Wig Up: Girlfriend’s Ode to 90s Drag

In the ’90s, with movies such as The Birdcage, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar and Paris is Burning, drag was slowly but steadily permeating popular culture. Drag mainstream was—thanks to, in no small part, larger-than-life personalities such as RuPaul and Lady Bunny—spilling over into the “regular” mainstream, despite its largely underground status.

Photographer Michael James O’Brien spent much of the decade capturing the forces behind the drag explosion: the big, bold drag queens that encapsulated the freedom, creativity and spirit of drag culture in the 90s. What resulted is a unique exhibition, on display now, celebrating the culture of drag of the grunge decade.

Girlfriend is on show at Liverpool’s international photography festival from May 14 – 31st.