Rest In Peace Corrine Day

Images via google (all photographs by Corrinne Day).

I was very sad to hear that photographer Corinne Day had passed away this weekend at the age of 45 following a long fight with brain cancer.

Day was known for her "stripped-down, de-glossed aesthetic", a new way of shooting fashion photography when she became known in the early 1990's, and a visual language that's had a great impact on what we see today.

She's often credited with launching Kate Moss' career (with the editorial and cover of 'The Face' featuring the model, as seen top image above), but I think her impact and contribution to photography and fashion imagery very much surpasses this. She will be missed.


Read more about Corrine Day and see more of her work here, here, here, here, here, here and here for example.


UPDATE: link updated.

a photo a day - month eight

a photo a day (set). Month eight (30 July-28 Aug).

I've now come to the end of month eight of my photo project 'a photo a day' (month eight is above, you can see the first month here, the second month here, the third month here, the fourth month here, the fifth month here, the sixth month here and the seventh month here).

'a photo a day' is an incidental look at what I see out the window or on my way to places everyday. Even if I live in a city environment most of the time I'm primarily focusing on landscape or the sky, as I find the intense impact nature has on us even in a city-setting very interesting indeed (spending time mainly in Stockholm with its' clearly defined seasons and high impact of the weather, this is even more poignant, and thus interesting to document).

It will hopefully be an interesting capture of the seasons changing, random captures of immediate or unexpected loveliness, as well as some beautiful photographs.


You can see the result so far above, here, here, here, here, here, here and here (full set here) or view the individual images, today's photograph and continue to follow the project going forward by clicking here or here. Enjoy!

Landscape Stories.

Landscape Stories. Photographs by Jem Southam. Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2005. 150 pp., 90 colour photos, 12½x11½".

Jem Southam is a well-known British photographer. He is known for "his series of colour landscape photographs, beginning in the 1970s and continuing until the present. His trademark is the patient observation of changes at a single location over many months or years".


In 'Landscape Stories' Southam "photographs southwest England, a landscape that has been worked and re-worked by human hands for centuries, choosing to enter into the landscape tradition fully aware of the variety of modes of representation that beset its past.

He avoids what Grundberg calls ‘celebratory’ pictures of the land, preferring instead to present images of rivers and rocks and shrubbery, and also man’s domestic responses to his surroundings, the stone walls, domesticated animals, and cut flowers of countryfolk.

Work from several series is presented, including Red River, Rockfalls, Rivermouths, Ponds, Upton Pyne and various Other Stories."


First quote V&A ; second quote from Darius Himes/publisher's description.

Road Ends in Water.

Road Ends in Water. Photographs by Eliot Dudik. SAGA Publishing, 2010. 96 pp., 38 colour illustrations, 11x8½".

"Change is descending upon an otherwise quiet, unhurried, unobtrusive, place. The main highway, U.S. Route 17, that bisects South Carolina's 'lowcountry,' is being widened to accommodate commerce, tourists, and urban refugees. Not only are many homes, some historic, disappearing before the tracked blades of expansion, but also the newer, faster thoroughfare encourages greater disregard and obliviousness to the charm and culture the basin harbors.

This collection of images and thoughts is a tribute to, and an acknowledgment of, the respect the modest souls of this region, obscure from the mainstream, deserve for their tenacity, good humor, social commitment, and acceptance of the ebb and flow of the often incomprehensible vagaries of existence."


'Road Ends in Water' is a monograph by fine art photographer Eliot Dudik. Each book is numbered and signed by the artist.


Quote from publisher's description.

One Step Big Shot.

One Step Big Shot. Photographs by Gus Van Sant. Nazraeli Press, 2010. 72 pp., 52 duotone and four-colour illustrations, 8½x10½".

I really really like Gus Van Sant's work as a film maker so I'm very excited about this book, 'One Step Big Shot', which is made up of polaroids taken by Van Sant.


'One Step Big Shot' is published to coincide with the exhibition One Step Big Shot: Portraits by Andy Warhol and Gus Van Sant, and is described as:

"The title of this important new collection of photographs by renowned movie director Gus Van Sant references a quick and direct act of picture making: the use of Polaroid cameras and films.
In the hands of Van Sant, a 'big shot' was 'one step' in the production of his early films.

As a collection, these portraits - selected from the hundreds taken for casting those films - exemplify the artist’s considerable talents, and also provoke discussion about representation.

The allure of a Van Sant portrait reaches beyond the inherent luminosity and ephemeral nature of an instant positive print. The expressive gesture by an aspiring actor, able to project an appealing gaze and posture, is even more engaging when the portrayal captures an imminent or character identity in the early stages of an actor’s career. Van Sant's investment in capturing a subject at a particular moment - a one-step big shot - is much more than a process used in making films; these portraits are also, undeniably, documents that in time have become art.

