Photographer Gregory Kramer first made a splash with his 2017 book Drags, featuring beloved New York drag performers like Sasha Velour, Peppermint, Murray Hill, Dr. Wang Newton, and countless others. With his new project, Downtown, he draws inspiration from another part of the city: New York’s downtown performance scene, which has been a hub of creative (and often queer) inspiration for decades, beloved for an unconventional and eccentric spirit not often duplicated in commercial theatre.
Kramer’s Downtown, available now, is a self-published newspaper in the style of the old Village Voice that used to circulate in the city’s downtown neighborhoods. It offers intimate portraits of some of the area’s most vibrant talents in theatre, dance, writing, design, activism, and more. Its black and white shots feature the likes of Alan Cumming, Bowen Yang, Justin Vivian Bond, and Gays Against Guns. The project launches tonight at esteemed downtown performance venue Joe’s Pub, with more performances planned for the next few weeks at Housing Works on Monday, July 29th at 7:00 pm and at Club Cumming on Thursday, August 1st at 7:00 pm.
As New York faces gentrification and commercialization — something so many New Yorkers, many downtown performers themselves included, moved here to escape — Kramer says the spirit of the downtown scene he first knew when he moved to the city in 1992 is alive and well. them. spoke with Downtown photographer Kramer about the importance of downtown performance to the queer community and vice versa, what drives him to document queer artists, and more.
What made you decide to start working on this project?The project started at the end of 2017. I had just finished Drags and started brainstorming what to do next. I thought of downtown and the people I’m drawn to, people who are the reasons you move to New York — all these lovely creatures who make downtown happen. I decided to focus on the downtown scene and I thought more of the project than just a photo project; I wanted it to be a printed piece but I also wanted it to have a life beyond that, so my idea was to do a series of shows when the book was released to showcase the people I photographed.
In your daily life in New York City, you’re missing the subway, you’re disappointed, as someone who works freelance you end up constantly being told you’re good but you’re not right for this project. At the end of the night when I go to Joe’s Pub and see a show, it allows me to escape. My husband and I just saw Amanda Duarte and with her take on feminism she punctured our world in the best way possible. When you go see a show, you’re supporting the local community as well, so it’s a give and take. I go to a lot of shows. I’m a huge fan of Bridget Everett, I’m a huge fan of Joe’s Pub, so that was pretty much my involvement, as an observer, less of a participant. I’ve been living in Manhattan since 1992, so over the course of over 20 years, I’ve had downtown crushes and I’ve turned those crushes into this project.
How did you choose its final format?I wanted to challenge myself as a photographer, and I was responsible for the lighting, the backdrops, if someone needed coffee. I really wanted the shoot to be a one-on-one experience, as opposed to most commercial shoots I work on, which have assistants, stylists, the art director, the creative director. I wanted to strip that away and focus on having an intimate experience with each person. When you’re one-on-one, you really have the potential to draw something out of the subject. There isn’t a third person hovering, saying I like that shot but it would be better if your hair was this way or if you were wearing a different outfit. [My subjects and I] sat down and we chose the final two images together.
