Deadmau5

Timothy White Verified independent store

→

Deadmau5, Los Angeles CA, 2021. When I met Deadmau5, we immediately began to explore our experiences in these digital, virtual worlds—him with this persona he created, and me with the persona’s I create with my photography. We wanted to make something together, but I was faced with a burning question: How do I shoot a portrait of someone who doesn’t have a face? As we were shooting—mask on, of course—I finally saw it.He’d created a monster when he put on that mask. With it, he was an empire. Without it, he was anonymous. It was something bigger than him, more powerful than him—it controlled him. I challenged him, asking if he’d ever thought about stepping out from behind it. He obliged. I had my assistant put it on, and lit a shadow on the wall behind him. He sat down on the ground, small, powerless against the physical manifestation of the alter ego he had created. The shadow depicted the power of this entity—domineering, always there, shading his reality. That single shot captured the whole story. Show more