'One Step Big Shot' is published to coincide with the exhibition One Step Big Shot: Portraits by Andy Warhol and Gus Van Sant at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon. The book opens with an insightful essay by the Museum's curator of American and regional art, Lawrence Fong."


Quote from publisher's description.

Cabin and Woods.

Cabin and Woods. Photographs by Coley Brown and Cristiano Guerri. 0_100 Editions, 2010. 24 pp., colour and black & white illustrations throughout, 7¾x10½" (images slightly cropped by me).

'Cabin and Woods' is a book by Coley Brown and Cristiano Guerri featuring beautiful beautiful photographs from the forests of Scandinavia, Colorado, upstate New York and Europe.

With magical imagery it tells the story of the wild and the unknown.


'Cabin and Woods' is made up of two books hold together by one band and printed on 160 gr paper.

To see more images from inside the book go here. For more of Coley Brown's work go here and for Cristiano Guerri's work go here.

Wave Music.

Wave Music. Photographs by Clifford Ross. Blind Spot Book, Aperture published, New York, 2005. 144 pp., 95 tritone illustrations, 10x12".

"Three bodies of work are presented here: Hurricane, Horizons, and Grain. All three groupings present formalist views of the sea - the first two are explicit, whereas the last is implied.

The first group of images, true to their collective name, are exquisite black-and-white photographs of violently crashing waves, full of froth and set against a stormy sky.

Horizons is a dissipation of that energy, a set of chaste and restrained photographs, half-sky, half-sea.

The last component of this triptych is Grain - fields of pure grey, referring to the 'grain' apparent in silver-gelatin photographs.

Taken cumulatively, there is an overt visual decrescendo at play here. Powerful chaos, quiet contemplation, enigmatic abstraction. These rich ideas, presented in a broad movement coursing throughout the book, is at the heart of Ross’project."

-- Darius Himes / publisher's description.

New Zealand's South Pacific And Tasman Sea.

New Zealand's South Pacific And Tasman Sea. Photographs by Chip Hooper. Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, 2007. Unpaged, numerous black and white illustrations, 11¾x9¾".

American photographer Chip Hooper is best known for his ongoing series of ocean photography.

His book 'New Zealand's South Pacific and Tasman Sea' was published by the Robery Klein Gallery to coincide with several exhibitions of Chip Hooper's work in 2007 and 2008.


"In recent years, Hooper's travels have taken him to the rugged shores of New Zealand.

He continues to perfect his approach to photographing the ocean, steadily refining his sense of lyrical minimalism, as in Toward Dunedin, South Pacific, 2003, where a horizon of dark water is broken by a jagged line of distant mountains, or in Cape Foulwind Beach, Tasman Sea, 2003, where a monolithic cliff rises beyond the frame.

[...]

His work is in permanent collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Monterey Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, and the Tokyo Photographic Cultural Center. He lives in Carmel Valley, California."


Quote from here.

Dreamlike

Dreamlike images from Nakkna's show (SFW). Top image Columbine, bottom image Lina.

I'm not necessarily a fan of Nakkna's clothes (saying that though I'm very, very partial to draped shapes such as these, so actually I guess I am) and I'm pretty neutral to Stockholm Fashion Week (nor indeed do I normally write straight up about fashion here), but I found something in Nakkna's presentation and its dreamlike state really quite moving.

For more on Stockholm Fashion Week have a look at the coverage on Rodeo or the lovely Susie Bubble.


UPDATE: The text in the post has been updated.

Idea

Thundering sky (photograph by me).

"Here I go not. This is not I.
This is a lying reflection alone,
asking, wondering where I have gone,
yearning one day to meet its reality.

The legend tells: far in a distant land
flows a mirroring flood from invisible source.
Thousands of beings, blessed, holy souls,
lean like lilies o'er the banks of sand.

Light without limit envelops their eye,
air trembles, sated by a beauty without like.
In this realm perfect spirits walk,
There stands in eternal light my true I.

The reflection is gone from the glittering surge.
It was once torn away by the angry stream,
wanders around, unreal as in a dream,
unfinished, broken, of itself in search,

Do I not hear the flood's waves far away?
Deep from my inmost depths its water flows.
There, where life's swell into day breaks and goes,
it waits for me concealed, my god-begotten I."


Karin Boye: Idea (translation into English by David McDuff).

Along Cypress Creek.

Along Cypress Creek. Photographs by David H. Gibson. David H. Gibson, 2009. 34 pp., 6 black & white and 9 colour (Morning Along Cypress Creek Series) illustrations, 6¼x16". First edition of 1000 copies.

