The queens who carry the history of drag before it was cool are becoming rare creatures.
Legends of Drag: Queens of a Certain Age (Abrams—Cernunnos, 2022) is a photography book by Harry James Hanson and Devin Antheus, celebrating these queer elders who have long been cultural and spiritual leaders within their communities.
From 2018-2021 we photographed 81 drag legends in 16 cities, each styled with a custom floral arrangement. The book includes forewords by fashion icon Miss J Alexander and drag superstar Sasha Velour. The work has been published in the New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue (twice).
The subsequent Legends tour produced sold out all-star drag revues in nightclubs and ballrooms across the country, and yielded two solo museum shows at the Museum of Wisconsin Art (Milwaukee, WI) and the Tenderloin Museum (San Francisco, CA).
Legends of Drag is an essential contribution to the queer archive, and the first photo book of its kind. You can keep up with the work on Instagram.
