Body Paint Lets Model Blend Into Seven Wonders of the World

Traditional camouflage has nothing on Trina Merry. In the past, the New York-based artist has turned multiple models into astrological signs and helped them blend into scenes of New York City, all using carefully applied body paint. For her new series, Lost in Wonder, she traveled around the globe with UK model Kyle James, painting him to blend in almost perfectly with the Seven Wonders of the World.

The series is meant to capture the awe that comes from traveling to a new location. Before getting to work, Merry would take time to soak in each location and explore the area—sometimes on a guided tour. She wrote on Bored Panda that "Many photographers say they ‘take’ a picture. At major tourist sites like these, there are masses of visual consumers ‘taking’ from this environment without really appreciating the space or the history and culture of the people who made these structures." She continued,

Artists are culture makers so I couldn’t approach this trip the same way—we “made” a picture and gave energy back to these places. I wanted to examine, what does it look like when we strip down our dreams and confront ourselves with the reality of these ‘wonders’ of the world. I didn’t find the fantasy the tourism industry had sold me. But what I did discover is so much richer and will shape the way I live and travel in the future.