Best face forward

Before Instagram launched in 2010, allowing anyone to add an archival quality and OK patina to disposable snapshots, Cheyne Gallarde of Firebird Photography was making a career as the go-to guy for nostalgic retro and vintage-inspired photography.

As a part-time actor, he had a flair for the theatrical — and the idea of transporting contemporary individuals into the 1950s and beyond. A romp on his website, www.firebirdphoto.com, will turn up such early 20th-century icons as the milkman, the 1950s house frau, the greaser, the gangster and the moll.

In the look-at-me age of Facebook, one might expect Gallarde’s face to be as well known as his photographs, but you’d be hard pressed to find his visage anywhere on his website. The low-key photographer prefers to be seen only in distant or back-view shots, saying, "I shy away from sitting in front of the lens. I’ve always felt like the Wizard of Oz, the guy behind the curtain."

So it was surprising to see Gallarde’s most recent work has forced him in front of the camera for a change, in a big way, with his "Universe of One" project. The self-portrait series, inspired in part by the work of Cindy Sherman, has Gallarde transforming himself into characters from all walks of life and cultures, from both reality and fiction, past and present.

His universe of characters includes locals, kabuki actors, "Great Gatsby" figures, Disney villains and characters from "Les Misérables." He’s currently at work on a glam-rock series. But one of his favorite characters is the ditzy ’80s poufy blonde "Lindsey," who allows him to relax and empty his head. "Everyone has an inner valley girl," he said.

Noting that clothing is fraught with meaning, he makes clear the characters are separate entities who do not reflect his philosophies and lifestyle, and when the portraits are complete, "I can’t wait to get the makeup off."

"The Universe of One" project started as a way to fill some downtime when he was experimenting with various lighting and staging techniques. He’d spent six years turning his photo subjects into different characters with hair, makeup, wardrobe and props, but now turned those tools on himself to make his own self-portraits "more relatable."

"People have a tough time relating to me. I can be in a crowded room and more people will know my work than recognize me because I have this common face that blends into a crowd. So I thought, what if I was another person, maybe their grandmother, maybe someone they went to high school with or someone else they saw before?"

The first character to emerge was The Siren, which had him imagining the life of an ingénue in audition mode.

"Whatever character I’m portraying, I do the research and kind of get into that mindset because I don’t live these characters in real life, but I want to be in sync with them emotionally.

"It was challenging because I had to overcome a lot of my fears. I’m already self-conscious to begin with and didn’t want to come across as a narcissist," he said. "I saw it as a conceptual way to connect the community, showing that we’re all different but all the same."

He said that in some ways it’s easier to act onstage than before his own camera. "With the stage, you rehearse a number of times to get into character, and onstage you get immediate feedback from the audience.

"In the studio it’s pretty challenging to stay in character because it’s just me, my tripod and a camera timer. I’m in full makeup and costume running back and forth to the camera between shots to see whether I need to be more sad or more happy."

He considered inviting friends to help him with pressing the shutter, only to find it difficult to let people into his universe of one.

"It’s a weird thing but it’s so personal to me, and while I’m trying to stay in one frame of mind, I feel like I’m rude to anyone else there. I’ve had friends come over, but I’ve had to tell them to go into the other room while I’m working."

Last month, Gallarde launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to help him with the publication of a book on the series. As one reward, contributors had the honor of Gallarde dressing as their doppelgānger. The "Twinsies" images will be featured in a special section of the book, and contributors did not make it easy for Gallarde, some dressing as zombies and others including their own theatrical props and costumes.

The "Universe of One" project currently comprises about 40 Twinsies portraits and 50 characters, and will go on display next month at the Loading Zone in Chinatown. The exhibit will open at 6 p.m. April 5 during the monthly First Friday event.

Gallarde is as amazed as anyone who sees the portraits to see how many characters he’s been able to channel in a five-month span, and despite his trepidation at the start of the project, he said, "It’s a liberating feeling to step outside of yourself. I think everyone should try it. If you’re someone else for a day, I think it would make everybody more sympathetic toward other people."

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Cheyne Gallarde’s portraits can be viewed at universeofone.tumblr.com. His photography is featured at www.firebirdphoto.com.