Photography: Verboten by Samy Sfoggia

The photographic series titled Verboten (“Prohibited”) is focused on characters that usually are called “outsiders”. Verboten consists of staged photographs that are based on 1920s criminal mugshots. The images were captured with a film camera (a Zorki-C model) and digitalized by scanning the negatives. Each model was photographed only fivefold and in ambient light. Many art historians argue that the status of photography has changed over time. In past, the photographs were worshiped because they were the result of an expensive technology. Currently, photography is commonplace and no longer marveled at. For these reasons, this work is a recreation of the past, even in an ironic way.