Photographer David J. Fulde has been selected as a winner of the prestigious 2024 Fujifilm GFX Challenge Regional Grant, earning $5,000 to create an innovative photography series featuring Canadian drag performers. The award-winning project, which explores themes of identity and authenticity through drag artistry, has culminated in a gallery exhibition opening in Tokyo, Japan, where Fulde's work is displayed alongside other international grant recipients.
Fulde's journey to winning the competitive grant began with a near-miss application process in spring 2024. Having unsuccessfully applied in 2023 due to improper formatting, the photographer was determined to submit a proper application when the grant reopened. However, his enthusiasm was nearly derailed when he forgot about the deadline until just one day before submissions closed. "I knew my idea! It was just a matter of taking a few hours out of my day to format it into an arts grant application," Fulde explained.
The application required a preformatted cover letter available on Fujifilm's website and a one-page document outlining the project's artistic perspective. Fulde quickly assembled portfolio images that represented his artistic identity and created a comprehensive proposal addressing the who, what, where, when, and why of his project. Despite the last-minute rush, he successfully submitted his application, noting that the process helped him think about his work in new ways.
In October 2024, Fulde received exciting news that his application had advanced to Phase 2 of the selection process, placing him among the top 45 applicants worldwide. This achievement earned him an interview with the Fujifilm North America team, a prospect that made him particularly nervous. "They wanted to know not just about my work, but about who I was as an artist and person," he recalled.
To prepare for the crucial interview, Fulde created a detailed Google Slides presentation showcasing his work in the drag photography world. His presentation explored the concept of drag's readiness for the high-art world and demonstrated his deep understanding of the subject matter. During the interview, panelists asked practical questions, including what he would do if he received the Regional Grant instead of the Global Grant. Fulde explained that he would adjust his scope accordingly, focusing on Toronto and Quebec rather than traveling across all of Canada, and photographing fewer performers while maintaining the project's artistic integrity.
The project's central concept, which Fulde describes as "Truth in artifice," examines drag as an extreme form of the everyday masks people wear. "I find that drag is an extreme form of the masks we wear every day, which have two utilities – to hide the things we are insecure about and to accentuate the things we are sure of," he explained. This philosophical approach required him to make more technical and artistic decisions than ever before, incorporating complex lighting setups, detailed direction, and extensive post-production work.
To execute his vision, Fulde needed specialized equipment, particularly four lights capable of firing sequentially. With only two Broncolor Siros 800 S units in his possession, he reached out to Broncolor Canada, who generously co-sponsored the project by providing additional equipment including two more Siros 800 S units, a Broncolor Softbox, and a Broncolor Para Reflector Kit. He also recruited assistant Olya through a local Facebook group, praising her instrumental role in gathering behind-the-scenes photos, organizing shoots, and providing overall support.
The project featured six talented drag performers across two cities: Denim, Adriana, and Esirena in Montreal, along with Helena Poison, Manny Dingo, and Perla in Toronto. Fulde worked with agents to negotiate fees and coordinate schedules, though he faced some last-minute cancellations that required quick adjustments to his plans.
The technical execution of the shoots proved both challenging and innovative. Fulde employed a four-light setup that shifted for each performer, utilizing the Fujifilm GFX100 II camera's 8 fps burst mode to capture sequential exposures. Each time the shutter closed, a different light would flash for the next exposure in a 1-2-3-4 pattern, allowing different lights to accentuate various aspects of each drag artist's form and outfit while maintaining identical poses. This technique enabled him to create collages that he describes as "an unscrambled Picasso."
The Montreal shoot presented unexpected practical challenges, including the discovery that stilettos required cushioning on the white cyc floor to prevent damage. The team solved this by using rolled painter's tape to distribute the performers' weight, which added retouching work but prevented costly repairs. After establishing a rhythm of wide, low, and close-up shots for each performer, the 10-hour Montreal session concluded successfully despite a last-minute performer change.
The Toronto shoot took place on the rooftop of Fulde's apartment building, where he had previously conducted photography sessions. Working with a limited budget, he creatively solved set design challenges by purchasing velvet backdrop fabric from Amazon and using draping techniques to create an elegant set. The Toronto session was documented by Untold Storytelling as part of Fujifilm's documentary series about grant recipients, adding another layer of complexity but also providing valuable promotional content.
Post-production proved to be an extensive process involving thousands of photos that needed to be culled in groups of four. Fulde organized everything in a single Capture One Pro session, tagging photos by performer and narrowing selections down to approximately fifteen poses per artist. In a collaborative approach, he then sent these selections to the drag performers, allowing them to eliminate their least favorite shots before he invested hours of detailed work.
Dissatisfied with the stark white cyclorama background from the Montreal shoots, Fulde leveraged his four to five years of CGI experience to create impossible-to-build sets using Blender software. He reverse-engineered the lighting based on the captured images and his memory, matching his Blender camera settings to the Fujifilm GFX100 II and Fujinon GF45mm f/2.8 R WR lens specifications. To manage the workload efficiently across nearly twenty images while handling other freelance commitments, he utilized pre-made assets and modified textures rather than building everything from scratch.
The retouching process involved frequency separation techniques to even out skin tones and perfect the subjects' appearance, along with cleaning up unwanted wrinkles. While Fulde acknowledged that frequency separation isn't the ideal retouching technique, the volume of 102-megapixel images and time constraints made it the most practical choice. He noted that drag performers generally prefer slightly over-retouched results, making this approach aesthetically appropriate for the subject matter.
Beyond still photography, Fulde experimented with video applications of his technique, creating both cuts between different collages and fades between different lighting setups. The fading technique produced particularly compelling results that felt rhythmic and hypnotic, adding another dimension to the project's artistic impact.
Reflecting on the experience, Fulde emphasized how the grant transformed his artistic perspective. "I found that my growth as an artist, more than just a commercial photographer, grew tenfold over this project," he stated. The collaboration with Fujifilm exceeded his expectations, as he initially worried about brand representation constraints but instead found a supportive team committed to helping him achieve his artistic vision. The project has inspired him to continue exploring the more artistic and meaningful aspects of his photography work, marking a significant evolution in his creative practice.
The success of Fulde's project demonstrates the power of combining technical innovation with meaningful artistic concepts, while also highlighting the importance of perseverance in competitive grant applications and the value of collaborative relationships in bringing ambitious creative visions to life.
