Populism has become one of the biggest political challenges of recent years. During the last decade, countless studies have gained attention in the academic field as well as in popular culture. This project intends to provide a critical perspective on populism from the field of photography.
This work makes use of the same techniques deployed by populism, but in an exacerbated and ironic manner, exposing and making evident its artificiality. The goal is not only to discredit and mock the visual clichés of populism but also to provide viewers with tools for reflection against populism’s manipulative methods: a messianic alpha-male leadership, an exuberant media strategy, an appeal to epic and emotion.
To achieve this, Mayrit takes a performative approach and assumes the role of a fictional populist candidate around whom he creates a whole imagery consisting of staged tableaux and digital manipulations. He employs different visual clichés loaded with irony, embodying the populist strategy and discourse in his own image while unveiling its artificiality and manipulations.