Tag Tangen

Originally posted: http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/real-life-super-hero-project-peter-tangen-hbo_b39626
By Richard Horgan on September 21, 2011 2:00 PM
If you have not yet acquainted yourself with the website “The Real Life Super Hero Project,” be sure to do so now or bookmark it for perusal later.
Thanks to the fact that site founder Peter Tangen, a local photographer, is also a consulting producer on the current in-kind HBO documentary Superheroes, his efforts are generating a lot of extra publicity these days. The latest outlet to catch up with Tangen, who has snapped and documented more than 200 citizen do-gooders, is Tampa Tribune reporter Ray Reyes. Per the article:

“There are millions of people who do good in this world but the media doesn’t pay attention to them. This is the marketing of good deeds,” said Tangen…
According to Tangen’s website, [San Diego’s] Mr. Xtreme was attacked by gang members and bullied as a boy. He donned a costume to “protest against indifference in society. People are being victimized and I feel that someone has to take a stand.”
Mr. Xtreme, who has not revealed his real name to anyone, has since formed his own group, the Xtreme Justice League, which gives food and supplies to the homeless.

At press time, Tangen’s latest blog post was about another equally fascinating character, LA “paranormal investigator and masked adventurer extraordinaire” Ragensi (pictured).

Published in Wizard Magazine: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/
Scanned copy:

Acclaimed movie poster photographer Peter Tangen points lens at Real Life Super-Heroes for latest project

There are Real Life Superheroes among us.
All across the country, these solitary do-gooders have been donning costumes and going out into the night for years. Inspired by comic book morality to do the right thing, some fight crime, others work as social activist and still other s patrol the streets, providing aid for the homeless and downtrodden.
So photographer Peter Tangen decided to rescue these everyday heroes from obscurity.
“I read an article in a magazine about a man named Master Legend, a real life superhero working in Florida. AT the time he was basically a slightly overweight man in spandex and was effectively a costumed activist,” says Tangen of his first exposure to the phenomenon. “When I realized there were many of these people all across the country, I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to photograph these guys.’”
For their own Jimmy Olsen, real life superheroes can do a lot of worse than Tangen, who has made his living shooting the iconic images that adorn the movie powers for the “Spider-Man” movies, “Batman Begins” and Hellboy”, among others.

“I realized quickly that the media that had paid attention to them was dominantly mocking them or exploiting them in some way, typically you would find something on the last three minutes of a news broadcast saying. ‘Look at this crazy person,’” says Tangen.
Thus was Tangen’s Real Life Superheroes Project born. Initially intended to be a gallery exhibition of portraits and movie posters benefiting charitable organizations supported by the heroes, the scope of the project has grown exponentially. It now includes a documentary premiering in January at SlamDance (a separate venture which Tangen joined as a producer), the development of an interactive experience with Planet Illogica and the work of hundreds of professionals volunteering their support.
“We have an opportunity to just let this message be out there for people to discover, and we hope those people are simply inspired to do their small part to change the world,” says Tangen.
The Real Life Super-Heroes themselves are thankful for Tangen’s involvement.
“It is a call to action to every citizen. You can do plenty of things to make a difference. You don’t have to wear a costume and you don’t have to go out and punch drug dealers, but you can help the homeless person on the streets or you can call the police when something is going on. It’s breaking that mentality of, ‘Oh, its not my problem,’” says Dark Guardian, a New York City-based superhero, “It is an honor to with Peter to spread that message.”
“We feel like this is a really relevant message,” says Tangen. “They have a superpower, they actually do, and that is their ability to inspire.”

I have had a hard time as of late. It could just be me, but I see stagnation in our community. This could just be a break in the constant drama we usually are consumed in, but I just feel like things are sagging. Maybe this is the summer feel, maybe it is something else.
I just feel hard to be motivated at this point. Down on my spirits if you will. I am working to get the rally organized and trying to do meetups, but there is just this burning itch that says it is not enough, that urges me to go on forward. But I do not feel it.
With the advent of the new Heroes Network comes and opportunity to build. There has been a tremendous amount of influx and reorganizing on RLSH.net as well, but despite this I still just feel that at this point, we have hit a level.
It is a time of regrouping, reorganization, and, in a lot of ways, rest. Many RLSH have retired from public eye, and the private organizations among us are coalescing in their own hidden ways. Meets are being organized, things are on the verge of occurring, but as of right now, I see very little actually happening.
This could just be my interpretation, but I believe that we are seeing a new growth in the way our wacky world works.
In the beginning days, we saw individuals all arising to the same idea: dress up, go out, and help people. With the information age fueling connectivity between people it was not long before we saw groups form. Small, private, and hard working, these groups set the tone and bars of expectation.
It was not long before these small groups gave way to larger groups, and all the drama and fragmentation we have seen from their formation. We saw things go two ways: private and public. One side embraced the idea of individuals, the other of community. Both brought different things to the table, but the fall of these two systems is once again imminent. Why is this so?
We are going mainstream.
Deny it all you want, but interest in whatever the hell you call what we do has risen to popular status. With the exposure brought on by the Mr. Tangen’s project, movies, ads, and general interest by the media, we are now stepping out of the shadows into a greater one: that of the public.
RLSH.net alone has seen a tremendous boom in users, and many are staying and contributing. Other sites are springing up, and as I have said before we are all starting new projects and paths it seems. We are at a new age of public involvement with what we do, or at least dangerously close to the cusp of such.
I do not state any opinion with this. This is merely the marking of a growth our lives. It is important to note things, and I believe that if anyone else feels this same stagnate quiet of reorder and growth that I do, then we are at a very interesting time indeed, my friends.
I will post tomorrow about summer patrols. In the meantime, reflect on where we are. As the old saying goes, you have to know where you have been to know where you are going.
Stay frosty.
Written by Mr. Jack
Original Content –  http://maskedmusings.blogspot.com/2010/06/shadow-on-sun.html