i am love

this movie was something i was really looking forward to see, and it lived up to my expectations. one of the critics called it "a guilty pleasure", another one dubbed it as "fashion & food porn", but for me it was more like a beautiful novel printed on glossy pages of a fashion magazine where composition is immaculate, colors are well-thought, and looks are skillfully styled to complement the story.

"The wonderful Antonella Cannarozzi, who's our costume designer, designed the entire collusion of all the wardrobe," said Swinton. "But we did work with two fashion houses -- the house of Fendi dressed the men and also provided extraordinary furs for Marisa.

"But the Emma character was dressed entirely by Jil Sander. Raf Simons and his team created an entire wardrobe -- that's something that classic cinema used to do quite regularly, if you think about the relationship between Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn or Saint Laurent and Catherine Deneuve. Or even in old Hollywood, if you think of Adrian dressing Garbo or Katharine Hepburn."

marina abramovic @ MOMA

marina abramovic is a mystery to me, and yet she is one of my heroes. her art is unique and intangible, her expressions are very personal and daring. i am so grateful that NY is open-minded enough to host her retrospective in one of its best museums. it was a mind-blowing experience that gives you delicious food for thought. i only wish i had enough patience to wait in line for having a chance to sit in front of her and look her straight in the eyes. (amazing gallery of the lucky ones who did it is here)

single man

single man is one of the most visually captivating movies i've seen in a while. i loved the way tom ford was translating his character's mood by changing saturation of the world seen through his eyes. perfect frames, photographic depth of field, sensuality of unspoken. and of course, unforgettable soundtrack by shigeru umebayashi (bow to beloved wong kar-wai) and abel korzeniowski.

miroslav tichy

an incredible treat and rest for eyes and soul in between the shows was miroslav tichy exhibition in ICP.

"now over eighty years old, tichý is a stubbornly eccentric artist, known as much for his makeshift cardboard cameras as for his haunting and distorted images of women and landscapes, many of them taken surreptitiously."

even more than exhibition itself i was charmed and mesmerized by documentary about tichy. an incredible character that doesn't take his own work seriously and suggests to throw his pictures on the floor and step on them to add "poetry" to the image.  he believes that a photograph is good enough when it resembles reality, but agrees with plato that reality is nothing but a shadow on the uneven cave wall.  amused at his own success he says: "if you want to be famous you need to do smth worse then the rest of the world. perfect and beautiful is of no interest."

 

 "If you want to be famous you need to do smth worse then the rest of the world. Perfect and beautiful is of no interest nowadays."

floating point waves

past weekend i had a pleasure of seeing "floating point waves" by ximena garnica and shige moriya at HERE theater. mesmerizing, sensual performance that uses mediums like human body, water, and projections to send the following message:

"Humans want to be stable all the time.  But the world goes by, changing continuously. The world transforms until our standing point is instability, and we are but a floating point."

art vs. commerce

my kindle not only let me read triple the amount of books i used to read, it also - as you might know - allow me to do clippings and share those with you. today on the subway, while running christmas errands, i read a beautiful fable "hunger artist" by kafka, the ending of which metaphorically juxtaposes fine art and commercial art. (or at least it was the way i understood it - which is exactly the way i feel about the subject)

