Here’s a radical idea for a selfie pop-up: photo lighting.
Here’s another: a guide to what the proper filter and exposure settings to use. Where to stand — or sit — to get the optimized shot.
These glaringly obvious — yet somehow universally overlooked — amenities are front and center at The Scenario Studio, a new pop-up in the basement of Grand Central Market in the heart of DTLA.
On media preview night this week six scenarios — ranging from “detention” to a royale casino — were available, with a seventh on the way. There’s no pretense of story or a grand artistic theme: just the fundamentals of what you need to look good on sets that are recreations of photobooths once at celebrity parties, as big prints next to the scenes will attest.
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The plan is that for the tidy sum of $30 a head, groups of ten will be unleashed on the scenarios. You may enter as strangers, but could leave as friends after taking turns as models and photographers. I was skeptical myself, but after an hour of trying out setups and swapping camera phones the random young woman I was paired with and I were talking like old friends. (Yo, LL, thanks for all the pictures!)
Let’s get down to it: we seek out immersive because we want to connect with other people. We want to move past the manufactured personas that are presented to us on social media. So there’s kind of a blissful irony that a pop-up expressly dedicated to the manufacturing of our social personas can actually foster real connection.
Have I made a new friend? Let’s be real. But let’s also acknowledge that the actors you confess your secrets don’t usually end up your friends either. (At least, until you see them a half dozen times. Then they’re kind of your priest, but that’s a whole other story.)
Did the burden of modern existence lift for a while for two people? I mean, like for about 45 minutes, yeah.
And the photos we got were fucking awesome.
The Scenario Studio is now open at LA’s Grand Central Market, 317 S. Broadway through November 4th. Price: $29. Kids under 3 are Free. ADA Accessible.
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Office facilities provided by Thymele Arts, in Los Angeles, CA.
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