Chett
Through our life, we go through continuous change. Our bodies refresh cells every 7 years, in a way becoming new. Portals - as an idea are a passage to another world, dimension, or alternate reality. Some people live in several realities in the same lifetime, whether it’s superficial, internal, or existential, change is the only constant.
We pass through these portals - passageways to other moments, represented through these vibrant backgrounds and scenes col- lected for nearly a decade. Scenes that are shouting out stories that haven’t been heard or told yet - portrayals that haven’t decided whether we are looking at different being, or a n individual with multiple personality disorder.
Using colorful images gathered on my travels in Arizona, British Columbia, California, the Carolinas, New York, and Texas - shot on multiple formats, films, and states of mind - we created stories to bring these locations to life; and through thoughtful and vi- brant styling, hair, makeup, and nuanced lighting, we brought them to life in studio in Brooklyn, NY. Matching and retouching digital files into multiple formats took a multitude of time and care, paying close attention to the color, shape, direction, grain, and dizzying shadow-play required to sell the reality of final images resulted in a project that delivers a fantasy that keeps us guessing.
Sometimes everything clicks at once, melding minds and talents into something that is greater than the sum of its parts. The meet- ing of Chett D’Angelo, a female to male transgender model with type 1 diabetes, was one of these revelations, making sense and bringing life to the idea of these portals, identities, and moments in time. The subject matter of the pre selected background images in relation to Chett’s story made sense in an unexpected and fantastically strange way. Chett made it possible for us to pass through these worlds, and allowed us to explore a life of many selves.