The work in 'Along Cypress Creek' by fine art photographer David H. Gibson is truly, truly magical.

The book is an "accordion book of 34 pages with two end sheets glued to inside the covers. Two elastic bands to hold the book together in a closed position. 95# Topkote Dull cover stock with end covers fabricated with 100 PT. Chipboard. 4 color plus dry pass of Spot Dull Varnish over black. Two areas de-bossed on chipboard covers for tip ons".


'Along Cypress Creek' was selected as on of the Best Books of 2009 by photo-eye.


Quote from publisher's description.

Superquadra.

Superquadra. Photographs by Erik van der Weijde. ROMA, 2010. 176 pp., black & white photographs throughout, 6¼x8½".

'Superquadra', a book of photographs by Erik van der Weijde, documents the buildings and the architectural rhythm of the residential blocks (the Superquadras) lining a 12km long expressway.

The lines, shapes, and flow, and the quality of the photographs are just magical I think. I also really like the quiet understatedness of this work.


The book and photographic work in it is described as:

"Brasilia is best known for the grandeur of its Monumental Axis. It connects two wings with the so-called Residential Axis. This is a twelve kilometer expressway lined with large residential blocks, which are named Superquadras.

All Superquadras have a distinct configuration, with an average of eleven residential buildings raised on pilotis, large greenbelts and regular rows of trees alongside the entire periphery of the Superquadras.

For all buildings, referred to as slabs, a height limit of six floors was set. Between one Superquadra and the next there is an Entrequadra. These are reserved for recreational areas.

This book documents many of these buildings and shows its specific architectural rhythm."

The Original Copy. Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today.

The Original Copy. Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today. Edited by Roxana Marcoci. Text by Roxana Marcoci, Geoffrey Batchen, Tobia Bezzola. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2010. 242 pp., 120 colour illustrations, 180 black & white, 9½x12". Images from Amazon.

I'm very excited about the exhibition 'The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today', which is showing at MoMA in New York until November 1st.

The exhibition "looks at how and why sculpture became a photographic subject and how photography at once informs and challenges our knowledge of sculpture".

This book, The Original Copy. Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today, was published to accompany the exhibition, and is described as:

"Since its birth in the first half of the nineteenth century, photography has offered extraordinary possibilities of documenting, redefining and disseminating works of art. Through crop, focus, angle of view, degree of close-up and lighting, as well as through expostfacto techniques of dark room manipulation, collage, montage and assemblage, artists not only interpret the works they record but create stunning reinventions of them.

'The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today' presents a critical examination of the intersections between photography and sculpture, exploring how the one medium has become implicated in the understanding of the other.

Through a selection of nearly 300 outstanding pictures by more than 100 artists from the nineteenth century to the present, 'The Original Copy' looks at how and why sculpture became a photographic subject and how photography at once informs and challenges our knowledge of sculpture.

The images range in subject from inanimate objects to performing bodies, and include major works by Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Eugène Atget, Herbert Bayer, Hans Bellmer, Constantin Brancusi, Brassaï, Claude Cahun, Ken Domon, Marcel Duchamp, Fischli/Weiss, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, David Goldblatt, Rachel Harrison, Hannah Höch, André Kertész, Louise Lawler, Man Ray, Bruce Nauman, Charles Nègre, David Smith, Alina Szapocznikow, Gillian Wearing, Hannah Wilke and Iwao Yamawaki, among others."


Both quotes from publisher's description / MoMA.

Clementine / We Buy Your Kids

'Clementine' by Washington. Animation and illustration work by We Buy Your Kids. Found via coffre à trésors.

This animation clip and illustrations by the brilliant We Buy Your Kids (for Washington's single 'Clementine') is just pure wonderful.

Looking at their portfolio I'm really impressed by the body of work, and pleased to at last have been introduced to their magical world!

Read more about them here, and don't miss to have a look at some more of their excellent, excellent work.

In all the world I dream in paper

In all the world I dream in paper. Art direction: Petra Storrs, photography: James Champion, music: Pierre Forcioli Conti, starring: Paloma Faith, special thanks: Sarah Lloyd. Found via coffre à trésors.

I really like this beautiful, whimsical video art-directed by London-based art director Petra Storrs featuring a magical, Alice in Wonderland kind of paper set and lovely paper clothes.

Petra Storrs work "encompasses set and prop design and construction, stage design, stage costume design and fashion design" and she works with a variety of commercial clients producing stills, events, music promos, etc.


Just beautiful, and with the most magical of titles!


Quote from Petra Storrs.com

Jackrabbit Homestead.

