These days, it seems like most of our wake-up calls come from fortune cookies or from staring into the void of the empty cup from of your third holiday latte in a row, but this Brazilian artist had a wake-up call that was a tad more jarring: Lucas Levitan was standing on Redchurch Street in London when out of nowhere, a brick fell from the fourth floor scaffolding, missing him by mere inches. He decided that that was the day he would stop hiding his art from the world, and since then he has inspired a captivating Instagram where he adds illustrations to other people's photos. I'm so loving that this is what his near-death experience made him start doing. Shrug—live your best life, everyone!
He calls the phenomenon "Photo Invasion," and spends his days searching Instagram for photos that he can add his quirky and distinctive characters to, often giving the photos a new and entirely different meaning. Some are hilarious, some are poignant, but all of them are very uniquely Levitan. Based in London now, he certainly knows how to make friends in his particular line of work, because he gives a shout-out to everyone whose images he uses. Recent "victims" include the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim, proving that nobody is safe from Photo Invasion, not even the greats.
Here are a few of his distinctive illustrations, for your viewing pleasure:
There is no telling whose photo he will strike (sorry—bless) next, but there's a little part of me (OK, an enormous part) that wants him to get his hands on the Instagram Kim Kardashian cropped daughter North West out of and add an illustration. I couldn't make any guesses as to what it should be. We can let the mastermind take care of that.
Images: lucaslevitan/Instagram
