Movie still and vintage card from pinterest.
Happy New 2015!
May it be a year of stillness, peace and dreams fulfilled.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
The Civil Dawns.
The Civil Dawns. By Darren Almond. Designed by Yoshihisa Tanaka. Torch Press, 2014. 84 pp., illustrated throughout, 21x29,7cm. With English & Japanese text. Edition of 500 copies. Images from here.
Book description:
"British artist Darren Almond has been known for his works using variety of media, including sculpture, films as well as photography.
This 'The Civil Dawns' consists of 2 photographic series.
'Civil Dawn@Giverny' is a series of photographs taken in the Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny in the winter and summer, while 'Civil Dawn@Mt. Hiei' photographed foggy Mt. Hiei. Images of both series are captured by exposing to the momentary light of the break of dawn.
Releasing its brilliance, 'Civil Dawn@Giverny' depicts momentary, spontaneous faces of flowers in Monet’s garden at the very moment a day breaks. Those pictures, photographed with large-format Polaroid, which apparatus is discontinued already, seem like homage to the Impressionist.
'Civil Dawn@Mt. Hiei' is a series produced in Japan, where Almond has taken particular interests in its culture and drawn his inspiration to works. He has visited Japan several times since 1990s and created numbers of works adopting the ideas he got through sceneries seen and incidents encountered during his visits.
The morning twilight Almond pictured charms us with its gentle lights, recalls our nostalgia, although no humans are appeared in the pictures. Time is unchanging and eternal - while his masterwork, installation of timepieces, symbolically implies accurate passage of time, Almond contrarily sheds light on the twinkling of momentariliness in these series."
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Rest in Peace Lauren Bacall
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Wednesday, August 06, 2014
#NoMoreHiroshima (Orizuru Paper Crane for Hiroshima Day)
My Orizuru Paper Crane for Hiroshima - May there be Peace.
"Orizuru - the paper crane - is the symbol of peace.
[...]
Do it on August 6th in dedication to the Victims of the Bomb, repeating to yourself and to the world NO MORE HIROSHIMA as you do it.Then the folding of the paper crane, you will realize will become a meditation you share with the world.
You can bury the orizuru you made in your back yard, hang it in your room, keep it inside a book you love to read, or send it to a friend."
- Yoko Ono (link)
Wednesday, July 02, 2014
Places, Strange and Quiet.
Places, Strange and Quiet.
By Wim Wenders.
Hatje Cantz, 2011. 124 pp., illustrated throughout, 17,1x20,5cm. Images from here.
Book description:
'You only find what you’re looking for'.
" 'When you travel a lot, and when you love to just wander around and get lost, you can end up in the strangest spots. … I don’t know, it must be some sort of built-in radar that often directs me to places that are strangely quiet, or quietly strange'.
Wim Wenders - painter, actor, writer, and one of the most successful contemporary filmmakers around - has assembled a fascinating series of large-scale photographs taken from 1983 to 2011 in countries all over the world.
From his iconic images of exteriors and buildings to his panoramic depictions of towns and landscapes, this book presents the full range of Wenders’s photography."
Friday, June 20, 2014
Glad midsommar!
Midsummer images from here.
Glad midsommar! (Happy Midsummer!).
"In modern Sweden, Midsummer's Eve and Midsummer's Day (Midsommarafton and Midsommardagen) [...] is arguably the most important holiday of the year, and one of the most uniquely Swedish in the way it is celebrated, even if it has been influenced by other countries long ago.
The main celebrations take place on the Friday, and the traditional events include raising and dancing around a huge maypole. One typical dance is the frog dance. Before the maypole is raised, greens and flowers are collected and used to cover the entire pole.
Raising and dancing around a maypole (majstång or midsommarstång) is an activity that attracts families and many others. People dancing around the pole listen to traditional music and many wear traditional folk costumes. The year's first potatoes, pickled herring, sour cream, and possibly the first strawberries of the season are on the menu. Drinking songs are also important at this feast, and many drink heavily.
