Built to Break is a cinematic portrait series that explores resilience, consumption, and survival through the transformation of waste. Each image features sculptural armor or gas masks made from discarded materials like plastic, caution tape, and aluminum cans — reimagining trash as a symbol of both protection and burden.
The models emerge from darkness, lit dramatically to highlight the contrast between decay and beauty. This lighting choice reflects how we carry invisible weight and how resilience often forms in the shadows. Some figures are cloaked in textured trash, while others wear gas masks made from crushed energy drink cans — a visual echo of a world that is both toxic and absurd.
This work asks what we throw away, what we choose to carry, and what we reclaim. In a world built to break us, how do we shape what remains into something powerful?
"When the world becomes unlivable, what do we wear to survive it?"
- Salem Jackuback
