Staple Street Project
Jun 21st, 2009 | By Nick | Category: Performances
Here’s a good one: take some of the most interesting and weird people you can find, put them on one forgotten street in Manhattan, and take photos of them. The following article was previously publish in Fbombmagazine.
What do an escape artist, a world championship trick roper (read: fancy cowboy), a fire artist, a tattoo artist, identical twins, a sumo wrestler and a taxidermist have in common? They all appear in Chris Zedano’s Staple Street Project, from which these photos are taken.
Since moving to NYC six years ago, this Peruvian immigrant has been taking shots of the city; portraits, landscapes, the human form—the usual stuff. He’s good at these, but I’m tough to excite. My art needs to be rough around the edges, unpredictable and personal, revealing and interesting without any need for schooling—accessible to me, the layman. And as an obsessive people-watcher (don’t take me to a party), if there’s a focus on the more strange of strangers, all the better.
Chris’ idea is just that, and it’s a stroke of genius. Get dozens of the most fascinating people you can find, then take a single photograph of them on a dingy street on the edge of Tribeca. It’s simple enough, but his result is mind-blowing. With perfect clarity he captures the act or image each performer has been at pains to sculpt. These indelible images are precious. A magician is only visible upside-down through the glass ball he’s holding. An escape artist in thumb cuffs screams under his bowler hat. A mind reader twizzles his tash while swinging a pocketwatch. A bubble artist ponders the 4 gallon bubble sitting on his lap. Monique, a T-Girl, bares her cleavage while staring at the camera with fuck-me lips. About eight feet of fire stretches out from the mouth of Tighe, the white-suited fire-artist.
Each shot takes you into that space, it gives you the performance. Together they produce a circus effect in the viewer: full of wonder and widening the imagination. I got to catch up with Chris, to ask what…why…and eh? [This interview has been edited for time]
Nick Broad: So, why Staple Street?
Chris Zedano: I keep returning to this street because for me it captures the essence of New York: a small, quiet sliver of a big, crazy pie, a place both distinctly urban yet oddly homey.
NB: Do you try and find any people in particular? Craigslist: “Weirdos wanted. Call #”
CZ: I’m always on the lookout for interesting people. I haven’t done Craigslist in a while since I’m getting lots of referrals. I’ve been lucky to work with so many amazing people that offer their time for free, because they love and respect the project. In a lot of the shoots, people come with great ideas, which makes it easy. Both the subject and photographer have the same goal: to get a unique image.
NB: So how do you meet them?
CZ: I do extensive research. I gather all the periodicals available in NYC. There are plenty of them: am, Metro, L Magazine, Downtown Tribune, etc. I go through them and look for articles about people that I find interesting for the project or sometimes articles on events in NYC. I also follow my sitters to their shows and meet more performers at venues.
NB: How long has this project gone on for?
CZ: I finally decided to invest and get all the equipment to start work in March ’08, but I still have a long list of people that I’d like to work with, so I’m definitely working on it for the rest of the year. I guess I’ll know it when it’s done.
NB: Do you have any other skills? What got you interested in performers?
CZ: I have no physical skills. I’m a total geek. I guess it was more out of curiosity and admiration to these people. Who doesn’t want to hang out with some clowns, contortionists, fire breathers, and magicians?
NB: What have you learnt?
CZ: Working solo on this project presents some challenges. I can’t count how many times I’ve chased my umbrella down the street on windy days (and believe me it gets really windy on that street). Also, since I’m working a full day, sometimes I have trust my sitter to watch my stuff while I run to the restroom around the corner. I used to get nervous at the beginning but as I mentioned before, I’ve been lucky to work with so many amazing people.
You can see more of his work at www.chriszedano.com
[...] Chris reveres the landscape of New York City as the backdrop for his portraiture. Review: Staple Street Project function startGallery_29() { var myGallery = new gallery($("myGallery_29"), { timed: false, [...]
[...] Chris reveres the landscape of New York City as the backdrop for his portraiture. Review: Staple Street Project function startGallery_58() { var myGallery = new gallery($("myGallery_58"), { timed: false, [...]