Trans World Airlines 2023
Cristian Ponce
Major: Biological Engineering
Genre/Medium: Photography, Graphic Design
About the work: In a search for inspiration, I ended up at Surplus Sid’s Military Surplus Shack in Carrboro, NC. Initially reluctant to join me, my friends were worried about the characters that would populate a run-down military surplus store in the South. We ended up being the only people in the store, other than Surplus Sid. He was a kind, tall man with a long, white beard who followed me around to explain items around the shop. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw schematics for the SR-71 on his wall. I asked if he was a fan of aerospace engineering, and he replied yes. He explained to me that when he was my age, he made a list of 108 things that he wanted to do before he died. The 108th thing was walking on the hills of the Moon. He never got to do that, but he explained he was able to come close, seeing the glow of our atmosphere from the edge of space. Above the documents, there was a picture of a much younger man in what looked like a space suit. Sid explained that he worked in military intelligence, and was friends with a pilot of one of only a few SR-71 planes with a co-pilot seat. We continued to talk and I explained my interest and space and work with Psyche Inspired, asking if there were any old magazines he had. He found some LIFE magazines published as far back as the 40s. I rushed home to read the magazines, finding a TWA ad that I immediately was inspired by. I decided to recreate the ad with my friend, Tanner, before realizing it would be great for the Psyche Inspired program.
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