Retina Overload— the Photography of Scott Alger.

“One-one thousand, two-one thousand,” Scott Alger counts time as he shines a bright yellow light in the face of a frozen Juliet. He is in the middle of composing his first of twelve photographs in a set depicting the tale of the star-cross’d lovers and their journey through the predestined tragedy we all know so well. However, if you are familiar with the work of Alger, you will understand that this isn’t a rehash of tired subject matter, it’s an expansion upon it.

Using unique visuals, unorthodox costumes, and painting the scene with vivid light, he uses the play as a jumping-off point and spins it into a one-of-a-kind, Alger-esque composition. A snail-slow exposure on the camera taking in the scene allows the artist to dart around the statue-still actors with a variety of colored lights, highlighting, masking, and drawing on the different elements in the photograph. When you lay eyes on the final piece, you will hardly recognize the transformed scene that is suddenly oversaturated with light and lush color.

The overarching theme of Alger’s work is the idea of tired stereotypes that are transformed when manifested into the world of the Downtown Manhattan Trendsetter crowd. The glamour mixes with the drab under a canopy of light to create something wholly special, something new and provocative.