Recent Posts
Culture November 21, 2023
Photo via Maria Lupan on UnsplashSay “Hello” to Carol. Carol is getting on in years; her skin is wrinkled from age but mostly from hours bathing in the ultraviolet sun. Carol will never stop her habit––the lawn chair is her solace, tanning from orange to burnt sienna under the heated rays of our solar system’s star.
Carol loves to sunbathe in her birthday suit. Carol loves the heat of the sun on her skin. The sunbeams on her skin liquify her skin into putty, until it drips through the slats of her yellowing lawn chair, her entire body melted away except for sagging tits and her face, eyes still closed in bliss, smeared with eyeshadow that is creasing in her eyelids that are wrinkled like raisins.
But this is not about Carol. Carol is the brainchild of artist and photographer Nadia Lee Cohen, who snapped a photo of the melted woman she created to massive public acclaim. This, right here, is about Nadia.
The hyper-saturation of her photography is a vision of Americana life in the ‘60s that makes us understand how the world must have felt the day they saw Technicolor for the first time on TV. Each of Nadia’s pictures is a short film of its own. But staying behind her lens is not all that Nadia Lee Cohen puts herself to. Her colorful, grandiose clothes cloak her like the plumage of a bird of paradise, commanding all eyes on her when she steps out from behind her camera into the fashion world. She drifts through the world as an enigma of vibrant Hollywood art, dangerously beautiful in front of every lens she graces. But it’s the waves of imagination, hiding in her head, that she releases when she steps behind her lens that is her true weapon. This is Nadia.
For photographer Nadia Lee Cohen, glamour exists in unlikely places. She photographs women in dingy motels, with Hitchcock closeups of expressions that strike a disquieting nerve. Women pose in bikinis, sexily exposing three breasts to the audience. Nadia brings a highly stylized, surrealistic vision of ‘60s U.S.A. to our 2023 eyes. But where did she come from, before she became the powerhouse of art she is today?
Growing up in rural England on a farm in the ‘90s, Nadia was drawn to photography as a way to bond with her father, who had a penchant for photographing the bits and bobs around their farm: some grass, a shoe buried in mud. With this introduction to photography, Nadia moved on to the London College of Fashion, where her parents continued their influence and support of her career, helping her build sets for her work in their garage. Receiving highest honors in BA and MA fashion photography, Nadia then moved to LA to begin her career. She’s also an icon of the fashion world, both from her classic updos and unique style, recently stepping up as the face of Schiaparelli. Nadia Lee Cohen’s other creative ventures dive into filmmaking––she directed the music videos for A$AP Rocky’s “Babushka Boi” and Kali Uchis and Tyler, The Creator’s “After the Storm.” She’s highly sought after by the A-list; her visionary eye is famous among the famous.
So why is Nadia’s work so enthralling?
The stage: June 4, 1970.
He heaves himself onto the chair. Adjusts his gallon cowboy hat. Absent-mindedly glancing around him, Jeff reaches into a pocket slightly damp with sweat and removes two slices of bacon he’d packed for himself that morning, a greasy snack to go. As he alternates chomps of bacon with long, hard puffs on a cigarette, supplemented with two candy-colored pills for his blood pressure, Jeff likes to think of himself as sophisticated in his white button-down and tan casualwear suit coat and pants. His Arby’s name tag proclaiming HELLO, my name is Jeff is still pinned to the suit. Bottle number five of the beer he guzzled last night is still in his pocket.
Jeff smokes Camel Lights. The pins on his jacket announce his support for Nixon, his lack of support for the Vietnam War. Jeff is still a sweetheart at his core, though; the “#1 Dad” keychain, that his son probably found at a cheap trinket store, is his most prized possession. He carries it wherever he goes. If forced to give up either his tobacco and hearty American breakfasts, and that keychain, Jeff would choose to keep the keychain.
Jeff reaches for the remote. Jeff clicks the button. Flashbulbs pop, the camera mounted across him on a tripod captures his likeness, forever sealing him on digital.
Jeff steps in front of a mirror in the corner of the studio. Jeff carefully peels the layers of prosthetic wax off his face. Nadia steps out of the makeup—out of Jeff—and goes to check her photo.
About Leah Grossmann: Leah Grossmann would bet you five hundred bucks she’s read more books than you have. She is a writer, script supervisor, and producer, hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her identity as a mixed Taiwanese-American is one of her great prides, along with her determination to achieve everything she sets her mind to. Leah believes in the power of a shared heartbeat among people, and if she had one superpower, it would be the power of flight.
About Stories Matter: Stories Matter, a mentoring program for young female writers founded by ENTITY Mentor and writer Leslie Zemeckis, nurtures the next generation and inspires them to tell their stories. Co-sponsored by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) and ENTITY Mag, published female authors give their time to emerging talent to encourage greatness and share their writing process. “The recent group, whose assignment was to write about ‘A Woman You Should Know,’” noted Leslie, “was exceptionally talented and a joy to work with.” ENTITY Mag is thrilled to showcase the work of these gifted young writers.
