Photographer Samantha Fielding spent three years traveling some of the world's largest cities in search of one thing: the inner workings of the performing artist. Her curiosity piqued while she was photographing burlesque dancers and she realized how vast and freeing the world of nighttime performance truly is.
"Night is a time for reinvention," she tells me over email. "No one understands this better than the underground performer," she adds, before describing the singular kind of freedom that comes with performing. Fielding explains that most of the people she photographed and interviewed consider performance as the only path their lives could have taken. It's more a way of life than a simple job. These performers see their time on stage as a chance to become their authentic selves: "Bursting free from the limitations of routine and shedding the skin of an everyday identity, they become someone else. Someone braver. Someone wilder. Someone truer."
Fielding is posting outtakes from her project on Instagram now. Click here for the latest news on Performer, the full book. Click through for a selection of Fielding's images.
"I grew up in the south of Spain, where my mother owned night clubs. From a young age, I was curious of the glitz and glam of the drag queens that had a night club next door."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"Stunning and tall, they always let me sit and watch them put their makeup on."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"I feel at home in this world."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"For the nighttime performer especially, there is a certain isolation that comes with putting their vision and endeavor out there."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"The irony is that they find exhilaration and purpose in their respective acts or identities — and yet, they are often judged and mocked as oddballs, outcasts, or freaks."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"I hope my lens conveys a sharper understanding of this misunderstood world."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"I shone my light backstage and focused on the characters behind the parade of masks, eager to capture both the practiced pose and the unguarded moments."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"The result is a series of portraits that captures the beating heart of a world I feel fortunate to have been able to document."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"You should never judge a book by its cover."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"All of the performers I have shot and interviewed have degrees and travel the world doing what they love. Their acts include subliminal messages of love, gender, and politics."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"Through my journey, I have met some of the smartest, happiest, well-traveled, and well-versed artists."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"We all could learn something from them."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.
"These performers choose life."
Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Fielding.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
10 Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Relationship
Why This Woman Wants To Change The Way You Think Of Self-Care