I’ve always loved symmetry (to an almost OCD state of being) and found that’s often been on par with a love for geometry. It’s exciting to see it revisited in design these days with the help of newer computers, it’s all very beautiful. Seth Hardie has been taking some great Instagrams (@hallwood) using the iPad app Poly. I mean, I already want to buy an iPad, but this is enough to really push me over the edge.
I mean, yeah… if you’re into that kinda thing (that thing being epic sound mixed with intensely hi-def footage of Iceland, a resplendent land bathed in grandeur).
A joint collaboration with rock / ambient / experimental band MONO (monoishere.com), Legend takes you on an epic journey through Iceland’s breathtaking landscapes during the time of the midnight sun.
More here.
I’m happy to see Cutting Edges, curating these contemporary takes on vintage (found) imagery, featuring a new take on old design. Incidentally, I’ve come across some of these pieces on fffound before, I would love to get my hands on a copy of this tome for myself. With work by Jelle Martens, Anthony Zinonos, Eduardo Recife and more, the book is pure eye candy.
Before Photoshop, there were just these guys who could paint really, really well.
(via UFUNK.net)
Tom Ford – fashion powerhouse/film mogul/old school romantic/myhero – is the cover star of the spring/summer 2011 issue of Another Man and presents Tom Ford’s five easy lessons in how to be a modern gentleman.
(via ANOTHERMAG)
On December 16th, 1960 a Trans World Airlines Lockheed Super Constellation collided midair over Brooklyn with a United Airlines Douglas DC-8. The T.W.A. flight — a slow moving propeller plane — was heading from Columbus, Ohio en route to LaGuardia. The other plane, a much more advanced jetliner, was destined for Idlewild airport (JFK) with 77 passengers from Chicago. All together, the crash killed 134 people, being one of the worst air disasters at the time. It is a fascinating story that was highlighted extremely well on the NY Times City Room blog.
The coverage included additional information about T.W.A. co-pilot Dean Bowen that, as well as being a skilled aviator, he was also a talented photographer. Through his travels he used Kodachrome to document life as he saw it. One commenter even pointed readers to a Flickr set of Bowen’s images.
(via A Continuous Lean)
And now for the best thing I’ve seen and heard all week, this trimmed, ripped and maximized blockbuster incarnation of Flames. This video, shot entirely macro is high energy and makes me want to dance and film and make art all day long. I might set this song as my alarm, this sounds like the perfect way to inspire a day.
“Back to the Future”, an amazing series of photos by Irina Werning. People were invited to re-create their old photos. Very cool, matching colouring and lighting such as this would be incredibly time consuming, she has one marvelous eye.
Some pretty fantastic double exposures from UK designer Dan Mountford. Mountford’s manipulations seem effortless and magical, he creates a visceral experience, inventing a whole world I’m completely sold on. I want to live here. See more on his Flickr.
Seeing so many photos aged through Photoshop, it becomes something amazing to see how folks used to do it the old-timey way where things were much more hands on, where a poster would take a month, not an afternoon, to finish. The images shown here are likely more than 130 years old and, yes, you read that right. Using a process invented in the 1880s by Swiss chemist, Hans Jakob Schmid, these photochroms involve transferring glass negatives onto lithographic plates and then printing these with colored inks. While color photography was indeed around at the time, it was really only available in the labs of researchers. It wasn’t until 1907, almost 20 years after some of these photochroms were probably taken, that color photographic plates became commercially available.
Alex Dent of The Fox is Black shared these in April after he ran across them while perusing the Library of Congress’ flickr site. All three of the moody landscapes above are from around Scandinavia, I imagine anyone producing this quality of image at the time would’ve looked akin to a magician. Looking at these photos even today gives me shivers. Beautiful.
A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn’t stop smiling.
Frederika was born in Budapest 20 years before World War II. During the war, at the peril of her own life, she courageously saved the lives of ten people. When asked how, Goldberger told us “she hid the Jewish people she knew, moving them around to different places every day.” As a survivor of Nazism and Communism, she then immigrated away from Hungary to France, forced by the Communist regime to leave her homeland illegally or face death.
With the unexpected success of this series, titled “Mamika,” Goldberger created a MySpace page for his grandmother. She now has over 2,200 friends and receives messages like: “You’re the grandmother that I have dreamed of, would you adopt me?” and ” You made my day, I hope to be like you at your age.”
Initially, she did not understand why all these people wrote to congratulate her. Then, little by little, she realized that her story conveyed a message of hope and joy. In all those pictures, she posed with the utmost enthusiasm. Now, after the set, Goldberger shares that his grandmother has never shown even a hint of depression. Perhaps it’s because her story serves some sort of purpose. That through the warm words of newfound friends, she’s reminded of just how lucky she is to be alive.
Let’s take a moment of silence for Remembrance Day (or Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day depending on where you’re from) and look at some gorgeous photography. The Morning After The Night Before, photographed by Jeff Hahn featuring Sam Thompson of Models 1. The Morning After The Night Before was photographed using film and Polaroid cameras for a vintage effect to capture the essence an old but modern London.
This is an art installation created by Mehmet Ali Uysal, displayed at the Chaudfontaine park in Belgium. The unusual park addition replicates the clip, a common smart tool used to hang clothes for drying. The giant clipper becomes the focal point of this particular area of the park shown below and looks great while adding a bit of originality to its surroundings. From what I understand, the installation hopes to raise awareness of the affect of modern art in regular situations, and I applaud. Art has the ability to transform a simple and unattractive space into an area that feels alive, and I’d love to see more installations like this in BC and Canada.
The Story Beyond The Still is the first ever user-generated HD video contest where photographers become filmmakers. It started in March 2010 with The Cabbie, a short commissioned by Canon USA to launch the nationwide campaign and was the first of 8 chapters. There were few rules involved in the contest, things like all film entries must be shot in HD (720p or higher), about 2–4 minutes long, and each entry must begin with the still image concluding the previous winning chapter otherwise it was pretty open. The Cabbie was awarded Silver, Gold and Bronze Titanium Lions at Cannes in 2010.
I followed the first couple of shorts and they were enough to make me want a Canon 7D for my next new toy, I’ve included the first four and a link to the Vimeo group so you can catch the rest if you’d like.
1. The Cabbie
2. Job Security
3. The Beach
4. Allison
The neat part is they post the four runner-up videos along with the winners, so there is tons to get lost in when you arrive at the page.
