Unplanned Iconography III - The Dragnificent Season Finale
A daisy growing in the concrete- finding beauty in strange places.
Rain falls, light bends low,
Daisy blooms where shadows creep,
Beauty finds its frame.
Preamble
Ever felt kicked to life’s curb, doubled over by regret, choking on depression’s stench? Picture your pride so low that a discarded cigarette in the gutter seems like salvation. You reach for it, expecting filth, but find a daisy—fragile, defiant, blooming through concrete’s cracks. It’s a metaphor for your struggle, a spark of strength against the void, and the first line in answering your existential questions. These are the receipts. Welcome to Unplanned Iconography.
The Story
Mid-February 2019 marked six months since I pulled the plug on my bi-coastal pipe-dream. Back on the right coast, I was feeling good but edgy, wondering where the next gig would come from. Then my phone rang.
“Hey, Keith!” It was Jen, a brilliant TV producer I knew from my camera-op days when reality TV was a wild, unregulated frontier.
“Jen? Holy hell, how are you?” I said, barely containing my grin.
“Are you still shooting? What’s your availability?”
“Jen, you had me at ‘Hey Keith.’”
“Awesome! Ever worked with drag queens?”
Thorgy Thor , BeBe Zahara Benet and cast, by Keith DeCristo.”
What started as a TLC special, Drag Me Down the Aisle, blew up so big it birthed Dragnificent Season One, a six-episode series. The creatives wanted the season finale’s “final reveal” to be pure pageantry—think surreal, underwater-fantasy portraits of a couple chosen for their dire need of a makeover. Jen brought me in to make it happen, likely riding the Aquaman reboot hype.
Pre-production was a beast. The outdoor location was one of five spots the cast and crew had to hit that day, with an hours-long hold. My minimum grip-and-electric package to shoot in non-optimal sunlight? Not in the budget. Handing Jen substandard images she’d be ashamed to show her bosses wasn’t an option. Fault didn’t matter. But the gods sent rain, a dry indoor studio, and the power to control every photon in my hands. These images make me smile now—a testament to finding beauty in chaos.
BeBe Zahara Benet and Thorgy Thor pose with season one cast for the finale
Pre-production was a beast. The outdoor location was one of five spots the cast and crew had to hit that day, with an hours-long hold. My minimum grip-and-electric package to shoot in non-optimal sunlight? Not in the budget. Handing Jen substandard images she’d be ashamed to show her bosses wasn’t an option. Fault didn’t matter. But the gods sent rain, a dry indoor studio, and the power to control every photon in my hands. These images make me smile now—a testament to finding beauty in chaos.
Hero Portrait: Dancing in an Underwater Fantasy for TLC’s Dragnificent Finale
Rain gods laugh, “Surprise!
Drag queens twirl, my lens plays nice—
Studio? Wet mess!”
Technical
Gear: Sony A7RII, Sony G 85mm, Broncolor Para 133 & 88—my arsenal to sculpt light and turn chaos into art.
Modifiers: Sekonic 508-Cine, Tiffen Black Pro Mist 1/4, 1/8, 1/2 for that dreamy glow.
Result: Portraits that captured the couple’s transformation, proving beauty exists in everyone.
