KALTBLUT presents: The Ultra-Ego! In this photo-story photographer Indrek Galetin and performance artist /drag queen Maxi More explore the Ultra-Ego. Maxi More: “When I was little I loved dressing up, I loved painting and playing. I understood that playing and make believe sat next to the real world and I had no delusions of actually being a princess, a robot or a monkey but the self-consciousness that grew alongside my prepubescent body told me to put these recreations away, look like a boy, get that GCSE and don’t stand out! It wasn’t until, in adult life, I was pushed to the brink by mental stress, financial struggle and trauma. I once again turned to the power of playing make believe. I now spend my life balancing between what the world expects of me and what I wish to expect in my world. I embrace beauty, and take on challenges with full belief in the power creativity has to transform one’s self. Now the lines blur more than ever between what is reality and what is make-up.”
Taken over the space of one afternoon the pair had no goal but to capture images of Maxi’s gradual transformation. Gathering together varying materials and make-up, they avoided setting boundaries or restrictions on what they wanted to see through the lens. The focus was the process, not the outcome.
Turning away from the notion of drag as creating another persona to live through, Indrek and Maxi believe the recreation of drag empowers a larger, more genuine self, a self that is ever-present, to break free from the usual physical and social limitations contemporary life sets on our identity.
Not focused on a single visual to form imagery with, they embarked on a journey, and the images that document this journey show an evolution of the self, from internal and intimate to outward facing, ready to surge forth. It is in the transitionary space we see glimpses of a powerful creature, who sees no distinction between opulence and grunge.
To Maxi, all is filled with potential and through experimenting with varied cosmetics, clothes, fabrics and fibres, we see the building blocks of an ever increasing complexity of character, the shadows that lurk inside Pandora’s box, the ultra-ego.
Credits:
Photographer: Indrek Galetin indrekgaletin.co.uk
Model: Maxi More
Makeup & Hair: Maxi More
Model’s Assistant: Hazel Tyler
Photo collage: Lola Dupre loladupre.com
