“I think a hodgepodge is a good way to describe my brain…,” states photographer AdeY in an interview with the Phoblographer. When you look at AdeY’s photographs, you see so many different things. I see a ton of nude bodies out in public. But I also see some internet memes such as planking. Additionally, there’s a sprinkle of conceptual and surrealist art in there. All of this simply makes sense as AdeY is a former dancer — and the randomness of the flow is inherently translated into these images.
All images by AdeY. Used with permission. For more, please follow him on Instagram. Uncensored by AdeY is at CLAMP Gallery, 247 W 29th St, New York 10001 from May 16-25. www.clampart.com
AdeY makes these images as a protest against how the nude body is often used in commercial photography. “The images draw from concepts and ideas that I feel are consistent within the world that I’m creating in my head,” he tells us. “I use stick people drawings as the impetus for my shoots and lean heavily on improvisation tasks that I have used throughout my career as a dancer and choreographer.” From there, AdeY makes his images into the randomness that we don’t see anywhere else. And for that, his work deserves a praise that champions how different it is from all the others on social media simply pandering to the attention economy.
First getting into photography while in dance school, AdeY used an early 2000s digital compact camera to capture his friends dancing in theater. But when he tried to photograph them in low light, it didn’t work out all that well. “…I spent a whole semester’s student loan on a Nikon D70 (this was the latest and greatest back then) from someone on eBay and started to teach myself how to capture people and motion,” he tells us. But these days, things are different.
Most of the time, AdeY shoots Kodak Portra 400 for the overall grain, sharpness, and look. It’s loaded into a Fujifilm GF 670 camera and he calls it a Leica on steroids. Additionally, AdeY uses a Hasselblad H2, 100mm f2.2, and 35mm f3.5. But then he landed on a Fujifilm GFX 100s — until he found out that the continuous focus couldn’t keep up. Now, he’s using a Fujifilm GFX 100 II with a 55mm f1.7 and an 80mm f1.7. “It’s a phenomenal camera that has great ergonomics and the biggest buffer on a digital camera I have ever experienced,” he tells us. “You can practically shoot 8 frames a second without it ever slowing down or basically I never shoot long enough to overload the camera. It’s rock solid and very reliable also.” With that, he makes his sweet images.
As you look through AdeY’s photographs, you’ll notice that often don’t have their faces in the photos. The reason for this is because he feels it helps reclaim the body from mainstream marketing. To him, there’s a vulnerability to being nude while also showing the strength that we all have.
“In many of my earlier works, I always concealed the model’s faces and still do in the majority of the images,” he tells us. “The reason for that is I didn’t want any single image to become about the beauty of the individual but more about what I was trying to convey through the body and the photograph. I concealed the face as I felt it helped cut out the desire of the viewer to the person in the image.”
This authenticity permeates through AdeY’s photographs in that he shoots film. In his eyes, so much has been lost in the digital world. AdeY shoots, develops, scans, edits, and prints himself. “I love that you have to work hard for it, and by putting in that much time, you end up with very real results, very human.”
To that end, he thinks that the onset of AI imagery is distorting the art form. He’s scared of the possible effects that it will have on someone’s understanding of photography now and in the future.
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT
The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.