By exposing supposed "flaws" in the human face when photographed under UV light, Detroit-born and Brooklyn-based photographer Cara Phillips manages instead to celebrate the beauty that is each of her subjects along with all of their very human "flaws." Her series On Beauty presents portraits of said subjects under UV light each with their eyes closed; some smile softly while others seem to just be waiting for the shutter to release. Their faces shine, there are various speckles and spots with which we are all familiar, some have glossy lips and wear make-up, some have wayward hair styles, cowlicks, etc., but who cares? Taking ownership of ourselves in the face (ahem) of the longstanding and perverse current standards beauty is perhaps one of the first steps towards accepting the beauty that has been within us from the get go. We spoke with Phillips in greater detail about her project.
There’s Nobody There is the eerily suggestive subtitle of Finnish photographer Markus Henttonen’s Silent Night, a collection of images of the exteriors of American houses and their “festive light decorations” taken at night during the holiday season. Rather than providing a cheery answer as to what the holiday season means in the U.S. or alluding to that familiar scene of the fireplace and hot cocoa, the images here shed only a bit of light onto each scene, and what is withheld ends up feeling more formidable than what is illuminated.
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it can often go so wrong. Painter, photographer, and ‘assemblist’ Richard Tuschman, set his sights on Edward Hopper for his series Hopper Meditations, resulting in a take on and a nod to Hopper’s command of mood, composition, tone, and hue, and an ode to his vision and unparalleled singularity. The reverse of “photorealism” (perhaps we could call it “brushrealism” here) occurs in this series, with Tuschman’s playful takes on Hopper scenes, replete with mysterious women, cityscapes, and the unspoken malaise of a woman too beautiful to be let out of the house. We heard from Tuschman in regard to Hopper Meditations.
In the portraits from NYC-based photographer Monica Ruzansky’s Dicen Que, the domestic workers she depicts are not holding children, but rather, taking their owners’ dogs out for one of their many daily walks. Though the setting is now 21st century Mexico City, the dogs in these images serve as a surrogate for the same pressing issues at work in Frank’s image from 1950s South Carolina.
For some, food is food. Food is canned, food is Chinese take-out, food is what we have in our fridges at 3am, food is packaged, food is crackers, rice, and beans. Perhaps as a reaction to or because of the current climate of food enthusiasts, NYC-based photographer Chris Maggio’s Male Chef is a refreshing, welcome look at what food is in his world. The series, which started out as a Tumblr, displays food in its many forms that can be found in his environment.