About the Project

I lived in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood from 2010 to 2018, during which time I developed this photo series and documentary film. The project is about the veteran drag performers at Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, a small Tenderloin neighborhood bar that has had an outsized influence on San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community for more than twenty years. Sadly, it is now the last gay bar in the area. The project captures the performers Donna Personna, Olivia Hart, and Collette LeGrande as they transform at home, backstage, and onstage.

Curator’s Statement (Excerpt)
Amanda Krugliak, University of Michigan

“The project is a deftly crafted and sensitive homage... The images show us complicated, sometimes messy, multi-dimensional people in their environments, taking us from backstage to front and center, from the routine to the out of this world. Hosking’s focus on small details, the nuances of color, or the particularity of light, result in an expansive vision. As viewers, we feel the closeness of Hosking’s relationships to Donna, Olivia, and Collette, and, in turn, we also feel for them. They are the protagonists of their own stories, both everyday and extraordinary, and we are their rapt audience. Beautiful By Night also reveals our skewed perceptions and value judgements in regards to aging, identity, class, and work. And with the beauty of each image, we are reminded of the darkness...the erasure of a vibrant community, a place so rich in history and full of life, amidst the fallout from dot.com takeovers and pandemics.”