The Louisiana photographer transports us into a world where his dreams come to life in dynamic, colorful, playful images, all the while taking a satirical look at American society.

Joel Dubroc is one of the emerging talents making his mark on the photographic scene. A graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), he built his career working for several years with David LaChapelle. Not surprising, given her portfolio. His lively, colorful works flirt with the imaginary and the dreamlike, humor and irony, life and memories, exaggeration and consumer culture. This Louisiana native, based not far from New Orleans, draws inspiration from his life in the South, his performances as a child inspired by The Wizard of Oz, and his taste for the imaginary world of Dr. Seuss. "For me, photography is a reconnection to that spirit of play and creativity," he explains. His great strength is that he is involved at every stage of the creative process. He is also a hairdresser, make-up artist, set designer, art director, stylist and lighting technician.

CRITICISM OF CONSUMERISM

Through his Blue Book project, he probes themes of consumer society, grief, survival, transformation, everyday quirks and societal norms. His visual narratives foreground his friends and family as characters who reflect fragments of their lives. In some of the 11 photographs selected, he takes a critical look at consumerism and fast food. Here, a woman dressed in glass milk bottles becomes a visual symbol of excess and over-consumption. Another, with her face distorted and painted Cindy Sherman-style, holds a can of Spam and a plastic-wrapped bag of bread bearing the star-spangled flag.
The theme extends to the technology of "everything connected" with a man swinging from telephone wires, in reference to the lyrics of Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness, "Telephone wires above are sizzlin' like a snare." And even on extreme sports, with this skydiver jumping out of a plane in a checkered jumpsuit and high heels, underlining this irrepressible need to extol the spectacular on social networks.

FROM NATURE TO IMAGINATION

Joel Dubroc never ceases to dream his photographic visions, equally concerned with the way nature reclaims the remnants of an abandoned life. Like this poetic image of a vintage red armchair invaded by squirrels. His imagination also takes unexpected detours when he seizes on Dr. Seuss's "truffula trees", seen in Horton and The Lorax. Women dressed in red duct tape show that their role is as indispensable to the survival of human civilization as that of trees. He pushes this dreamlike, fairy-tale aspect further with a drag queen soaring through the air, a mannequin surrounded by a cascade of blue feathers or inspired by Star Wars' Queen Amidala, adorned with an oversized wig. Joel Dubroc's work is an infinite journey, open to interpretation. His work has been featured in several magazines and highlighted in the book Class of 2024, published by Thames & Hudson, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary. "I particularly yearn to be a child again," he likes to repeat about the Blue Book project. "I loved the carefree breathing and constant excitement. When life is so hot it burns blue."

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