Named for the Nirvana song “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Colombian photographer David Mesa captures the mood of the grunge movement in this zine, which focuses primarily on portraits of youths in both interior, private spaces, such their bedrooms and cars, and public spaces devoid of interpersonal opportunity—an empty laundromat, a desolate strip of highway at night, West 46th Street off Times Square in New York City.
The fluorescent colors of Mesa’s photographs, augmented by the layered method of the Risograph color printing process, reflect the presence of motifs such as neon signage, car headlights at night, and street lighting within this series of images. This emphasis on light works in tandem with a literal focus on reflectivity, both in the presence of reflective surfaces within the images, such as windows and glasses, and mirrored objects, including a car’s rear view mirror and a disco ball.