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Communication Arts releases its 2011 Photography Annual

Kristina Feliciano — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:17 +0000

The competition was intense for Communication Arts‘ 2011 Photography Annual, with more than 5,000 entries vying for the approbation of the five-member jury. Among the 166 winners were three of our photographers: Nadav Kander, Art Streiber, and Liz Von Hoene, whose winning images are posted below. (Full gallery here.) We congratulate them and all of the photogs included in this important volume.

From the series "Yangtze: The Long River." Photo by Nadav Kander.

Conan O'Brien. Photo by Art Streiber.

Justin Bieber. Photo by Art Streiber.

Photo by Liz Von Hoene for Rebecca Moses.

• Video: Art Streiber and Conan O’Brien (and the owl!)

• New work: Liz Von Hoene’s playful Rebecca Moses campaign flirts with shadows

• Video interview: Nadav Kander on his series “Yangtze: The Long River”

Anne Telford of Communication Arts on interviewing Lauren Greenfield

Kristina Feliciano — Mon, 16 May 2011 19:17:47 +0000

I often do behind-the-scenes stories about photo shoots, but this time I thought it’d be interesting to get the backstory on a magazine article—specifically, the story behind Anne Telford’s feature on Lauren Greenfield in Communication Arts’ May/June issue, which happens to be the Illustration Annual. The feature is titled “Lauren Greenfield: Capturing the Zeitgeist.” (Get your copy here.) Curious to know about how the piece came together and Anne’s experiences interviewing Lauren, I sent her some questions…

The opening spread of Communication Arts' feature on Lauren Greenfield, from the May/June 2011 issue.

Stockland Martel Blog: What was the impetus for your interview with Lauren?
Anne Telford: She had long been on the list of photographers the magazine was interested in featuring. A number of elements are considered when formulating the editorial for an issue of CA, including a subject’s specialty, location, gender, etc., in relation to the other profile subjects and who/what has recently been covered. And Lauren’s work proved a great fit for the May/June issue.

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SMB: Had you interviewed her before?
AT: I had long admired Lauren’s work but had not had the opportunity to meet her before our interview in mid-January. I am a big fan of her books Fast Forward: Growing Up in the Shadow of Hollywood and Girl Culture.

SMB: What were you most keen to ask her about for this piece?
AT: I wanted to know what drew her to a particular topic. The answer, of course, is too complex to relate here, but suffice to say that like many artists, she draws from experiences in her own life, and obviously growing up in Hollywood can have a big impact on a person. I think for Lauren, it’s made her aware of what is of real value and meaning, and she has focused her work on issues that are not the least bit trivial or superficial. She turns a mirror to culture, whose shiny surface sometimes reflects back the inherent ugliness in our celebrity-obsessed culture.

SMB: Lauren is one of those photographers who people think they know, or know all about, because she’s been written about a lot and lectures often. What did you learn about her and her work in this piece that surprised you?
AT: She seems to be completely fearless. Lauren is a petite woman. She has photographed gang-bangers and some really tough, scary people in L.A. She has great character, and you can see that she does not put up filters—she photographs the grit and the scars as well as the glossy veneer. When I asked her how much location work she did, she said, “Everything is on location.” If Lauren had a TV, show the tagline might read: Real journalistic stories, real people, real places, all the time!

Lauren Greenfield.

Perhaps people respond so openly to Lauren, whether she has a camera in front of her face or not, because of her steady gaze and her demeanor. She is a take-charge person, one who instills confidence. For all her accolades and achievements, she is very gracious and down to earth. She is a polished, professional person, but very warm and genuine. And she has the most striking blue eyes, like Steve McCurry’s famous picture of the Afghan girl on National Geographic’s cover.

From a very early age, Lauren was exposed to different cultures and experiences, and they resonated with her in a serious fashion. Her interests turn into photography books and documentary films, after all!

I have interviewed many extraordinary photographers over the last 20 years. Lauren is one of the most admirable people I’ve met in this industry, and given the egocentric nature of the field, she is surprisingly low key. She truly has a vision, she understands her drive, and she simply goes about the work, juggling family, travel, research, and shooting. She seems to have a real sense of balance about career and family.
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SMB: Magazine writers often find themselves having to make tough choices about what to include in a story; there’s almost never enough space to say everything they want. Are there any interesting tidbits that you weren’t able to fit in your story?
AT: The opening spread shows both longtime Vogue editor Anna Wintour and a model falling on the runway. Lauren’s sister told her that the woman in the photograph reminded her of a racehorse breaking its leg, and indeed, it does draw unsettling parallels.

