Girlfriend; Men Women and Drag by Michael James O’Brien with text by Holly Brubach was published by Random House in 1999.
1. Lavinia (Girlfriend), NYC, 1992
“I came to Manhattan with just a handbag” - Lavinia Co-op2. Ebony Jet (Girlfriend), NYC, 1992
“We’re all born naked, everything else is drag” - RuPaul Charles3. Miss Guy (Girlfriend), NYC, 1992
“You’ve got your mother in a whirl; she’s not sure if you’re a boy or a girl.”
- David Bowie, Rebel, Rebel4. Ming Vauze (Benjamin Liu) NYC, 1992
“Impersonation is the supreme act of creation.”
- Yukio Mishima, Forbidden Colors5. Mona Foote, Wigstock, NYC, 1992
“The living language of dreams. The dead language of waking…We must interpret and translate.”
- Jean Cocteau, The Diary of a Cure (Grove Press, 1955) Mona Foote is the performance persona of Nashom Wooden.6. Tabboo!, NYC, 1992
“They will roll down the rugs or sprawl carefully on coaches. Their make-up will be perfect. They will take back the night.”
- Chi Chi Valenti, Take Back the Night7. Billy Beyond and Sister Dimension, NYC, 1992
“Clothes are but the symbol of something hid deep beneath”
-Virginia Woolf, Orlando8. Lady Bunny, Wigstock, NYC, 1992
“The woman who comes by her beauty naturally is not necessarily intelligent or clever or even congenial-just lucky.”
- Holly Brubach, Girlfriend; Men, Women, and Drag (Random House, 1999)9. Ulrich Suss, NYC, 1992
“He rose. He stood upright in complete nakedness before us, and while the trumpets pealed Truth! Truth! Truth! we have no choice left but to confess - he was a woman.”
- Virginia Woolf, Orlando
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Girlfriend, Portfolio of 9 photographs
Girlfriend, 1990-1992
Portfolio of 9 photographs
Printed on Hahnemuhle fine art photo rag paperDimension for each print is 22 in. H x 17 in. W
(The overall size composition of the entire portfolio is:66 in. H x 51 in. W)
Limited Edition of 10 + 2APAll these portraits were made on tri-x BW film with a Pentax 6 x 7 photographed in Natural Light.
Michael James O’Brien is a photographer, teacher, curator, poet, and activist currently based in Atlanta, GA. He has had solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, Beijing, Hong Kong, Antwerp, Istanbul, Liverpool, and Savannah GA. in addition to having worked in London’s National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. His work has been featured in publications like Rolling Stone, Vogue UK, The New Yorker, GQ, Eyemazing, Black & White Photography UK, The Guardian, The Financial Times among many others. He has been Editor-at-Large of Verbal Abuse, the poetry zine as well as Contributing Editor for Departures Magazine.
His book Girlfriend; Men, Women, and Drag, with text by Holly Brubach, was published by Random House in English, French & Japanese in 2000.
From 1900 to 2000 he did all the still photography for Matthew Barney’s Drawing Restraint 7 as well as Cremaster 1,2,4 & 5 which were exhibited worldwide.
For over 20 years, O’Brien was a member of ACTUP as well as a volunteer for GMHC and Terrence Higgins Trust UK. He was a co-producer of the Love Ball in NYC & Paris, which over the years raised more than $3million for people living with HIV/AIDS.He was the Creative Director for DAA/Designers Against Aids in 2011-12 and produced the Live Positive Campaign for the Flemish HIV Awareness organization, SENSOA in 2013.
O’Brien is based in Atlanta where he is the Chair of Photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design/SCAD.
He is currently the Chair of the Advisory Council of Atlanta Celebrates Photography.
