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funeral portrait
Oleg Dou, a young, award-winning Russian artist, was inspired by the curious tradition from the 1900′s of death portraits of young children to create these eerie yet beautiful contemporary photographs. The original 19th century photographs were created as a memento of the child’s life. Their fragile, lifeless bodies were often dressed in embellished and fancy costumes. In Dou’s interpretation of the death portrait, the costumes on the children (who are not actually dead in these shots) are inspired by a childhood memory in which his mother made him wear a rabbit costume to a party. The result, a collection called CUBS is all at once surreal, disturbing, and lovely.
more Oleg Dou after the break
pray with 100 strangers
A few years ago, I stumbled on this amazing Flickr set by artist Bethann Shannon from New York. I wrote about these photos on my old blog and realized that Bethann needs a new post here!
In 1986, Bethann had just moved to NYC and was working as a cocktail waitress. Walking home one evening, she stopped in a photobooth in Times Square:
“The photo booth was an impromptu sanctuary in the midst of a chaotic world. It
was private, quiet and reminded me of a church confessional…I closed the little curtains, put a dollar in the slot and started to pray. I remember feeling deep despair that day. I needed help. I needed God to be real. . . .I found myself thinking about other people…I started watching the people in the arcade and on the streets of Times Square….Do they pray? What do they pray for?
How do they look when they pray?
It was at that moment I decided to include strangers in this series of photographs. It was very spontaneous and accidental really…I began approaching strangers everyday for 4 months to pray with me in that photo booth…these are the results…” ~Bethann Shannon
more photos and links to Bethann Shannon’s art after the jump
freeeeeeeee!
For most of the US at the moment, summer is presenting herself as Mistress Heatmiser, suffocating the people and holding back none of her fury. On the other hand, we in the NW are having quite the opposite summer. You may have heard, we’ve had 78 minutes of real summer since June 1st. Apparently there’s also been 9 months of skiing, but I’m not counting that. I want heat. I want al fresco dinners. I want to sweat.
Chini Project
I’m sure by now you’ve seen photographer Irina Werning’s Back to the Future series, but check out this amazing set she’s created with her friend’s dog, Chini, a hairless Chinese Crested. The series reminds me of the Mamika series by Sacha Goldberger in it’s unique scene creations. Werning shot the series over a year and built all the sets herself!
I love how the lighting she chose for these is exactly what you would see if these had been human shots. I laughed out loud at the DJ shot, with Chini’s red eyes and the swirling disco lights–so clever!
Something tells me that Chico would love to be photographed in a anthropomorphic way.
Dear Photograph
Photo within a photo! Check out this amazing Tumblr photography site, Dear Photograph. The photos are worth more than a 1,000 words, so I’ll limit mine here and encourage you to check it out there. I can’t wait to pour through my old photos and recreate a scene from my childhood. I hope you get inspired to do the same!
Check it:
Check it:
california love
California IS a place and film makers, Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari, are out it prove it to you in their series of short films, photographs and stories.
I was born in California and moved to the PNW when I was little, but ever since, I’ve maintained a long-term love affair with my first state. I love the ever-present sunshine, the jacaranda trees, the swimming pools, the palms, the laid-back vibes, the art in LA, and the ocean sunsets. Oh yeah, and the best Mexican food ever outside of well, Mexico. Of course, these are all cliche, but they are so for a reason.
Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari produce, direct and shoot their love for California in their series of mostly documentary shorts on topics such as scraper bikes, the border fence and skaters in Fresno cleaning out abandoned pools where they can ride. The films are beautifully shot, edited, & scored and easy to check out while taking a coffee break at work.
I started perusing their Vimeo channel and came across this beautiful, dreamy gem they created in conjunction with artist, Eric Bailey and Adidas:
what you need to know now…
…about the world, expressed to you in very simple, yet powerful graphics by designer Toby Ng. It’s easy to forget how affluent the US is compared to much of the world. If the world were 100 people, 71 of us would NOT have enough to eat. 17 of us would not have clean water to drink. Only 1 of us would have a college education.
This is the world. This is us.
Get out of the trees and look for the forest with these powerful images:
http://www.toby-ng.com/graphic-design/the-world-of-100/
The Black Apple
I just discovered this wonderful Portland artist, The Black Apple, aka Emily Martin. I love the Victorian and surreal sensibility in her art. She is the author and illustrator of a new paper doll book, The Black Apple’s Paper Doll Primer, and an upcoming illustrated novel, Oddfellow’s Orphanage. I can’t wait to check those out!
In the meantime, I may have to do some shopping on her Esty site for affordable prints and new lockets! BTW, my favorite illustration of hers at the moment is The Beekeeper, available as a locket as well as a print.
Check out more:
simple, beautiful, thought-provoking art
beautiful. positive. universal. lovely. simple. clever. thought-provoking.
These are just a few words that describe the art work of Greg Beauchamp, a friend in my posse who lives in Venice, CA.
Greg is featured on Etsy’s blog with a beautiful video by Pazcal and write up that showcases his kind demeanor and positive outlook on life and art. It truly is inspiring.
Just one favor, please don’t buy up all of the prints on his Etsy site, beauchamping, before I get a chance to get one. or three.
Handmade Portraits: Greg Beauchamp a.k.a. Beauchamping from Etsy on Vimeo.
Sometimes You Want To Go…
…where everybody knows your name.
Enjoy portraits of some of the regulars at the ”small” dog park:
