Enigmatic photographer Elmo Tide has photographed odd and intriguing
characters of late-night revelry for the past decade. Preferring to
remain completely anonymous in order to keep the focus on his work and
not on himself, he publishes his photographs under his arbitrarily
invented pseudonym of bizarre misdirection. Tide works usually under the
cover of nightfall, composing high-contrast black-and-white
mise-en-scènes that appear almost as if they're from a different era, as
if "Robert Frank and Fellini [went] to the carnival" (NPR). The images
often include vestiges of old Americana, yet they're shot entirely in
Los Angeles, revealing a different, darker side of the city than most
people may be used to seeing.
The cinematic, decisive moments he captures on the streets of Hollywood
and in dimly lit theaters of Los Angeles focus on a wide variety of
individuals and archetypes, including wrestlers, dwarfs, strippers,
policemen, and cowboys, many of whom range in age from the very young to
the very old. His pictures are a testament to what can be accomplished
solely with 35mm film, a normal lens, and practical lighting. He
achieves a mysterious chiaroscuro and highlights people in surreal
situations, which sometimes appear even stranger than reality--yet,
they're all captured, documented moments from the real world, and
nothing is staged. Truly one of the most unique voices to emerge in
street photography, AMMO Books is proud to release his eponymous first
monograph.
