DRAG PERFORMERS IN PUERTO RICO (ca. 1970s) Set of 7 oversize photos by Kenn Duncan

New York: Kenn Duncan, [ca. 1970s]. Set of seven (7) vintage original 14 x 11″ (36 x 28 cm.) oversize double weight black-and-white print still photos. All with the stamp of photographer Kenn Duncan on verso, one with the sticker of the Cabaret nightclub. Fine.

After Dark was an entertainment magazine which was in print from 1968-83. Its primary readership was upscale gay men, especially those interested in the performing arts. Kenn Duncan was its principal photographer. The New York Public Library has a sizable collection of his photos in its collection.

This set of photos are of drag performers, very definitely including ones of color, at a drag nightclub in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, called the Cabaret. Each photo has a holograph notation on verso, presumably in Duncan’s hand. In all, the photos document five different performers. One photo shows three of them in a drag version of Swan Lake. One performer named Heidi is noted as being Puerto Rican. Another shows a Brandy Alexander as Shirley Temple.

Drag photos are rarely seen in such a sumptuous format, or rendered with such painstaking artistry. This is a wonderful little archive.