These Side Show Portraits by Ransom & Mitchell of San Francisco blend photography, digital painting and 3D CG to produce images of sideshow acts seen in traveling Carnivals from long ago.

Ransom & Mitchell Sideshow Art

These pieces were created by Jason Mitchell & Stacey Ransom for The Rough and Ready Sideshow, a group show at the Bash Contemporary. The show also includes artwork by Stefanie Vega, whose work I shared with you last Halloween, Alexandra Manukyan and Aunia Kahn.

Director/photographer Jason Mitchell and set designer/photo illustrator Stacey Ransom create highly detailed and visually lush portraits and scenarios by combining their talents with elaborate costumes, hair and make-up, props, hand-painted backdrops and set design. Then they add their own unique style of digital illustration and 3D computer generation.

For this project, they wanted to honor familiar freak show (or sideshow) acts such as The Bearded Lady, Contortionists, Ventriloquists and Snake Oil Salesmen. The final images of the digitally manipulated live model photography were each given a faux paper mat, aged to emulate the vintage style of old cabinet cards. For the gallery show, the pieces were custom printed by the artists on metallic paper to further the feeling of old tintypes from yesteryear.

Rough ‘n’ Ready Side Show is currently showing at San Francisco’s Bash Contemporary and runs through Nov 8th.
Ransom & Mitchell

images courtesy of Ransom & Mitchell and Bash Contemporary.