Inside One of the Most Powerful Spaces for Queer Expression in India

I recently documented The IT Ball 03 hosted by mothers @glorious_luna and @deedeepls, a drag ballroom event that has become one of the most powerful safe spaces for queer expression in India. This year’s theme, “The Archive of Memories”, invited people to bring their past to the floor. Storytelling through categories – from femme and masc body to vogue realness, everyone walked with purpose. Trans women, drag kings, butch lesbians, queer performers – each one showed up fully, as they are, in front of a crowd that truly sees them. It was a space where memory, identity, and survival danced together. 

Jitendra Jerry is a non-binary photographer based in India. Their work moves between fashion, documentary, and personal storytelling often centering themes of memory, identity, and self-expression of queer and youth culture across the country.