Joe Costigan
Portraits in Drag
Growing up, watching the mining and shipyard communities of the North East crumble during the 1970s and 1980s, I could not have foreseen the rise of such a beautiful tribe that welcome you with sequin-clad open arms to their counterfeit bosoms - as long as your intentions are honest and genuine. With camera in hand, on a cold January night I entered a corner of Newcastle, near the aptly named Centre of Life and started to make new friends. Everybody brings something different but the common denominator is acceptance and the rewards are entertainment and comradery. For weeks, I followed the 2024 Drag Idol competition, through creativity, humour and fierce competition to its spectacular climax.
Kate Amos • Neil Barclay • Geoffrey Bird • George Bull • Natasha Cheek • Joe Costigan • Georgia De la Bertauche-Bull • Will Dickson • Nick Diprose • Felicity Handford • Catherine Hawthorn • Stephen Hewett • Nina Kostamo Deschamps • Robert Leech • Mirjam Lorek • Rachel Manley • Keith Mason • George Netana • Sarah Padilha • Natalie Persoglio • Ruthie Philip-Smith • Phil Roeder • Richard Tippett • Sarah Young •
University of Brighton
MA Photography
Falmouth University
MA Photography
Glasgow School of Art
Masters of Design in Photography
University of Portsmouth
MA Photography
Royal College of Art
MA Photography
Ulster University
MFA Photography