summer...

bring it on

deep in the heart of texas

Surfside, TX 31.Dec.2009

BEFORE:

AFTER:

shake your money maker

After the initial humor wore off, I find that I am increasingly disturbed by "shake face" photos. Sure in the proper context it's funny to imagine the moment of capture...a jovial get together. someone suggests you treat your skull as an armature while your loose flesh sloshes across it. and then SNAP. Inevitably the thought of your face in fluidity forces a skin tautening smile, robbing you of a successful "shake face." Thank you god for the perpetual digital do-over...and for macaroni and cheese. but that's neither here nor there.

However, if you visit any number of sites devoted to this capture, you may feel a different vibe entirely. One of grotesque deformity, whether violently acquired or otherwise is unclear. These sites stack the photos in sterile grids, as if you are viewing the case study of a viral infection or radiation induced mutation. Cataloged by number instead of name. Separated by gender. These faces appear as the poster children for some drug our mothers didn't know they shouldn't take while we were in utero. Some even appear  as deceased, week old corpses suffering the disjunctive process of decay. Remove background evidence of the decidedly secure locations and you've got a different portrait entirely. I find it really eerie and ironic that we create these photos in comedic pursuits.