"Forgive me everything," whispered the hunger artist. Only the supervisor, who was pressing his ear up against the cage, understood him. "Certainly," said the supervisor, tapping his forehead with his finger in order to indicate to the spectators the state the hunger artist was in, "we forgive you." "I always wanted you to admire my fasting," said the hunger artist. "But we do admire it," said the supervisor obligingly. "But you shouldn't admire it," said the hunger artist. "Well then, we don't admire it," said the supervisor, "but why shouldn't we admire it?" "Because I had to fast. I can't do anything else," said the hunger artist. "Just look at you," said the supervisor, "why can't you do anything else?" "Because," said the hunger artist, lifting his head a little and, with his lips pursed as if for a kiss, speaking right into the supervisor's ear so that he wouldn't miss anything, "because I couldn't find a food which I enjoyed. If had found that, believe me, I would not have made a spectacle of myself and would have eaten to my heart's content, like you and everyone else." Those were his last words, but in his failing eyes there was the firm, if no longer proud, conviction that he was continuing to fast. "All right, tidy this up now," said the supervisor. And they buried the hunger artist along with the straw. But in his cage they put a young panther. Even for a person with the dullest mind it was clearly refreshing to see this wild animal throwing itself around in this cage, which had been dreary for such a long time. It lacked nothing. Without thinking about it for any length of time, the guards brought the animal food. It enjoyed the taste and never seemed to miss its freedom. This noble body, equipped with everything necessary, almost to the point of bursting, also appeared to carry freedom around with it. That seem to be located somewhere or other in its teeth, and its joy in living came with such strong passion from its throat that it was not easy for spectators to keep watching. But they controlled themselves, kept pressing around the cage, and had no desire to move on.

mortal engine

i was completely mesmerized by mortal engine. this dance-video-music-laser performance creates a surreal ever-shifting world in which the limits of the human body are an illusion. crackling light and staining shadows represent the most perfect or sinister of soulds.

mortal engine looks at relationships, connection and disconnection, isolation and togetherness, in a state of continuous flux. conflicts between the self and shadowy other, struggle to escape inner darkness - mortality, sexuality, desire.

apart from concept, what also amazed me is the harmony of human and technical parts of the performance. interactive projections were meticulously designed to respond to dancers' fine movements. both were at the top level but without competing and overpowering each other.

art basel miami 2009

this year it was my first time going to miami art basel, and i am already anticipating the next one.
inspiring to say the least, 3 days at the fair left me art overdosed and with an immense urge to create something (outside of photography) myself.

definitely, it was fun gallery hopping in design district but yet selection of art and its level at convention center was hard to beat. ironically, most of the galleries bared "NY" prefix in it's name and were coming from chelsea neighborhood where i spend most of my working time freelancing. however, it was worth the trip to see everything under one roof, as well as i believe that curators' selection of pieces was being tightened up according to the high-standards of basel fair. lots of striking conceptual art from well-known as well as emerging artists. to name a few of my favorites artists and categories:

- black wireless map of NY done with graphite on metal (way more impressive than a camera could capture)

- photorealistic  paintings of urban landscape on used cardboard

- evan penny's distorted "4D" wax portraits

- witty light signs 

- distorted mirror installations

- series of abstract paintings and sculptures using simple play of color, texture and shape

generally speaking, i think most of the exhibits could go under the tag "smart art" - something that looks simple at first sight, but has a double-meaning, something between the lines, with lots of cultural, social, political, historial references only an experienced viewer will be able to decipher if he takes a closer look at it. going through gallery to gallery you feel like you are solving riddles created by artists to entertain and inspire.


p.s. i appologize for the poor quality of the snapshots taken on my blackberry since my "big" camera was not allowed inside the pavilion without press-pass

bill viola "bodies of light"

one of the highlights of the thanksgiving weekend was attending bill viola "bodies of light" at james cohan gallery.

four dark rooms with tall, rectangular plasma hi-def screens; ghost-like milky nude bodies emerging through the other side of the water.  slow motion, ethereal mood; voyeuristic, ambiguous feelings. beautiful, deep, inspiring.

lie sang bong

today i've attended press show of lie sang bong at blank space. his 2010 S/S collection is literally out of this world: something between neo-romantic star-wars and alice in wonderland; with dominating colors of shimmering silver and black, sheer white and quasi-translucede nude; strong geometric shapes with over-sized romantic ornaments.

