Muted colours

Images by Martyn Thompson (picture 1 and 2 published in British Vogue February 2007). Images from this is glamourous.

Maybe it's because I escaped from the dreary Swedish winter for a little bit - or maybe it's just that you can only have so much technicolor - but somehow these muted colours just looks really really fresh and exciting. I also really love the different textures - it's like you can almost feel them under your hands.

this is glamorous has lots of goodies on her site - I'll definitely be referencing it again!

PS. Maybe it's not so much a departure, but more a sense of rejuvenation in patterns and objects colliding / mixed together - rather then bright colours - that is the theme.

Magical - work by Catherine Hammerton

Work by Catherine Hammerton - images from catherinehammerton.com.

Catherine Hammerton is a Royal College of Art-graduated designer based in London. As she puts it herself her work is defined by its handmade aesthetic, utilising traditional silk screen printing and hand embroidery together with cutting edge digital technology. You can clearly see her intuitive use of techniques, colour and texturing.

Her work is sometimes magical and sometimes fresh and graphic, but always very very beautiful. Her website is also one of the greatest ones around!

Aila.

Aila. Photographs by Rinko Kawauchi. Foil, Tokyo, 2005. Unpaged, numerous color illustrations, 9½x12".

This book is interesting as a whole, but it is especially this haunting picture (quite different from the other in the book) that really grabs me.

"The photographs cropped by Rinko Kawauchi invite us to confront the line between life and death. By interspersing the portraits of everyday situations throughout the series, AILA finally becomes the most completed, overwhelmingly big series of Rinko Kawauchi to date."

Obsessed

Lovely milk is unhealthily obsessed with everything summer - so am I...

I love!

Lovely lovely pattern (and folds) on my new-ish second hand dress - reminds me of Swedish summer seen through nostalgia - I love!

Reminds me of

Common City Birds - the Jacky Winter Group 2007 Field Guide. Found via and image from Book By Its Cover.

This image reminds me of the work of Caitlin Shearer (her flickr here), who Sandra wrote about a while ago.

I really really like this illustration! Could be a picture of me.

UPDATE: The illustration is by Fontaine Anderson - more wonderful here.

Isolde

Isolde by Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98).

I like the Bridgeman Art Library - you will too!

It's sad (rest in peace)

Still from I'm not there. See the trailer here.

High Tide Wane Moon.

High Tide Wane Moon. Photographs by Kazuumi Takahashi. Essay by Shino Kuraishi. Nazraeli Press, Tucson, 2007. 56 pp., 51 four-color illustrations, 14x11". First edition of 1,000 casebound copies.

"The son of a fisherman, Takahashi grew up near the sea. The schedule of the tide influenced his daily planning, just as the moon in turn influenced the tides. In this large-format book, Takahashi presents 25 double-page spreads, each with a photograph of the moon on the left side, and a corresponding photograph of the ocean on the right.

[...]

Collectively, the photographs pay homage to forces that have inspired our dreams, and influenced our ways of life, since the beginning of humankind."

You can find vibrancy and beauty when it's dark.

The Garden at Night.

The Garden at Night. Private Views of Public Edens. Photographs by Linda Rutenberg. Essay by Christopher Dewdney. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2007. 176 pp., 160 color illustrations, 11x13".

"By photographing public and botanical gardens at night, Rutenberg reveals a luminous landscape of plants, colors, shadows, and light. [...] flowers and plants glowing in the blackness, revealing a secret nighttime world of subtle yet vibrant beauty."

It will get boring I know, but I'm just in a dire need of light.

...and more

Kirsten Dunst for Miu Miu (SS08 ad campaign)

Images from niotillfem blog. On her blog post you can also download a mix tape she's made (for those who don't speak Swedish click on "Sandras fredagspepp" and download the zip file) - Friday treat!

More vitamin injection

These images are of Betsy Johnson's New York apartment as featured in House & Gardens and Elle Decoration / Decor / Interior.

I first saw and loved them in the August edition of Elle Decoration UK, but got reminded just how happy they are when they were published again in this month's edition of Elle Interior (Sweden).

Just the perfect vitamin injection! ...which is what we will be needing for the next four months or so as it's just dreadful here (what you reap in summer you have to pay for in winter).

Makes me happy

Jennifer Connelly for Balenciaga (Balenciaga SS08 ad campaign)

These colours, shapes, patterns and colliding inspirations just makes me happy and exhilarated! ...and that's needed as today is an especially slushy, grey, dark, depressing winter day in Stockholm.

