ABQ photographer's taped-faces photos go viral

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - What started as a side project for an Albuquerque photographer is gaining international attention. All it took was Scotch tape and a camera.

Face after face is squished and distorted with tape.

The man behind the funny yet disturbing images works right here in Albuquerque, but his name is being published everywhere from the UK to Dubai for what he calls the Scotch Tape series.

“We totally had no idea it was going to be anything like that,” says photographer Wes Naman . “It was just something to do. It was something fun, and we thought we would have a good laugh out of it. Next thing you know, it's all over the world."

Naman says he had the Scotch tape idea in his back pocket for a while.

“Who hasn't wrapped their face in Scotch tape? Who didn't see it on Pee Wee's Playhouse or see Jim Carrey do it?"

Naman makes a living taking photographs for magazines, ad agencies and restaurants in Albuquerque, but just before Christmas, he says he gathered a bunch of his friends and a bunch of Scotch tape and started snapping away.

“The best was when I asked the people to try to remove the tape with their facial muscles only,” Naman says.

He wasn't even in town when a Wired article set off the media frenzy.

“As soon as I got home to North Carolina for Christmas, my phone's blowing up, Facebook, Twitter is going nuts,” Naman says.

He says it even caught the Scotch brand 's attention. Naman got a call from the company, offering him a supply of tape.

Naman had something else in mind. He is hoping to take Scotch tape photos of the company's CEO, but he is still waiting to hear if that idea will stick.