16th Century-Imagined Superheroes by Photographer Sacha Goldberger
Photos by Sacha Goldberger
In the last few decades, we've seen superheroes be transformed and remade continually, but until now, we've never quite seen them like this. Photographer Sacha Goldberger has created a series of 16th Century-looking superheroes at a special art exhibition in Paris titled "Super Flemish". Through a compilation of make up artistry, design, and lighting, each character is photographed to look like an Elizabethan-era painted portrait, and it's as realistic as you can get.
To name a few, the portraits include characters from DC, Marvel, and Star Wars, and it took an entire crew to portray each one. Outside of the hair and makeup artists, casting directors were even hired to book models that closely resembled the Hollywood actors that played each superhero in recent films. The detail-oriented project proved to be a success, and they are all creatively entertaining.
Take a look at the following portraits, and find more of Goldberger's full portfolio here and on his Facebook page.
[Via ComicBook.com]
"Be Masculine" Explores What Defines Gay Male Masculinity (NSFW)
Photos by Erik Carter
It's the 21st century and a lot has changed in terms of understanding gender roles in today's society. Specifically, many are still learning such roles in the LGBTQ community, and it's beautiful to see more people accepting others for who they are as individuals. With this, New York photography Erik Carter has a project in the works titled, "Be Masculine", which explores what defines gay male masculinity. Through portraits and interviews, he's seeking to push boundaries to start a larger conversation about what masculinity means today.
In an exclusive interview with the Huffington Post, Carter elaborates on the current and future ambition for the project as a whole. And all in all, he wants to reveal that masculinity is not as simple as it's standard definition, and can actually be defined differently from individual perspectives.
The photos below are the first set of the ongoing project, and consists of men who live in New York City who identify as gay. Each intimate portrait shows diversity, and definitely broadens the narrow view of what many consider to be "masculine". Take a look and let us know what you think, also find more on Carter's Tumblr and Instagram.
[Via HuffingtonPost]
Intimate Photos That Challenge Sexual Identity
Photos by Chloe Aftel
In light of marriage equality, gender identity is new topic to many people, and an evolving culture refusing to define themselves as strictly male or female. In a shoot commissioned by San Francisco Magazine, photographer Chloe Aftel began an ongoing series titled, "Agender". The series is a set of intimate photos that challenge sexual identity, and beautifully sheds light on the complexities of the genderqueer and neutrois communities.
The theme for this photo series was sparked by a tragic act of violence, after Sasha Fleischman, an 18-year-old San Franciscan who identifies as agender, was brutally set on fire by a fellow student while sleeping on a bus in November of 2013. The cruel and unfortunate incident prompted a small, but nationwide discussion in mainstream media regarding gender binaries and transgender identities. Thus leading Aftel to Fleischman's home to photograph the new icon of America's genderqueer youth.
In hopes to raise awareness of this diverse and often-overlooked community, San Francisco magazine published Aftel's photos, and the portraits are beautifully intriguing. Some of Aftel's subjects identify themselves as gender-fluid (with a fluctuating gender identity), some as gender-queer (a more general term for any gender identity other than male or female), some as agender (those who do not identify with any gender), and some as transgender (self-identification as woman, man, neither or both).
Check out the following photos, including one of Sasha, and find more of Chloe Aftel's work here.
[Via PolicyMic]
Amazing Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent
Photos by Romain Laurent
Aside from any of his personal and commercial projects, New York City based photographer Romain Laurent, challenges himself to create amazing animated portraits. The animation works by looping multiple images together, creating a gif, and the project continues as he posts an image a week on his tumblr page.
Each image is entirely different from the other, and each subject creates its own visual story. Laurent says that the bizarre and unique images are a low-pressure way to experiment and be creative without expectations. Specifically, he notes, “As far as the intention of the series, it’s a way for me to explore a hybrid medium, experiment and being spontaneous while still sticking to a short weekly deadline. There isn’t a common concept between each loop, I just ‘go with the flow’ and see what comes to my mind each week.”
Check out a few of our favorites below, and be sure to check out this continual weekly shares on his tumblr and website.
