In a visually striking coffee-table book that will appeal to LGBT and general interest audiences alike, Barbara Benjamin Marcus shot revealing portraits of forty drag queens - both in and out of drag - in Key West, Los Angeles, New York City, Provincetown and Tampa. She also tape recorded and listened as each intimately shared personal stories about discovering their sexual identity as a gay man, their irrepressible desire to dress and entertain as a woman, and how it intersects in their daily lives. It was important to me that each person’s voice remained their own, and didn’t become mine, says Marcus, who painstakingly transcribed the interviews to present them unfiltered. I was empathetic to their stories. I wanted them to be the most beautiful person in the room. The level of trust Marcus was able to establish with the men, who don’t usually allow cameras when they’re not dressed, makes Inside Out an unprecedented exploration of drag subculture. Treating each subject with respect and compassion, Marcus recorded photographs that are vividly head-on in the connection between shooter and subject. At the same time, images are layered with complex, honest emotion as each personality emerges. What becomes clear through the portraits - and accompanying tales of joy, sorrow, love, work and hope - is that for all the differences that exist between the world of drag and the mainstream culture surrounding it, the common bonds of humanity are as strong. Inside Out shows that the gay men are drag queens also lead lives as teachers, artists, nurses, chefs, flight attendants, brothers, fathers, caretakers and friends. In Inside Out’s closing note, Marcus writes of her subjects, I hope they feel this book is a tribute to each and every one of them and that they are as proud of themselves as I am of them.
