In the days before Halloween, Portland-based photographer Rob Woodcox released “The Skeleton Queen,” a portrait series that tells the story of a woman and her harrowing journey to find love. A group of Woodcox’s friends gathered on the beach, where artist Chelsea Sinks painted their bodies like skeletons. Dressed in dark lace and torn rags, […]
Category: Makeup Art
Dark Fantasy and Industrialism in Stefan Gesell’s Otherworldly Portraiture
Stefan Gesell is a Munich-based photographer who composes breathtaking images that shock and seduce the imagination. Mixing dark fantasy imagery with industrialism and science fiction, Gesell uses his experience as a former graphic designer to tell elaborate stories using the lens. Dark, confident, and even tortured figures confront the viewer with tremendous strength, each seemingly […]
10 Morbid Sculptures Brimming with Death and Body Horror
Note: Contains violent content. Melting flesh, living corpses, and mutating organs: there are few things as unsettling as wildly degenerating bodies. In the wake of twisted films that characterized the science fiction and horror of the late 1970s and 80s—Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” for example—the journal “Screen” coined the term “body […]
10 Amazing Fine-Art Shibari Rope Bondage Photographs
Beginning in thirteenth-century Japan, rope tying (hojojutsu) was used as means of restraining, transporting, and punishing criminals. It evolved into an erotic activity and art form called “kinbaku” during the Edo Period, infusing the centuries-old discipline method with BDSM (the infamous photographer Nobuyoshi Araki is known for his extensive documentation of this style of rope […]
Danse Macabre: Darkly Romantic Portraiture by Eliza Kinchington
Note: Contains images that may be considered graphic and disturbing to some readers. Eliza Kinchington is a talented photographer from Australia who combines fashion and fine art into her imaginative shoots. Featured here is “Danse Macabre,” a series made in collaboration with Casey Cooper (creative director), Aaron Simpson (additional photographer), and a team of talented […]
The Selfie Apocalypse: Marvelous Mutants by Mothmeister
The artistic duo known as Mothmeister brings taxidermy to life in nightmarishly endearing photoshoots. Combining perished and preserved animals with models dressed up in masks and begrimed clothing, they create Frankenstein-esque humanoids who behold the camera with a shameless sense of pride. The barren, apocalyptic backgrounds provide the perfect settings for the artists to parody […]
Beardin-Lazursky’s Alluring Images of Martyrs and Clairvoyants
Collaborating with photographer Dmitry Nedikhalow and makeup artist Tatyana Chekmezova, Alexander Beardin-Lazursky creates the Latin titled project “Obelisk of Ignorabimus,” which inspires and fuses images of futurism with traditional Russian art. Taking this aesthetic even further in his next series, “Three of Swords,” Beardin-Lazursky influences again from Eastern Orthodox Icons—positioning isolated figures center of framing […]
Battlefields of Identity: Bryn DC’s Cinematic Explorations of Gender and Power
“Future Fatigue” is a series by photographer Bryn DC that represents the conflict and violence perpetuated by hyper-masculinity and gender inequality. Working alongside feminist artists, writers, and filmmakers, Bryn arranged apocalyptic scenes where the models—dressed up as gang members and renegades—posed in bright, bold defiance to conventional notions of femininity and the male gaze. Makeup […]
The Shrouded Maidens of Helen Warner’s Surreal Portraiture
Helen Warner is a Belfast-based photographer who composes ghostly and surreal images. She describes her work as a type of “frozen theater,” where arcane events occur in unknown landscapes. Featured here is a collection of her headshots, which pair feminine features with symbols of mourning and death: flowers, shrouds, and snow adorn the faces of […]
Disfigured Flesh: The Morbid Creations of Sarah Sitkin
Note: Contains images that may be considered graphic and disturbing to some readers. Sarah Sitkin is a Los Angeles-based artist who creates sculptural works of mutated body parts that have taken on a disturbing life of their own. Pieces of flesh and bone are mashed together like horrific monuments, oozing and growing hair. In other […]