The Kings & Queens Project

Kings & Queens is an international humanitarian art project by Léon Hendrickx & Micha Schneijderberg. Their photos depics the same individual both in and out of drag — their two selves portrayed in self-juxtaposition, constructed using highly precise photomontage techniques. The result is an intimate representation of the subject lovingly embracing, or being embraced by, their other self: a self that may be discriminated against in the wider world, but is here exalted as equal.

The project challenges binarity and heteronormativity by visualizing each subject's multifaceted nature, depicting the layered self. The images confront gender stereotypes and tell stories about self-love, identity, transcendence, and the complex nature of embodiment. Kings & Queens strives to emancipate, support, and empower groups who have faced oppression based on their sexual orientation or gender presentation and celebrating each subject's practice of re-invention and self-creation.

Drag artists, non-binary, trans, and gender-non-conforming people exist everywhere: in places where they can freely express themselves, but also in places where they must conceal these aspects of themselves, whether due to social stigma or legal prohibitions. By providing a safe space to let the inner self shine, Kings & Queens advocates for the right of all people to express themselves authentically.

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