In his latest series, photographer and teacher Walter Plotnick has combined two seemingly disparate things: vintage images of the 1939 New York World's Fair, held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and 1930s-era pictures of acrobats, trapeze artists, and stuntmen in the midst of death-defying feats. World's Fairs often centered around the fantastical technology of tomorrow, while by contrast circus performers used the bare minimum in materials and still showcased the range of human potential. "It's just that theme of humanity and taking chances" that unifies them, Plotnick says.
Here's how it's done: Plotnick collects orphaned photographs from flea markets and other outlets and then uses a combination of darkroom and digital techniques to create engaging superimposed and juxtaposed compositions. Ahead of his solo exhibition in Belgium this summer (his first outside the U.S.), he is using Kickstarter to raise funds that will help physically get his work (and himself) across the pond, and also enable him to print a book of images from the show.
· Walter Plotnick Fine Art [official]
· Re-Imagining The World of Tomorrow ~ Euro Exhibit + Book [Kickstarter]