Arthur Drooker is not into leather and latex, and he most definitely does not want to dress up like Abe Lincoln, a merman or My Little Pony.
But for the past three years, the Mill Valley photographer has been spending his weekends surrounded by hundreds of people just like that at Fetishcon, the Association of Lincoln Presenters, Merfest and Bronycon — some of the 1.8 million conventions, conferences and trade shows that take place in the United States every year — in an attempt to understand the people they attract and what they’re about.
What he learned was that regardless of the passion that brought the attendees together, they had a safe, nonjudgmental place to be exactly who they are among people who think the same way they do. It satisfied the “longing to belong,” he says.
“An attendee I met at the taxidermist convention expressed it best. ‘This isn’t a convention,’ he said. ‘It’s a family reunion,’” Drooker writes in “Conventional Wisdom” (192 pages, Glitterati, $50), his new book that offers a sensitive exploration of 10 quirky and highly photogenic conventions.
“These are people who are very passionate, very creative and in a certain sense very fearless about expressing this side of them and expressing that with people who do the same,” he says. “They don’t have to defend it, they don’t have to apologize for it.”
Drooker will be at the Mill Valley Library on Dec. 2 to talk about his book and show images from it.
Sudden inspiration
The author of several photography books, Drooker hadn’t planned to publish one on conventions, a seemingly boring topic. He was interested in photographing professional historical re-enactors, people who dress up as people from the past for parades, tours and other events. His aha moment came when he stumbled upon the Association of Lincoln Presenters, which just happened to be preparing for its annual gathering. He asked the organizers if he could attend and they agreed.
Once there, it was pretty hard to resist falling under the sway of 100-plus men dressed like Honest Abe.
“It’s kind of intoxicating to be in an atmosphere where there is so much joy and so much connection going on. It’s a buzz. It’s almost like you can feel the heat in the room,” he says.
From there Drooker researched other conventions — the more unusual, the better — visited 12 and settled on 10 for his book.
“I was looking for fun, interesting, revealing juxtapositions,” he says. “I was also looking at what goes on in these conventions, but again, doing it in a way that was kind of fun and curious.”
Fun, but not poking fun, which was a delicate balance for him at some conventions like Fetishcon and Anthrocon, the convention for people who like to dress up in animal costumes, commonly known as furries.
“I thought it would be really bad form to essentially seek permission to attend somebody’s party, more or less, and then be a crummy guest by making fun of the hosts. I had no interest in that,” says Drooker, 62. “It really was, in some respects, like being a cultural anthropologist and exploring a subculture. I was genuinely interested in who they were and why they do what they do.”
He did a lot of research before he attended the conventions, in part to know what to capture but also to address his own preconceived notions and prejudices.
‘An open mind’
“I really try to maintain an open mind,” he says, especially when it came to the furries and the common perception that it’s just about dressing up and having sex.
“It’s really not what it’s about,” he says. “There’s some deep psychological stuff going on.”
Still, Bronycon — where mostly young adult men dress up as a My Little Pony character — was challenging for him at first.
“Of all the conventions I went to, that was the one that took me the longest to wrap my head around,” he says. “The sight of these young adult males just enthralled, dressed up as, or with their plushy toys of, My Little Pony characters, it hit me as kind of a strange thing. It took me most of the first day to get with it.”
Eventually, he did, finding a commonality with the New York native’s own obsession with the Boston Red Sox. It’s a way to feel connected.
“The bond that they feel at Bronycon when they’re with their fellow Bronies is akin to the way I feel when I go to Boston and attend a Red Sox game at Fenway Park and I’m with 35,000 other Red Sox fans. There is a feeling of connection I have with Red Sox fans when I’m in Boston that I don’t have anywhere else in life,” he says.
A lifeline
In fact, he says, two psychologists he met at the convention who are studying fandom — one who is a furry — observe that these conventions can be a lifesaver for people who are socially or geographically isolated, introverted or even suicidal.
“The community is really a lifeline for some folks,” he says.
Along with numerous emails of thanks he’s received from the people he featured, his book — with a forward by Vanity Fair’s James Wolcott — has garnered much critical praise.
“Drooker’s images go beyond superficial portraits of convention goers,” writes Cary Benbow in F-stop magazine. “We see images made by someone who has taken the time to know his subjects, understand the people and behaviors; and then share those insights.”
“His camera artfully captures the sense of community, culture, and connection that embodies these events where people from all walks of life and around the world, are free to explore what they term their ‘outer selves’ without fear of being judged,” writes the U.K.’s Mirror.
Drooker hopes his book, especially in light of the recent election, highlights acceptance and that we’re more alike than not in our basic need to feel like we belong.
“The effect this experience has had on me has made me a more empathetic person, which is a very welcome thing,” he says. “I was truly inspired by the fearlessness of the people I met in just being who they are and not caring. Like, this is who I am.”
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If you go
What: “Conventional Wisdom” with Arthur Drooker
When: 7 p.m. Dec. 2
Where: Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave.
Admission: Free, reservations recommended
Information: 415-389-4292: www.millvalleylibrary.org; conventionalwisdom.com
