chameleon

This is Eddi, and she is a true chameleon. For our shoot, we decided to play with gender, something which Eddi—as a professional drag king—is well acquainted. When I emailed her asking if she would be willing to let me transform her into 2 different old Hollywood era characters (one male and one female), she was totally enthusiastic.

Now, I'm the first person to champion the power (and, for me, the fun) of makeup. It can truly reshape the face, and help a person get into character. But no one would ever attribute an oscar-winning acting performance to the makeup an actor wore. For example, although The Joker's makeup was incredible, we all know it was the late Heath Ledger in who creepy makeup that gave the accomplished performance. In short, makeup can add to a performance, but a performer it does not make.

Despite knowing this, I was truly blown away by the combination of the makeup and Eddi's performance. I wish you all could have seen her transformation in person; from swaggering to tip-toeing, she bounced from performing one gender to another. I hope, however, that these few photos give you a hint of the talent she possesses.*

as character one:





...and as character two:





and the two together:


*On top of her performance abilities, the logistics of the transformation were impressive. Girlfriend is well-endowed, and she managed (with the help of some packaging tape) to conceal all traces of her womanly parts to become her man persona. It was fascinating!