Last Sunday afternoon, the William Brown Project set up shop at the Cynthia Rowley boutique in the West Village. Special offerings included homemade pork products such as rillettes, vinegars, savory jams, and bacon. William Brown came about from Matthew Hranek’s love of the outdoors and simple, pure, great-tasting food.
Eight years ago, Hranek and his wife purchased a 131-acre property in Mileses, New York. The pastoral land had a pond, plenty of trees, but no dwelling save for an old red barn. They set out building something modern and simple, and after much research decided on prefab housing by architect Oskar Leo Kaufmann’s company, OLK.
After settling into their new home, Hranek moved onto his next project. Wanting to have more control over the flavor of what he ate, Hranek began raising pigs with his neighbor. They started out smoking bacon, moved onto rillettes, and continually developed their arsenal of charcuterie.
On and around 12/12/2009, photographers around the world such as Stephen Wilkes donated their time, equipment, and expertise to take pictures of people who otherwise would not have the finances for professional portraits. Founded by Jeremy Cowart, 2009 was the debut year of the “Help-Portrait” movement.
Initially faced with cynics, Cowart counters on the Help-Portrait website: ”I love seeing a 53-year-old man dance in front of the camera because he’s never had his photo taken. I love taking the very first photo of a 5-year-old child and being able to give that to his mother. Lastly, I love knowing that photographers are getting to experience all of these moments themselves.”
Help-Portrait is an open movement where anyone can become involved. In New York, Heart Art co-founders Celeste Holt-Waters and Audrie Lawrence spearheaded ten city-wide events. The duo reached out to numerous photographers, producers, photo assistants, studios, equipment rental houses and charitable organizations to ensure that Help-Portrait reached as many people as possible. ”[Help-Portrait] is meant to unite and benefit the community by joining people together in the spirit of giving back to the community and a love of photography,” said Holt-Waters.
If you’re wondering what to get your loved ones this holiday, look no further than the premiere gift guide, “The Flyer’s Collection.” It’s the peak time of year for travel so make sure you fly in comfort. Scratchy fabric seats? Try “Leather in a Jar.” Feeling the tight cabin space? Zip into the “Full Body Compression Garment.” No leg room? Strap yourself into the “Knee Jockey.”
These are just a few of the JetBlue offerings to get you through flying in high season if you were not able to book a JetBlue flight (actual items not for sale). The gift guide lampoon concept is the brainchild of Jim Wood, creative director at JWT. He worked closely with Jamie Chung and stylist Ariana Salvato.
Representatives from the 192 countries that make up the United Nations are currently gathered in Copenhagen for the Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 15. Ten days of talks are scheduled until December 18th, aiming to establish official guidelines for reducing emissions from greenhouse gases.
Last September, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon reached out to global advertising agencies for support. After three rounds of intense reviews by the International Advertising Association and the United Nations headquarters in New York, OgilvyEarth’s compelling “Hopenhagen” campaign was chosen as the voice of the conference.
Ogilvy invited several photographers to participate in the project, but there is one in particular that is catching the eye of people around the world. Joachim Ladefoged’s photograph of two boys flexing their arms as Earth’s bodyguards is displayed prominently on a billboard in the center of Copenhagen Square.
Seen already in several news outlets such as BBC News, the image is being picked up by the media and distributed around the world. Ogilvy Creative Director Michael Paterson says, “We think it will become one of the iconic images of the conference.”
Cavit, the number one imported Italian wine brand in the United States and producer of the best-selling Pinot Grigio, was looking to raise awareness and bring its Italian heritage to the forefront. Alan Cresto worked with Agency212 on a new campaign that expresses what Cavit and other Italians have known all along – that life is meant to celebrated!
Steuben Glass has made functional and fine art glass products for over 100 years in New York. Their involvement in the arts has lead them to collaborate with artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Miro, and Georgia O’Keefe. The Madison Avenue flagship store houses an expansive gallery that is now showing the work of Stephen Wilkes.
For five years, Wilkes photographed the hospital complex on Ellis Island where immigrants with questionable health and contagious diseases were kept. Some eventually joined their families across the Hudson River, while others perished before they could reach their new life.
Wilkes’ photographs are of abandoned rooms with peeling paint and empty hallways overtaken by plant growth. Since his time on the island, the hospital buildings have been renovated and the signs of the past have been removed. Visit the exhibit Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom to get an eye-opening look into what was once the gateway to America, captured in time.
Stephen Wilkes, Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom
The Steuben Gallery
667 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Showing now until January 4th, 2009
Robert Nachman, Creative Director of Steuben Glass, talks about the impact of Stephen Wilkes’ work, the importance of history, and more.
When it comes to holiday entertaining, who better to consult than domestic maven Martha Stewart. Gracing the cover of the November Thanksgiving issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine is Matthew Hranek, who’s succulent turkey still-life is sure to inspire. Hranek and Martha Stewart Living have worked together on many issues, each as beautifully produced as the last. Hranek also shot the feature story, which is available for download at the Martha Stewart website. See more of his work here.
Martha Stewart Living November 2009 issue on sale at newsstands now.
It’s that time of year again, for happy gatherings and festive cheer. Mei Tao captures the seasonal spirit in J. Crew’s holiday catalog. Mei Tao has shot for J. Crew in studio and across the globe. This time, J. Crew had her flying down south to capture the latest looks against the pristine, wintry backdrop of Chile. Accompanying her to South America was stylist Sarah Clary. Tao, Clary, and J. Crew are longtime collaborators.
