¡Aye Dios Mio! So this past weekend I met up with Meligrosa and the Calitexican (AKA Meli and Melyssa) in Japantown for a day of purikura adventures. I’ve been following their writing and photography for years and we finally all came together like Voltron to kick out the creative jams. Together we are the SMFF Crew (So Much Fuckin’ Fun!).
This round of purikura art making cemented the medium of Japanese photo booths as the means for me to realize my visions as a photographer. As with the last round of Homegirl Purikura, I only decorated a few photos myself. Instead I mostly facilitated Meli and Melyssa taking photos and decorating them. It’s been fascinating to watch how others choose to decorate their purikura images. I’ve learned a lot from each purikura collaborator I have worked with and each experience has helped me to refine my own style.
Even though I only decorated a handful of images this time around I’ve noticed how focused and deliberate my style choices have become. Meli and Melyssa were definitely the most intense and bombastic purikura decorators I’ve ever worked with and their images really inspired me. There’s a great contrast between my decorated images and theirs that illustrate the range of possibilities of purikura as an art medium. Once Meli and Melyssa got the hang of using the tablet pens and the dynamics of the decoration screens they both unleashed visions of cats, skulls, and starbursts the likes of which I have never seen before. Behold!
To see a full gallery of my Purikura works including all of the images created with Meli and Melyssa CLICK HERE.
Peace and Purikura,
Rio
Graphic Art, Tortillas, Comics, and Troublemaking 