Exquisite Identities

I feel very blessed to have so many artistic and creative friends. It feels like someone is always up to something crazy, beautiful and entertaining, and most of them don't mind sharing their work with the rest of us. One of these people is photographer John Paul Bichard. You have probably seen some of his pictures on my blog before, since he always walks around with his camera, shooting both performers and guests at events such as Fräulein Frauke Presents and the International Stockholm Burlesque Festival - both of which he produces together with his wife Fräulein Frauke.

John Paul has worked with different projects which has been exhibited both in Europe and in the US, and this post will be about one of those projects - one he calls Exquisite Identities. When describing the project himself, he says that Exquisite Identities is "a growing series of photographic works that capture the creativity, personality and aesthetics of some of the great names in the contemporary burlesque and cabaret scene. The focus is on people who go to extraordinary lengths in their professional lives to develop rich, complex and highly constructed identities..." As some of these exquisite identities happens to be friends of mine, or performers I have had the chance to see on stage, I can tell you that the way they have been portrayed by Mr Bichard is the perfect way to get to know their stage-personalities. This is who these people are, and what they do!

Lou Lou D'Vil

Fräulein Frauke

Laurie Hagen

Honey Lulu

Hedo Luxe

Erochica Bamboo

Mr Pustra

Scotty The Blue Bunny

Cleo Viper

Marlene von Steenvag

Vicky Butterfly

Until The end of April you can see seven pictures from this series exhibited at MELT Bar & Restaurant in Stockholm. For more of John Paul Bichard's works, please visit his web site here!

Source

Fräulein Frauke Presents: Duty Calls

Because I had to work I couldn't be there myself!!! But thanks to the modern invention, called "the camera", I'll still be able to blog about the burlesque evening called "Fräulein Frauke Presents: Duty Calls"! It took place at Nalen, in Stockholm, on Saturday, and was created by Fräulein Frauke, and her husband John Paul Bichard - here seen together in the picture below.

The evening started with a vernissage of John Paul's photo project "The Evacuation" - a series of nineteen photos - to be continued next spring!

And, yes, that's me in the front in the bottom picture...

The burlesque performers during the evening were:

Lady Franscesca!

Ruby Lu Scious!

Vicky Butterfly!

Virginia Valentine!

More Vicky Butterfly!

And Fäulein Frauke herself, of course! With her new, confetti shooting canon!

Dusty Limits/Dorian Black also took the stage between performances.

What a pretty boy...

There were lots of guests there too! For example:

Elsa Olsson

Karin Dubbelve

Some WWII soldiers

And a...ehm...WWIII lady!

There was even an infirmary, where you could get your party wounds treated. There should be one at every party!

People obviously had a superb time at the party, and I can only hope, that the next time Fräulein Frauke presents something, I'll be able to attend!

All photos: John Paul Bichard

Last Sunday and next Saturday

Last Sunday I - together with a bunch of other people - was invited to the Bichard Residence - the home of Fräulein Frauke and John Paul Bichard.

I wore a 40s dress I bought straight from Kellerman Vintage, on mine and Fanny's little shopping trip to Rouen. The dress has some lovely details!

Dress clips both at the neckline...

...And on both sleeves - still with all stones in place, I might add!

On one side it buttons up with covered buttons. On the opposite side the buttons are just for decoration.

Of course my partner in driving like criminals - Fanny - was there too! Here in a new vintage coat and lovely victory rolls.

The reason we had all been invited to the Bichard Residence (except for the scones, tea, chocolate cake and wine...) was to look at the series of photos from the project "June 1940 - The Evacuation", John Paul Bichard is working on right now. I did a post on it earlier, which you can read here. As a thanks for participating in front of the camera he wanted to show the finished pictures to us, before they went public. It was so nice to see what had become of those photo shoots! The photos looked like stills from a black and white 40s movie! I had just been able to participate at one of the shoots, but the project will continue next spring, so I hope to be able to get into it a bit more then!

And now for the rest of you who might wanna take a look at these photos. Next Saturday, November 26th, they will be shown to the public at Nalen, during "Fräulein Frauke presents - Duty Calls"! 

Last time Fräulein Frauke arranged one of her amazing nights - together with Mr Bichard - it was called "Dark Fairytale". I was there, and you can read about it here. This time the evening is inspired by WWII, and people's need to get away from the war and all it's horrors for at least one night of extravaganza! 

Except from the photo show and jazz music from one of the best jazz bands in Stockholm, the audience will be treated to burlesque performances by some of Europe's biggest artists of this genre!

Dusty Limits (UK) - Comedy genius with a sharp tongue and a fantastic singing voice!

Vicky Butterfly (UK) - One of the worlds biggest burlesque artists! A dancer that brings back the vaudeville and sheer beauty of the early 1900s.

Fräulein Frauke (Sweden) - The Saucy Songbird! Together with her husband, John Paul Bichard, she's the creator of Swedens best burlesque cabaret nights! I know - for I have been there! She sings like an angel and takes her clothes off like a...ehm...well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see...

Virginia Valentine - "Hoochy Koochy Mama"... 

...and Ruby Luscious will also be there!

Here comes the bad news - for me: I can't go because I have to work late on Saturday and early on Sunday!!!!!!! Aaaaaarg!!!!!

Words like "f**k", h**l", "d**n", "b*****s and h**s", etc, comes to mind...But for all you lucky bastards who will be there - I know you'll have a wonderful evening!