Special Encouragement Award

The Other Self

Pauline Gauer

France

Story

Amsterdam, 2019: I followed the drag queen Abby OMG during her various shows in the clubs and streets of the Dutch capital. I tried to capture the real duality between her male personality as Henrique and her eccentric character: Abby OMG. A testimony between mirrors, screens, and the two parts of herself, her two “selves” that are both opposite and inseparable, in a society still discriminatory.

Comment

I would like to thank the competition for giving me the opportunity to present my work through this reportage which means a lot to me. By following Henrique's metamorphosis into Abby Omg throughout the evening, I was able to highlight the way he looks at himself and his drag queen character. But I also perceived the gaze of others: many were caring and amazed, but others were discriminating and homophobic. Words I didn’t expect to hear in the LGBTQIA+ areas of Amsterdam, the city of all freedoms.

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