Art in Review: GIRLS OF THE SS - Military Fetish Photography @ Ultrastar Gallery, Los Angeles

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
"GIRLS OF THE SS"
Group Photography Show
Ultrastar Gallery

Photographers:
Steve Diet-Goedde
Apollo Staar
Chad Michael Ward
Dan Santoni
and Fetish Paintings by Anna P. Sutton



The show was a total success, in that the right people were exposed to the right art for them, and my Gallery didn't get completely trashed!

This was a group photography show by 4(Federico Zignani wasn't able to show at the last minute) local Fashion/Fetish photographers, including myself. Chad Michael Ward's work is very Photoshop heavy in that he uses the program as a tool to manipulate his pictures to an almost dreamlike surrealist painting, rather than just for touch-ups. His pictures were mainly portrait style shot of models faces and heads done with a military twist. Steve Diet-Goedde is also a well known photographer who has also had several books published on his fetish photography. His style is more of like a quick peek-a-boo into the lives of his subjects, with distinctly choosing what to show the viewer thru medium shots rather than just all wide portrait shots. His ability to crop in camera works nicely with his overall message. Dan Santoni is a master at special effects, lighting and costume design. Most of his work for this show consisted of the models positioned in front of various explosive backgrounds that perfectly fit the look of his models. I especially liked how much work seemed to be put into his wardrobe and composition.
Then lastly is my work. I can't really review my work personally without readers probably feeling that I have a biased opinion. So, all I will say is that I was pleasantly happy with the last minute custom framing and the overall look and muted colour of my pieces. I had found these vintage gold leafed guilded frames at this second hand shoppe and then decided that I wanted all my photographs displayed in them. I purposely brought down the color saturation in my work so that the photos would have a vintage quality to them and lend themselves perfect for the vintage frames. The overall effect was that they looked like they belonged on the walls of a Chateau in the south of France. I thought they ended up being pretty cool.

Here's a shot of me in front of some of my photographs that were hanging that night.


Here are a few video clips that I shot during the show, showing the overall manic state of affairs that nite.

Part I.


Part II.


How the bathroom looked at the end of the night...and yes, that is an Original John Eastman from 1976 hanging up on the wall of my Tiffanys bathroom.