Belgian documentary photographer Max Pinckers mixes elements of reality and fiction in his new book "Margins of Excess," which documents the lives of American's who have made headlines for living in a gray zone between fiction and reality.
Belgian documentary photographer Max Pinckers mixes elements of reality and fiction in his new book "Margins of Excess," which documents the lives of American's who have made headlines for living in a gray zone between fiction and reality.
Courtesy Max Pinckers
Jay J. Armes describes himself as the world's greatest private investigator. Having lost both hands as a child, Armes became an actor and detective, and claims to have cracked cases for clients including Marlon Brando, Elvis Presley and John Lennon. In the 1970s he was immortalized in a line of children's figurines. He also collects exotic animals.
Jay J. Armes describes himself as the world's greatest private investigator. Having lost both hands as a child, Armes became an actor and detective, and claims to have cracked cases for clients including Marlon Brando, Elvis Presley and John Lennon. In the 1970s he was immortalized in a line of children's figurines. He also collects exotic animals.
Courtesy Max Pinckers
Photographers picturing scenes of tragedy often lean heavily on visual tropes to communicate with viewers, Pinkcers said. He took this photo at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed and 58 others wounded by gunman Omar Mateen in June 2016.
Photographers picturing scenes of tragedy often lean heavily on visual tropes to communicate with viewers, Pinkcers said. He took this photo at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed and 58 others wounded by gunman Omar Mateen in June 2016.
Courtesy Max Pinckers
"Balloon Boy" and family. The home-made helium balloon at the center of the <a href="index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2015%2F07%2F06%2Fus%2Fballoon-boy-heene-family-where-now%2Findex.html">2009 hoax </a>was shaped like a UFO -- a recurring theme in "Margins of Excess."
"Balloon Boy" and family. The home-made helium balloon at the center of the 2009 hoax was shaped like a UFO -- a recurring theme in "Margins of Excess."
Courtesy Max Pinckers
A dog cloned by the U.S. military that Pickers photographed during his road trip round the country in 2016.
A dog cloned by the U.S. military that Pickers photographed during his road trip round the country in 2016.
Courtesy Max Pinckers
Pickers said he visited many museums across America, which often contained dioramas of war, tragedy or fiction. Such unreal landscapes are spliced into the book, undifferentiated from the real images from the road trip.
Pickers said he visited many museums across America, which often contained dioramas of war, tragedy or fiction. Such unreal landscapes are spliced into the book, undifferentiated from the real images from the road trip.
Courtesy Max Pinckers
Pinckers hired actors and instructed them to pose various scenes, modeled on near-identical images that appear in newspapers the day after a tragedy, he explained. This time there was no tragedy.
Pinckers hired actors and instructed them to pose various scenes, modeled on near-identical images that appear in newspapers the day after a tragedy, he explained. This time there was no tragedy.
Courtesy Max Pinckers
America's obsession with conspiracy theories -- including theories that tragedies like 9/11 were a hoaxes or involved government collusion -- is a recurring theme in the book.
America's obsession with conspiracy theories -- including theories that tragedies like 9/11 were a hoaxes or involved government collusion -- is a recurring theme in the book.
Courtesy Max Pinckers
Pinckers said an actor's ability to cry on demand was useful for staging scenes and blurring the line between fiction and fact, and helped question how photographs function in the post-truth era
Pinckers said an actor's ability to cry on demand was useful for staging scenes and blurring the line between fiction and fact, and helped question how photographs function in the post-truth era
Courtesy Max Pinckers