Erik Schubert's How To Win Friends And Influence People

I've been quite drawn to Erik Schubert's project How to Win Friends and Influence People lately. His ironically dry explorations of the corporate vernacular are typically infused with a sort of parodic sensibility, often exhibiting the humorous alongside the monotonous. In Schubert's statement he explains his inspirations for the work:

Realizing that we live in an increasingly business-centered society, how we navigate as “businesspeople” may determine the success or failure of our aspirations and the ability to pursue them. I am interested in how this kind of society shapes our visual world and language.

At a young age it was instilled in me that the mythology from Dale Carnegie’s classic book, How to Win Friends and Influence People was one that predicated success and happiness in life. The book has been widely published and accepted by businesspeople and corporate planners all over the world, including my father.

Some images are documentations of found items, constructed on location. Other images are documentations of ephemera that I have collected from such places as expositions, infomercials, my family, and home. With these photographs, I try to explore and communicate metaphorically the success, failure, and complexity of corporate mythologies in society.











All photographs from the series How to Win Friends and Influence People

All Images © Erik Schubert