Why Wait For Heaven To Experience Glamour and Beauty?
Phillip Prokopiou
As outsiders, many members of the queer community construct their own identity according to their deepest fantasies or even their fears. An exaggerated self; free from any mainstream concept of beauty. This series looks at these identities; real or imagined, amplified personalities that challenge our perceptions of social constructs.
London based photographer Phillip Prokopiou was born to Greek immigrants in South Africa. Originally from a fashion and costume design background, the self-taught photographer established a practice under the name Studio Prokopiou in 2014 which he co-founded with his partner in life and art Panos Poimenidis.
The images mainly feature personalities from the world’s nightlife, fashion and art communities. The work is an exploration of queer identity, self-invention and LGTBQI culture informed by a love of high-camp, kitsch aesthetics and art history. They aim to capture both the surface and the interior world of the subject halfway between truth and fantasy. Much as Susan Sontag elucidates in ‘Notes on Camp’, Studio Prokopiou is the lie that tells the truth.