DOCUMENTARIES
Outside of the normal daily photo assignments for print, online and social media publications, I have pursued a few of my own personal interests and curiosities and documented them through photography, including one about the drag queen experience in Salt Lake City, and the other is the progression of Salt Lake City's participation in the global Occupy movement protests against social and economic inequality.
Life Is a Drag
As a naive teenager, I can still remember listening to MTV Party 2 Go albums, including one with the song "Supermodel by RuPaul. This was my first encounter with the drag queen culture once I found out who RuPaul actually was. The exaggerated and bright vivid colors in the creative apparel, costumes and makeup, and the personalities behind the masks are what intrigued me and caused me to pursue documenting the drag queen culture in Salt Lake City.
Initially, I struggled finding the somewhat underground drag queen culture in Salt Lake City, and even gave up searching. While attending the University of Utah I attended the campus pride festival and discovered a drag performance and competition. I can still see, in my mind, the passionate performance of one of the individuals dancing and spinning in circles to Adele's Set Fire to the Rain. This individual informed me of the upcoming, and rather elegant, Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire ball to crown the new royalty for the organization. Those in attendance were draped in glamorous sparkling evening gowns and thick vibrant makeup masks, in the audience and on the runway.
Following this introduction to the popularity of the drag community in Salt Lake City, I was able to attend the Salt Lake Pride Festival's drag competition and go behind the scenes to meet some of the contestants and popular queens among the community. I spent time with individuals in their homes, and in the local clubs getting to know them personally outside of their masked personalities. It was an intimate and eye opening experience to be able to hear about their past and present lifestyles and what inspired their involvement in drag.
Occupy SLC
On my way home from work one evening I drove past Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City. I saw people setting up tents on the grass. I had my camera with me as I was previously photographing another event for the newspaper so I decided to stop. I asked an individual what was happening and they told me that it was part of the Occupy movement. Naturally, I pulled out my camera and began wandering around the park and observing the people arriving and setting up their temporary residences on the grass.
The following day I arrived and there were signs being prepared and passed out for the protest march into downtown Salt Lake City. Overall, the protests were peaceful, as they didn't want to spark violence among the public, or themselves. They wanted to be able to reside at the park in peace to be able to protest without being forced out. They created a "sacred space", performed music, had a drum circle, burnt sage and incense, provided a place of worship, they had a kitchen that people donated food to, and they even had a wedding during the time at the park.
Pioneer Park is known to have homeless people wandering around because of the nearby homeless shelter. Many homeless individuals joined the Occupy community, and they were welcomed with open arms.
The chief of police allowed them to remain at the park because of the respectful and peaceful manner that they participated, but one night a participant passed away in their tent from butane poisoning from a camp stove that they had been using in their tent.
The death of the activist sparked the eviction notice to the group from the chief of police that night. Those who were dedicated and had remained with the crowd up to this point were given the eviction notice. That night was cold, quiet and a blanket of sorrow hovered in the night air among the tents. With a feeling of uncertainty of what could possibly happen that night, I slept in my car that night. It remained quiet.
The following day, the chief of police, along with other law enforcement, gathered in a large teepee tent to discuss the eviction with select members. Many were in agreement to leaving peacefully, however there were some who were determined to remain in the park. Later that evening a SWAT van arrived, law enforcement taped off areas and went from tent to tent marking potentially hazardous tents. The activists were ordered to leave. Some gathered their belongings and left willingly. Some refused, and many were detained. Bulldozers drove through the park scooping up tents and dumping them into a dump truck.
Some of the people that were nominated as group leaders were able to get on the agenda at a local city council meeting and were able to voice their opinions. Other leaders were able to sign documents to take up residency at another location downtown near the Gallivan Plaza. Again, they remained a peaceful community, yet were eventually forced to leave the empty lot once their time expired that they were granted in the signed documents. The Occupy movement lasted a few months in Salt Lake City through warm fall temperatures up to frigid winter nights. It tested the determination and devotion of many individuals who really wanted to make a statement. Many came and went during the time of the movement. They built a respectful and inviting community to all who wanted to participate. I had wanted to find some sort of political protest to document. Over the time I spent with the Occupy community, I was told by nominated leaders that I was the only person that they felt they could trust honestly documenting what was taking place. Although I was just a bystander documenting the daily activity of the movement, I felt accepted as one of the community.