Because Midsummer was thought to be one of the times of the year when magic was strongest, it was considered a good night to perform rituals to look into the future. Traditionally, young people pick bouquets of seven or nine different flowers and put them under their pillow in the hope of dreaming about their future spouse. In the past it was believed that herbs picked at Midsummer were highly potent, and water from springs could bring good health. Greenery placed over houses and barns were supposed to bring good fortune and health to people and livestock; this old tradition of decorating with greens continues, even though most don't take it seriously."
To learn more about the Swedish Midsummer traditions continue reading here or here for example.
Sunday, June 08, 2014
Leap Toward Yourself.
Book description:
" 'I like being able to observe something over a long period of time, unselfconsciously admiring the complex circumstances by which it had come into being.
The images have a story, usually one related to existence and near-extinction'.
- Sharon Ya’ari.
This book presents photographs spanning Sharon Ya’ari’s entire creative career, focusing on his recent works. It is published in conjunction with a major exhibition of Ya’ari’s work at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, featuring a comprehensive selection of his photographs.
Sharon Ya’ari does not seek unusual moments, special places or unique subjects. His photographs offer an intimate look at the commonplace and familiar, making the viewer take pause and observe closely. He does not depict climactic moments; rather, he stops and photographs things that appear to him along the way, thereby conferring permanence on a particular time and place.
Ya’ari’s images summon a multilayered reading, combining local, historical references on the one hand and conceptual references to the medium of photography and to the history of art on the other."
Published to coincide with the 2013-2014 Tel Aviv Museum of Art Exhibition 'Sharon Ya’ari: Leap Toward Yourself'.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
"Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud"
Friday, May 23, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Space Conquerers!
Book description:
"The first Earth-born creature to enter space was Laika, a stray dog from Moscow that blasted off aboard Sputnik 2 on 3 November 1957, heralding the beginning of the space race and an associated propaganda war between the two superpowers of the era, the Soviet Union and the United States.
Edited by the Archive of Modern Conflict together with Christina de Middel and Thomas Mailander, this issue of Amc2 journal contains a cross-section of some of the space-race related images held by the Archive."
I've previously also featured issue 1 of Amc2 journal.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Birds Have Wings.
Birds Have Wings.
One Picture Book #77. By Carol E. Richards.
Nazraeli Press, 2013. 16 pp., illustrated throughout, 5,5x7,25". With one original print. Images from here.
One Picture Book is an ongoing series of limited edition artists' books published by Nazraeli Press, which I've previously written about here, here and here for example.
The artist is asked to create a book based on one image or series of connected images, from their previous work. The hardcover edition is limited to 500 and contains an original print by the artist.
Book description:
"Having difficulty identifying a particular species of bird through her spotting scope, Carol E. Richards took a photograph through the lens to assist with her research.
The resulting picture turned out to be far more than a tool for verification. It had a mood and visual content the artist was drawn to, and led to the creation of a series of beautiful, dream-like vignettes."
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Rest in Peace Malik Bendjelloul
Maybe it's growing up with him on Ebba & Didrik, maybe it's truly loving the work he did on the culture show Kobra, maybe it's the honesty that came across during the award circus for Searching for Sugar Man, I'm not really sure, what I do know is that I've been really affected by the death of Malik Bendjelloul.
It does indeed feel like a bright and truthful light has gone too soon. Rest in peace.
Searching for Sugar Man will show as a tribute at Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. SVT (Swedish State TV) will also show the film on Sunday, at 12.55.
Kobra showed a tribute last night (link above and here).
Monday, May 05, 2014
Iris Apfel dresses for Matisse
Iris Apfel dresses for Matisse - in collaboration with Tate Modern.
It would be impossible to not love Iris Apfel!
Iris Apfel dresses for Matisse - in collaboration with Tate Modern.
Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs is on at Tate Modern (London) until September 7.
Thursday, May 01, 2014
1st of May
May Day demonstrations in Stockholm (1950, 1940s, 1944). Images from Stockholmskällan.
For peace and unity between people (för fred och samarbete mellan folken).
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Wilderness.
