One warm night last April, eleven creatives crammed into a house in Pittsburgh's South Side slopes to begin working on an all night project. Contemporary Domesticity, as I had affectionately called it, was an idea that had been stewing in my brain for four months.
Done in the style of Gregory Crewdson with elaborate lighting, art decoration, and posing, the images are elaborate, hyper realistic moments of daily life. They hint at quite moments of disconnect and overwhelming loneliness, each little detail subtlety playing into the next.
And as much as it was a creative endeavor, this project also was a testament to the friends I met in my first couple years in the art world. They sacrificed a night on the eve of finals and helped me realize this artistic vision, no questions asked. Their attention to detail, their expertise, their encouragement proved to me more than ever that collaboration, when mixed with creation, is a powerful force.
See the full series here.
Thanks for being part of this collaboration and for finishing my senior year on the best note.
Bischer Barmada, lighting expert, gaffer, DoP, BAMF
Matt VanWormer, grip and model
Jim Barris, grip and model
Ayla Miller, art director and model
Julianne Griffith, model
Dominique Hildebrand, model
Ren Rathbone, model
Eric Swader, model
Colt Guthrie, assistant everything and model
Frank Traggianese, for making sure we didn't lit the house on fire
And special thanks to the Point Park University cinema department and April Friges for helping me navigate some pretty tough red tape.