amateur category
White House (Single)
DESCRIPTION
Today scientific thinking may appear unassailable, yet magic remains surprisingly attractive to the modern mind. From the micro-superstitions that permeate our daily lives, to the fantastical tales of 4chan conspiracists, magic thrives in Western society.
Revisiting the overlapping terrain between photography and Spiritualism, The White House reflects upon these issues by means of a sequential photographic narrative depicting esoteric rites. Inspired by the visual language of comics and the photographic storytelling of Duane Michals, I was interested to discover how our ingrained proclivity for magical thinking would manifest itself when transferred to the realm of staged photography. In practice, although the narrative follows a “script” based on research into the 1692 Salem witch trails, I encouraged the actors to freely explore this theme for themselves within the defined parameters. The goal; to create a parallel docu-fictional reality encouraging magical thinking.
AUTHOR
Wenkai Wang is a New York based photographer, filmmaker and illustrator. Wenkai was born in 1996 in China. He is currently studying Filmmaking and photography at NYU Tisch School of The Arts, United States. Wenkai’s work has been exhibited by The Independent Photographer, Asia Society and Museum, C41 Magazine, CineCina Festival, New York Independent Animation Festival and etc.
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