Amigos Jugando — Era GameCube, 2002

A scanned photograph placed on a cream linen tablecloth with soft wrinkles, the photo filling nearly the entire frame with only a thin natural border visible on all sides. The photograph depicts: Grungy analog flash photo, CVS disposable camera, circa 2002. Two friends — a young person with short dark hair and warm brown skin turned halfway toward the camera laughing, one hand still on the controller, and a scrawny Hispanic kid with a buzzcut and a silver chain necklace wearing a flame-print button-up shirt over a white tank top leaning forward intensely with mouth slightly open in concentration — sitting on beanbag chairs in a messy teenage bedroom, both clutching indigo Nintendo GameCube controllers. On the small 20-inch CRT on a cluttered desk, Super Smash Bros Melee is mid-match, Final Destination stage, particle effects and character knockback visible. A lava lamp glowing red-orange on the nightstand, a Linkin Park Hybrid Theory poster on the wall, a CD binder spilling discs, a pair of Etnies skate shoes kicked off near the door, an open bag of Hot Cheetos on the floor between the beanbags. Flash washes out the center of the frame while the corners go dark. Slightly blurry — whoever took this had one eye closed. Visible film grain, warm color cast, red-eye on the young person but not on the Hispanic kid. The photo is slightly crooked. Natural skin texture with subtle pores and micro-imperfections, organic asymmetry in features. --ar 4:5