A little plug for my friend @niven_govinden’s new book #thisbrutalhouse out with @littlebrown @dialoguebooks. Back when I was photographing Niven (for these pictures) last year, his book was still going thorough the publishing wheels on its long journey to print. And now, fantastic reviews, couldn’t be more pleased for him. There’s a sold-out event with Niven at @gaysthewordbookshop next Thursday 20 June, beg or steal a ticket!
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“In This Brutal House, brutality and domesticity, cruelty and safety, aggression exteriority and stable interiority rub against one another as a group of house mothers (the drag queens who preside over their ‘houses’ as mentors and carers) sit in silence on the steps of City Hall, protesting the lack of action by city officials and the police over the deaths and disappearances of members of their community in the 1980s and 90s.” @katie_goh_ @theskinnymag
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“This Brutal House is cumulative, and requires a building of energy…unlike some TV representations of drag culture, Govinden also gives us the terror of oppression, and the violence that drag builds itself in opposition to.” Sean Hewitt, @irishtimesnews
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“This Brutal House [is] not merely an exploration of the way in which the vogue balls provided a sense of belonging for those whose sexual identities cast them as perpetual outsiders; it also captures the push and pull of families everywhere.” Dani Garavelli, @bigissueuk
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