Queens Street, Drag Queens and Friends AK '70s

A series of photographs by Murray Cammick of Drag Queens in Queen St, circa 1975 to 1980.

These photos were taken at the same time as his “Flash Cars” series of V8 cars in inner city Auckland. Regular subjects posed as though they were fashion models (they were) and Cammick was their David Bailey.

This series of images of drag queens and their friends in Queen St, circa 1975 were photographed by Murray Cammick while he was doing his V8 series “Flash Cars”.

The photographer met the very beautiful Keri and Violet Pratt and friends, on their nightly walk from a Customs St cafe to Mojo’s nightclub, opposite the Town Hall.

After each curb side encounter, Cammick would print up postcard-size prints and mail them to Keri and Violet’s home address in Glen Innes. They liked the results and on their next photo-stop, they would once again pose like fashion models with Cammick as their David Bailey.

“Some nights the city was buy and the girls were as high as kites,” recalls Cammick. “To avoid making a scene we’d disappear down a more private arcade or lane to take photos. One impressed onlooker, a US Marine asking me: ‘Where do you get these girls?’ I don’t think I replied. Keri, Violet and I left him standing there, as we headed in different directions.”

The photos in the Auckland Festival Of Photography Show include Keri and Violet’s other family members – their sister frequently and sometimes their brother – plus Glen Innes friends and mates who might be looking for a good time, that night.

“Their walk up Queen Street could cause a stir – high fashion, high platform heels and high as a kite,” recalls the photographer. “You would see them approaching and I was usually keen to take photos but sometimes I chose to cross the road to avoid the hassle.”

“In the late 70s there was a mix of subcultures in inner city Auckland. I recall having to run the gauntlet, past Babe’s disco to get to the punk club Zwines in Durham Lane and teen punks have claimed they were harassed by V8 guys. For young guys in drag, some nights, Queen Street must have been like running the gauntlet.”

Sadly, one of Cammick’s Queen Street photos of Violet appeared in the Sunday News (27 July 1980) under the heading: “Violet Should Not have Died.”

She had died after being arrested at a nightclub for “not being able to walk without assistance.” Violet died from a drug overdose, when left unattended and semi-conscious in the charging room at Auckland Central Police station. She was 27 and the Sunday Newswrote, “Violet had been a transvestite for 11 years and was the most beautiful ‘queen’ in Auckland her friends say.”

Cammick’s portraits of Violet and Keri documented the good times. The photographer is unapologetic: “I am pleased that I captured their dream of being fabulous models. Their beauty was a street reality.”

The photographer’s two recent shows – “Flash Cars” (2016) and “AK•75-85: Music Photos” (2017) – were exhibited at Auckland’s Black Asterisk Gallery and Sydney’s Darren Knight Gallery.

Cammick’s photographs are part of the Te Papa Collection and his work appeared in their 2009 publication, “Art at Te Papa.”

Opening event: Friday 31 May, 5:30 pm
Artists talk: Saturday 8 June, 1pm

Pictured: 'Keri & 2 friends, Fort Lane (detail)', Silver gelatin print, 440 x 560mm, 1974.