Film Family Portraits

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“All happy families are more or less dissimilar; all unhappy ones are more or less alike.” So explains Tolstoy in Anna Karenina (as translated by Nabokov in Ada).

The multimedia artist Kirk Demarais captures some of these similarities in his portraits of film families. From the Torrences (The Shining), to the Griswolds (National Lampoon’s Vacation), to the Johnsons (The Jerk), they are everything from eerie to hilarious. They share camera-ready smiles (except for Danny Torrence, understandably, and that serious older brother from The Lost Boys) and a certain inexplicable discomfort that is the hallmark of family portraits.  See them all on Demarais’ website. (via Beautiful/Decay)

Julie Greicius was Art Editor for The Rumpus when it launched in January 2009. One year later, she became Senior Literary Editor, and later, Senior Features Editor. Julie also co-edited the first book published by The Rumpus, Rumpus Women, Vol. 1, featuring personal essays and illustration from twenty kick-ass contributors. Her writing been featured on The Rumpus, Midnight Breakfast, Stanford Medicine Magazine, and BuzzFeed, as well as in the anthology The 27th Mile. She lives in California and is a member of The Rumpus Advisory Board. More from this author →