Works on Paper.

Works on Paper. Photographs by Ion Zupcu. Introduction by Jan Staller. Park Island Press, New York, 2007. 52 pp., 9x9. Signed copies available at photo-eye.

''Zupcu's work calls to mind the early 20th century abstract photographs of Man Ray and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. While their photographs involved graphic arrangements, Zupcu pushes his investigations into spatial illusion. His photographs do not look like their ''subjects''. By aiming his camera at nothing more than paper and light, he dissolves the very idea of the subject.''

...and a happy 2008!

God Jul, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

snowflakes falling (close up)

snowflakes falling - and the tree outside the window

i love second hand books reading

Appropriately christmasy photo-eye magazine

photo-eye booklist winter 2007. Cover image by Lisa Robinson.

"The primary and most fundamental function of the arts is to engage their audience and spark dialogue, in whatever manner seems best. This journal has attempted to do just that, by creating a space for reflection and insight, and providing an opportunity for conversation and questions to sprout and find life within the broader context of contemporary photography and the visual arts."

Wonderful wintery Ana Ventura

SCREENPRINT #1. 52cm x 52cm [19,7 x 19,7 inches], 300gr fabriano paper. Signed and numbered 50 edition.

This is so beautiful! I love Ana Ventura's work - it's always new and magical and kinda in a different way, but essentially her. There's loads new in her shop so have a look!

Adam Fuss.

Adam Fuss. Photographs by Adam Fuss. Text by Thomas Kellein. Distributed Art Publishers, New York, 2003. 112 pp., 114 color illustrations, 6¾x9½".

"This is a handsome little book which serves as a catalogue to an exhibition of Fuss’ work at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The essay by Thomas Kellein begins as a recitation of chronological facts: that Fuss was born in London in 1961; that he was sent to live with a maternal grandmother in Australia, away from his parents after his father suffered a stroke in 1963; that he spent many childhood hours outdoors and alone; that he loved the diversity of nature and saw William Blake as a spiritual father of sorts. But this chronology acts as preparation for an in-depth exploration (realized in dialogue with Fuss) of the symbology rife in Fuss' images. There are snakes, ripples, birds, evidence of movement, shadows, and silhouettes, all traced sans camera directly onto photographic paper. This is difficult territory to navigate, and every competent author will bring a different set of worthy interpretations to the table; Kellein's approach is well worth the reading. The reproductions are crisp and rich, sitting on a medium weight glossy paper; the images hold to consistent dimensions throughout the book, which, combined with substantial white borders, is greatly appreciated."

The world can't wait

I remember them talking to us about how absolutely vital recycling and taking care of our planet is at kindergarten (that was in the 70's) - and somehow today it's still not seen as something paramount or obvious. I really hope the climate deal reached at the UN summit will finally take us at least to the road of getting there.

Read more here, here or here for example.

book of miri

image from book of miri

I've been meaning to add this blog to the links ever since I first discovered it (through for the love of ourselves) - and write a little something about it, but never quite managed the thought of what, who, where. So I though the best thing to do was to show you this picture from the blog, and the following conversation with my husband, who doesn't speak Swedish.

me: "You know the blog I've been trying to explain to you about, that I just really like (but it's in Swedish)."

him: "Oh the one you've been saying she's a librarian with some incredible clothes, and writes great stuff about books, but also about weird people in second hand shops - or those who should just be banned, and looks kinda like A...?"

me: "...and sometimes there's cats all over her. Anyway this is the one [shows him picture]."

him: "Oh brilliant I know exactly what you mean! That blog - what more is there to say!"

me: "Exactly!"

him: "Exactly!"

(or words to that effect)

The blog is just genius. (...also be sure to have a look at bokdialogen where she writes solely about books.)

I don't know what to say about this

Given to attendees of her show during london fashion week I'm told - together with a promo-bottle of her new perfume - oh well oh dear

Klimt inspired

Photographed by Steven Meisel for Italian Vogue.

Amelia's magazine

Amelia's magazine - issue 8

A lot of covers are bland and boring - not this one! - I really like it a lot

World Aids Day

This year again I'm hoping that you will do what you can.

The reported number of HIV/Aids cases are continuing to increase - just as we seem to have been able to curb the spread in Africa and other developing countries the numbers are rising again in Europe and the USA.

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
World Aids Day Information and suggestions on how to get involved
WAD.se World Aids Day Sweden
RED Might seem frivolous, but it matters to change consumer patterns
Staying Alive MTV's Global HIV and AIDS initiative for young people