SUGAR RUSH
photographer/retoucher Apeksha Agarwal
model Elizaveta Kvetko @ Americana Models Management LLC
mua Kylie Bond
hair Bella Suerta
creative director Rutvik Katuri
first assistant Daniel Galvin
prop master Kylie Bond
wardrobe ZARA
Candy fixes everything!
Google defines the term ‘Sugar Rush’ as “a sudden and brief burst of energy supposedly experienced after the consumption of food or drink with a high sugar content.” But, for today, let’s just concentrate on candy. This project explores and displays the relationship between makeup and my obsession with candy. Isn’t candy just the best? And if you’re thinking to yourself that it isn’t, you’re just lying to yourself. Sure, there’s all that mumbo jumbo about how it’s bad for you, but let’s be honest, who doesn’t like nibbling on that occasional Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup? And since we live here in America, I know I’d kill for a Hershey’s Kisses.
We all have those friends who run in the morning or go to the gym simply so that they can continue to satisfy their sweet tooth. Remember those advertisements where the girl smothers the chocolate bar all offer her face and licks it off afterwards? We’ve all done it. We’ve all smothered that chocolate or that ice cream bar all over faces just to lick it afterwards. Sweet guilty pleasures! I know my favourite character on the Sesame Street was the Cookie Monster. He may just be my spirit animal. And most of you reading this are smiling right now, and probably nodding your head in agreement. I come from a place where everyone has a sweet tooth, where sweets form an essential part of every meal. A place where almost blasphemous to have something sweet after one’s meal. The streets of my country are filled with local delicacies. You can find shops, small and big, selling a variety of some amazing sweets.
One of the things I miss most about living at home is the unlimited access to
these pieces of heaven. You have to go there and have a taste to know what I’m talking about. So, naturally, I grew up being obsessed with candy and everything sweet. Why, you ask? Candy’s simply euphoric! It evokes feelings of happiness and satisfaction, takes you to your happy place. Imagine a puppy in ball pit. Yup, that kind of happiness. There’s a reason why we go and find solace in candy when we’re down and about. Why do you think Bridget Jones
was gorging on tubs full of ice cream after being dumped by Daniel Cleaver? Ever been through a break up? Yeah, if you have, you know ice cream’s your best friend in the whole wide world. I remember someone once telling me that the food we eat is like a bunch of pebbles in a jar, and the dessert we eat afterwards is like sand, that fills up the gaps between these pebbles. Simply speaking, there’s always room for dessert. I personally believe that after music, food is the only thing that transgresses all barriers of language, race and religion. And what better food to make friends with a person from another culture, than a plate full of your favorite local sweet dish? If all the world’s leaders just sat in a room and shared each other’s local sweets, pretty sure we’ll achieve world peace in a few hours’ time. As for these pictures you’re looking at – I decided to do something out of the box.
The makeup you’re seeing in these pictures, it’s not makeup. Well, it’s not conventional makeup. By now we already know what it is. Yes, it’s candy! This project is my way of combining my obsession with candy with my interest in photography. I hope you have as much fun looking at it as I did putting it all together. -PQ