Maxine Young is a drag queen, in Cumberland, Maryland, a small, post-industrial city in Appalachia. I took this photo in December 2022. We’d spent all day together at a drag brunch on a nearby farm. Afterwards, I got her to spend a few hours with me shooting portraits. This image is part of a long-term project, The Queens of Queen City, which I shot over the course of a decade, exploring drag and queer identities in the Appalachian region.
I first met Maxine back in 2012, the very first night that I was introduced to the drag scene in Cumberland. I grew up just outside the city and my sister and I were visiting my parents. We were flicking through the local newspaper to find something to do when I saw an advert for a drag show that night. I was just excited and fascinated that this could be happening in my home town – it isn’t known for being particularly open-minded or tolerant towards any kind of nonconformity.
We had to go. The show that night was spectacular: the drag queens were so fabulously queer, and I just loved it. Everything was falling apart on stage, but they were pouring their heart and soul into it and it was awesome. It was the spark for The Queens of Queen City: maybe the preconceptions I had about this region didn’t hold up any more. I wanted to try to understand the courage and authenticity of this community, and also the changing nature of acceptance and tolerance in the region.
Maxine performed to Whitney Houston. When she came out on stage, my jaw dropped, as did my sister’s: she was beautiful. I went up to her after the show and said: “Hey, I thought you were spectacular!” In the years since, we’ve become friends. I’ve got about 40 photographs of her in the final version of this project, out of roughly 400. It’s quite a big and sprawling body of work.
In this photograph, I’m exploring the idea of being seen and not seen simultaneously. A lot of the drag queens, including Maxine, talked about being on stage and being loved and celebrated. But, at the same time, they also felt hidden because maybe they couldn’t express all of who they are, or because who they are is complicated and multidimensional. That’s why we used the smoke, which is from an e-cigarette, to mask Maxine’s face. It’s a literal but also metaphorical smokescreen.
It was very cold that night. We were shooting and shooting and not quite getting the positioning right. Maxine was freezing, that’s why she’s hugging herself – I think she was just about done with it! We kind of nailed it on this last shot. Maxine is standing on the brim of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and, as we were shooting, a freight train came by. The background showcases the town’s history: it used to be a major industrial hub. At one point, Cumberland was the second largest city in Maryland – it was the queen to Baltimore’s king. That’s why the project is called The Queens of Queen City. Since the 70s, it’s seen a pretty steady decline in population and economic output.
We wanted to juxtapose that gritty, grimy backdrop with some of the glitz and glamour of drag. I brought a light with me to give it a stage-like feeling in the outdoors. Maxine had gone through several different outfits that day, as you do at a drag performance, and this was simply what she was wearing by the end. I think her dress is wonderful: the yellow just pops off the blue of the evening light. It’s so elegant.
When I started this project, the first ever Cumberland Pride event was only just setting up. It was so small, it was just a gathering of people in the streets. During the project, I witnessed the enormous growth and transformation of the drag scene in the region. Now, Cumberland Pride is one of the largest events in the town. I do think that the general trajectory has been towards broader acceptance, tolerance, respect and love. In some ways, that’s what is driving the really hateful folks out of the woodwork. It’s like both at once: because we’re seeing more acceptance, we’re also seeing a bigger backlash.
I want anybody who sees the images in this project to experience the courage, beauty and charisma of the queens at the heart of it, and to take that next step in being who they are. On the other hand, if they don’t feel like they intersect with these identities, I want people to see them as valid identities that can be celebrated in their home town, especially in rural America, but also around the world.
Michael O Snyder’s CV
Born: Pennsylvania, 1981.
Trained: Self-taught. “I learned from my father, who is a photographer. I made a transition into this career because I was a climate scientist by training and wanted to drive more impact around my work.”
Influences: “I’m inspired by anybody who has the courage to live authentically.”
High point: “In 2018, I was on an Arctic expedition for a project. For a brief period, we were probably the northernmost people on the planet.”
Low point: “I didn’t come from much financial privilege. I had numerous low points during the first couple of years of my career, questioning the wisdom of my choices.”
Top tip: “It’s not about lenses, it’s about relationships. The lens is just the tool, but the practice and the process and the outcome are all about the relationships.”
• Michael O Snyder is shortlisted in the Professional competition of the Sony World Photography awards 2024, and in the accompanying exhibition at Somerset House, London, 19 April – 6 May worldphoto.org
