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Word of Walter Iooss’ exhibition at the Newseum has spread across the pond: BBC News has picked up the story, posting a gallery of his images at its website, with commentary on each photo from Walter. For example:
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You can catch the complete slideshow here.
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Water balloons take on a mythic quality in this motion piece conceived and shot by Craig, and executed in collaboration with Industrial Color. All party photos by Whitney Kidder.
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Last Thursday, we hosted a big opening-night party for “Craig Cutler: From Sketchbook to Studio,” an exhibition of Craig’s conceptual photography and the sketches he makes as he works out his ideas. The night also marked the debut of a handful of motion pieces that Craig created in collaboration with the team at Industrial Color. These short films all took rather ordinary items, like honey, a pair of forks, or water balloons, and elevated them into something magical and mesmerizing.
“I watch people’s emotional reactions to it, and when it’s over, people have this sense of release, almost like they’ve just had a massage,” says Steve Kalalian, president of Industrial Color, referring to Craig’s dancing-forks film, which is set to African-inspired percussion. “People start out leaning back in their chair, and by the end they’re leaning into the TV. They start zoning into it and become almost hypnotized.”
Craig and the Industrial Color crew worked at a fairly brisk pace. They shot for four days at Fast Ashley’s Studios in Williamsburg, a sister company of Industrial Color. Craig used the RED camera for some of the pieces and the Phantom for others. As Steve notes, the RED camera “has taken the already industry by storm,” but the Phantom is a relatively new player on the scene. New and exciting. It offers super-slow-motion capabilities—Craig used it for a piece starring some dripping honey.
From left: Bill Stockland, Craig Cutler, and David Langley, Craig's mentor.
“A lot of times people shoot with the Phantom and because it’s incredible to watch things in slow motion, they just play [the footage back] that way. It’s a linear approach,” says Steve. “We turned these linear pieces into something artistic. The honey dripping was literally a two-second shot that wound up being five minutes of film. We flipped it on its side and mirrored it to create these abstract, beautiful, flowing graphic visuals. That’s where I think Craig really elevates the game. I’ve seen a lot of people use the Phantom, but it’s more scientific. Craig’s work is very graphic, very visual, very narrative. It brings an emotional feel to this scientific camera.”
Editing took three to five days. They used Final Cut, which, Steve notes, now offers a much higher level of color correction in video. “What’s happening with photographers getting into video is they want to control the color. There’s sophisticated color tools that in the past have been very expensive, like Avid or Smoke systems. But with Final Cut’s newest color component, a similar level of color work is now available in the desktop.”
Maureen Martel and Industrial Color's Steve Kalalian (center).
Craig’s opening last week, which was timed to coincide with the relaunch of craigcutler.com (designed by Alexander Duckworth), drew a huge crowd. But even though it was so packed that people were shoulder to shoulder, Steve is right about the motion pieces having a hypnotic effect. I watched the guests watching the films, which we screened in the patio behind the gallery. At exhibition openings, you find that people rarely spend much time looking at the art; they’re more focused on socializing and enjoying the free drinks. But on this night, people paid attention.
“The interesting thing I heard big time at the event was the art buyers and print producers were inspired,” says Steve. “It’s not just something for photographers to explore. They were all getting it at that moment.”
“Craig Cutler: From Sketchbook to Studio” is on view at The Gallery @ Stockland Martel by appointment only. Please contact [email protected] to arrange a visit.
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Iliana Espineira of Industrial Color (left) with Stockland Martel rep Emily Leonardo.
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A 2006 tilt-shift photograph of Teterboro Airport, New Jersey, by Vincent Laforet.
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Has the backlash against tilt-shift photography begun? Are we oversaturated with print ads that make the world look all small and cute and toylike? Or do people just like to complain about stuff they didn’t think of first? A recent post on the subject at the Adweek blog “AdFreak” doesn’t take a position one way or the other, at least not in the actual text of the post. But the headline is a bit more pointed: “No one’s that impressed by your tilt-shift ad.”
I don’t know, I think a few people are still impressed. Earlier this year, Nadav Kander won an award for his tilt-shift photos for Land Rover. And starting tonight at the Matre Gallery in Atlanta, there will be a solo show of Vincent Laforet’s work that will center on his tilt-shift photos from the past three years. Vincent has been widely praised for his mastery of this technique. (I interviewed him last year for PDN about a project he did for Qualcomm.) He’s posted a selection of images from the exhibition at his blog. Whether or not the ad world has seen enough of tilt-shift photography, it’s interesting that the art world is taking notice. Impressive, even.
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If you’re planning to visit D.C. sometime over the next three months and you’re a fan of Walter’s work, stop by the Newseum. He’s chosen just over 40 of his favorite images from throughout his career for an exhibition that opens there tomorrow. As the press release for “Athlete: The Sports Illustrated Photography of Walter Iooss” points out, Walter’s photos have appeared on the cover of SI more than 300 times—pretty much a record. Everyone’s got their favorite Iooss photos, but it’ll be interesting to which ones the photographer himself regards as most memorable.
In addition to classic images of sports greats, the show also features Walter’s personal diaries and commentary on the photos. The Newseum—a 250,000-sqaure-foot museum dedicated to news, newsmakers, and the chroniclers of both—has produced a video interview with Walter to accompany the exhibition. Click on the photo below to watch it online.
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The Newseum is also hosting “Woodstock at 40: The Rise of Music Journalism,” which, like Walter’s show, will be up through December 31. Apparently, they’ll be showing rarely exhibited photos and “artifacts.” Far out.
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Photograph by Uli Rose.
