Rafał Karcz’s Acid Trip
Polish artist Rafał Karcz’s images are experiments in deconstruction. What look like carefully applied watercolor or some kind of realist painting technique, are actually photographs of photographs. The vague compositions – the haunting ghosts of Karcz’s subjects, taken at parties or on the street, are shot on a cheap digital cameras, printed, then splashed with acid. Karcz’s friend, a laboratory worker, has made a concoction of acids which he then destroys the photographs with. Karcz calls it “[a] postmodern act of destruction.” He then carefully photographs the remains with a higher quality camera. The end result is a treacherous image, pristine only in its current rendering. [SEE MORE...]
Adarsha and Billie
Adarsha Benjamin and Billie the dog in Laurel Canyon. Photograph by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
[interview] ELVIS DI FAZIO
He’s already shot editorials for some of the top magazines, but with his distinctive style, searing eroticism, pop art sensibilities and sometimes eccentric art direction in broad hommages to bygone eras and cinema, Australian based Elvis Di Fazio is definitely an auteur of the fashion photography genre. I’ve been following Di Fazio’s creative endeavors over the past five years and it is certainly fascinating watching the evolution of an artist. Studied in the art of silkscreening, I first spotted some of Di Fazio’s early prints. The designs were original and genuine only because the influences were blatant, without being blindly derivative –indicative of an artist with a voice searching for a voice. And what you will learn in the following interview is that it was these exact influences that tangentially pushed Di Fazio, fatefully, into photography. With Diaries of Smutographer – a blog showcasing Di Fazio’s more deviant editorials the photographer fashions himself the identity of a playboy – sexually omnivorous, but slanting more towards the homoerotic, the Diaries, combining photography and video, are a provocative, orgiastic exploration of human sexuality. Demand for Elvis Di Fazio is high these days and the chances of getting an interview are thin, but thankfully he answered a few of our questions. Read the interview after the jump. [READ MORE...]
RIP Gökşin Sipahioğlu
