This week, New York City is hosting The Global Goals summit, a gathering of world leaders and humanitarians whose aim is to define a new set of priorities for the future. The summit hopes to tackle a variety of global challenges ranging from poverty and hunger, inequality and injustice, and climate change.
In honor of the summit, Beijing-based artist, Liu Bolin, has created a unique work featuring the 193 flags of the United Nations. Also known as “The Invisible man,” Bolin paints himself into his surroundings with astonishing attention to detail.
“I want this new work to help raise consciousness about issues such as poverty, unbalanced development and global climate change,” Liu said in a press release. “We can’t stand idle around these issues. We need to do something.”
As you can imagine, each photograph takes an incredible amount of planning. Once a backdrop is chosen, Liu directs a photographer on how the frame is to be composed. Then he puts on his Chinese military uniform (which he wears in every photo), and employs an assistant and a painter to help camouflage him into the scene.This process often takes over 10 hours to get the perfect end result.
Though most of Bolin’s works are created with some social agenda in mind, you can also appreciate them on the most basic level – as shockingly skillful examples of artistic illusions.
Click here to see the rest of Bolin’s work or read more about his Hiding in the City series that he has been working on since 2005.
Like this article? Check out our article on another incredible photo project by Bruce Gilden, or our other artist highlights and interviews.