Wilderness. By Debra Bloomfield, text by Terry Tempest Williams. University Of New Mexico Press, 2014. 128 pp., illustrated throughout, 10,3x12,3". With two maps and an audio CD. Images from here.
Book description:
"Debra Bloomfield engaged for five years on a photographic project in the wilderness.
After photographing the desert in 'Four Corners' and the ocean in Still, she has moved on in this new book to the forest.
Her photographs do not describe a particular place. She does not catalog the elements that add up to wilderness. She does not show each detail she observed or convey all the information she learned while she was there.
Instead, her photographs and soundscapes bring us to the experience of wilderness. A CD is an integral part of this book, allowing the reader to share the photographer’s journey of hearing the call of birds overhead, the crunch of snow underfoot, and the hum of a ferry’s engine."
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
Rest in Peace Gabriel García Márquez
Very saddened to hear that the great writer Gabriel García Márquez has passed away. His work has changed my life profoundly - as so many others'. Rest in peace.
More, more, more, more.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Crossing Over. [last day/this too shall pass]
Crossing Over. By Yanina Shevchenko. The Velvet Cell, 2013. 24 pp., illustrated throughout, 16,5x24cm. Limited edition of 300 copies. Images from here.
Book description:
"In March 2012 Yanina Shevchenko travelled from one end of Russia to the other and back again on the trans-siberian railway in a bid to discover for herself the true nature of her homeland.
In the space of two weeks she spent a total of twelve days onboard, mingling with her fellow travellers and watching the Russian landscape unfold itself from her carriage window.
Born in Volgograd of Russian-Belorussian descent, Yanina was motivated to unearth what 'Russianess' meant and whether it existed as a single entity from one end of the motherland to the other. What she encountered and discovered about Russia, and thus about herself, is documented in her book of writings and photography 'Crossing Over'."
Monday, March 17, 2014
Mandala. [today is joy]
Mandala. By Bill Armstrong, introduction by Katherine Ware. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2008. 44 pp., illustrated throughout, 9x9". Images from here.
Book description:
" 'The Mandalas are meant to be meditative pieces - glimpses into a space of pure color, beyond our focus, beyond our ken. Their essential purpose is to create a sense of transcendence, of radiance, of pure joy', Bill Armstrong writes about this series. 'Through abstraction, simplification and blur, I hope to create a context for the exploration of broad spiritual themes that, rather than relying on a codified system, remains open and invites the viewer’s personal interpretation'.
Like other portfolios in his series Infinity, Armstrong’s mandalas are made from collages he creates and then photographs with the camera’s focusing ring set on infinity. He then creates chromogenic prints from the resultant negatives.
By taking an out-of-focus photograph, the artist concentrates not on detailed form and subject but on the rich, saturated colors that shift and pulsate in relation to one another, inviting an inquiry into the interconnectedness of all things.
Published on the occasion of the exhibition Photo Mandalas: Bill Armstrong and Milan Fano Blatny. Curated by Kathrine Ware. Julien Levy Gallery, Philadelphia Museum of Art, September 6, 2008 - January, 2009."
Friday, February 21, 2014
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Hiroshi Sugimoto. By Hiroshi Sugimoto. Essays by David Elliott, Kerry Brougher and Hiroshi Sugimoto. Hatje Cantz, 2005. 368 pp., illustrated throughout, 26,5x27,8cm. Images from here.
Book description:
"The spectacular series by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto (*1948 in Tokyo) are characterized by matchless clarity and presence.
His works are always an absolute embodiment of his chosen visual motif, reduced to its essence.
Our exquisite monograph is the first to feature works selected from all of the series produced to date - including, of course, his most famous: Sugimoto's celebrated portraits of wax figures seem to face up to their living audiences; his 'Seascapes' show us nothing less than a person's first conscious view of the ocean; the extremely long exposures of 'Theaters' elevate the white, luminescent cinema screen, transforming it into a magical image of an altar; and the fascinating 'Dioramas' - photographs of scientific display cases - allow us to travel with the artist far into the past to observe extinct animal species or the daily life of early man."
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