Bezawitt Lulseged
The Lost Prom, 2021
Inkjet prints
9 x 12 inches each
The Lost Prom idea came back in October at one of the many heights of isolation over the past year. The opportunity to see the class of 2021 in their Prom outfits and to make life feel normal for a brief hour of their day was so lovely and bleak at the same time. To know in our hearts that we will never experience the traditions and normalities of senior year is a sad realization, but seeing each of my friends and peers leave their homes in elegant clothing with a smile on their face almost makes up for that. This was an opportunity to briefly feel the necessity to dress up, something that nowadays can feel like a strenuous task.
The beauty behind the past year is so masked that it’s hard to appreciate the little things that brighten your day without remembering the reality we face. This project was almost a coping mechanism; I got the chance to drive around Los Angeles to practice my favorite form of art and see people that I hadn’t seen for months prior. I created this series as an ode to my graduating class. The Lost Prom perfectly encapsulates the feeling of loss, confusion and overall disconnect that I've endured as a senior these past few months. So, I took these emotions and expressed them through this project. This series reflects the balance of beauty in isolation, the bleak facial expressions on each of the subject’s against the elegance and suave of each article of clothing does the past year justice.
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