Background

In 2013, a 17 year old Zendaya was completing her tenure in the Disney kid-com Shake It Up, releasing her first album, and about to become the youngest contestant to participate in Dancing with the Stars—where she would finish as a runner-up—up until then. This was, in short, the year in which the mononym Zendaya finally became a household name. 

Auerbach’s photoshoot for Flaunt is a precise testament to that moment. He is alert to the fact that he is capturing not just a likeness but a resonance, and this is reflected in a photo set that shows a rising star already fully poised for superstardom. Appropriately, the framing of the session is carnivalesque, focusing not on precedent but on the strength of the actress’s presence. Against the banged-up backdrop of a bombed-out basement, Zendaya sports a headdress of black peacock feathers with the effortlessness of a seasoned headliner.    

The master photo came to Auerbach as an epiphany, with such clarity that he was able to communicate—and shoot it—in the dark. 

The authenticity in the Zendaya series is not only found in the subject, with her signature admixture of freshness and sophistication. It is coded in the silent and complicit rapport between her and the photographer, and so it is also the object, and objective, of the pictures. 

Technical Specs

Captured Moment: The Master’s Process will consist of two NFT drops: one for Process photos, that reveal the delicate behind-the-scenes construction that goes into bringing forth a Master Work; and one for 1/1s of the aforesaid Master Works. 

The Process series will include: 

• Six process pictures of each star, 30 unique images in total
• A total of 1,700 NFTs available for mint
• Each process piece will have a different rarity, with the rarest image of each celebrity limited to 5 NFTs each

Each Process series NFT will cost 0.05 eth to mint.
Holding a photo from the Process series will allow you to join Auerbach’s upcoming NFT photography Discord (focused on the hottest conversations in NFT photography and style), and allow collectors to bid on the Master Works. 

Each Master series set will include: 

1. A dynamic NFT highlighting different aspects of the Master Work, by displaying varying edits of the master image at different times of day
2. The high-res digital photo NFT of the Master Work (one Master Work per featured star)
3. A high-res and autographed print of each Master Work (framing is optional for an additional cost)
4. A unique video NFT of the behind-the-scenes interview explaining the Master Work

The minimum bid for each Master series will be 3 eth.
There will be a separate auction for each set and the auctions will begin on December 17th.

One Master Work buyer will win a private photoshoot with Frederic Auerbach, valued at over $12,000, in his Los Angeles studio. 

Giving Back

Frederic will be donating part of his proceeds from this project to Farm2People, an LA-based non-profit working to create equity in the food supply chain by supporting local farmers and food-insecure communities through regeneratively grown produce. Read more details here.