The cover image for this issue of Artkrush is a detail of Fans 1, an inkjet print by photographer and filmmaker Cheryl Dunn. Capturing subjects both common and obscure, Dunn's revealing portraits have an awkward honesty. The artist recently released a monograph of her work, published by PictureBox, and her solo exhibition No One's Not Happy When They're Dancing is on view at New York's Fuse Gallery through October 27.

Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Dunn studied art history at Rutgers University before pursuing fashion photography in Europe, eventually publishing work in Spin, Vogue, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar. In 1997, she made her first film, Sped — a study of skateboard and street artists. Initially, Sped was a commercial venture for a snowboard company, but the piece played on indie circuits and garnered artistic recognition. Now a resident of New York, Dunn has directed documentaries about various subcultures, from boxing to bicycles. For 2004's Bicycle Gangs of New York, Dunn interviewed and followed members from the Puerto Rican Schwinn Club, the prom dress-wearing Bicycle Cherries, and other bike gangs from every NYC borough.

Dunn's sharp eye for eccentricity has landed her exhibitions at Paris' Colette store, and at both Track 16 and Elizabeth Paige Smith Atelier in Los Angeles. Her films have been screened at La Triennale di Milano, the Tribeca Film Festival, and Dublin's Darklight Film Festival.

Dunn also captures shots of mainstream society, particularly of people in situations where they lose their self-restraint. In her current show at Fuse, crowds of fans scream, pump their fists, and aim their cameras and cell phones. Worked into a frenzy, the characters in Fans 1 and Fans 2 are no less odd than Dunn's outsider stars. (LM)