Jackrabbit Homestead. Tracing the Small Tract Act in the Southern California Landscape, 1938-2008. Photographs by Kim Stringfellow. Center for American Places, Chicago, 2009. 136 pp., 61 colour and 18 halftone illustrations, 5½x8½".

"The landscape of the Morongo Basin of Southern California’s Mojave Desert is dotted with unusual buildings and parcels of land that developed as a result of the Small Tract Act of 1938. The structures, which are remnants of a mid-century homestead movement, have become a lightning rod for seemingly disparate communities wishing to claim and inhabit the desert landscape.

In 'Jackrabbit Homestead', Kim Stringfellow, an artist and writer known for her cross-disciplinary work addressing the American West, land use, and the built environment, documents the character of the homestead architecture and the homesteaders who built it.

Alongside her compelling photographs, she explores the origins of the Homestead movement, the Public Land Survey, and other U.S. public land policies that have shaped our perception and long-term management of the California desert.

Richly illustrated with Stringfellow’s color photographs and historical illustrations, 'Jackrabbit Homestead' is an essential document of American landscape history."

-- publisher's description.

You can also read Charles Dee Mitchell's review of 'Jackrabbit Homestead. Tracing the Small Tract Act in the Southern California Landscape, 1938-2008' in photo-eye magazine.

Silence.

Silence. The Western Australian Wheatbelt. Photographs by Brad Rimmer. T&G Publishing, 2010. 96 pp., 51 colour illustrations, 9x10¼".

'Silence. The Western Australian Wheatbelt', a book with work by Australian photographer Brad Rimmer, is an "intensely personal and sometimes painful monograph of life in the once-thriving wheatbelt towns of Western Australia.

Born in Wyalkatchem in 1962, Rimmer chose at nineteen to escape what he saw then as a bleak future.

In 'Silence', he presents images that capture the region's permeating dust, heat and isolation and negotiates a delicate balance between hope and despair in his frank portraits of those who remain."


Rimmer says about the project:

"I was worried about revisiting my old home and going inside the house, but I had no real connection at all. Everything that was in my mind had gone and I felt a strange relief.

On my way out of town that evening I thought of how many people had left and never returned, just left for good. I'd never thought about that before."


Both quotes from the publisher's description.

Fake Holidays.

Fake Holidays. Photographs by Reiner Riedler. Text by Bill Kouwenhoven and Jens Lindworsky. moser verlag, 2009. 144 pp., 56 illustrations.

'Fake Holidays' is a photo book capturing the world's "artificial paradises" and its absurdities - such as indoor skiing in Dubai, Tropical Islands in Berlin-Brandenburg and Niagara Falls in China.

This book seems slightly odd (or perhaps lost in translation at times), but I do find the imagery really inspiring in a sci-fi dreamlike absurdity kind of way.


You can also read George Slade's review of 'Fake Holidays' in photo-eye magazine here.

Ontem.

Ontem. Photographs by André Cepeda. Le caillou bleu, 2010. 120 pp., 50 colour illustrations, 11½x11".

Portuguese photographer André Cepeda exhibits his work frequently and has had a number of books published.

In the book 'Ontem' (which means 'yesterday' in Portuguese) he has followed the lives of the people of Porto - photographing landscapes, interiors and portraits in and of the region.

"The photographer, concerned with poverty and social injustice, has gained access to theses small closed districts and where people live in families and couples in tiny apartments. There, he managed build relationships with these people who often feel there is no hope or prospects for the future.

In these spaces, Cepeda's photographs allow the viewer to hear the silence, which gives the images a charged intensity. The couples, with whom he has had long conversations and who survive on very strong bonds of love forged between them, are perhaps the essence of the photographer's work: to try to express ideas in the picture through the understanding of others and those around him."


Quote from publisher's description.

a photo a day - month seven

a photo a day (set). Month seven (30 June-29 July).

I've now come to the end of month seven of my photo project 'a photo a day' (month seven is above, you can see the first month here, the second month here, the third month here, the fourth month here, the fifth month here and the sixth month here).

'a photo a day' is an incidental look at what I see out the window or on my way to places everyday. Even if I live in a city environment most of the time I'm primarily focusing on landscape or the sky, as I find the intense impact nature has on us even in a city-setting very interesting indeed (spending time mainly in Stockholm with its' clearly defined seasons and high impact of the weather, this is even more poignant, and thus interesting to document).

It will hopefully be an interesting capture of the seasons changing, random captures of immediate or unexpected loveliness, as well as some beautiful photographs.


You can see the result so far above, here, here, here, here, here and here (full set here) or view the individual images, today's photograph and continue to follow the project going forward by clicking here or here. Enjoy!