Why Drag?

by Magnus Hastings (Photographer), Boy George (Foreword)

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

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, Art, Queer, Photography, Drag, Sociology

224 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2016

Reviews

[✦BookishlyRichie✦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can really say is that THIS WAS FUCKING AMAZING!! I loved the photos and the quotes from all the drag queens. This is such a beautiful book.

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't get coffee table books. I love drag queens so much, so preordering this book seemed a no-brainer. Unfortunately, it's all beautiful photos with blips. Most of the queens I'm familiar with, but the majority of the blips all read the same. I had no idea books about drag queens could be boring reads, but there you go. The photographs are gorgeous though so it's a 3-star, but I would give the blurbs 2-stars. Sad Nadia.

[Jaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been following Magnus Hastings on social media for a couple of years. I love his photographs, so picking up this book was a natural. I just wish there was more of substance here. Don't get me wrong; the photography is gorgeous, as are most of the subjects. There just isn't much else here.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing shots of all your fave drag queens and many more whom you may have never heard of. And you know, some text for each one too.

[Caroline Fosse · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Why drag?"
"Because Forever 21 never called me back after my group interview" - Trixie Mattel

This book is filled with so many beautiful queens, I am in love.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnus Hastings is a well known British photographer, mostly known for his work with drag queens. This beautiful coffee table picture book is the culmination of over ten years working with some of the worlds most well known queens, each one getting a dedicated page or pages and each one asked the same question: Why Drag?

In this book, we get to see some of Magnus' stunning photographs of some beautiful queens, and we learn why they all choose to do drag.

It's beautiful and it's the type of book you could keep coming back to.

[Sophia Gourgiotis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

I am a huge fan of drag queens and to see wonderful photos of some of the best queens was fantastic. It was great to see why some of these queens started drag and to understand what it means to them.

The book was empowering. It had many themes revolving around challenging the gender binary, identifying and following your dreams, and living your best life. Although I am not a drag queen this book has empowered me to find my own craft. I highly recommend this book (don't read the digital copy, however, it messes up the book's format).

[Petty Lisbon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a photobook so I'm not really sure how to rate it or what I was expecting. Every queen (yes, including lots of RPDR contestants) answered with either an "I was a 4 and wanted to wear my mom's clothes!" anecdote or a forced snarky "because I am fierce, henny!" response. At least the art was interesting.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love revisiting this.
Beautiful photographs of a wide range of drag styles mixed with each individuals reasons/inspirations for drag.
I love it, a really great piece of work.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has honestly made me so emotional

[Autumn Kearney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book because I am a fan of Boy George and Culture Club. I am feeling sentimental and missing him and his work.

It’s easy to learn much from the blurbs by the queens. Things are not always what they seem. Everyone has their own reasons for dressing up.

I think that different people will get different things out of this book. It all depends on where you are in life and the experiences that you have had over the years.

I am shocked by some of the photos. It seems that those who wrote reviews were not.

[Angelique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great perhaps not in a digital format.

It was great to see some queens I haven’t heard of and lots of queens I had. I thought it was interesting that one queen notes we are always changing our appearance(hair, weight, muscles, clothes, etc) - making drag just something we do.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really blew away my expectations. The most gorgeous photos ever. The book is the perfect size to see all the details, but not be overwhelmed by it. I also learned more about the drag artists I deeply admire which is always surprising when you’re as obsessive with drag as I am.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why not! This book is transformative. It shines a light on some beautiful people and let's us hear their stories. I enjoyed this a lot. Now I want to grow up to be a drag queen.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures are phenomenal and I couldn’t stop marveling at them. I would have preferred a bit more text but other than that, I really enjoyed this book.

[Gelo Arucan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning photographs! Funny interviews!

[anna]

”The love, happiness, and joy I see in people’s faces while I perform are truly the reasons I cannot just say ‘Why drag?’ but must say, ‘Yes drag!’”

[Shant · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5, because the photos stopped loading on my Hoopla in my last borrow cycle, and it took me 3 borrows to remember to read it.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty interesting content, but editing errors are distracting.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous and evocative photography. Loved the quotes as well.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures were great, but so many of the responses were essentially repeats.

[Katta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the pictures and the variety of drag artists featured

[That One Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a huge fan of the art of drag, this book was perfect to me. It explores exactly what makes drag so dynamic and engertaining: the diversity of the entertainers and what drag is to them.

Drag is limitless, and by asking one simple question, "Why drag?", Hastings has captured such a beautiful overview of the wonderful world these entertainers make up. (Pun intended)

Its powerful, funny and interesting to see just how varied the drag community is on not only why they do drag, but also what drag is to them!

I highly recommend reading through this book for anyone who loves drag queens or the art of drag. The photography alone is worth picking it up! Beautiful!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfection. Full of beautiful pictures of Drag Queens with quotes explaining why they choose Drag. I loved it.

[Alexandra the Great · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is that it shows so many different styles and concepts of drag. The art is so much more than just RuPaul's Drag Race (and of course there are some true artists that have been featured on the show), and I love that there is such a diverse mix of different queens. There are fish queens, butch queens, bearded queens, and everything in between. I am very happy that my favorite queen, Sharon Needles, is featured with a two-page spread. The pictures are wonderful, and it's really nice reading about each queen's reason for getting into drag. All in all, this is just a really lovely book. A beautiful celebration of such a diverse art form.

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

GORGEOUS photos! True art! Loved reading the reasons and answers to "Why Drag?" Some were similar, but others were unique. They all told their truth, and we so incredible and empowering. Beautiful book. Some suggestive photos, yes, but all beautiful! Great coffee table book, or book for the bookshelf!

[Ellison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Features loads of photos of what appears to be females loaded up on make-up. Some of the photos are suggestive. Their names are featured and they answer the question of why. Colorful.

[Jill Pickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous photos. The best of the best in drag. Pushes boundaries and revises what it means to be a drag queen--all the rules are broken with this book.
These queens are fierce.