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Nicolas Silberfaden: Superheroes

Due to the current economic, social and cultural crisis in The United States of America today, I have decided to do a photographic project consisting of a series of studio portraits of superhero and celebrity impersonators that live and work in the city of Los Angeles. Most of them unemployed Americans, they decided to suit up with their costumes and hit the streets, animate parties and events in efforts to make ends meet. Making them pose in their costumes against a colorful backdrop, I ask them to manifest feelings of genuine sadness – honest emotions that are a consequence of our current times. The result is a somber, striking visual image that contradicts the iconic nature of strength and moral righteousness typical in American superhero and celebrity imagery. Creating the illusion that Superman does exist – that he too was fallible and affected by America’s downturn.

Nicolas Silberfaden
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06 Dec 2012 12:13:00
“Cats”. I really love animals and I think they are often overlooked or underestimated.  Sometimes I can see the feelings and emotions in animals when I can’t see them in humans, so it’s easier for me to express the feelings in a lot of my animal characters. (Photo and caption by Mike Stilkey)

Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. (Photo by Mike Stilkey)
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31 Jul 2014 10:17:00
A brown-hooded kingfisher sits on a branch with a freshly caught frog in it's beak. Riaan Marais who took the photo said, “We were doing a boat safari on the Rufiji river in Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania when I spotted the bird with the frog on an overhanging branch on the river bank. It most probably caught the frog in the reeds along the river’s edge as this is where these frogs stay. The kingfisher must have caught the Common Reed Frog just before I took the image, as the frog was still alive, I had a brief moment to take the image before the bird flew off with the frog”. (Photo by Riaan Marais/Solent News and Photo Agency)

A brown-hooded kingfisher sits on a branch with a freshly caught frog in it's beak. Riaan Marais who took the photo said, “We were doing a boat safari on the Rufiji river in Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania when I spotted the bird with the frog on an overhanging branch on the river bank. It most probably caught the frog in the reeds along the river’s edge as this is where these frogs stay. The kingfisher must have caught the Common Reed Frog just before I took the image, as the frog was still alive, I had a brief moment to take the image before the bird flew off with the frog”. (Photo by Riaan Marais/Solent News and Photo Agency)
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10 Jun 2018 00:03:00
The mudmen come from the country’s western highlands, where there are virtually no roads, cars, electricity or shops. (Photo by Jeremy Hunter/Exclusivepix Media)

For centuries the Highlands peoples of Papua New Guinea fought over land, women and pigs. Sorcery and battle skills could elevate a clan to Bigmanship, where the bigger the “presentation”, the bigger the man. Clans therefore would paint their bodies and create fearsome masks as part of their psy. Here: These are the terrifying tribe of “mudmen” from a remote part of Papua New Guinea. (Photo by Jeremy Hunter/Exclusivepix Media)
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08 May 2017 08:12:00
A woman wearing a bikini stands next to fuel pumps as she waits to top up fuel at a petrol station in Kiev, Ukraine, September 26, 2015. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

A woman wearing a bikini stands next to fuel pumps as she waits to top up fuel at a petrol station in Kiev, Ukraine, September 26, 2015. One of the largest networks of petrol stations in Ukraine organized a campaign in which anyone who showed up in swimwear at a particular gas station during specified hours would receive free gasoline, according to representatives of the company. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
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29 Sep 2015 08:06:00
A worker looks on with his camel as he waits for tourists at the Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, November 8, 2015. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

A worker looks on with his camel as he waits for tourists at the Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, November 8, 2015. Egypt's Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazou said Cairo regretted the suspension of flights and was doing all it could to secure its airports and tourist sites, adding that he would fly to Sharm al-Sheikh to oversee measures to support tourists there. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
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11 Nov 2015 08:00:00
A participant from Indonesia waits to perform a dance during the last day of World Culture Festival on the banks of the river Yamuna in New Delhi, India, March 13, 2016. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

A participant from Indonesia waits to perform a dance during the last day of World Culture Festival on the banks of the river Yamuna in New Delhi, India, March 13, 2016. The festival opened on the banks of the Yamuna River in the Indian capital Friday despite concerns the sprawling construction of roads, ramps and pontoon bridges would irreparably damage the river's floodplains. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
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14 Mar 2016 11:07:00
A naked Hindu holy man arrives to bath in the Godavari River during Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, at Trimbakeshwar in Nasik, India, Saturday, August 29, 2015. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

A naked Hindu holy man arrives to bath in the Godavari River during Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, at Trimbakeshwar in Nasik, India, Saturday, August 29, 2015. Hindus believe taking a dip in the waters of a holy river during the festival, will cleanse them of their sins. According to Hindu mythology, the Kumbh Mela celebrates the victory of gods over demons in a furious battle over a nectar that would give them immortality. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)
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30 Aug 2015 11:34:00