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At this blog, I’m usually focused on commercial photography and how and why it connects with art buyers and clients, but I thought it would be nice to look at a different scenario: why someone chooses an image to own and display in their home. The architect Wesley Wolfe, of Morris Adjmi Architects, bought the above photograph—taken by our own Uli Rose—for his New York City apartment. I emailed him to find out what he drew him to the image. Here’s what he wrote back:
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“I have that image hanging in my bedroom. I chose it for my apartment and may do another of his for my house upstate. There were several aspects I liked: I wanted a calm, soothing, natural image for the bedroom. I have a gray accent wall in the room that works nicely with the colors of this image. I always have been attracted to misty, foggy images. Also the photo is taken in the Hudson River Valley area which is where I am building a weekend house. I thought it would be nice to have a reminder of that landscape in the city apartment.”
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Then I emailed Uli and asked him for the story of the photo. Here’s his thoughtful response, contained in an email he titled “The Old Oak”:
“This photograph shows an old oak tree at the end of my road. I have taken pictures of this tree again and again. I pass it every day on my way to the store to get the papers so I look at it all the time, anytime of the day or year or season. There is something fascinating about these old-timers. You always see them in a field where the farmer did not mind to go around them to plant his corn, or by the side of a country road like this one or shading some old farmhouse like a good companion. They are old, sturdy, majestic and you wonder what they have seen and endured and what the world looked like when they were little. People instinctively flock to them and get upset when one has to be cut down.
And it seems we don’t have that kind of a relationship with a pine tree. But this is only one of the elements here that come into play with this picture, the others being the field itself, the early morning fog and the early morning light, you can feel the cold fall day and how it seems to shape up to be a pretty one. Any of these things have their own resonances and connections and it takes one look and you get it, you know: picture-thousand words-that thing. I love it when the triangle of subject-camera-onlooker comes together because it is then when you know you have done your job.
I am very pleased and honored that Wes choose this picture for his wall because it means that it resonated with him. And that is all anybody can hope for.”
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Thank you, Wes and Uli.
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The great Irving Penn has passed away.
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"Irving Penn: In a Cracked Mirror (Self-Portrait)," 1986.
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Matthias Clamer spent part of the summer photographing celebrity look-alikes for a personal project and has just posted a gallery of these portraits at his blog. The title of the blog post? “Fakes.” (Knowing Matthias, I’m certain he means that appreciatively.) A few highlights:
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Faux-prah.
Uh, thanks, but no thanks.
For he's a jolly Goodfella.
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Pier Nicola D'Amico's portrait of Janelle Monae, commissioned for the cover of Paste magazine, won in the Breaking a Band category.
Billboard and PDN recently ran a contest to determine the best music photos from the past year, and PDN’s website now features a gallery for the “Year in Music Moment” winners. “Photographers from across the U.S. submitted incredible images of musicians at their best and the fans who follow them,” the site says. “We congratulate the tenacious photographers who captured these amazing images while factoring in light shows, unpredictable talent, and at times perhaps asking themselves, Can music this loud contribute to camera shake?”
The contest’s categories were Breaking a Band, Crowd, Live Music, Series, and Spontaneous Moment. And the judges were a mix of Billboard and PDN staffers, plus execs from Roadrunner Records and Epic. Actually, the judges were divided into “professional” and “amateur.” Had to laugh when I saw that Mick Rock was listed as an amateur judge. Mick “Raw Power” Rock! I guess it’s true that people are never relieved of the burden of having to prove themselves.
There’s more on the contest here.
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Here's Michael, phoning in an on-set report for the blog. (Okay, it isn't, but if you saw the behind-scenes pics, you'd know it's not far from the truth.)
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Okay, so remember how I wrote last week that (I had read that) Michael Muller’s action-packed Trauma ads were inspired by war photography? That was wrong. They weren’t. At least not consciously. How do I know? Michael just sent me the true story himself via email, along with a…self-portrait:
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Some photographers take themselves too seriously. And then there's Michael.
“Contrary to what was written—well, at least from my point of view—I never looked at one war photograph. I was told the creative was a story-lined theme of 3 shots that were all taking place simultaneously. That was all I was given, and Ray Slay [senior VP, NBC Universal Photography and New Media] gave me 100% creative freedom to approach this shoot as I felt best.
That is not to say the people over there didn’t have a war-theme docu-style in mind, but in my mind I always go into shoots with an open canvas. Some people have the picture painted in their head upon arriving on set. For myself, I arrive blank and let the moment and the surroundings and the people inspire me. It can be challenging to the nerves to arrive at 7 AM to a set this size with nothing upstairs, but after shooting for almost 25 years, I am at a place where those nerves are quieted on the first of many cups of coffee. I do not have brass balls, but yet a quiet certainty that I will get the shot. I feel I always do, because I won’t leave a set until I know I do.
This was a massive set, with full pyrotechnics, major set moves, andplus I was directing video in between the stills with a RED camera. I definitely could’ve used a pot of brass to drop into. It was really fun. I got into the zone, rocked my Sea Shepherd shirt and thought of the whales being massacred and probably tapped into that state of mind, creating a fantasy human-carnage scenario. I am really happy with the final art that ended up outside and inside magazines all over. And I have received many pats on the ass for a job well done. (Like football, in the end it takes a full team to win the big game, hence the cheesy analogy ;).)”
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Want to see what Michael shot with the RED? It’s right here:
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Having an Obama moment
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Congratulations, President Obama. We’re so proud of your being awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Herewith, a tribute selected from photographs of you taken by Kwaku Alston and Nadav Kander.
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Photograph by Nadav Kander.
Photograph by Kwaku Alston.
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Photograph by Kwaku Alston.
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