IG:Â @ginabarbaraphotographyÂ
FB: @GinaBarbaraPhotographyÂ
GinaBarbaraPhotography.com
Questions contributed in part by Frankie Foukette:
1. Introduce yourself with a brief description of who you are. Please be sure to include your location and pronouns. Taglines are also welcome. GB: "I am Gina Barbara, a glamour photographer based out of San Francisco. My pronouns are she/her and I most identify with "Femme Daddy," which I actually have tattooed on me. My art is high femme, colorful, and I like to refer to it as "Bubblegum Dream." I embrace all races & all sizes, and I consider myself a safe space for trans & fluid people, and SWs. My goal in life is to make people feel beautiful and celebrated."
2. What influenced you to get into the Burlesque scene originally? Is this the same reason you are involved in Burlesque nowadays? Why or why not? GB: "I accidentally stumbled upon the Burlesque Industry with no idea of what it was. 8 years ago I started working with Olivia Dantes, she was just starting out in burlesque and was a well known model in the alt/fetish industry. We were shooting mostly fetish & pinup sets, and then I shot some burlesque acts of hers for promo. Shortly after, I started photographing Bo Vixxen and Frankie Fictitious. They really brought me into the burlesque industry and my first shows. And then, BAM, started getting hired by more and more performers and now they've become 80% of my clientele."
3. What observations have you made in the demographics of burlesque performers, and what would you like to see change?
GB: "I love being a part of the burlesque industry because the creativity is limitless. You can create any theme you want as long as there is a rhinestone on it! The burlesque community welcomes a lot of the kids that were probably once bullied a lot for being "different." Not unlike myself. It's an adult world for dress up and our imaginations. I love seeing plus size performers because it helps me love and embrace my own body BUT I would like to see a new body type being crowned at the burlesque festivals. So far it's always been a slimmer body type."
4. In what ways do your performances/ productions forward or embody intersectional feminist thought and advocacy. Why is this important to you?
GB: "I think my work embraces intersectional feminism because I love helping my clients embrace their identities as strongly as possible. I want to be a part of the process of them truly expressing themselves with no apologies, not matter the gender or size or color of their skin. No matter their interests or kinks. I'm like, "Let's DO THIS!!! Show me what makes you weird and happy!" No judgement. I also love working with clients that are into things I'm not fully educated in, it becomes not only a great day or creating, but also a day of learning something new."Â
5. Are there any specific cultural and/or systemic issues that you address in your performances/productions?
GB: "I love working with the trans community and have since become a bonus sister to a lot trans & fluid people that may not have support in their family. I host a Masc Trans Weekend & Femmes Trans Weekend once a year where people trans people can come get a free haircut and portraits taken, or one on one hair & makeup tips and glamour shots. I get to use my photography to make trans people feel beautiful and seen how they want to be seen. A huge issue for me is Toxic Masculinity, and it's one of my favorite topics of conversation. I have started shooting an entire series based around that dialogue. Burlesque speaks to me because it doesn't tell men, "You can't do that... You can't wear pink... You can't wear glitter." Burlesque/Boylesque lets men and masc-identifying people express themselves and their creative minds just like women. This is something that I consider INCREDIBLY important to address in our society."Â
6. What do you hope your audiences take away from your work? GB: "I hope my audience will see the pride that my clients feel in their photos and will want to work with me not only because my work is "pretty," but also because I embrace so many different types of people & looks."
7. What are some unexpected reactions you received from your audience, and how did you deal with those interactions?
GB: "Some unexpected reactions I've received from people are that a lot of my models are tattooed and new clients are worried I won't work with them because they aren't tattooed. I think when we see things that are different than us we can get stuck on those details - like tattoos. Also, I don't think a lot of people realize that a huge portion of my portfolio are "first-timers." I am very hands on with posing in my shoots and many of my clients and burlesque babies have never done a shoot before! I love being people's first! I don't think people realize that most of my photos are a client's first ever photoshoot. You don't need ANY experience to work with me."Â
8. What is some advice you’d give to nubies in Burlesque?
GB: "Newbies/Nubies in Burlesque - Create, create, create! Build a handful of acts that you can continue to update as the years go on. This keeps you versatile and more fun to book as a performer, instead of only having one act and performing it several times for 6 months. Take classes for performing, rhinestoning, costuming, sewing. Education will take you far. A great way to keep yourself creating is to get a group of other new performers together once a week/month to rhinestone or work on costumes together. This helps build a community for you and you can all share tips on how to put costumes together. Photoshoots can be expensive, but high quality photography for you social media, and website, and flyers is helpful in the long run. I do a discounted day for burlesque performers twice a year, so people can get new promo photos taken of their costumes."Â
9. Any upcoming performances/productions or events you are doing that relate to feminism and/or intersectionality? GB: "I produce Gina Barbara's Babetown Burlesque Revue and our next show is Sept. 14. I always make an effort to keep my show as racially & body type diverse as possible. I also love having queer women in my shows. 'Keep It Queer' is my life motto."
10. What do you think the future of Burlesque, in regards to intersectional feminism, will look like five years from now? GB: "I'm hoping that 5 years from now a lot of labels will be gone, in the burlesque community but really in every community. I think labels can help us better understand ourselves and help other people understand our preferences but it also puts too many people into a specific box. I, personally, think labels limit people's form of self expression and what's "acceptable." I find this ridiculous. In regards to burlesque, specifically, I want to see performers expressing themselves and creating badass, beautiful acts, regardless of their labels!"Â
