just wondering...

What made people think that photographs needed to be airbrushed anyway? I'm all for making the middle school kid more confident with their yearbook picture, but really does Cameron Diaz need Photoshop for her abs or already impeccable smile? WHY did fake start selling? This creates an increasingly ridiculous alternate reality of what is ideal.

It's like Andy Warhol once said, "Beauties in photographs are different from beauties in person. It must be hard to be a model, because you'd want to be like the photograph of you, and you can't ever look that way. Photographers bring in a whole other dimension." And Photoshop brings an additional dimension after that! By the time you dissect any given photograph in a magazine these days, the model hardly ever looks like the image. If a model or celebrity doesn't even really look like their person in an image, what are we projecting this illusion for?

*applause*applause*applause*

Photographer Joni Sternbach was brought to my attention by the ever awesome HotShoe blog. Her use of the wet plate collodion process is particularly relative to her subject matter and even more admirable in context. These images are timeless -they have something to say that no digital camera could produce (genuinely, anyway).

Anyone who reads this blog or knows me at all, knows my endearing love of the traditional photographic approaches. I enjoy the convenience of digital, sure, but there is nothing like authenticity.

note to self: re-focus that shot after i shoot it.

Everyone has taken a photograph/picture/still image/etc. in which the wrong element is in focus. Even the BEST photographers, I'm sure of it. I know I've done it; not paying any attention to what I was doing, and maybe subconsciously thinking my camera could read my mind and switch to a 2.8 entirely on its own. I don't know. Point being, it's a horribly depressing moment to ever have to discover that you messed up a photo because you were in one hurry or another.

NOW there is Lytro: Picture Revolution for the consumer market (I'm questioning the image quality with this specification). If it is actually as good as it sounds, from what I understand, my eyes should never again hurt from awful lighting/focusing condtions of weekend party pictures on Facebook. I guess composition is still up to the operator, but this is a very attractive product/idea that Apple seems to be interested in (will this technology be on my new iPhone?).

The key feature is that you can adjust the focus after you shoot thanks to Lytro's Light Field innovations in image capture. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to some more details on the limitations and a personal test run for sure.

go green with the guggenheim e-cards

Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still, #58, 1980. Gelatin silver print, 20.3 x 25.4 cm, edition 1/10. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, Ginny Williams 97.4611. Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures. © 2010 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

 The next time you'd like to send a card with an artful edge, check out the Guggenheim's e-card collection. Free correspondence that's sure to please the recipient. Choose from a selection of works by significant artists ranging from sculpture to photography, including a gallery of images of the Guggenheim's various locations.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 1997. © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York. (Photo: David Heald)

fashion from the met

The Met has produced many fashion related exhibitions since the founding of its Costume Institute in 1940's (it became a main curatorial department in the late 50's). I've been coveting some of the related catalogs for my ever expanding personal library and thought I would compile a list of recent favorites:

 

 

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty ($45.00) The McQueen retrospective spanning almost 20 years of amazing fashion and the challenging of cultural expectations with pure creative genius.

High Style: From the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection ($50.00) Looking back through fashion history from the mid 1700's, this fabulous book includes luminous images of key fashion movements and work by prestigious designers.

Model as Muse ($50.00) This catalog brings the relationship of models and designers to the forefront of the creative process; therefore its effect on fashion, style, and popular culture as a whole.

Wild: Fashion Untamed ($14.95) An examination of the cultural implications of animal related accessories and adornments. This book addresses the relatively recently controversial topics in the grand scheme of the history of fashion.

fashionable food

images from www.apollinas.com and stella mccartney.

I've seen some beautiful cakes in my time shooting and attending weddings, but I found this citrus dessert on the Apollinas blog to be such a creative and lovely cake (inspired by Stella McCartney's unique citrus print) -surely it must be delicious as well. Check out the recipe for the aptly named  Stella Cake and try to tell me you can wait to bake your own. Nom nom nom.

remembering the futurist manifesto

photograph © megan crist 2011

the cola war explained demographically?

I just read an essay, Why the Super-Rich Only Drink Coke, by Jamie Johnson on the Vanity Fair page. Essentially, the conclusion is based upon the associations and manifestations of the brand identity. But I think everyone can appreciate a little nostalgia. Who wouldn't prefer a Coke in a bottle to a Pepsi in a can? The only time I ever require either is with a healthy dose of rum mixed in, so I can't say I have too much of an opinion at that point, anyway. It just goes to show the signifigance and value of a strong branding strategy and maintenance of target market relationships.

"the city, she loves me..."

"Very early on, I had a teacher who told me that if you are ever bored in a city, you are boring." This is a great slideshow produced by the Met.

running up quite a checklist...

Portrait of a Man (1919). Erich Heckel.
From the MoMA Collection.

Another show that I have somehow yet to see is the German Expressionism: Works from the Collection at MoMA. There is an associated micro-site dedicated to the show, which contains a wealth of basic recap information on the movement and artists. (I could almost hear my various art history professors reading some of these brief articles... the concept of modern ambivalence always reaches out to me and I come running with open arms.) Of course, as always, can't forget the catalogue and maybe a relative book or two...

summer's off to a hot start: lovely LA

We Are Handsome's LA Swimsuit

I just thought this suit by We Are Handsome (available online at Barney's) was way cooler than any other, EVER. Except for Jasper Goodall's collaboration JG4B.

backed up book list

Looks like this will be a great read on the romantically bohemian artist, Modigliani. (I also can't help but to comment on the beautiful cover design.) Such interesting lives are led by the most genius of artists, particularly ones who blur the lines between movements in the world of art. Why must they (routinely) have the most tragic causes of deaths, most depressingly too soon? Can't wait to get my hands on this biography by acclaimed writer Meryle Secrest.

Modigliani's Woman With Red Hair 1917

fabric photos

I saw this DIY photography kit, Sunography, on the NGA Store website. Such fun! It's not the normal sun print photographic kit either -Sunography consists of 6 "sheets" of fabric that are light sensitive on both sides. I can't even imagine all the possibilities here. DROOL.

there is no word for the extent of my admiration...

While I missed the book signing due to an unfortunate deviation in my schedule, I am looking forward to seeing the Elliott Erwitt: Personal Best show at the ICP (until August 28th). Invited to Magnum in 1953 by the one and only Robert Capa himself, Erwitt is quite the master of black and white work. He is obviously well traveled, though he settled in New York. Per his website, "'Settling' in Erwitt parlance means 'where you are at the moment for as long as you don't go somewhere else.'" I'm sure this is a show that is relative and comprehensible on many levels; it surely won't disappoint.