Donna is 'Alexanderia the Great', underwater escape artist extraordinaire and 'queen of extreme'. She is also a wife, mother and health club manager.
Civitron is a father, artist and costumed activist. He’s the leader of the Heroic 100, a band of adventurers united for truth and a better tomorrow!
Jim Cook makes the past live again through four solo performances. He embodies Calvin Coolidge, Daniel Webster, Edward Everett and, as seen here, John Quincy Adams.
Jan Turnquist is executive director of Orchard House Museum, where Louisa May Alcott wrote "Little Women" in 1868 and founder and director of InterAct Performances devoted to living history presentations and seminars.
Charlotte Dore is an actress, singer, writer, puppeteer, director and seamstress. She co-founded a singing/theatrical group called Stiletto Singers.
Johnny Blazes is a gender-blending, tongue-in-cheek performance artist who has created many different personalities incorporating drag, burlesque, dance, singing and circus arts.
Heywood Wakefield is the creation of Aliza Shapiro, a Boston events producer and founder of Truth Serum Productions. Heywood mines the schlocky music oeuvres of Engelbert Humperdinck, Barry Manilow and others from the 60's and 70's.
Edrie is the accordionist for the SteamCrunk band Walter Sickert & the ARmy of BRoken TOys. She is a published writer and a farmer at heart.
Michael is Sister KrisTall Mighty, co-founder of the Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an international modern order of queer nuns that use charity, protest, and drag and religious imagery to call attention to sexual choice intolerance.
Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng is the Paul S. Morgan Curator at Higgins Armory Museum, as well as Adjunct Associate Professor of History, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Jim and Kellie Fiers are parents and civil war reenactors.
Jill Gibson and Karin Webb are married performers who write original comedy with a point of view. They are also creators and producers of Axe To Ice Productions and Bent Wit Cabaret.
Person/Persona
If, as Mark Twain wrote, "clothes make the man", imagine what costumes can do! Costumes give us permission to alter our behavior, to explore other personalities and lifestyles, and to bring wholy new and original identities to life. ‘Person/Persona’ is a series of photographs exploring the transformative power of costume-wearing and the creation of alter egos.
Some of these characters are the individuals’ original creations, some are familiar historical figures, most appear only on stage. I found each person, one at a time – referred by friends and performers, by attending historical reenactments and going to performances.
Fear of public speaking is a common phobia, one that ranges from nervousness to paralyzing fear and panic. I have always avoided public speaking situations altogether, or I suffered through them with shaking hands and a quavering voice. I hoped that through working on this photography project I might discover some secret thing that enables these subjects to be comfortable taking risks in public.
A number of people shared inspiring stories of overcoming personal struggles, and most feel that costumes have been the bridge to a happier life – a positive lesson in the infinite ways of finding community and building personal connections.