American singer Michael Jackson (1958–2009) arrives at Heathrow Airport with his manager Frank DiLeo, on his Bad World Tour, 11th July 1988. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
American sculptor Michael Alfano has been sculpting for over fifteen years. A native of New York, he now lives and works in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. His major influences are Salvador Dali, Jo Davidson, and Jean-Antoine Houdon, as well as Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi and other eastern philosophy and literature. He first studied at the Art Students League of New York, with an emphasis on life-size sculpture from the model. His formal education continued at Boston University and was augmented by internships with several prominent sculptors.
A participant in the traditional dance of Los Historiantes poses for a photo during festivities in honour of St. Michael the Archangel in San Miguel Tepezontes, El Salvador September 28, 2016. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)
Atmosphere during the auction of antique and modern furniture and other collectibles from Michael Jackson's last residence, his Holmby Hills mansion, held at Julien's Auctions Gallery on December 12, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)
A participant smiles at the annual Christopher Street Day parade on Kurfuerstendamm in Berlin, Germany, June 27, 2015. (Photo by Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)
Michael Massaia's photographs are as nostalgic as they are disturbing. His long-exposure images capture a subject matter familiar to most. From a SpongeBob SquarePants popsicle to a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich, he frames the frozen treats most people's summer memories are made of. Yet, Massaia doesn't just realistically render his ice cream. He distorts the childhood favorites by melting them before his lens, until the pops resemble ominous pools of paint or celestial snapshots.