Petit Monstre tells arresting visual stories in ‘Oh Those Feels’ at Whitney Library

Thu, Jan 16, 2025 (2 a.m.)

At the Whitney Library, if you cognize wherever to look, you’ll find thing that grabs your attention. Not successful the mode a portion of loud, flashy creation might, but successful the quiescent mode that lone the astir arresting portraits can.

To the near of the main entrance, tucked distant from the aisles of books, photos are hung with a deliberate simplicity—no frills, conscionable light, shadows and quality form. The enactment of section lensman Petit Monstre—aka Ryan Alexander—consists of 10 images plucked from his photograph publication Oh Those Feels.

With an ambition to motorboat a men’s manner blog with his champion friend, Monstre recovered himself toggling with his archetypal camera backmost successful 2016.

“In the process of conscionable learning however to usage the camera, I benignant of fell into photography,” helium says. “I started disconnected doing thoroughfare photography. So astatine first, I was ne'er taking pictures of people; it was conscionable spaces. And past I decided to spot radical successful those spaces.”

His attack to shooting isn’t astir cleanable composition, oregon glam shots taken successful beforehand of a workplace backdrop. Rather, helium leans connected ocular narration and storytelling.

“I effort to benignant of travel up with a conception oregon a theme, and past I volition effort to find idiosyncratic who fits that,” says Monstre. “It’s much similar a movie, you don’t prime conscionable anyone to play a role. They person to look a definite way, acceptable your story.”

The concepts spell further than who’s successful beforehand of the lens. They’re astir the abstraction astir them, the airy that plays connected their form, and the infinitesimal erstwhile everything falls into place. Monstre feels astir comfy shooting retired successful the existent world—on the street, nether blaring sun, successful the spaces wherever airy and shadiness duke it out. His subjects aren’t posed mannequins. They’re existent people, conscionable existing successful the moment.

Take “Ye Do I Walk.” A antheral successful a yellowish jersey, 1 ft inactive successful the sunlight, the different swallowed by the dark, steps beneath the underbelly of a freeway. It’s each hostility and contrast—half in, fractional out. The representation could beryllium a metaphor for a 100 antithetic things, but you’re invited to beryllium with it and travel up with your own.

Then there’s “F.L.Y.,” a infinitesimal suspended successful time, wherever a model, chin resting lightly connected her hand, gazes somewhat upward arsenic a level flies overhead. The proximity betwixt her and the craft is uncanny and feels cinematic—it’s perfectly timed and has a consciousness of thing imminent and untold.

In “My Dear Melancholy,” a model’s tattooed cervix and thorax are highlighted by lukewarm airy arsenic they tilt their caput back, surrendering to the gleam. It’s a tender, undeniably quality moment.

The Oh Those Feels grounds tells a communicative without words portion nodding to the radical and places of this city.

“To me, you tin permission the spectator to make their ain communicative down the image,” helium says.

PETIT MONSTRE: OH THOSE FEELS Through February 4; Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; free, Whitney Library, thelibrarydistrict.org.

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