Mike Guinto 2/27/17 Mike Guinto 2/27/17

Out of the Woods

See a photographers modern take on classic fairy tale characters. If Disney princesses were 21st century college students.

At one point in your life, you will experience a sort of crucible. An event which influences your perception of the world and tests your inner character. Whether or not you rise to the challenge, you come out a changed person. The old fairy tales and stories which have been passed down through generations illustrated this concept through a common motif. The Dark Woods, the Enchanted forest, whatever the name the character usually came out on the other side stronger with fewer illusions about the world around them.

My goal is to bring these characters into the 21st century, exploring the fictional characters classic motifs using modern college student experiences. Thus establishing the relationship between the past and present. Maybe you see yourself in these characters as you did growing up reading about them or watching TV.

As a veteran, I understand first hand that you learn a lot of things when you enlist into the military. Aside from how to accurately fire a rifle or applying a tourniquet, you learn how to become a functioning adult. When I returned to college after five years of active duty, I saw these kids in college going through similar life lessons. I would argue that college is to these students what the forest was for snow white, or the military was for myself: a coming of age ritual.

These portraits debut at the DOWD Fine Arts Center at SUNY Cortland March, 2017. You can see them all here of course. I hope to grow this collection and maybe revisit some of the characters.

Snow White and the Seven Mid-Terms

Snow White was the first portrait I took of the series. The composition was inspired by a self portrait taken by David Hobby. I also wanted to play with the shadows on the wall which allude to the dark forest scene as Snow White runs away.

Lost in a Dream

Alice was known to be a day dreamer, if she were a college student, I imagine she would find it difficult to pay attention in class.

Cindy's Work-Study

Not far into the Fall Semester and Cinderella is stuck in her work study program.

These Books have no pictures

One of my favorite scenes from the Disney Beauty and the Beast was when Gaston is looking at a book which he holds upside down and says "These books have no pictures in them!" She loved her library which is exactly where we would find our Belle.

Little Red's Night Class

It is a long walk back to the dorms from Red's night class. Last year when I took this photo, there was a lot of anger over college culture and sexual assault. It seemed impossible to ignore when it got to the concept planning of little red riding hood being stalked by the big bad wolf.

The Voice

Ariel was a fantastic singer, she had one of the best voices in the sea. This is also what she gave up when making the deal with Ursula. To modernize the little mermaid, I decided to put her in the spotlight on stage, singing her heart out

Sleeping Beauty

This was one of the first characters I decided to shoot. When Aurora turned 16 she pricked her finger and fell into a deep sleep, only to awaken to True Loves kiss. In reality, this sleeping beauty never woke up to a true loves kiss. At best, she woke up with only a splitting headache.

Mike Guinto 8/16/15 Mike Guinto 8/16/15

How to find your heart in the negative(space)

This weekend we decided to go on an impromptu camping trip to the Shenandoah mountains in Virginia. Despite being caught in traffic and arriving an hour later than we expected, not bringing enough wood to cook dinner, putting the tent up wrong in the dark, forgetting a pot to boil water for coffee in the morning, it was still an amazing trip.

Nothing could go wrong that would make these views any less spectacular (well, besides maybe having no coffee, but being the resourceful wilderness explorers we are, we found a camp store that sold some). The mountains behind mountains behind mountains created a backdrop to a fantastic weekend.

After our night of epic fails, we packed up early and set out to hike a 5km journey down to some gorgeous waterfalls.

And, we never expected to see this many stars only a few hours from DC. Who could be mad about eating a balanced dinner of s'mores ( our carbs), trail mix ( some protein), and wine (err...fruit?) when looking up at a sky like that.