A lot of her work revolves around women and self-image. We spoke at more depth about the downside of the continuum of eating disorders, including cutting and promiscuity. The downside for me, as a writer, was knowing going into our interview that I had roughly 1,400 words in which to describe this woman and her career, which in turn meant that I had to focus on achievements and placing her within the pantheon of contemporary photographers, leaving precious little space for analysis or comparison. It’s a challenge because you know you will have to leave out so much.

I felt honored to be let into Lauren’s life for a few hours and to watch her at work, and to select images and consult with her team and her husband, Frank Evers, who is also her manager. Sitting at their dining table over lunch, which she ordered from a nearby deli in Venice, I looked up from my salad and contemplated some of my favorite Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander photographs, which she has hanging in her home. It made me feel lucky. I wandered out into the sunny Southern California day to explore the canals of Venice (wondering which house had belonged to Dennis Hopper), before hitting the San Diego Freeway to head home.

Spending time with Lauren Greenfield definitely makes you want to up your game!

SMB: Thank you, Anne!

Anne’s bio:

Anne Telford. Photo by Roseanne Olson.

After 14 years as the founding managing editor of Communication Arts, Anne Telford moved to the position of editor-at-large when she relocated to her hometown, La Jolla, California. An avid traveler, she expanded CA’s international coverage and developed the magazine’s Fresh section. Anne is a board member of Watershed Media, an organization that produces action-oriented, visually dynamic communication projects to influence the transition to a green society, and produces the online illustration newsletter illustrationvoice.com for Serbin Communications, one of her freelance clients. She is also a published poet and photographer, with credits ranging from Émigré, Blur, and Step Inside Design magazines to the Portland Oregonian, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Allworth Press, and Chronicle Books, among others.

New work: Jason Hindley for Levolor and Super Glue

Kristina Feliciano — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:19:09 +0000

Two new conceptual shoots by Jason Hindley: One is a campaign for Levolor, shot for Carmichael Lynch, that Communication Arts featured at its website; and the other is a campaign for Super Glue, shot for Grey Warsaw, that won a Bronze at this year’s KTR Festiwal. Here’s a look at both…

Photo by Jason Hindley for Levolor and Carmichael Lynch.

“In a new campaign for Levolor from Minneapolis-based Carmichael Lynch, window treatments…are shown to do as much toward enhancing the mood of a room as any of the more traditional makeover tools,” writes Communication Arts. “The ads are running in design pubs such as Elle Decor, House Beautiful and Traditional Home.”

Credits: Jeff Terwilliger, art director; Ellie Anderson, writer; Jim Nelson, chief creative officer; Sandy Boss Febbo, art producer; Jason Hindley, photographer; Happy Finish, retoucher.

Photo by Jason Hindley for Levolor and Carmichael Lynch.

And the credits for Super Glue (below):

Agency: Grey Warsaw; creative directors: Katarzyna Sośnierz and Grzegorz Waliczek; art director: Beata Kotnowska-Bujak; photographer: Jason Hindley; copywriter: Piotr Zygmunt; model maker: Artur Bujak.

Photo by Jason Hindley for Super Glue and Grey Warsaw.

Spotlight: Jan Steinhilber

Kristina Feliciano — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:40:16 +0000

Jan Steinhilber.

Communication Arts published an interview with Jan Steinhilber in December 2009 that describes the German photographer thusly:

“Photographer Jan Steinhilber studied graphic design with the ambition to become an art director—and accidentally discovered photography during the studies. He got deeper into it by working as an assistant for different photographers and finally decided to make his way as a freelance photographer. He established his own studio in 2000 and since then has worked with great enthusiasm for numerous clients, magazines and ad agencies—and whenever possible he works on personal projects to develop his skills and bring his own ideas to life. His awards include the German Art Directors Club, British AOP, PDN, Graphis, and Communication Arts.”

What could we possibly add to the above? That Jan is bracingly clear about what he’s trying to say with each image, a process that generally involves a great deal of sketching that he refers to as “layouts.” (His clients include all the major car companies—Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, etc.—and his skill with conceptual still lifes has drawn commissions from Nike, Trident, Smirnoff, and others.) He’s driven by the goal that all photographers have, which is to make a photograph that has an unmistakable impact. The difference with Jan is that he knows how to get there.

