Red Shoes, from the series Simulacrum, 2007, 2007 - Camila Rodrigo Graña

Camila Rodrigo Graí±a is known for her diaristic snapshots of Peruvian youth culture. Borrowing from the visual vocabulary of documentary, fashion, and advertising photography, she depicts the freewheeling lifestyles of young Peruvian artists and nonconformists. Much like realist photographers Nan Goldin and David Armstrong, Rodrigo Graí±a positions her own friends and lifestyle in front of the camera. "This is a group of young limeí±os, people that are really involved in the world of arts, music, and party. It appears that they are constantly acting, performing," she says, "but this is a casual snapshot that projects the daily life of this group of people." Rodrigo Graí±a's grainy photographs document a decadent lifestyle of skewered meats, free-flowing wine, and masked revelers. While the trappings of this word are seductive, the title of the series, Simulacrum, acknowledges the studied self-consciousness of her peer group. Rodrigo Graí±a's work has been the subject of solo shows at El Centro De La Imagen in Lima, Peru in 2009 and 2011, and she has participated in group exhibitions in Peru and Italy. Her work is included in ReGeneration2: Tomorrow's Photographers Today, a traveling exhibition and book project highlighting exceptional emerging photographers, organized by Aperture Foundation in 2010. Read Less