On Worshipping Camp Identity: Portrayals Of Alternative, Unbridled Masculinity

Don’t let modernity fool you in thinking it has no room for discrimination. I know it looks that way, with what the response of institutional data has been and the lack of tolerance we’ve inherited from the past. However, a lack of tolerance of hostile behaviours towards marginalised groups is not necessarily the same as a genuine sentiment of support.

To a larger degree, the oafish idiocy is part and parcel of the deeply-entrenched systemic oppression in our societal spaces. Yet now, after the many killings of BAME and LGBTQ+ communities, the world stage has begun taking interest in representation like never before (take pride celebrations, LGBTQ+ History Month and the freedom marches for instance). And not only that. What’s more, even though the politics of human expression have radically changed, the exclusion of camp men is rife and unjust. The point is, genderless beauty standards are on the rise: while it may seem unusual, the use of aesthetic enhancing cosmetics by men has a strong and well-documented place in history (starting in 4000 BCE, in Ancient Egyptians culture where men used black pigments to create cat-eyes and moving onto modern skincare used to cover up imperfections).

As long as the rules of gender expression and representation become more normalised and less stigmatised, chances are the identity of people in marginalised communities—and modern culture—will not be under attack. The powerful tool that is fashion combined with photography has undergone serious changes that helped elevate those seeking representation and exposing the impact of these debates. Specifically, those living with a daily disadvantage of feeling threatened by the lack of protection in our system.

In an ever-evolving society, gender expectations have become blurred and our outlook upon fashion increasingly liberal. Below, with a brilliant narrative, Vogue caught up with Alexander Roth and Bryce Robert Anderson to discuss fashion’s role on gender politics, identity and camp culture.

ON INSPIRATIONS | Bryce Robert Anderson@brvceanderson

“When I look at people, I’ve always had an urge of what they could look like: not necessarily that they could look better, but more of an imaginative persona. I have a large OCD where I dream of making people feel their best and perfecting, not in a cynical way but more of an admiration. I just want people to drop their shoulders and alter themselves for a day and feel something new. I don’t look at a man and feel he must be feminine in order to be different, but rather the way a male dancer or performer twists the edges of his sexuality is how I can see someone who may be more male identifying. But each person is different and capable of endless imaginative personas, and that’s the beautiful thing. There is much discussion on these gender stereotypes but for me it has always been a natural flow. I never had viewed myself as any label but as simply the way an actor becomes a character, for others it is more concrete what they identify as and that is the same, it is a practice. We all decide who we want to be. There is a man and woman inside of me and I just live through them.”

ON REFERENCES | Bryce Robert Anderson@brvceanderson

“I try not to share my references as I feel that is what makes someone’s art special. It’s the core of their vision and can distract from what they have created. I like to look at other pictures with fresh eyes not knowing what they looked to. Of course, I am inspired by other photographers before me and the art that they have created: it is important to look back at those before us in respect, to understand what it was like to put yourself out unto the world and make an image. There is this presence on my shoulder advising me. I will mention that the images I grew up studying are embedded in my head, and I feel what happens is when I look at a person it seems an image I remember or a reference is sent to my brain and has this beautiful blend of a reference, the person in front of me, and how I personally see them. I do take books and images to every shoot, which can sometimes backfire as then I’m too concerned with going to the books, but it makes me feel a form of safety like an epi-pen. Don't get me wrong on the moment-to-moment comment, I obsessively prepare before a shoot. But things always change once you are there. I maybe take it too seriously, but it excites me.”

ON THE SUBVERSION OF MASCULINITY | Alexander Roth@alexanderoth

“How we present ourselves to the world is really just a reflection of what we're feeling inside—whether we're confident or scared, vulnerable or brave. To me, being masculine meant not connecting what is inside with what is showing outside. There was a certain sameness to it all, sort of an armour, like the images of crowds of men all with the same kind of suits. I dabbled in a fraternity while at school, for instance, and there was the unspoken message against showing too much of myself, straying too far from everyone's idea of how I should look, what I should wear, how I should feel. Barriers come down when masculinity stops being subverted. I am embracing ever-more ambiguous expressions of masculinity. What is masculinity, after all? To me, it's a fearlessness in embracing everything inside—strong and weak, male, female, and everything in-between—and express it all without worrying if it's transgressive or whether it fits someone else's idea of masculinity.”

ON CAMP IDENTITY | Alexander Roth@alexanderoth

“Camp has its roots in bending the definitions of gender but ask 10 people what ‘camp’ is, and you'll get 10 different answers. I know camp when I see it, and gender-bending continues to be part of it for me, but there are always certain characteristics: it's colourful, fierce, humorous, performative, and it stretches boundaries. Sometimes it's also a little absurd. After that, the great thing about camp is that, while few can agree on what it is, few can agree on what it isn't. That leaves a lot of creative space. What's campy usually comes from what's happening in the culture and that changes very fast.”