To celebrate the Double R Club’s fifth birthday this Thursday, co-producers Benjamin Louche and Rose Thorne have shared some of their favourite images from photo book The Black Lodge, compiled by a mysterious regular patron of the Double R, known only as Gh0stdot.

Gh0stdot’s pictures are less a mere punter’s record of the night than they are captured hallucinations, trapped fever dreams that resonate strangely with all who behold them. Copies of the book are available to purchase here.


Benjamin Louche, "The man from another place". Image: Gh0stdot

Benjamin Louche in “The man from another place”. Image: Gh0stdot

Louche: I love this shot -maybe because it almost feels like it isn’t me. There’s something here I’m not entirely in control of, something heightened and oddly frenzied, it really captures a moment. It was taken during my second act of the night, which I almost always perform lit only by two out of synch strobe lights, and as such it’s nearly impossible to photograph successfully.

Rose: How on earth did your knee get into this shot?!

 


Blanche Dubois, "I feel like I'm going to dream tonight. Big bad ones." Image:  Gh0stdot

Blanche Dubois, “I feel like I’m going to dream tonight. Big bad ones.” Image: Gh0stdot

Rose: What I like about this photo is how clearly the dead prom queen is brought back to life by Blanche. The sadness of death is evident, and yet she’s still wearing the crown that got her so much superficial attention in life; there’s something deeply tragic about this. Blanche truly “gets” us, and this act, which won her a crown at the first ever Miss Twin Peaks pageant, captures it all.

 


Emerald Fontaine, "I too have been touched by the devilish one." Image:  Gh0stdot

Emerald Fontaine, “I too have been touched by the devilish one.” Image: Gh0stdot

Rose: This photo is a smack in the face to those that call the Lynchian aesthetic misogynistic. The ultimate bad girl, in charge and taking no shit.

Louche: Red has always been my favourite colour. Hot girl with a knife. What’s not to like?

 


Dickie Beau, "It's far, far away - behind the moon, beyond the rain." Image:  Gh0stdot

Dickie Beau, “It’s far, far away – behind the moon, beyond the rain.” Image: Gh0stdot

Louche: Watching this act is like experiencing magic. It’s true theatre. What Dickie does is impossible, he makes you laugh, then he tears out your heart. This shot has caught something very vulnerable and gut-wrenching, yet simultaneously dreamlike.

Rose: This act always breaks my heart.

 


Heavy Metal Pete, "Sometimes my anger at the fire is evident"  Image:  Gh0stdot

Heavy Metal Pete, “Sometimes my anger at the fire is evident” Image: Gh0stdot

Louche: There’s a nightmarish coldness to this shot that really suits the character of BOB; a terrible fury trapped in a dark place and itching for escape. The frankly insane look in Pete’s eyes, highlighted with reflections of the fire he’s holding, only magnifies the whole effect.

Rose: The first time I saw this act I was truly terrified. Suddenly BOB, who’d been in my head for 20 years, was real. Terrifying.

 


Sabrina Sweepstakes, "Stand alone and do your dance" Image: Gh0stdot

Sabrina Sweepstakes, “Stand alone and do your dance” Image: Gh0stdot

Louche: The colouring of this shot only emphasises the unreal nature of the act, the way the light picks out Sabrina’s twisted musculature, the way the clay on her face looks like stone, or part of an ancient tree, is genuinely alarming. A beautiful monstrosity. A real standout act from the Double R’s past and this photo is a stunning record of it.

 


Snake Fervor, "Steal the light that runs the engine of my heart" Image: Gh0stdot

Snake Fervor, “Steal the light that runs the engine of my heart” Image: Gh0stdot

Louche: Snake doesn’t look human in this shot; or perhaps like something that has just taken human form and isn’t yet used to it. I love her right hand, in silhouette, there’s both a splayed awkwardness about it but also something graceful and choreographic.

 


Marnie Scarlet, "The night belle with lightning" Image: Gh0stdot

Marnie Scarlet, “The night belle with lightning” Image: Gh0stdot

Rose: Marnie Scarlet, what can we say? In almost all her acts there is a moment where the audience has no idea what they are looking at. I love how Gh0stdot has captured the movement of the wings while the face remains still; this mythical creature, perhaps the last of her kind, but mystery lies beneath, as it does beneath all of us…

 


Benjamin Louche, "Straddle the line in discord and rhyme"  Image: Gh0stdot

Benjamin Louche, “Straddle the line in discord and rhyme” Image: Gh0stdot

Rose: This is one of my favourite photos of Louche, he’s reaching out of the frame to rip out your heart. I was so glad to be able to use this as one of our Wonderground posters. It screams “I am Louche and I’m coming to get you!”

Louche: Great shot. Also, the fact that the title is a lyric from Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran really makes me laugh.

Rose: I also like that you can see the bandage on your hand…nobody has ever asked about that bandage…

 

The Double R Club’s 5th Birthday is Thursday 18th September, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. Tickets are available online.