Jack Daly: A British photographer's take on the broken American Dream

Hollywood glamour meets political hysteria in Jack Daly's LA series

Jack Daly - "Walk of shame" (Jack Daly)

Jack Daly didn’t go out to Los Angeles with the intention of urinating on Donald Trump’s star, but when the opportunity arose he found it too tempting to ignore.

“I had driven past his star in Hollywood a couple of times trying to get a shot,” says the photographer, “there’s a police car parked next to it 24-7 which I’m told is because it gets defaced so much… so I had to be quick.”

“I got there one night, parked up, shot two frames and disappeared. It’s the least amount of shots I’ve ever taken to get THE shot, and it’s the most loved picture I think I’ve ever taken.”

At just 22 years-old, Daly has already made a name for himself and travels widely shooting artwork for musicians. For his latest project, Make America Love Again, Daly used a very simple “one camera, one lens, one flash” approach to capture LA living behind the headlines.

Ronald MacDonald loses his happy meal and dollars are thrown in swimming pools with a furore to rival Kanye West; the result is a series of images presented in studio perfect, Hollywood-style glamour shots that both celebrate and mock the American Dream.

“Trump is a constant gift to artists,” says Daly, “but I’m more fascinated with the difference in opinion after hearing Americans talk about him versus what the English are fed in our media.”

“Even people who don’t support him out there don’t seem to think he’s anywhere near as ridiculous as British media makes him out to be.”

Of course, the Trump moment was created with the help of a water bottle. You might be forgiven for thinking he has a political agenda, but Daly - who is more typically based in Portsmouth - says he sees his work as simply celebrating the extraordinary.

“I think photos should have some sort of statement or meaning, but I’m not projecting my personal views,” he says. “The most important thing is just to have fun with it.”

Jack Daly - www.jackdaly.me

Instagram - @jackdalyphoto