“I try to understand the idea of the image, or even make up an idea if it is personal work,” he once told online magazine The F STOP. “I judge everything I do by asking me whether this helps the idea or not.”

Here’s a look at Jan’s work:

Photo by Jan Steinhilber.

Photo by Jan Steinhilber for Camel.

Photo by Jan Steinhilber.

Photo by Jan Steinhilber for Smirnoff.

Photo by Jan Steinhilber.

To see more of Jan’s work, visit stocklandmartel.com/talent/jan-steinhilber/photography or steinhilber.biz.

Craig Cutler, Jason Hindley, and Nadav Kander among the winners in Communication Arts’ photo annual

Kristina Feliciano — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:03:38 +0000

Congratulations to Nadav, Jason, and Craig for being chosen for Communication Arts‘ 2010 Photography Annual! For this year’s venerable competition, the magazine selected 147 projects (by 135 photographers) to be featured in its July/August issue. If you’re a subscriber, you can view the winners’ work online.

Here are Craig’s, Jason’s, and Nadav’s pages:

Jan Steinhilber on the joy of sketches and why he’d like to learn to make a good risotto

Kristina Feliciano — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:50:06 +0000

Communication Arts has just interviewed Jan Steinhilber for its online “Insights” column, a conversation that touched on everything from scuba diving to Steve McQueen to risotto. Here’s a little excerpt:

CA: Is there anything you would not digitally retouch?
Jan: No. I always use every means I have to improve the strength and the impact of an image. If that meant retouching I would certainly do it. If unnecessary, even better.

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Full text is here.

Here, by the way, is a look at Jan’s recent work, via an e-blast we sent out in October.

The text of the blast:

Jan Steinhilber: The meaning of knife

Actually, there is no single meaning. Jan likes to leave a little room for mystery, even though he always shoots with a clear concept. Click on the image to see how clients have been using this curious approach to give their campaigns an edge.

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Communication Arts 2009 Photography Annual

Kristina Feliciano — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:54:38 +0000

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Each year, Communication Arts selects the finest photography in the industry for special recognition. This year, we’re pleased to announce that four of our photographers are among the winners:

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Vincent Laforet…

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Craig Cutler…

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Jan Steinhilber…

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And Nadav Kander…

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The jurors were Frank Dattalo, group creative director at Energy BBDO; David Griffin, director of photography at National Geographic; freelance photographer Diana Koenigsberg; Matt Rollins, partner/creative director at Iconologic; and Mine Suda, designer at powerHouse Books. (You can read more about all of them here.)

“As the field continues to evolve,” the magazine notes as its website, “several jurors remain optimistic about photography’s future. ‘We will continue to be inspired by beautiful images,’ juror Frank Dattalo said. ‘The great photographers stay relevant by embracing technology to help them create inspiring photographs.’ Koenigsberg added, ‘Regardless of the photographic methods people chose to employ now and in the future, what will remain the same is that authenticity and originality make compelling images.’”

Jim Fiscus’ “Moment” in Communication Arts

Kristina Feliciano — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:37:10 +0000

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There’s a big feature on Jim’s recent personal project, “The Unfortunate Moment of Misunderstanding,” in Communication Arts‘ 2009 Photography Annual. “Moment” is a sort of photographic novella, with a fashion twist, about a wood carver who makes the same doll over and over again, and Jim used CGI for various parts of it. (He collaborated with the crew at Impact Digital in Tribeca.)

“I think it is a story about various levels of success, judgment, and willingness to continue,” Jim tells CA‘s Anne Telford. “Also the loneliness of being involved in a creative process…. I probably read too much science fiction.”

I’ve posted the article below (just click on the images to make the text legible), but you can also download a pdf version here: CommArts_Fiscus

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Communication Arts asks Craig Cutler for his “Insights”

Kristina Feliciano — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 15:39:46 +0000

Communication Arts, the leading trade journal for visual communications, has devoted a section of its website to “Insights,” where it asks photographers, designers, illustrators, art directors, and creative professionals for their perspectives. Craig Cutler was interviewed in a piece titled “A Time Before Instantaneous,” posted March 11. He talks about things like the photographers he would like to meet (Irving Penn is one of them), his strangest assignment, and the one thing he wishes he knew when he started his career. Read the interview here.