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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
Local villagers ride a local coal powered steam train on March 27, 2015 at a station in the town of Shixi , Sichuan Province, in Southern China. While China boasts the world's most extensive high-speed rail infrastructure. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Local villagers ride a local coal powered steam train on March 27, 2015 at a station in the town of Shixi , Sichuan Province, in Southern China. While China boasts the world's most extensive high-speed rail infrastructure with over 16,000 kilometers of track, the Shixi-Bagou railway is still a primary connection for local villagers between towns and is kept alive by tourist cars carrying passengers for ten times the price. The rail line came into service in the late 1950s and the train was initially used to transport coal from a now-shuttered mine before passenger carriages were added. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
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12 May 2015 12:00:00


“The Red River Hog (Potamochoerus porcus), also known as the Bush Pig (but not to be confused with P. larvatus, common name “Bushpig”), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rarely seen away from rainforests, and generally prefers areas near rivers or swamps.

Red River Hogs eat grass, berries, roots, insects, molluscs, small vertebrates and carrion. They are capable of causing damage to plantations. Red River Hogs typically live in herds of 6-20 members led by a dominant boar. Sows rear 3-6 piglets at a time.”

Photo: Two 17 day old red river hoglet twins forage for food next to their mother Bahiti at London Zoo on August 23, 2007 in London, England. Red River hoglets inhabit the forests and swamps of West and Central Africa. The recent additions to the London Zoo pig pen have been eagerly awaited by zoo keepers. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
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18 Mar 2011 15:15:00
Kew Gardens employee Lauren Bird Royal examines the flowering of the Titan Arum lily at the Botanical Gardens

“The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, “without form, misshapen” + phallos, “phallus”, and titan, “giant”) is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The titan arum's inflorescence is not as large as that of the Talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera, but the inflorescence of the Talipot palm is branched rather than unbranched”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Kew Gardens employee Lauren Bird Royal examines the flowering of the Titan Arum lily at the Botanical Gardens at Kew on September 30, 2005 in London, England. For the first time in horticultural history, the Titan Arum lily can be seen at all three active stages in its lifecycle – in flower, fruit and leaf.The flowering corm is nearly three metres tall and weighs 91kg and is very rarely seen outside of the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
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20 Sep 2011 11:13:00
The British Breitling Wingwalkers, Danielle Hughes and Emily Guilding, soar above the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai at 1,500 feet (460 meters) in excess of 100mp/h, ahead of their Dubai debut performance at the 2014 UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Powerboating Series, on Saturday, 13th December 2014. (Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga/Breitling via AP Images)

The British Breitling Wingwalkers, Danielle Hughes and Emily Guilding, soar above the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai at 1,500 feet (460 meters) in excess of 100mp/h, ahead of their Dubai debut performance at the 2014 UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Powerboating Series, on Saturday, 13th December 2014. The British team is the only aerobatic formation display team who employ full time wingwalkers and fly their two Breitling-liveried 1930's Boeing Stearman bi-planes at Air Shows and major sporting events around the world. (Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga/Breitling via AP Images)
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13 Dec 2014 13:11:00
Tattooing Pigs By Wim Delvoye

Wim Delvoye is a notorious tattoo artist, who became famous when he started tattooing live pigs. He first began in 1997 and after animal rights activists found out about what he was doing, he had to move to China to continue his business. There is nothing special about the tattoos that Wim Delvoye creates, they look mediocre at best, and the only reason why he’s famous is his acts of animal cruelty. Nevertheless, Wim states that the pigs feel just fine and are well fed and taken care off. Full anesthesia is used to ensure that the pig doesn’t feel pain during the course of the whole procedure. During this time three tattoo artists work on the tattoo simultaneously to complete it as quickly as possible. Skins of those pigs are then sold for as much as £50k a piece.
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02 Apr 2015 09:06:00
Alexei Gruk, 45, mechanic and supporter of presidential candidate Pavel Grudinin, poses for a picture in St. Petersburg, Russia, January 31, 2018. “The most important thing for me is that our foreign policy stays the same”, said Gruk. “To hell with the sanctions… So what if they don’t bring foreign stuff here anymore? As if that means we have to give up. I don't care”. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

Most Russians intending to vote for Vladimir Putin in Sunday's election say stability is at the root of their faith in their candidate – though many young voters believe it's time for a change of leader. Putin, 65, is expected to win a fourth term in office with 69 percent of the vote, according to the latest survey by a state-run pollster. Reuters correspondents and photographers who travelled around the country talking to voters ahead of the March 18 election found nothing to contradict expectation of an emphatic Putin victory. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)
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15 Mar 2018 00:01:00
A combination picture shows a voter, casting a ballot at a polling station number 216 (L) and walking with a ballot at a polling station number 217, during the presidential election in Ust-Djeguta, Russia March 18, 2018. The voter, asked by a Reuters reporter to explain why she was voting multiple times, ignored the question and walked away. (Photo by Reuters/Staff)

17 people were photographed by Reuters apparently casting ballots at more than one polling station Sunday during Russia’s presidential election in the town of Ust-Djeguta, southern Russia. Many appeared to be state employees, and some showed up in groups and in mini buses bearing the names of state-provided services. Voting twice is a misdemeanour under Russian law and those caught are heavily fined. But when shown these pictures, election commission member Leila Koichuyeva said: “They could be twins”. Here are a few. (Photo by Reuters/Staff)
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22 Mar 2018 06:22:00