When you hear the phrase house ball, it's hard not to think of scenes from Jennie Livingston's 1990 documentary Paris is Burning: underground parties where gay Blacks and Latinos, ostracized by what seemed like the entire straight world, could experiment and create. Today, with gay marriage legal in New York and LGBTQ culture closer to the mainstream than ever, balls are no longer places of escape. But they remain celebrations, as the party last week for Gerard H. Gaskin's new book and exhibit, Legendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene, showed.
At the W NEW YORK hotel, guests including Patricia Field and Lady Fag sipped on cocktails and checked out prints from Gerard's book. The smart affair in many ways epitomized how the scene has evolved: balls are now official events publicized on social media and held in many cities around the world. For Gerard, a photographer originally from Trinidad and Tobago who started documenting balls in the 90s as a school project, the developments are unquestionably positive: "The children are not so afraid of, you know, a backlash, of being violently attacked," he said.
Gerard's book, out this month from Duke University Press, documents the balls over a period of 20 years. (Gerard was awarded the university's Center for Documentary Studies' First Book Prize in 2012.) A straight man, Gerard is both an insider and an outsider at balls, he says, a status that has allowed him to capture intimate moments all while retaining a critical eye. In the book's title image, a blue man in shimmery gown made of shower curtains gazes at the camera. In one of Gerard's favorite photos, a woman painted in black stands still as others around her move, a rhinestone eyebrow gleaming.
There are a lot more opportunities to photograph balls now than there were in the 90s. Whereas once there were one or two a year, now there are 60 around the country, according to Gerard. "The Internet and social media created new ways of expressing ball culture, with more visibility than ever before," he said. Household names like BENNY NINJA now travel as far as Russia and Norway to teach people how to vogue, and even Japan has balls. "The people participating are from all walks of life," said Gerard. "It’s mainly an African-American, Latino, and LGBTQ space, but if you’re interested in performing, in dancing, in walking, you can participate." Case in point: a Russian woman whose photo Gerard snapped at New York's Latex Ball in 2010. Junior LaBeija, who appeared as the MASTER OF CEREMONY in Paris is Burning and whom Opening Ceremony spoke to at the event, explained the balls are now more politically focused, attracting people interested in advocating for those battling HIV/AIDS as much as dressing up.
Still, some members of the scene are nostalgic for the old days. At the event, one veteran complained of declining creativity: "Everyone nowadays wants to look like Kim Kardashian," he said. Yet most are happy the balls are so accessible. "There's so much positive energy," said Tarzan Almanzar, a 22 year old from the Bronx who discovered the scene when he was 16. "You have to come to one––everyone should go at least once in their lives."
At the W NEW YORK hotel, guests including Patricia Field and Lady Fag sipped on cocktails and checked out prints from Gerard's book. The smart affair in many ways epitomized how the scene has evolved: balls are now official events publicized on social media and held in many cities around the world. For Gerard, a photographer originally from Trinidad and Tobago who started documenting balls in the 90s as a school project, the developments are unquestionably positive: "The children are not so afraid of, you know, a backlash, of being violently attacked," he said.
Gerard's book, out this month from Duke University Press, documents the balls over a period of 20 years. (Gerard was awarded the university's Center for Documentary Studies' First Book Prize in 2012.) A straight man, Gerard is both an insider and an outsider at balls, he says, a status that has allowed him to capture intimate moments all while retaining a critical eye. In the book's title image, a blue man in shimmery gown made of shower curtains gazes at the camera. In one of Gerard's favorite photos, a woman painted in black stands still as others around her move, a rhinestone eyebrow gleaming.
There are a lot more opportunities to photograph balls now than there were in the 90s. Whereas once there were one or two a year, now there are 60 around the country, according to Gerard. "The Internet and social media created new ways of expressing ball culture, with more visibility than ever before," he said. Household names like BENNY NINJA now travel as far as Russia and Norway to teach people how to vogue, and even Japan has balls. "The people participating are from all walks of life," said Gerard. "It’s mainly an African-American, Latino, and LGBTQ space, but if you’re interested in performing, in dancing, in walking, you can participate." Case in point: a Russian woman whose photo Gerard snapped at New York's Latex Ball in 2010. Junior LaBeija, who appeared as the MASTER OF CEREMONY in Paris is Burning and whom Opening Ceremony spoke to at the event, explained the balls are now more politically focused, attracting people interested in advocating for those battling HIV/AIDS as much as dressing up.
Still, some members of the scene are nostalgic for the old days. At the event, one veteran complained of declining creativity: "Everyone nowadays wants to look like Kim Kardashian," he said. Yet most are happy the balls are so accessible. "There's so much positive energy," said Tarzan Almanzar, a 22 year old from the Bronx who discovered the scene when he was 16. "You have to come to one––everyone should go at least once in their lives."
Legendary, a selection of photos from Gerard H. Gaskin's new book, is