Ray Street Custom Framing presents All Hail the Queen: Photographs by Kelly Fitzgerald, show opening reception and meet the artist.

The year was 1996. Bill Clinton was in office, the hit song "Macarena" by Los del Rio was dominating the airwaves, and photographer Kelly Fitzgerald was working as a part-time bartender at a local gay nightclub in San Diego.

Captivated by the larger-than-life personalities of the drag queens who performed every Friday night as Cher, Barbra Streisand, Tina Turner, and other legendary female vocalists, Fitzgerald began to photograph them — first in San Diego and then traveling north to San Francisco for the outdoor drag festival Wigstock.

The resulting portrait series captures a flourishing, creative period in the history of drag performance. Fitzgerald's choice of black-and-white provocatively downplays the outrageous use of color drag queens are known for, drawing attention to textures and subtler aspects.

Exhibit runs July 12 through September 9.