The Gay Pride issue of Camp featured Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes adorned in a fun "1950's inspired" outfit, jewelry and wig. Mayor Barnes was shown serving a gay pride rainbow sliced cake with the caption: "Serving the community with pride."
We can only thank Mayor Kay Barnes for having the great sense of humor to indulge us in this "Campy" cover. Many people told us they were keeping this Gay Pride issue of Camp with Mayor Kay Barnes for its historical significance. It's not everyday one sees a Mayor gutsy enough to pose for an LGBT publication.
Some have questioned if we simply photoshopped the Mayor's face onto some other 1950's photograph. Wrong. Mayor Barnes showed up at our office at 6 pm one evening and Andrew went to work with hair, makeup and outfits while Dusti set up the photograph. The photo in this article will show any skeptic that Mayor Barnes really sat in for a two-hour make-up/photo session.
I can only thank two extremely creative people for making this great cover possible. Dusti Cunningham and Andrew Chambers are wizards at their crafts. They stylized and photographed Mayor Barnes, as they have done with other models for covers of Camp and many photographs we have all seen over the years in Kansas City. They were also kind enough to set up all aspects of the photo shoot including the huge cake created by Sweet Fantasy for Succotash (it was all quite real and tasty) and arranging for an array of clothes for Mayor Barnes to choose from, provided by Vintage Vogue. You can get more information on Dusty Cunningham and Andrew Chambers, Succotash and Vintage Vogue in their ads in this issue of Camp.
We thank Mayor Barnes, Dusti Cunningham, Andrew Chambers, Sweet Fantasy for Succotash and Vintage Vogue for making this great Gay Pride cover issue possible.
- James Gabel, Creative Director, Camp
