Conceptualist: Kelly Vaagsland Wainwright, Photographer: Inge Prins
Hi there! Let me introduce myself.
My name is Kelly Vaagsland Wainwright. I got this vision a couple years ago that was the merge of a “flash mob” meeting a quick live installation meeting photography.
I’d been “playing with play”, & I wanted to & NEEDED to take things to a larger scale. Bed-jumping was where I wanted to begin. It’s classic. And, it seems pretty universal.
The concept involved taking the bed to different contexts that you wouldn’t expect, to heighten the point. Let’s say you’re taking the BART (commuter train) to work again, on your 321st day in a row. No one is talking to each other. Everyone is listening to their ipod & texting on their smartphones. hum-drum. groundhog’s day. You’re busy thinking about the phone calls you’ll have to make, etc., etc., & then, when you step out the train, right in the middle of the financial district, there are 3 businessmen in suits jumping on a bed laughing hysterically. All of a sudden you’re taken back. You also remember having no cares in the world. You also remember being so excited to wake up every morning & play. The same is true with the businessmen. The same is true for President Barack Obama. for high school cheerleaders. for Texan cowboys. for burley motorbike riders. Yes, we were all born babies. And we were all kids once who all shared the simple joy of jumping on the bed; & I don’t care which context we came from, be it a shack in Buenos Aires or a Palace in Dubai. We are all humans. Babies. Kids who like to play, who are all now dressed in different colors with different stories for the wold. But, wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all take a moment & get back on that bed, remember our commonality, & our shared playfulness?
I have worked with 4 professional photographers in Cape Town, South Africa, & have captured 33 stunning images in a series we are calling PlayJumpEat. Our models & bed-jumpers include the likes of the Archbishop Tutu to maids at the Mount Nelson Hotel to surfers (& the list goes on!)
* A smattering of some articles & interviews we’ve had written on us:
- Oakland Local
- Oprah Magazine, South Africa
- Cape Town Creatives Interview
- British Airways In-Flight Magazine
- Elle Decor Magazine, South Africa
- Design Indaba Magazine
Check out our VIDEO as well for a good look/feel of what I’m talking about!
I am now bringing the bed to the States to gather at least another 33 images of bed-jumpers. The idea is to get a visual array of “quintessential Americans” from the little ladies in Chinatown to the hunters in the mid-west to the stars in Hollywood. So – if you are the Amish, Jack Nicholson, a cowboy, a cheerleader, the Dalai Lama, or a UPS man, won’t you please come to the bed & Jump?!
Our goal is to AUCTION off our favorite prints to Philani – Health & Nutrition Project, “a community-based non-governmental organization (NGO)” in Cape Town, South Africa “committed to the protection of the rights of every child to proper nutrition and healthcare in communities where malnourished children and destitute mothers are most vulnerable.” We also hope to make a BOOK of all of our photos together, including some behind-the-scenes images, which we will continue to give a percentage of the proceeds to Philani.
Images:
Emandal.com (cowboy)
The Amish Clothesline
West Virginia Mountaineers Cheerleaders
+ Dirty Kelly Productions 