Birds in distress

Self-taught, LA-based photographer Alex Prager set herself a task in her new image series, The Big Valley. She's said, "[I wanted to use] women who were close to perfect, and see if I could still make it interesting enough that it becomes art." She seems to have managed it. A roster of Hitchcockian babes in their polyester wigs and synthetic 60s get-up not only seduce but intrigue the viewer as they play the distressed or disinterested heroine. As artificial as their subjects, Prager's staged mise en scenes are elaborate constructs of posed models shot from disarming angles and in wonderfully saturated colour - resulting in film-like stills that teasingly hint at the melodramatic narrative beyond.