Underground studio in Žižkov brings together Prague’s beautiful and damned

Like most places worth looking for, Noah Lucas’s studio isn’t an easy spot to find.

A non-descript door on one of Žižkov’s main streets and a buzzer with the scribbled, evocative mention of ‘Blind Eye Studio’. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Once you’re let in, you’ll have to be quick to catch the second buzzing door that’ll lead you – tentatively, for the uninitiated – to the basement of this standard-looking apartment building on Táboritská street, just a short walk from the Lipanská tram stop.

“I call that the ‘please don’t kill me’ moment”. Noah’s strong and playful voice came bouncing off the walls from further down as I, a first-time guest, unsteadily made my way down the basement stairs.

That day, preparations are in full swing as Noah’s small and underground photography studio prepares to host, as it has for the past year and a half every third Saturday of the month, the latest edition of the ‘Freaks and Geeks’ drag-show – or FaG, as it is affectionately known.

FaG is just one of the many children of this alternative “ecosystem of openness, beauty and creativity”, as Noah explains, centered around the Blind Eye Studio, his own photography atelier which, beyond its core purpose, serves as a creative hub to connect likeminded people aching to bring their creative vision, artistic projects and other endeavors to life in a space they feel safe in.

A motorcycle mechanic by training and 80s political punk at heart, Noah filled a single backpack worth of clothes and belongings and headed to Europe from the US more than 25 years ago. When asked by his father what he would do there, Noah replied, mostly in jest: “I don’t know, maybe I’ll open a bar in Prague”.

Little did he suspect that that joke would come true, along with many other (mostly Žižkov-based) ventures like the late Blind Eye Bar, Red Eye Bar or Blind Eye Hostel. Their spirit and ethos, though, live on.

Quick and energetic, the ADHD-er is off in a flash to take care of the last-minute preparations before the evening show starts. At the door, illustrator and long-time collaborator Juniper welcomes the last-arriving guests, about 30 of them that night slowly taking their seats in the low-ceiling, darkened room humming with anticipation.

As Rudy Daddy, the maestro drag-king-host of Freaks and Geeks events, takes the stage and kicks off the evening under the beats of Bowie’s ‘Beauty and The Beast’, the audience knows they’re in for a memorable night.

Camera in hand, Noah moves and jumps between the sofas and tables to document the genre-transgressing and gender-defying performances that follow, from well-known staples of the venue like Fae Goth, Eva Lunch or Deedee Darkangel to first-timer Ashes and Flashes or Polish guest Lady Lion.

Whether oneiric or feline, provocative or silky-smooth, they all hit the mark: the audience is pumped, but maybe more importantly, donning large, happy grins they can’t and won’t hide, so are the drag artists and performers.

Noah’s words about the underlying ethos of the place start to take shape: “I love shabby chic, that’s my thing, I love gorgeous things juxtaposed with one another and with things that may seem a bit off to some people but that work great together. I love these contrasts”.

Coming back up in the open during a performance break, the half-busy, half-sleepy streets of nighttime Žižkov seem strangely oblivious to what’s unraveling under the surface, where Rudy Daddy soon closes the loop of the evening with Ziggy’s final ‘Rock’n Roll Suicide’ act under the cheers of the wide-wondered-eyed Blind Eye guests.

After a while, some of them disappear into the night, while others hang around the bar or get an impromptu karaoke going, something of a post-show tradition, Juniper tells me.

“What I enjoy the most is supporting people in their creative goals and for them to genuinely and openly enjoy themselves”, explains Noah as we discuss more in detail his work as a photographer – the beating heart of Blind Eye – and upcoming plans for his self-sustaining studio-hub-community.

“Many of my subjects don’t feel good about themselves, they may have body image problems and never felt attractive or sexy enough to pose in this or that way”, he says.

Also working in all fields of photography from high fashion to product, real estate, reportage and lifestyle, Noah’s long-running “Prague at night” series earned him a solid following until a new focus on queer/alternative lifestyles proved more controversial for the wider public.

“That project broke me a bit. And very much led to my decision to stop posting there for the most part and start a new project that would gather a demographic more akin to my own ethos”, he explains. “My goal here is to bring their true beauty forward and elevate them in some way, helping them realize that they actually are beautiful and worthy. That’s the real purpose here”.

As a space of inclusivity, kindness and mutual respect where no type of aggression is tolerated, Blind Eye has until now largely functioned as a private, or semi-public place. Having recently launched his new website featuring (part of) his photographic work, Noah decided it was time to get the word out all the while “maintaining the integrity and beauty that is the whole reason we do this”.

“It’s a unique space for performance, workshops and events attached to a photography studio at the heart of a whole ecosystem. I want people to know about it”, he says before discreetly teasing some of the events – some one-off, others recurring – that will take place, in the coming months, in his underground sanctuary of self-expression.

For regular updates, visit the Blind Eye Studio website or follow them on Instagram. The next Freaks and Geeks show takes place on Dec. 20.