<I>Tez and Marquise, Evisu Ball, Manhattan, NY, October 2010</I>
date: label: Date
content: October 2010
name: label: Photograph by
content: Gerard H. Gaskin, Trinidadian American, born 1965
notes: label: Caption
content: "The balls are a celebration of black and Latino urban gay life. They were born in Harlem out of a need for black and Latino gays to have a safe space to express themselves. Balls are constructed like beauty and talent pageants. The participants work to redefine and critique gender and sexual identity through an extravagant fashion masquerade. Women and men become fluid, interchangeable points of departure and reference, disrupting the notion of a fixed and rigid gender and sexual self. My images try to show a more personal and intimate beauty, pride, dignity, courage, and grace that have been painfully challenged by mainstream society. All of this happens at night in small halls in cities all over the country. These photographs, taken in New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Washington, D.C., show us different views of these spaces as they are reflected in the eyes of house and ball members who perform what they wish these cities could be." – Gerard H. Gaskin
label: Caption
content: Tez (left) prepares to walk the category “Butch Queen Tall Boys Bizarre,” wearing an outfit made by his twin brother Marquise (right), at a House of Evisu ball in 2010.
label: Description
content: A color digital image portrait of Tez, with brother Marquise in the background, captured at the Evisu Ball in Manhattan in 2010 before walking the "Butch Queen Bizarre" category. Tez's face, neck and chest are painted blue and his bright blue eyes look directly at the camera. He wears an elaborate bright blue and white wig and a gown of clear plastic fashioned with an exaggerated high-stand collar and ruffle sleeves. The edges are tinged gold and gold and magenta buttons cover the chest and waist. Marquise is out of focus and stands in the background right of the frame, dressed in black and looking down.
place: label: Place captured
content: Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Communities
label: Topic
content: Dance
label: Topic
content: Fashion
label: Topic
content: Gender
label: Topic
content: Identity
label: Topic
content: LGBTQ
label: Topic
content: Music
label: Topic
content: Nightlife
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Sexuality
label: Topic
content: Urban life
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: Legendary
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gerard H. Gaskin
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2019.44.5
objectType: label: Type
content: portraits
label: Type
content: digital images
label: Type
content: digital media - born digital
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Gerard H. Gaskin
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: digital
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 5616 pixels × 7344 pixels
label: Dimensions
content: 180.4 MB