Thanks to the always tasteful folks at Nowness you can have a look at the latest cinematic effort by photography wunderkind Ryan McGinley. Friends Forever is a portrait of American bands Smith Westerns and Girls at this year’s Pitchfork music festival. It’s a departure from McGinley’s usual beautiful-naked-fairies-cavorting-through-the-wilderness landscapes and celebrity-heavy commissioned endeavors; but like all of his work the film intimately captures the beauty of youth. Good tunes too.
McGinley explains his inspiration behind the film:
“Smith Westerns and Girls are two of my favorite bands right now. I first saw Smith Westerns play at this restaurant in a weird little mall in Chinatown, and there were only about five people there. I liked how their hair was always covering their eyes and you could barely see their faces. They were so cute; it was almost like watching a high school band. Smith Westerns went on tour with a band called Girls who I immediately fell in love with, so much so that I sent the singer-songwriter Chris Owens my last photography book along with a fan letter. They covered their entire stage with flowers–I loved that. Their song “Solitude” speaks to me more than any other song I can think of right now. I caught up with both bands at the Pitchfork festival to document their performances and be a fly on the wall the whole weekend. That’s pretty much my idea of a perfect vacation. And it was.”
Now I’m pretty psyched for Girls Australian tour in December. Yew.
Thank you Nowness
