Photographer explores Muskegon’s drag community for zine, ArtPrize project

Pat ApPaul, a Welsh photographer now residing in Muskegon, is dedicated to amplifying the voices of the marginalized through his work. With a professional background collaborating on projects in Palestine and Iraqi Kurdistan with nongovernmental organizations, ApPaul's portfolio emphasizes themes of marginalization influenced by capitalist societal structures.

“I'm trying to learn about the world and the people around me, and photography for me creates a framework to do that in a creative and meaningful way,” ApPaul said.
One of his notable works, “The Stand,” tells the story of a member-run mental-health day center in a Muskegon neighborhood that had a sign over its front porch reading “The Lemonade Stand of Muskegon.” First shared in The Lakeshore, this piece has since evolved into a book and was exhibited in downtown Muskegon.

His latest project, called “Sovereign” also centers on Muskegon, focusing on the local drag community. Through his lens, ApPaul captures themes of acceptance.

“I felt that it was important to show, especially as a straight, male outsider, that drag was fun, challenging, and inspirational,” he said. “It's something worth holding on to, and it's happening in your backyard without you even knowing it.”

ApPaul’s Kickstarter campaign for “Sovereign” is more than halfway funded, but he needs additional support to reach his $3,400 goal. The campaign ends Saturday, Aug. 3. All proceeds will cover the cost of printing 2,000 copies of the 52-page, full-color newsprint zine. Pledges over $10 will receive a copy, with retail prices set slightly higher.

The Lakeshore recently interviewed ApPaul to delve into his journey to Muskegon and his passion for using photography to explore and highlight communities often ignored by others.

The Lakeshore: Tell us about yourself. What was your pathway to becoming a documentary photographer and living in Muskegon?

Paul ApPaul: I grew up in South Wales, UK. We moved around a little due to my father's job as an Episcopalian priest, but we never left South Wales. At the time there was a lot of social upheaval. Just before I was born, the miners strikes of the ‘80s had ended with the closure of the Welsh mines, and a huge amount of unemployment occurred. South Wales had become one of the poorest regions in the EU. Through both of my parents' work and faith, we spent a lot of time as a family learning about the difficulties of the communities we were living in and the struggles that people had to live through.

When I was about 18, I knew I had this creative and questioning urge in me. I didn't know how that would emerge, but my granddad did a little photography and I thought I could give it a try. I really connected with it. Initially I looked at photography as a craft, a trade, so I went to university to study media production and photography, focusing on silver print black and white photography. Digital photography was still very economically prohibitive but film cameras and film were still very affordable, and all my spare money was going to buying film, processing and printing. I graduated in the mid-2000s with the intention of becoming some type of “professional” photographer, for a magazine or newspaper, but it became very apparent that was not going to happen and that print media was dying a very fast and violent death.

Photo by Pat ApPaulPat ApPaul's images present drag as not only a creative expression of self, but a diverse community of Americans of all colors, genders, sexualities, and backgrounds.
Like most graduates of my generation, I got the first stable job I could find and ended up working in the service industry in various roles, with little time to spend on photography. Then 2008 happened and things changed. There was so much upheaval happening at home and across the globe, and I hadn't lost that questioning nature, it had got stronger, I was learning more and more about what was happening in Palestine, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about the past of USA and UK military involvement in very questionable situations across the globe.

 In 2011 I quit my job as a cocktail waiter and applied to work for a nongovernmental organization I had read about in some books about the intersection between faith and social action. To my surprise they took me on, and within months I was living in Iraqi Kurdistan, working with local groups, promoting political dialogue and documenting human rights abuses by the Iranian and Turkish militaries as well as by the local Kurdish government against the Iraqi Kurdish people. And with a secondhand digital camera and an old film lens attached, I was taking as many pictures as I could to help promote the work we were doing, but also as a way of asking as many questions as I could. I was soon grouping images together, and before I knew it I was building photo stories that we could use to promote certain issues we were encountering.

Along this journey, a friend had introduced me to my now wife. They had met in Baltimore both working for the Lutheran volunteer corps. Her family was originally from Michigan, and when we could no longer handle dating long distance and got married, Michigan felt like a good, affordable place to settle before we could decide where we really wanted to be. That was in 2015 and we’re still trying to figure out where we want to be, but we love being by the lake, and the community here in Muskegon has been really welcoming of us both. I no longer work for the NGO, although I miss it a lot, but I'm happy working for a local coffee shop that allows me the space to work on my own projects.

Photo by Pat ApPaulMuch of Pat ApPaul's work focuses on the marginalized.

TL: As a photographer, what kind of projects draw your eye? What are some of your previous projects?

PA: Photography offers me an opportunity to learn about something that's grasped my attention but I might know little about. It's a way of connecting myself to the world and the people around me. My family's background of experiencing high amounts of poverty and unemployment has often led me to ask questions around why such things exist within wealthy economies, and my faith leads me to ask what I can do, what I should do.

Homelessness and mental/physical health access have been the focus of most past projects. I've been very interested in why systems that we have created treat people with such disdain and make seeking and receiving help so difficult. I'm also really interested in lived experience and the stories that shape our experiences of the world. I'm trying to learn about the world and the people around me, and photography for me creates a framework to do that in a creative and meaningful way.

Two of my main projects in Muskegon have been “Cowboy” and “The Stand.”  “Cowboy” followed Cowboy, a drifter who had been homeless for 50 years. Forced to settle after the physical demands of aging had made his lifestyle impossible, he had decided to put his lived experience to use and worked as a homeless outreach coordinator for local housing groups. 

Over a few hours of interviews, Cowboy shared the stories of his youth and travels, the abuse he had faced at the hands of his family, and the difficulties and benefits of being homeless. 

