TIFA 2021 People / Life Style

The Art of Drag

  • Prize
    Bronze in People/Life Style
  • Photographer
    Ulka Chauhan
  • Agency / Studio
    Ulka Chauhan
  • Photo Date
    September 2021

A drag artiste self-generating into a glittering persona. An important record of a powerful artistic process - that of exploring, creating and witnessing one’s own transformation, gaining freedom through constructing oneself as a work of art. Healthcare professional by day, drag queen by night, the protagonist of these intimate portraits takes his time building his female persona, blurring the lines between the two spheres of his being; his reflection in each mirror escaping the rigid boundaries of gender identity.

Ulka Chauhan lives and works between Zürich and Mumbai. Her passion for photography triggered by a workshop in 2019. Since then her work has been published on Leica blogs as well as in arts / humanities / photography websites. She has participated in exhibitions in Zürich, Mumbai, Venice and Treviso. She is an active member of the Swiss Street Collective and a co-editor of its blog. Her book titled Two Worlds (featured in Condé Nast Traveller magazine) is an exploration that contrasts and connects the linear and structured world of Switzerland and the cyclical and chaotic world of India.