For more than two decades, Markus Klinko has photographed pop-cultural luminaries from David Bowie to Beyonce, earning a global reputation for his signature style that blends opulent fantasy with a sly smirk to our image-obsessed reality.
Now, he’s stepping into the digital world of NFTs, and he’s brought his playful eye with him.
A series of four animated photos come to life in short loops, telling a story of excess and exoticism, all set to a soundtrack of Klinko’s own devising.
"I am particularly excited about this drop,” he says, “which I call ‘are you ready for your close up?,’ because it gave me the opportunity to create animated work that is situated right on the cuff between traditional photography and video. I feel very comfortable in such a hybrid world.”
Hosted by Monegraph and up for auction now through Tuesday, May 3, at 9 a.m. ET, the four original photos were shot across New York City and Los Angeles, and tap into the iconic lifestyles of those mecca’s high flyers.
“I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” depicts a distorted image of Manhattan from atop the Empire State Building, what Klinko calls “a memory of countless all nighters in the post production studio, with urgent deadlines keeping me up.”
“The Face of Greed” turns an experiential make-up shoot into a commentary on the slippery-slope of plastic surgery. It “showcases what happens when materialism takes over. Eventually, the soul melts away.”
On the other side stand “Joint Venture” and “Make Me Feel Good,” moody still lifes wherein Klinko “wanted to wrap the viewer into a relaxing atmosphere, where time stands still, floating in a state of dream.”
The first is an image of a woman holding a cigarette in her lips, an experiment in macrophotography from 2018. The second is of a dripping syringe, another commentary on the double-edged sword that is the search for perfect beauty. Both NFTs are set to equally etheric soundscapes.
"With my background as a classical concert harpist and recording artist,” he says, “having switched to become a fashion and celebrity photographer over 25 years ago, I am all about combining different genres.”
The starting bid for all four NFTs is set at 1 ETH. See each NFT in action and learn more via monegraph.com.
Photography by: Courtesy of Markus Klinko