“The Stand” focused on a small mental health day center in the Nelson Neighborhood of Muskegon. Following the pattern I had laid down with  “Cowboy,” where I would blend photography with long-form interviews with the day center’s participants, I was able to self-publish a book that focused on the lived experience of those who struggle with mental health. 

The facility is run by the participants. There's a real sense of community and belonging. They all share their stories of the difficulties they have faced finding adequate care and housing, trying to hold down jobs, the development of addictions to cope with their mental health, and the effects of certain medications. The stories were often heartbreaking, full of pain and abuse at the hands of family or friends, neglect from medical professionals, harassment from law enforcement and a general unwillingness across the board to try to understand the difficulties they faced on a daily basis.

Due to a generous grant from the Nelson Neighborhood Association, I was able to turn “The Stand” into a large-scale outdoors multimedia exhibition hosted in the heart of Muskegon, a stone's throw from the day center.

Today, that questioning nature is pushing me into more abstract realms. I’m fascinated by rural communities and what holds people in areas of minimal resources and opportunities. What does homelessness and food insecurity look like in some of the wildest and most beautiful areas of this state, areas that boom with tourism in the summer?  I'm also really intrigued by migrant work in areas with low job availability. What do these things look like? Why do they exist? Who are the people that experience these difficulties? And what are their stories? What do they do for fun? What are the community rhythms and rituals? And how can I present these things in a visually meaningful, accessible and artistic way? These are the questions that keep me up at night and fuel my work.

TL: How did you discover your latest project and what is the story you want to tell?

PA: When I get into the editing phase of a project, I get really antsy. Editing is a lot of computer time, secluded and hyper focused, and with a project like “The Stand” often very emotionally taxing. I was looking for something a little lighthearted that would maybe present a visual challenge, a different way of taking pictures. A friend had mentioned going to a drag show in Muskegon, and I was surprised such a thing even existed in the area – maybe in Grand Rapids, but Muskegon? I quickly started reaching out to the local bar that hosted the drag shows, and within a couple of days I was invited to come and just hang out. I had never been to a drag show, but had seen and read a fair amount of media about them and was excited to experience them firsthand.

Frankly, I was blown away. COVID restrictions had eased and the bar was packed. Everybody masked to watch this low-budget, locally organized drag show that was one of the most colorful and exotic shows I had ever seen. The crowd was fully engaged, full of family and friends of the performers but also of avid drag fans who had come from miles around. The performers were mostly local, but some had also traveled, some from out of state, and one from Chicago. And all this happening in a bar on the outskirts of town that could have easily have been mistaken as a biker bar. It was exactly what I was looking for. The low light provided a visual challenge, the material offered an opportunity to learn, and the performers were not only willing to be photographed but opened the doors for me to fully participate in the events.

Photo by Pat ApPaulPat ApPaul has been awarded an artist seed grant to turn “Sovereign” into a large-scale exhibition that will be hosted at Envivo Church in Grand Rapids during ArtPrize in September. Photo by Pat ApPaulPat ApPaul has been awarded an artist seed grant to turn “Sovereign” into a large-scale exhibition that will be hosted at Envivo Church in Grand Rapids during ArtPrize in September.

The shows were unfortunately short-lived. Interpersonal dynamics and creative control led to a split in the group, and soon after the bar owner decided to sell and move on. I put the project on the back burner and was asking myself where next to take the project. After some space and time from the work, I was able to go back to the pictures and really see what I had. 

At the same time, public hysteria regarding drag queens reading children's books and trans people using bathrooms had reached new heights, while “Rupaul's Drag Race” had seemingly become one of the most watched shows around. 

I had this collection of images that presented drag as not only a creative expression of self, but a diverse community of Americans of all colors, genders, sexualities, and backgrounds. I thought I had something special. I had a body of work that presented drag as something more than what society thinks it to be. 

More than just “men dressing up as girls,” more than so-called “sexual deviance,” the images were showing drag as community, as acceptance, as support, as diversity. I felt that it was important to show, especially as a straight, male outsider, that drag was fun, challenging, and inspirational. and something worth holding on to, and it's happening in your backyard without you even knowing it.

TL: Is this the first time you put your project in Zine form? What has been your approach to creating this publication?

I had decided with both “Cowboy” and “The Stand” that physical art, something that you could interact with, was more important now than it had ever been. In a time of screen addiction, that art had to be something else, it had to be tactile, and larger than life, and beyond the confines of a 5-inch screen. With both  “Cowboy” and “The Stand” I had used a self-publishing platform that printed to order. It was an affordable way for me to publish that didn't have the upfront costs associated with publishing. And I didn't need anyone else's approval on whether it was worth publishing or not. I had full control of my work. The difficulty was that it passed on those costs to the audience.

I wanted to make something that was affordable not only for me, but also my audience. But it also helped me create some type of income so that I could fund future projects and allow my audience to partake in that. By printing “Sovereign” as a run of 2,000  52-page newsprint zines, I'm having to rely on my audience to support my work through pledges, but it also gives me an opportunity, if successful, to pursue and present  future projects. If successful, each pledge will receive a copy and I'm left with a stack that I can sell at fairs or events to help fund future projects and, hopefully, exhibitions. Art doesn't have to be expensive and exclusive, it can be affordable and accessible.

TL: What's next for you with this project?

PA: I have recently been awarded an artist seed grant to turn “Sovereign” into a large-scale exhibition which will be hosted at En Vivo Church in Grand Rapids during ArtPrize in September. This is a really exciting opportunity for me to bring my work to a larger audience and to launch it in such a way. The grant has also given me a great opportunity to hopefully tour “Sovereign” around Michigan. WIth an exhibition, I’m able to bring “Sovereign” to a whole new audience and create an avenue for selling the zines.