Starting out the day with a run throughout Brooklyn's waterfront and closing out with a party in Domino Park headlined by DJ Odalys and DJ A-Trak...it was an epic day to say the least. With office members in attendance ready to support and put an end to the estimated 8 millions tons of plastic entering our oceans each year, we couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday.
office chatted with Vassalli about his work and his experience at DragCon this year. Check out the interview with Vassalli and see his photos below.
What draws you to events like DragCon?
I love photographing anything that is eccentric and over-the-top, even if it is not as intentional as DragCon. Self-expression and a sense of community play a big role with my work. I love seeing people come together for something they love. DragCon is special because it’s basically a circus of creativity and self-expression.
Who attends DragCon?
Most people who attend DragCon are fans of ‘Drag Race’ and people who use drag or makeup as a creative outlet. It’s such a diverse crowd. There are so many talented artists roaming around.
How have you seen the crowd at DragCon change? Does it attract a niche audience, or have more and more people started attending each year?
It has definitely gotten more popular each year. It’s amazing to see the range of age groups that come out. Two years ago, I took a photo of a 5-year-old dressed as Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. It was amazing.
How has social media created a space for communities represented at events like DragCon, World Goth Day, and Sailor Moon Day?
Social media is a great way for fans to keep up with their favorite drag queens. It has also become a great tool for people to share their ideas and looks with each other. Social media has helped drag become more mainstream within our media.
Because of these different communities’ use of and access to social media, do you think that events like this will continue to grow within the next few years?
Totally. I think they already have.
What has been your favorite event to photograph so far?
Palm Springs Pride is always exciting; anything in Palm Springs.
What other events would you like to document but haven’t yet?
There are so many! I have a list. But I’m most excited for Anime Expo in July.
Is there anything unique to DragCon in L.A.? How does the event affect and represent the city itself?
L.A. has an amazing drag scene. There are so many innovative LGBTQA creatives here who are able to come out and show people what L.A. has to offer in such a unique way. What at this event stands out to you and makes you want to stop and take a photo? Anything that is unexpected or out of the ordinary will make me stop. It’s more of an instinct, for me. It’s a feeling I get when I’m scanning the room.
Describe the best look that you saw this year?
Borgia Bloom as Divine!
What do you think that DragCon contributes to the community as a whole?
DragCon is able to bring people together in so many ways. It’s important for there to be safe spaces for LGBTQA people to be whoever they want to be without judgement, and DragCon offers that. I think a lot of the younger attendees are people who don’t feel safe or comfortable expressing themselves where they live, so DragCon is a weekend dedicated to being whoever you want to be within a completely safe and supportive space.
Altan lived a past life as a successful singer in the mid-’70s, but was forced to relinquish his dream when he was drafted into the military to fight in the Turkish coup d'état of 1980. By the time his service was up, the entertainment industry in Turkey had all but forgotten about him. “There was no media at that time,” Tunc told office. “There was one national TV channel. And when you’re away for 15 months, people forget you.” So for years he’d say he would return to making music, but according to Tunc, “That time’s never going to come.”
But Orkun inherited Altan’s love of music and performance. He and his friends formed a band as kids called Violent Pop, and in 1993, he released an EP with his second band Turmoil––a group that collaborated on splits with other bands like Mexico’s Regeneracion through the mail. In this pre-internet era, kids looking to find other punks would write their mailing addresses in fanzines and in the sleeves of records to be found by whoever else was looking, and send their tapes back and forth.
This was a conservative moment in Istanbul when “having different taste and bringing it up in conversation, you couldn’t do that,” Tunc said. “It was the late ’90s and people were narrow-minded.” Tunc, now 32, grew up to work behind the scenes in fashion in Paris and London, leaving the memory of Istanbul’s once-burgeoning punk scene behind. But after a fateful split with his last bad boss, he realized that in trying to emulate a Western lifestyle, he’d abandoned a critical piece of himself and his culture. “I thought being Western meant acting like them, but that’s not West. That’s losing your identity––ignoring your culture, ignoring everything coming from the East, ignoring your mother and father, ignoring your taste, everything.” And what he wants now is to bring this forgotten element of the East to the West––to preserve the memory of a subculture that shaped him.
After leaving his job as a brand consultant, Tunc put his degree in cinema to use and began making the film 'ARADA,' Turkey’s first punk movie. It’s a fictional film based heavily on his experience growing up immersed in Istanbul’s unique hardcore scene, telling the story of Ozan, a young punk who wants to leave Istanbul to release a record in California. Shot in just 13 days, the film sheds light on the restless energy young people felt in the ’90s, wanting to escape a country they felt would never allow them to be themselves.
In creating 'ARADA,' Tunc hopes to reach Istanbul’s youth of today, many of whom never even knew of the scene’s existence. “We have to give our energy to creating a dialogue,” he told office. “Anarchism is within you, it’s within us. That’s sexy. Swearing or shitting in the street, that’s not sexy anymore, using drugs is not sexy anymore. Changing something is sexy right now.”
Catch the US premiere of 'ARADA' tonight at the Museum of Arts and Design, and check out behind the scenes imagery from the making of the film, below.
Lead image: Violent Pop. Courtesy of Mu Tunc.
