Portrait Photography With Surrealist Feel Looks Like a Painting

“Full Moon in Scorpio” (from a Central American fever dream)

artist Summer Wagner She is a storyteller, and lenses are the medium through which she shares her stories. Narrative images and video, both cinematic in nature, have a distinct aesthetic. Her images feature a desaturated color palette with contrast and depth of field that makes each composition look more like a realistic painting than something captured on camera. Every setting, from the character’s bedroom to the dark street, is filled with symbolic images that invite us to consider what is beneath the surface. The result is realism with a dash Surrealism Thanks to Wagner’s writings and vision.

One collection that perhaps sums up Wagner’s philosophy of image making is entitled A Central American fever dream. The series, produced between 2023 and 2024, revolves around a family living in the remains of the Rust Belt in the United States. It features nine cinematically designed widescreen images along with 119 animated versions and nine NFTs. There are four characters – Judith, Ernest, Bridget, and Douglas – and their stories are told across four acts that Wagner refers to as “waves.”

“These industries and spaces, or their memory, influence the lives of these characters,” Wagner recounts in the book’s introduction. A Central American fever dream“And they themselves transmit the values ​​and motives of those industries on which they spent their bodies.”

Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, the film is the story of Judith, who performs a ritual and casts a spell on her family’s cough syrup. This act pushes each family member to confront his or her own “shadow.”

Conceptually and beautifully photographed, the future of Wagner’s career is undoubtedly bright. My Modern Met spoke to her about how she began her career and how she developed her visual language. Scroll down to read our exclusive interview.

“Bridget in her old room” (from Central American Fever Dream)

What moved you towards using lens-based media in your work?

I studied film in college, and planned to write and direct films. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted that dream. I returned home to Rockford, Illinois, and worked for about a year in a grocery store before saving up to buy my first camera. I just wanted to do something creative. Many of us have experienced a huge creative shift during the COVID-19 crisis, and I was one of those people. The camera and still images allowed me to refine my voice and style, and I accepted the challenge of directing the entire narrative and distilling it into a single image.

“Sally shells”

“sleeping”

Your work has a distinct aesthetic; At first glance, it seems like it could be a very realistic painting. How did you develop your visual language, and what inspires you now?

I developed my style by just following my intuition. I have always had a vivid dream world and have been deeply influenced by natural, everyday expressions of surrealism. What many people don’t realize is that 75% of the “impact” of my photos is not in the editing, but in finding the perfect moment, places and people to capture – where the light hits the face or scene just right. Once I learned to find and feel those moments, color toning developed naturally. I have countless sources of inspiration, but recently I have been inspired by Zakir Hussain, Lars von Trier, Ted Chiang, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Leonard Cohen.

“Shadow of a tree”

“Thursday Night Dinner” (from Central American Fever Dream)

How do you see your beauty evolving the longer you work?

It’s hard to say exactly how my business is developing, I feel like it’s still in its infancy! What I can say is that I feel an increasing hunger to tell stories and develop characters through more than just still images.

Your work has a theatrical and narrative quality. Do you “write” stories before you start filming? Or do you let it unfold while you work?

It depends on the project. There are some collections where I have very specific characters and scenes where I have written the entire narrative in advance. But I also shoot casually all the time too and will allow the stories to tell themselves in the moments I capture. I do a lot of writing in the editing process as well, stitching together images that weren’t taken at the same time. I find that I do my best work when I am able to combine these processes.

“Mother of Industry” (from Central American Fever Dream)

“Ernest in His Office” (from Central American Fever Dream)

Can you share with us one piece that you’re particularly proud of, or one that you feel encapsulates the work you love to do?

I’m really proud of this photo called Coming of age From my collection A Central American fever dream.

This is a single exposure taken in my hometown of Rockford, Illinois. I’ve been staring at this location every time I drive by for probably several years, knowing that one day I would film there. You can’t see it in the picture, but at the top of the hill above the people is a parking garage that lights up the grass in this kind of washed-out yellow. This piece had to be captured within about 20 minutes during blue hour, just after sunset.

This piece would not have been possible without my friend Megan Devine who sourced and coordinated all the extras. In the center of the picture, one of the characters in the series (the elderly woman) passes another character (the young woman) with a jawbone. I have been using the deer jawbone as a recurring symbol in my work, and this image seems to really sum up what it means to pass this symbol on to another generation.

“Coming of Age” (from Central American Fever Dream)

What are you working on next? Anything exciting you can share?

I have two more video works coming out this year, which are kind of visual vignettes about communication and relationships. This is what is on the immediate horizon. I’ve spent most of the past year writing and reading, immersed in the world and thinking of a way to somehow explain all this chaos. I’ve just started pre-production on my next collection, which I’m not ready to talk about yet but I’m super excited!

“The First Chemical Baptism: The Cult of Gravel”

“Shadow of a tree”

Summer Wagner: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met has granted permission to display photographs of Summer Wagner.

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