Influenced by pulp fiction and cinematic tropes, self-taught photographer and film-maker Alex Prager creates striking, sometimes unnerving images that are filled with a dynamic cast of characters. The hyperreal worlds she creates are packed with human melodrama, like the retro 'damsel in distress' character that regularly makes appearances in Prager's brightly colored and dramatically lit scenes.
With influences ranging from David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, William Eggleston, Cindy Sherman, and Gregory Crewdson, Prager references the vivid aesthetics of mid-twentieth century American cinema and photography. Pairing photographs alongside her films as part of her practice, Prager presents an eerie, alternative world where more questions are asked than answered.
2pm, Interstate 110 and Eye #6 (Sinkhole) from Compulsion
2012 Two archival pigment prints, each mounted. Interstate: 58 3/8 x 49 in. (148.3 x 124.5 cm) Eye: 19 3/8 x 22 7/8 in. (49.2 x 58.1 cm) Each signed, titled, dated and numbered 4/6 in ink on an artist's label affixed to the reverse of each frame.
