Populated with theatrical images of archetypal characters, Fernanda Chemale’s Disorder pairs photography with Gisele Rodriguez’s evocative poetry. “Representing a historical collective unconscious,” these images create a visual dialogue between fine art photography and poetry. Chemale stages shots of characters inspired by pop culture, literature, and myth, notably Barbie, Hamlet’s Ophelia, and Medusa.

The title references the journey of the anti-hero fighting against societal restraint and the disorder of feelings which accompany this quest. In her poem “Before the absolute night,” Rodriguez touches on this character’s point of view, using language to add a certain poignancy to Chemale’s images:

Before the absolute night

The last swig of insomnia
I hear your music: guitar on the porch
Aching and beautiful flamenco.
An afflicted something figures
In faces parked
In the garages of houses,
Where roles crumble
I wander in the moon submerged in walls,
Deliriums of restlessness!
Faced with life
And the lives of others.

Filled with free association, spirited attitudes, and emblematic references, Disorder seeks to understand “our current time: dedicated to our world [filled] with passion and irony.”

—Lauren Sarazen