A Virginia native, Bobby Fisher stumbled into the world of photography by way of a band break-up, followed by countless evenings recording music in his bedroom at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. When an assistant photographer job came his way, he left his bedside and the rest is history.
An avid surfer since the age of 10, he has traveled the world with a board in one hand and a camera in the other. His sense of adventure and free spirit carries over into his photos, capturing the essence and spirit of beautiful people and places. His clients include Another Magazine, Blackbook, Departures, GQ, InStyle, Nylon, New York Times, Rollingstone, T Magazine, Travel & Leisure, Visionaire, W, Bank of America, and Avon. Click here to view more of his work.
What do Parisians, babies, and the cast of 30 Rock all line up for? The answer: Apple store openings. Two new locations were recently unveiled, Apple’s first store in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre, and its fourth in New York City on the Upper West Side. On hand to document the beauty of the new stores was Roy Zipstein, Apple’s go-to store photographer for the past 5 years. Zipstein has traversed continents for Apple, shooting stores at home in America (New York, Boston, and Chicago) and abroad in Europe (London, Munich, and Zurich), Asia (Tokyo and Beijing), and more (Sydney and Montreal).
Wallpaper magazine gets into the holiday spirit in their December issue by asking star English chef Mark Hix for a new take on the traditional Christmas meal. Yuletide dinner takes on a new meaning when it includes Moreilo cherries and champagne cocktails, pumpkin and ginger soup, risotto nero, snipe on toast with chanterelles, chocolate dipped walnuts with Armagnac, and emerald-hued Absinthe jelly. Henry Bourne captures the richness and brilliant vividness of the culinary fare for us to salivate over. Henry Bourne and Mark Hix have previously worked together on two books, The Ivy and Le Caprice.
Bernstein & Andriulli proudly presents new artist Justin Hollar. A devout Virgo, he claims to have never met a dapple of light that he didn’t want to take home to his mother. People that know him say that he has a knack for putting shapes where they feel most comfortable. He reveals while concealing, and conceals while revealing, but never at the same time.
Justin Hollar has shot for Urban Outfitters, Dazed&Confused, I.D., Mass Appeal, Nylon, Soma, Tokion, and more.
It all started with the Chateau Marmont. A young teenager from Glasgow hears stories of the legendary hotel from her father and his friends who travel for work. “One day,” he promises, “you and I will have lunch at the Chateau Marmont.” Months later, they pack their bags and head to the city of angels for a road trip that neither one of them will ever forget.
For three weeks, David Eustace and his 16-year-old daughter Rachael traveled from Los Angeles to Eustace, a small town near Dallas, Texas. They passed through Death Valley on the way to Las Vegas, then headed north towards Boulder City and Lake Mead. They continued their journey east to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then further past Amarillo and Wichita Falls, Texas until they reached their namesake destination.
Throughout the trip they documented their journey with snapshots, videos, journals, and keepsakes. All of these mementos are assembled together onto Anthropologie’s theanthropologist.net, the brainchild of creative director Trevor Lunn. The site “is an online space for inspiring works and inspiring individuals.” Film-maker and photographer Andrew Zuckerman and director Jane Campion are also featured.
Anthropology is the study of human beings, and for those three precious weeks David Eustace and his daughter Rachael experienced a sometimes silent but nevertheless eye-opening study of each other.
Now in its 15th year, PDN honors “the best and most innovative images of the year” in its PIX Digital Imaging Contest. R. Jerome Ferraro won first place in the advertising category for the Hoover “Clean Freak” campaign. Ferraro worked with art director Mark Brye and art buyer Julie Ahlman Sanders of The Martin Agency.
While Ferraro admits that consistently maintaining “the clean” is elusive to her house and office, she can relate to the campaign as she is a self-confessed “organization freak.” When bringing the six characters of the campaign to life, no less than 500 emails passed between Ferraro’s production team, stylists, and the creatives. Ferraro remarks, “[The characters'] evolutions took place with much collaboration, deliberation, and attention to detail. We wanted to imbed the meticulous nature of these people into a simple, quick read.”
Despite all of the careful planning, a minor hiccup occurred when the model posing as “the cat lady” turned out to be allergic to cats and Ferraro had to hold the animal in between takes. Ferraro remembers, “the stylist was working overtime with the roller tape on that one.” Allergies aside, Ferraro and the creative team crafted the worlds of the characters so effectively that people on the set were overheard saying “I want to live in these pictures.”
38,000 visitors are expected at Paris Photo, “the world’s leading event for photography.” Photographers from 23 countries will be represented across 89 galleries. Among the 500 artists that are showing at Paris Photo, Julie Blackmon is among the 20 short-listed works exhibited during the fair for the BMW Paris Photo Prize. The theme of the exhibit is “When was the last time you experienced something for the first time?”. Julie Blackmon’s artist statement for her photograph “Baby Toss”:
“This photograph expressed the universal primary experience of becoming aware of your own body in a new way. When being released from trusted hands into the unknown, you are as left weightless, gleeful, fearful, and euphoric.”
Paris Photo runs from Novembr 19-22, 2009 at Carrousel Du Louvre.
