As a follow-up to his must-have coffee table book Why Drag?, released last year, celebrity drag photographer Magnus Hastings has a gallery show entitled “Why Not!,” which opened this week at the Mr Musichead Gallery in LA.
From the gallery’s website:
Magnus Hastings is a British born photographer whose work has been featured in GQ, People Magazine, Glamour Magazine (UK) and the Sunday Times magazine. Hastings began to photograph drag artists in London, Sydney and eventually Los Angeles, where he relocated in 2011. He exhibited a series of his drag photographs in New York City entitled “Why Drag?” in 2014 securing him a book deal with Chronicle Books. Hastings’ book, “Why Drag?” was published in 2016, with a foreword by Boy George Hastings’ book features photographs of a diverse selection of drag artists from across the United States. Sir Elton John described the book as “F**king brilliant!! The best photography book in years”. The book features portraits of performers and has them each answer the question “Why Drag?”, revealing their reasons for participating in the art form.
“Why Not!” is Hastings’ debut Los Angeles exhibition, featuring photographs from his 2016 book “Why Drag?” in addition to new work. Fine art prints will be available for purchase.
The show includes now-classic images from the book as well as new shots of queens like Sasha Velour, Glen Alen, and Ginger Minj, as well as performers like The Kiss Boyz and the collective House of Avalon.
“It’s more just about boys being gay and queer,” he told PAPER. “They represent me as a six years old going to school in a dress and refusing to take it off. It’s about saying ‘we will do what the fuck we want’ and the spirit of drag.”
The exhibition will be on display through August 12
Shop the exhibit here.