![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/reallifesuperheroesarchive.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/02\/a01da798020bc3d236886eae15f859a6.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by Peter Tangen<\/p><\/div> Real life super heroes are popping up everywhere. It\u2019s a concept that started nearly two years ago and has been growing quickly, thanks in part to Hollywood photographer Peter Tangen. By Valley Wire Magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[261,1193,1543,1708,1977,2026,2162,2175,2181,2477,2548,2706,2910],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nApparently, real life super heroes are popping up everywhere. It\u2019s a concept that started nearly two years ago and has been growing quickly, thanks in part to Hollywood photographer Peter Tangen.
\nTangen started the Real Life Super Hero Project after reading about a real life super hero in a magazine.
\n\u201cHaving done the photography for the Spider-Man, Batman Begins and Hellboy movie posters, I was immediately inspired by the idea that superheroes really exist,\u201d Tangen said.
\nReal Life Super Heroes<\/strong>
\nAcross the country, men and women are reinventing themselves as real life super heroes. And yes, they\u2019re dressing up in super hero costumes, which can include capes, masks, and you know \u2013 super hero garb. But beneath the outlandishness of the costumes, seriousness quickly takes over. Real Life Super Heroes are fighting the good fight against all sorts of serious problems from the homeless, child abuse and poverty as well as crime and drugs.
\n<\/a>
\nRazorHawk<\/strong>
\nOne example is RazorHawk, who wears a yellow beak graphic on his costume of blue and black. He lives and operates in the Twin Cities area, and a few folks know his true identity. Along with safety patrols in the Minneapolis, RazorHawk is coordinating HOPE2011, which is a homeless outreach event that will be held during Comic-Con in San Diego in July. His team, The Great Lakes Heroes Guild, works with homeless, and during the event in San Diego, his team plans on passing out over 100 backpacks of clean clothes and personal care products to people who have no place to live.
\n\u201cWe are out there of our own volition, we are not being paid,\u201d RazorHawk said. \u201cWe are trying to make the world a better place. It\u2019s not all about jumping from rooftop to rooftop but affecting change and getting people to recognize how bad some of the problems our individual cities face.\u201d His motto is, \u201cfamily first, saving the world begins at home.\u201d
\nThe Watchman<\/strong>
\nIn Milwaukee, The Watchman wears a red mask and a trench coat; sometimes he\u2019ll wear a cape. Not long ago he stated that only his wife and kids knew his true identity, but out of necessity a few co-workers and a few cops learned of his identity. Along with patrolling areas of Milwaukee and by getting more residents involved with community watch groups, The Watchman also works to raise donations and toys for his Christmas Mission.
\n\u201cBeing a Real Life Superhero isn\u2019t glamorous, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard work and takes a lot of patience and motivation. It\u2019s not Batman. We don\u2019t have super powers\u2026it\u2019s really about being a good neighbor, watching out for people and lending a hand when
\nit\u2019s needed.\u201d
\nPeter Tangen<\/strong>
\nAs real life super heroes started popping up across the country, Hollywood photographer, Peter Tangen developed the concept, The Real Life Super Hero Project. He stated that the various local media outlets, like local news stations, seemed more focused on the costumes than the bigger picture of community service. In the beginning the media, like local tv news stations, \u201cseemed to be mocking\u201d the super heroes and casting them in a \u201cnegative light,\u201d Tangen said. Tangen\u2019s photography project quickly helped shift the focus towards the individual service work of the super heroes and away from just the middle-age guys in costumes\u201d angle.
\n\u201cThe Real Life Super Hero Project inspired a deeper story that the media missed,\u201d Tangen said. Tangen, whose work can be seen online at RealLifeSuperHeroes.com, created movie-like posters of the real life super heroes and helped transform their image from campy to super cool.
\n\u201cI researched the super heroes and discovered that the media was missing the real story, one of truly inspiring people who selflessly give their communities,\u201d Tangen added. \u201cThey are in fact marketing good deeds and since we live in a world of symbols, they understand their value and use symbols to make their work visible to the public.\u201d
\nThe art directors for the project include Bryan Allen, Paul Hoegh-Guldberg, Kevin Bachman, Martin Gueulette, Rick Lynch and Robert Russell.
\nTangen\u2019s Work
\nTangen recently visited Milwaukee and Minneapolis while working on the project. Currently, he\u2019s back in Los Angeles, where he\u2019s self-employed as a Hollywood photographer. He\u2019s done the photography for many movie posters including Wedding Crashers, Elf and many comic book and horror films like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street.
\nTangen grew up in Minneapolis and stated that he specializes in photographing movie stars for movie posters. Those photo sessions can last an hour or for a full day in the case for the Spider-Man posters. As for the Real Life Super Hero
\nProject, Tangen added that more and more creative people have donated their time as the project keeps evolving.
\n\u201cWriters, editors, 3D graphic artists, motion graphic artists, web designer and camera operators\u2026 about 100 people have volunteered their time and resources in support of this project.\u201d Currently, there are over 150 Real Life Super Heroes across the globe and thanks to Tangen, and his team\u2019s creative work, that number is growing steadily.
\nReal Life Super Hero Project photographer<\/strong> Peter Tangen also did the photography for the movie posters for Batman Begins and Wedding Crashers.
\nTangen grew up in Minneapolis and currently lives in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"