Why Drag?

For over a decade, British photographer Magnus Hastings has been photographing the world’s greatest drag superstars and asking each of them a simple question: Why drag? The result is this mesmerizing collection, in which the queens strut their stuff in gorgeous full-color photographs and reflect on their shared passion through a mixture of quips and philosophizing. Hastings’ subjects include icons of reality TV and underground drag royalty, and his photographs range from the divine to the trashy. Featuring the likes of Bianca Del Rio and Courtney Act, this collection is a bold, bright, and beautiful celebration of drag as an art form and an exhilarating exploration of what drag means to its greatest artists.

Author Biography

Magnus Hastings is a British photographer based in Los Angeles and London whose work has been published by magazines such as GQ, Glamour, Us Weekly, Cosmopolitan, People, You, Attitude, Total Film, The Observer, The London Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and Blue. He has photographed celebrities in both the music and acting worlds, and has a following in the cabaret circuit, photographing the best of the genre. He has had several solo exhibitions in the UK as well as participating in an international travelling group show with his panoramic portrait series of Soho and Shoreditch personalities. His work is also featured prominently various books, including Kissed, Shoreditch Unbound, and D.R.A.G.