[Via ThisIsColossal]
Evocative Portraits of Holy Men in India by Joey L.
Photos by Joey L
Joey Lawrence (known as Joey L) is a Canadian commercial photographer, director and published author based in Brooklyn, New York. Although he is recently best known as the creator of the Twilight movie posters, he is also known to have a deep interest in endangered cultures, traditions and rare religious practices. As a personal project, Joey traveled to Varanasi, India to create images for a series called, “Holy Men". While focusing on featuring religious ascetics in one of the oldest cities in the world and the “epicenter of the Hindu faith”, he was able to capture evocative portraits of actual holy men for this series.
In addition to the portraits, he was accompanied by filmmaker Cale Glendening, and Ryan, a close friend/assistant, to also create their documentary titled, “Beyond". The short film features a behind-the-scenes view of their experience in this third world, along with an emphasis on the photographer’s subjects, and mesmerizing and sometimes bizarre lifestyle.
Most of the portraits focus on the Aghori, a sect known for engaging in postmortem rituals, such as covering themselves in human ashes, meditating on corpses or crafting jewelry from human bones. “The Aghori have a profound connection with the dead. Death is not a fearsome concept, but a passing from the world of illusion,” says the photographer. Check out the photos below and find more on his website. Also be sure the see the eye opening documentary here.
[Via Demilked]
Rifles Manufactured Specifically for Young Children
Photos by An-Sofie Kesteleyn
“My First Rifle” is the advertising slogan for small rifles manufactured specifically for young children. For appeal, they come in an assortment of colors and styles like hot pink, orange, royal blue or with multicolor swirls, and although they look like toys, these rifles are very real. The bizarre concept instantly grabbed the attention of Belgian photographer An-Sofie Kesteleyn, and she immediately took on a project to photo shoot children with their own rifles in America.
The idea first came about when Kesteleyn read an article about a 5-year-old boy in rural Southern Kentucky who accidentally shot his 2 year old sister, and not with any gun, with his own gun. Having been raised in Belgium, she found this astonishing, so when she traveled to the United States she sought out to find gun shops and shooting ranges with families who had bought these playfully colored guns for their children. With the permission of the children's parents, she photographed them with their rifles. While meeting with these families, she respected that most of the parents discussed self-defense and their fear of attacks with the kids, so she then asked the children to write about their own fears, and she presents their writings and drawings next to their portraits.
Although the idea and gun topic are both very controversial, the portraits are intriguing and thought provoking. Take a look for yourself and let us know how you feel about the concept.
[Via The NY Times]
[Through My Lens] Femme Marinett
Photos by AngieStar Photo
In inspiration of the infamous literary archetype "femme fatale", a mysterious and sultry woman who charms her lovers into compromising or dangerous situations, we created a seductive photo set I've titled Femme Marinett. In collaboration with talented make up artist Marie Antoinette, and our ever so seductive model Marinett Santiago, we went with a dark yet sexy wardrobe, and shot at an unlikely setting, behind a rehabbed old warehouse, to bring together the whole look.
In editing, I went even further and slightly unsaturated the photos, to emphasize a dark and mysterious vibe to Marinett's sexy and seductive appeal. All in all, the fully feminine collaboration proved a success and the photos are just as alluring as the character inspiration. Take a look at the following photos from our fun and very sensuous photo shoot, and find more here. Also be sure to check out my page on Facebook as we will be collaborating again very soon.
Surreal Pictures Shot With Old Film Camera
Photos by Oleg Oprisco
In combination of dramatic landscapes, floral designs, and an old Kiev 6C and Kiev 88 film cameras, photographer Oleg Oprisco developed amazingly surreal pictures for all to see. The 26 year old photographer from Ukraine stepped outside of the digital world with this series, and proved that old film camera's can still be used for artistic and surreal work without the use of photoshop.
Oprisco definitely showcases her appreciation for film photography and the importance of single frame shots in this body of work. With a muted color palette, unexpected props, and mysterious figures, each photo carries it's own magical essence.
Take a look at the following photos and find more here.
[Via Demilked]
