Philip Toledano

Take Camus' theatre of the absurd could be transformed into a photograph, New York-based photographer Philip Toledano is as close as it can get. His work has the "HOW did he do that?" factor. In his work "Hope & Fear", where he explores external manifestations of our internal desires (which mostly happen to be materialistic or appearance-related), the costumes worn are all real. How that is possible is absolutely beyond me. His collection "Days with My Father" chronicles the last moments of his father's life. He's also quirky. I found this in a recent interview with him and thought it was charming.

Phil Toledano's Top 5

"Whenever I read people s top ten lists, I always wonder if they ve spent weeks Googling strange and obscure books/movies. Then again, they might actually BE interesting.

As I look at my top 5 list, I think I may actually be catatonically boring:

Chicken fried Rice/Mint Chip Ice cream (I m counting that as one, and don t try and stop me)
Halo
Light and the way it changes (I know it sounds poncy, but it s true)
The Clash
Linguistic acrobatics"

I found it almost impossible to select a handful of favorites so here you go. Be charmed by the brilliance of Philip Toledano.