What Happens in Vegas Doesn’t Necessarily Not Happen Anywhere Else
Friday, February 20th, 2009
self portrait. midas touch. by Noah Kalina
You might be familiar already with a video Noah Kalina produced a few years back, in which he assembled a self-portrait taken every day over the course of six years (be sure to pause the video and scroll manually for a different effect). You can also view a photo montage of that video here.
That video was viewed by (as of today) over 12 million individuals, which is very popular, even by YouTube standards. That recognition allowed him to segway into his next project, which was a series of self-portraits with various celebrities.
Listed on his website is a series of photos that I particularly enjoyed, titled “what happens in vegas…” which uses the element of his immutable self-portraits’ expression against the supposed glitz and commercial appeal of the Las Vegas strip.
What I liked about these series of shots, aside from the obvious humor of the concept itself, is that they make an interesting point while still avoiding the cliche. The alienation that comes across is not self-righteous or railing against superficiality, but simply points out the fact that, despite all efforts, sometimes there is just no connection to be had with your surroundings.
It’s the sort of feeling everyone experiences at least once in their life: a vague feeling of detachment, not quite hostile… just remote.
Be sure to visit Noah’s website, as there is a lot of good work posted there, aside from the self-portrait shots.
(Special thanks to Noah Kalina for giving me more info about his work for this post.)
