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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
Sichuan Opera performer Wu Yonghong, 26 years, of the Jinyuan Opera Company performs for villagers at the Dongyue Temple on May 2, 2016 in Cangshan, Sichuan province, China. Sichuan opera is a vibrant, centuries-old tradition that showcases the joys and challenges of daily life in rural China with tales of love, tradition, and family honor. As the traditional audience grows older, the opera as a form of art and recreation is struggling to endure as newer spectators within younger generations are leaving the countryside for China's cities to seek employment. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Sichuan Opera performer Wu Yonghong, 26 years, of the Jinyuan Opera Company performs for villagers at the Dongyue Temple on May 2, 2016 in Cangshan, Sichuan province, China. Sichuan opera is a vibrant, centuries-old tradition that showcases the joys and challenges of daily life in rural China with tales of love, tradition, and family honor. Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
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07 May 2016 13:14:00
Raquel Poti, a 32-year-old street artist, poses at a park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 25, 2016. Raquel thinks the Olympics promotes a lifestyle that combines sports, culture and education. She is concerned about the large investment for the event while the population needs improvements in basic services. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

Just a week before Rio de Janeiro hosts South America's first Olympics, city residents expressed mixed feelings about the cost and security of the Games, while holding out hope they will bring joy to a nation facing economic and political crises. The conflicted thoughts mirror a recent survey by the Datafolha polling group showing that half of Brazilians were opposed to holding the Games, while 63 percent think the costs of hosting the event will outweigh benefits. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)
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03 Aug 2016 11:51:00
A young woman wearing no trousers hits the ski slopes at a ski resort in Xuzhou, in east China's Jiangsu province on January 13, 2015 in a promotional effort to equal “No Pants Subway Ride”, which was marked on January 11 this year. (Photo by AFP Photo)

A young woman wearing no trousers hits the ski slopes at a ski resort in Xuzhou, in east China's Jiangsu province on January 13, 2015 in a promotional effort to equal “No Pants Subway Ride”, which was marked on January 11 this year. The promotional “No Pants Subway Ride” stunt on January 11 was held as commuters in some 60 cities around the world braved public transportation in their undies, which has gone global since its first staging by US group Improv Everywhere in New York in 2002. (Photo by AFP Photo)
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17 Jan 2015 12:46:00
A sign advising to pray for rain hangs above an exhibit area at the 47th Annual World Ag Expo in Tulare, February 12, 2014. (Photo by David McNew/Reuters)

A sign advising to pray for rain hangs above an exhibit area at the 47th Annual World Ag Expo in Tulare, February 12, 2014. About a hundred years ago, when urban water systems were being developed throughout the state, the city of Sacramento wrote protections from metering into its charter, vowing that residents would always have the right to use as much water as they needed. But on Tuesday, the state's top water regulators released a framework for enforcing California's first statewide mandatory restrictions on urban water use – cuts of 25 percent for non-agricultural users ordered last week by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown as a devastating drought enters its fourth year. (Photo by David McNew/Reuters)
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09 Apr 2015 13:16:00
Revellers take part in the “Canto a la Tierra” parade on January 3, 2018, during the Carnival of Blacks and Whites in Pasto, Colombia, the largest festivity in the south- western region of the country. (Photo by Luis Robayo/AFP Photo)

Revellers take part in the “Canto a la Tierra” parade on January 3, 2018, during the Carnival of Blacks and Whites in Pasto, Colombia, the largest festivity in the south- western region of the country. More than 10,000 people among artists, craftsmen and revellers take part in the Blacks and Whites Carnival, which has its origins in the mix of the multiple Andean, Amazonian and Pacific cultural expressions. It is celebrated every year from January 2 to 6 in the city of Pasto and is part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009. (Photo by Luis Robayo/AFP Photo)
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10 Jan 2018 06:51:00


Wang Zeyu, 4, a fee-paying enthusiast of kung fu, practises during a training class at a kung fu school near the Shaolin Temple April 10, 2005 in Dengfeng, Henan Province, China. Zeyu's father sent him to the school from his home in Jiangsu Province, thousands kilometres away from Dengfeng, when he was just 3 years old. And his father must pay 9,800 yuan (US$1195) for one year's tuition at the school, a huge amount for most Chinese. There are more than 80 kung fu schools that line the road from the city of Dengfeng to the Shaolin Temple with hundreds and thousands of young kung-fu lovers from all over the country and beyond studying here. All the schools use the Shaolin name to attract students as the Shaolin Temple is the birthplace of Chinese Kung Fu. (Photo by Cancan Chu/Getty Images)
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06 Jul 2011 11:21:00
Construction Continues At Ground Zero On One World Trade Center

Construction continues on One World Trade Center (TALLEST BUILDING AT LOWER LEFT) as the memorial footprints of the twin towers are seen (BOTTOM C) on August 12, 2011 in New York City. Upon completion, One World Trade Center will be New York's tallest skyscraper, topping out at a symbolic 1,776 feet, with 3 million square feet of office space. More than 2,700 people were killed when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked U.S. passenger jets and flew them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Nearly ten years after the crippling attacks on Lower Manhattan, business, tourism and new construction like One World Trade Center have rejuvenated the formerly devastated cityscape.(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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14 Aug 2011 13:58:00