to avoid. For example, the trans community is arguably the least understood and most mocked wing of the LGBT acronym. People don't differentiate among transgender, transsexual and transvestite. Further, someone could dress up in drag for a photo shoot and not necessarily be any of those. Indeed, some of Green's models are straight guys.

She sees my point, but believes her photos don't inadvertently lampoon the community.

"It's fun, it's lively, but it's also supportive," she says. "It's not visually degrading. As long as that's true, as long as you can see the love in the photos, it's OK."

And what of the misunderstanding that exists among more general audiences?

"There's a lot of misunderstanding even in the queer community," Green says. "But if [the calendar] gets people talking about it, if it creates a dialogue, that's awesome. It's OK to have questions."

(j_vettese@citypaper.net)

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