my favorite pieces from the collection:

linhardt design

i was walking along 3rd avenue up towards 14th street when something unusual in a shop window attracted my attention. it was a vintage gas mask, and a silver a-la freddy krueger glove next to it. it made me stop and cling to the window trying to desipher what kind of store it could be. only then i start noticing pieces of beautiful extravagant yet modern looking jewelry.

lisa linhardt's jewelry design boutique is a must-see  and yet another reason to love new york. lisa designs jewelry herself, as well as she features in her store other artists whose work is in the same direction as hers which means using recycled metals, eco-friendly materials, and ethically sourced gemstones. i fell in love at first sight and couldn't resist a temptation to buy on the spot lisa's signature "bullet" ring which you can see on alicia keys for the cover of "billboard" at as well as on gisele bundchen at numero magazine#101.

 visit at: 156 First Ave., New York, NY 10003

ABC 3D

as some of you may know that i am crazy about pop-up books, and consider them to be collectibles. (at least on my book shelves!)
one of the most delightful and smartly done one with an outstanding design is ABC 3D pop-up alphabet i bought in hirshhorn museum in washington DC

i planned to doing some still shots of the pop-up letters to share with you, but then realized that the bext part of the book is actually the motion. that's why here is the video for you to enjoy.

storm king

this weekend i finally accomplished a long-planned trip to storm king park (2 hours drive upstate) and had a chance to see its beautiful open-air sculptures.
storm king art center is a magical place where conceptual art meets nature, and i could not help but thinking about ayn rand's hero howard roark and his approach towards making architectural constructions to merge seamlessly with the landscape as opposed to competing or taking over it.

my favorite "exhibits" there are maya lin's "body of water" (waves of green grass creating an illusion of a stormy emerald-color sea ):

andy goldsworthy's "stormy king wall" that reminds a snake going across the river and up the hill in a beautiful zigzag:

and breathtaking " a moment in time" by chakaia booker - a black "broken" obelisk a la "space odyssey 2001" that floats in the air:

while there, on my special request my boyfriend took couple portraits of me and one of them will be featured as part of my exclusive interview for ROUGE magazine in their september issue. (mark di suvero's graphic bright red "mother piece" sculpture created a perfect background for the portrait since it brought association with of russian constructivism as well as matched the colors of my corporate design)

by the way, all the pictures you see above are also taken by my boyfriend (i should admit that he is way better than me with still life and landscape photography), while i was playing with polaroids 600 creating soft-focus washed-out square frames, trying to capture the magic and the mood of the place.

model as muse

i probably was one of the last highly interested but late attending visitors of "model as muse" exhibition in metropolitan. it has been up for several months by now, and it will be over next sunday, august 9th, so if you are like me postponing it to the last minute - last minute it is!

it's definitely worth going through skillfully and thoughtfully organized labyrinth lit by softboxes hanging downside from the ceiling and seeing the history of fashion in making: from early b&w pictures of avedon and ritz to recent campaigns by klein and meisel. but this time the focus is shifted - you look at the famous image of sunny harnett leaning gracefully over a casino table, and you are so absorbed by the image itself, the beautiful lighting, its depth of field, sunny's mysterious smile, and the beautiful dress she's wearing almost goes unnoticed since we are taking every element of the image for granted. then next to this 8 by 10 image in a black wooden frame you see a live-size installation - a mannequin leaning over a casino table, and lamp next to it, and the dress, exactly the same like sunny is wearing on that picture.. but something is different. the magic is gone. because the magic is in the art of a photographer to make a timeless image out of a standard fashion picture - and of a model to breathe life into the latter.

so as we go from room to room, from one fashion era to another, we are shifting the focus and seeing how models changed the way we see fashion. it's almost like a story of womens emancipation - from nameless "mannequins cabinet" to strong personalities and world-known faces of linda evangelista, naomi campbell, claudia shiffer, kristy terlington..

