Candy or Bust

Photographs of strippers on the internet • Archival inkjet prints mounted on aluminum • 15″ by 20″ editions of five • 22.5″ by 30″ editions of three • •

Awards

  1. One out of five winners in the 2011 First Edition of the Hey, Hot Shot! photography competition

Group Shows

  1. Hey, Hot Shot! 2011 First Edition, Jen Bekman Gallery, New York, NY –
  2. Voyeur: See and Be Seen, Brooklyn Artists Gym, Brooklyn, NY –

Statement

The photographs in the series Candy and Bust are taken off a computer’s screen showing video streams with male and female strippers, re­spec­tive­ly. The video streams are transmitted live, in real time across the internet and are accessible through several websites, without registration, for free. Payment is only necessary for private one-on-one time with a stripper. In addition to the video streams, the websites support mutual text messaging between strippers and viewers.

Strippers are advertised as amateurs. However, repeated visits to the websites show the same strippers appearing in different rooms and different strippers appearing in the same rooms. This suggests a degree of organization inconsistent with strippers being amateurs. Judging by the language of text messages, many strippers are located in Latin America or Eastern Europe.

Each image is filtered through two digital cameras. A stripper’s web cam captures the original, continuous stream of images. It also tends towards coarse pixelation and color shifts. The artist’s still camera then recaptures individual frames. It also reproduces the structure of the computer screen displaying the video stream. As a result, it underlays each image with a fine grid of light and shadow.

Candy

  1. A bare-chested male stripper takes a drag on a cigarette while sitting on a white sofa in front of a wall painted with yellow, orange, and lavender rectangular shapes
    Candy #1
  2. A bare-chested male stripper sits on a beige sofa in front of a wall painted with several lions
    Candy #2
  3. A bare-chested male stripper leans on blue and lavender laundry in front of a wall showing photorealistic but oversized flowers
    Candy #3
  4. A male stripper in white tanktop sits on an orange marbled sofa in front of a green wall with cat cartoons
    Candy #4
  5. A rather buff and bare-chested male stripper lounges in a room with pink and red wall and floor coverings
    Candy #5
  6. A bare-chested male stripper is hugging his jeans-covered legs and peeks nervously to the side
    Candy #6
  7. A bare-chested male stripper with a prominent star tattoo on his shoulder is biting one of his nails while staring at a computer screen (which is out of frame)
    Candy #7
  8. A male stripper with a body covered by several tattoos and wearing only blue briefs sits on a violet mattress in front of a red panneled wall
    Candy #8
  9. Candy #9
    Candy #9
  10. Candy #10
    Candy #10
  11. Candy #11
    Candy #11
  12. Candy #12
    Candy #12
  13. Candy #13
    Candy #13
  14. Candy #14
    Candy #14
  15. Candy #15
    Candy #15
  16. Candy #16
    Candy #16
  17. Candy #17
    Candy #17
  18. Candy #18
    Candy #18
  19. Candy #19
    Candy #19
  20. Candy #20
    Candy #20
  21. Candy #21
    Candy #21
  22. A bare-chested male stripper sits on a sofa featuring a white floral pattern against a light green background in front of a wall painted with light blue and yellow rectangles
    Candy #22

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Bust

  1. Bust #1
    Bust #1
  2. Bust #2
    Bust #2
  3. Bust #3
    Bust #3
  4. Bust #4
    Bust #4
  5. Bust #5
    Bust #5
  6. Bust #6
    Bust #6
  7. Bust #7
    Bust #7
  8. Bust #8
    Bust #8
  9. Bust #9
    Bust #9
  10. Bust #10
    Bust #10
  11. Bust #11
    Bust #11
  12. Bust #12
    Bust #12
  13. Bust #13
    Bust #13
  14. Bust #14
    Bust #14
  15. Bust #15
    Bust #15
  16. Bust #16
    Bust #16
  17. Bust #17
    Bust #17
  18. Bust #18
    Bust #18
  19. Bust #19
    Bust #19
  20. Bust #20
    Bust #20
  21. Bust #21
    Bust #21
  22. Bust #22
    Bust #22

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