faux real
FAUX - REAL | MELBOURNE
The concept of FAUX-REAL is based around the idea that fame is one of the strongest recurring fantasies and fashion is one of the most alluring of commodities. Connected to the fashioning of fame is its symbolic relationship to aspiration. As an audience we are stuck in a never-ending cycle of consumption, which thrives on a belief that imitation affords you the same lifestyles of those, we emulate. In this context, it is a suburban world that surrounds itself with alternatives, fantasizing about the ‘unreal’ world as if it were real and attainable.
The aim was to create images that suggest a sense of unreality towards this aspirational lifestyle. To allow the viewer to question the authenticity of their environment. The subjects are placed firmly within a suburban ‘dream home’ existence. Narratives focus on mundane tales within domestic environments while the fashion is derived from everyday materials.
“It is all so false, yet so tantalizing. It is not real, yet we easily imagine and desire it to be so. The success of these images lies in creating narratives that have a dual identity – that sit within the realm of commercial photography but also challenge the myths they create.”
This series of photographs explores people’s fascination with fame and the concept of the hyper-real against the real. Ready for conspicuous consumption, the world around us is re-packaged and presented anew: stylish, idealistic and fashionable.
The production aesthetics of advertising and fashion photography underscore the juxtaposition of the ordinary and the extraordinary. Open for inspection are the exploitation of the average Australian’s suburban existence, the “Australian Dream” of home ownership and more:
“I think there’s something within all of us that longs to be famous or at least aspires to live and act like celebrities”