and of course there are dresses. giorgio armani, balenciaga, pierre cardin, chanel, louis vuitton, donna karan, calvin klein, ralph lauren, prada, paco rabanne, YSL, versace... i was astounded to see in real extravagant metallic constructions from "qui etes-vous, polly magoo?" and masterpieces of john galliano's haute couture. all these spiced up with music (wide stylist range - from french "chansons" to "beautiful people" by marylin manson) makes the experience unique and very inspiring.

steven klein

it's not accidental for me to start the series on my favorite photographers from steven klein. for me his name stands for "fashion photography" itself, as for many people was helmut newton, or richard avedon, or irving penn. he is the reason for me to do what i am doing, and i often say that when i grow up i want to be steven klein, implying the quality and quantity of the work he does. (yes, i know how ambitious it sounds)

there is not much information about him out there. in fact, from people who worked with him, as well as from very few articles and interviews, i heard that he is reserved and not too verbose. he is in his late 40s but looks young and fit, he is close friend of brad pitt & madonna, he is well known for his provocative D&G and Dsquared campaigns.

steven klein's pictures are ambiguous, openly sexual, perverse, yet polished, and chic, and high class. their is a fleeting feeling of restrain in each of them - no matter how candid and suggestive are the poses of the models. klein loves color and sophisticated sets; he is a master of double-page storytelling. his images are surreal and yet up-to-date with the real world. he is not afraid to make a statement about politics, global warming, religion, and model mania.

“the thing that gets frustrating about fashion,” klein says, “is that as a photographer you always want to grab on to something that reflects what’s happening in the world, what’s in the street. you don’t want to just fabricate these dream lives of these idealistic barbie dolls that don’t even exist anymore.”

one of the most prolific and influential fashion photographer of nowdays steven klein is the one who keeps many of us on our toes. as they put it in NY times: "mindlessly glam fashion photography is a dead or dying form, and steven klein, the anti-fashion fashion photographer, helped strangle it."

for more of his work please visit: www.stevenkleinstudio.com

favorite photographers

i've been asked many times who are my favorite photographers, and every time this question puzzles me for a second. there are quite many, but the truth is every time i need to rethink my answer carefully because this list changes as i grow - professionally and aesthetically. i also noticed that answering this question helps me to define who i am and what i like about fashion photography. it's almost like famous "tearsheet exercise" by selina maitreya - out of all possible tearsheets/ads of all times one should choose just five, the most favorite, and explain why you chose them. you would be surprised how hard it is to limit your choice to just five. but when you do, most probably, you will see smth in common in all five . that common is your own aesthetics - and if you happen to be an emerging photographer, it is your subconscious choice of style. don't copy it, but be aware of the direction, and keep your standards high.

i could make a choice of just five images (i did this exercise with selina twice) but here i won't limit myself to that extent. instead, i want to share some inspirational stories about and images by my most favorite photographers. those are the ones who shaped my vision, inspired, challenged, surprised, and made me want to be a better photographer. their aesthetics is not necessarily coincide with mine, but all of them have smth to say - and they say it well.

mad ones

the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars
jack kerouac, on the road (1957)

success

success is what happens when 10,000 hours of preparation meets one moment of opportunity

professional insights

spent half a day reading interviews with art directors and photo editors at professional photographer's website. very informative for any industry professionals and covers topics like how to put together a good portfolio, how to approach a magazine and get commissioned, etc. read NOW.

good morning!

how do you usually start your morning? well, not when you have a 6am call time in the middle of gloomy november but - let's say - on a morning like this. (friday, july 3rd - long lazy weekend ahead and outside your studio window is sunny manhattan view)

i start my morning with a cup of cappuccino with a fluffy milk foam & a pinch of cinnamon. but instead of an old-fashion morning newspaper while having my coffee i read blogs. here is my personal top 10 [both for visuals & information] i would not be able to [professionally] live without:

- ru_glamour
- notcot
- fashion-ation
- lookbook
- paranaiv
- professional photographer
- art producer's blog
- commincation arts insights
- photo editor
- burn auto parts

good morning!