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Frank Correa's World

We talk to our favourite Peruvian photographer about his bizarre new shoot.

UNQLO top, vintage pants; Vintage trousers, Topshop bra, vintage socks

Peru-born photographer Frank Correa sent us this shoot he did with Dalston Superstar Anna Ryon when she was last back home in Seattle. We like Frank's photos and the way they combine his highly saturated photography with his weird web-like illustrations, and his quite bizarre and original approach to photographing and Photoshopping the dudes he's into.

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VICE: S‬o let's have a quick chat about the shoot you did for us, what was the idea behind this and did it have a sketch to go with it?
‪Frank Correa‬: N‬o sketches on this one, just flow. Well, I knew Anna was back in town visiting, so I wanted to take photos of her in my room like I have before. And I love that Tennessee Rosewas in the mix this time. Two beautiful good girls—the future.

How long have you known Anna?
A couple years now. I actually met her the night before she moved to England as I randomly ended up at her going-away party.

And you did the mosaic etc in Photoshop, right?
Correct.

And all the face painting?
Yes, I painted the faces post production. I had the bare bones—the original prints, untouched—sitting in a folder for a while, I revisit them a month later and boom, there it was.

Forever21 dress, vintage earrings and tights; Osh-Kosh B'Gosh top, UNIQLO leggings

Who is the person 'shopped onto Tennessee's hand btw?
‪H‬erself.

‪O‬h, nice touch. Were the colors representative at all, or were they chosen at random.
Thanks. ‬Random with some alterations.

So do yo see yourself as part of any scene or community?
No scenes, i just focus on my work—you won't see me at a bar wasting away, unless there is dancing involved.Well, I guess you can say its kind of a scene, but we all do our own different work and just happened to come together at the end of the day to relax. I have a small group of friends, we share ideas and times together, we cook, we laugh, we feel connected—all six of them are real special to me. I call my gang "The Temple". There are three different locations. We have HQ, my house is COLORS, and the third is under construction.

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Vintage bedsheet

Are these all the people in the pictures on your tumblr?
Yeah, mostly, but I'm running out of friends to shoot, so some of them lately are strangers with familiar faces I reach for.

What's the deal with your house? It featured in your Boy shoot and looks like something out of Little House on the Prairie, or something.
My house has a cabin interior and we are always projecting stuff in there, as my room mate has the best toys. He's a wizard. It looks like that scene in Sleeping Beauty when the godmothers are fighting over the color of the dress and all you can see is color lights exploding out the windows.

Let's talk about some of your other works. What was the concept behind this one?
Oh, that was one of the shoots I sketched out beforehand. I sent the sketches to three different guys and Wes was the only one to be down with it.

Nice. Was this a first for you, conceptually?
I used to draw them out more than I do now. Nowadays, I just get together with the subject and see how chemistry reacts on the spot. I still sketch every now and then. It's easier to show someone a sketch and see if they want to do it.

Did the shoot you did for us have a sketch to go with it?
No sketches on this one, just flow.

H&M top; vintage dress and necklace

Alright. What about this series? Did it take long to assemble these?
It took three days, in total. We shot 120 different photos, all film. The first photo on that site, with the white tee that reads Love Forever, that's my mom and her boyfriend. i stole that t-shirt when I moved out of their house.

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Wait, they have shirts with themselves on it?
Ha ha, yup.

Vintage cloak; vintage dress and necklace

Yowzers. What was this exhibition you were part of this time last year?
It was a collaboration with a good photographer friend of mine. We collected five guys and five girls and shot them in my room and some outside too. We had a slideshow showing all the photos projected on the wall, had prints on the wall too.

Ha ha nice. What are you into outside of photography?
I spend a lot of solitary time hanging out with myself and talking about images, sketching out ideas, etc. I worship the moon, I like to see stars and planets. Nature, in general—even though live in the city, the Inca in me is strong.

Vintage jacket, vintage boots, vintage tights, H&M underwear; vintage Moschino jacket, UNIQLO leggings, vintage Dr. Marten's shoes

Any more plans for the year?
I'm doing a non-photo project in September which is about connecting installations that were set along a five kilometer route connecting several south Seattle neighborhoods. We'll see what happens with that. My friend Sierra Stinson always counts me in for awesome activities like this.

Sounds pretty insane. Thanks a bunch, Frank!