Instagram Favourites - May 2013

Here are some of my favourite pictures from instagram last month. You can't view other users 'liked' photos yet but I have put links to all the photos below. However some may be set to private. Links from top left:

1. Cocktails -Emma Zentner  2. Pagoda China - Avi Bernet  3. Dusk - Trent Mitchell  4. Reflection - Kate Rogers 5. Sculpture - Jennie Symes  6. New York - Jennie Symes  7. Sunrise - Penny Crayon  8. Lemon Meringue Pie - Ellie Trerise  9. Clifton - Karl Gowing  10. Puppy - Hype and Slippers  11. Birdcage - Tif Grant Riley  12. Puddle - Kahri Haines  13. Cupcakes - Jennifer Elizabeth  14. Glass ceiling Structure - Pshiiit Polish  15. Seafront - Jade Hopcroft  16. Windowsill - Ida Laerke

Miniature World Photo Manipulations

14 Year old photographer Zev, known under the name Fiddle Oak, creates these beautiful miniature scenes of his family using photo manipulation of interiors and objects. The results are so impressive for someone so young! He has been photographing and working with photoshop since he was 8 years old!

You can find more of his work on his flikr site.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddleoak/

The Great Gatsby

After a really long build up with the delay of the release date, I finally went to see The Great Gatsby at the cinema last night and it definitely lived up to my expectations. There have been some mixed reviews about this classic but I thought it was a beautiful tragedy. Baz Luhrmann is well known for his lavish sets and decadent party scenes from his red curtain trilogy, and he is renowned for his use of anachronism. For example in Romeo and Juliet, he updated the original play in a modern set whilst keeping the Shakespearean dialogue. In the Great Gatsby, this is shown by the classic Jazz Age scenes being beautifully blended with a 21st Century soundtrack. I feel this made the film much more relatable whilst keeping extremely accurate to the book. Baz Luhrmann said he wanted to "follow and reveal the book to this audience now".

As well as being visually stunning the film is a tragic love story about endless hope and not being able to let go. Gatsby builds up his love for Daisy so much that it is impossible for her to live up to his expectations. There is a running theme of beautiful on the outside and empty on the inside and I think Baz Luhrmann captures this well. Nick Carraway describes the Buchanans as a 'rotton crown' who destroy people in their way before retreating back to their money to let other people clean up their mess.

Despite the mixed reviews I loved the film and can't wait to see it again. It was ambitious and visually dazzling!

Fox River Derivatives - Peter Hoffman

I came across these beautifully abstract images on peta pixel recently. Photogrpaher Peter Hoffman's project aims to question our relationship with natural resources by creating these intriguing warped phtoographs. These unique images are made by burning the negatives of his photographs, which result in strange colourful bubbles and shapes smeared across the image.

"After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Hoffman has been playing with the concept of 'Water and Oil.' His experiments have been centered on using water and fossil fuels in the photographic image-making process, incorporating those substances as important components in the photos that result."

You can see more of peter Hoffman's work at his website:
http://www.peterghoffman.com/index.php/short-works/fox-river-derivatives/

And you can read more at Peta Pixel:
http://petapixel.com/2013/05/06/photos-created-by-coating-negatives-with-gasoline-and-setting-them-on-fire/

 

 

Instagram Favourites - April 2013

Here are some of my favourite pictures from instagram last month. You can't view other users 'liked' photos yet but I have put links to all the photos below. However some may be set to private. Links from top left:


1. Tea cup - Ellie Trerise 2. Sprinkles on nose - This Wild Idea  3. Lightbulbs - Heart Home  4. Necklaces - Urban Outfitters  5. Brunch - Noemie Cedille  6. Plants - Lobster and Swan   7. Park View - Rosie Tea  8. Windowsill - Rosy Smith  9. Dog in Jacket - Katie  10. Letter Printing - Rosy Smith  11. Pretty Tape - Ellie Trerise  12. Statement Necklace - Urban Outfitters  13. Wooden Moomin - Hype and Slippers  14. Teapot - Jade Hopcroft  15. Sunset - Amber Reyland  16. Florentines - Ellie Trerise. 

Real Life Disney Princesses

Finnish designer Jirka Vaatainen has created an amazing photo series of Disney Princesses in real life. The project was completed during his Graphic Design degree at the Art University College at Bournemouth. Using photo manipulation and digital painting, Jirka has envisioned very realistic portraits of Disney's famous female figures.

The finished results are stunning, I love the realistic approach to the photographs yet they still have a magical quality about them. His series is one of the most 'appreciated' on behance and there are many requests for other disney characters online. I would really like to see Merida from Brave, her vibrant red curly hair would make a great image.

Jirka Vaatainen has a passion for many different visuals including graphic design, art and film. You can see more of his work from the links below.

http://cargocollective.com/jirka/
http://jirkavinse.wordpress.com/
http://www.behance.net/Jirka

Below are the photographs of Cinderella, Jasmine from Aladdin, Wendy and Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Pocahontas, and Snow White. There are 17 images in the collection so far, and these can be found on Jirka's website.

Medium Format Pinhole Camera - Kelly Angood

I love this 'do-it-yourself' cardboard pinhole camera from London based photographer Kelly Angood. The design replicates the look of a twin-lens reflex medium format camera and comes in a flat pack kit. I have experimented with assembling handmade pinhole cameras before from paper templates and was never very successful with the pinhole photographs. The paper was always too delicate and would often rip. This new camera Videre however is screen printed onto thick recycled cardboard and looks much more sturdy.

You can follow the projects process on the Tumblr page.

http://kickstarterpinholediary.tumblr.com/

To see more pinhole projects on my blog look here.

And to see my first attempt at making a paper pinhole camera look here. 

 

itv3 Papercut Idents

Since revealing the new itv rebrand in January this year, the broadcaster's have created new papercut idents for itv3. I love the new itv design and I am so excited for the new crafted idents. 

Tundra has collaborated with Andersen M Studio to create these beautiful animations. Combining illustration, animation, paper cutting, model making, photography and compositing the animation on computer after, the project shows an incredible amount of work from a huge team of creatives. Each ident represents a different genre of programming on itv3.

The concept behind the bell jars came from itv's head of creative for broadcast, Tony Pipes. He wanted to represent itv3 as the 'curator of great well-crafted drama' so wanted this to translate into hand crafted idents. 

Some of the pieces have a Christmas theme, which means they probably wont air on tv for quite some time. You can see videos with examples of the idents and behind the scenes below.

I have been following the work of Andersen M Studio for some time, and I am so excited by this new project. To see other work of theirs see here, here and here. Also have a look at their website.

http://www.andersenm.com/

You can find more work from Tundra on their website.

http://www.tundragroupfilms.com/tundra/home/

ITV3 Idents 2013 from Tony Pipes on Vimeo.
ITV3 Idents: Behind The Scenes from Tony Pipes on Vimeo.

Little Girl and Tomcat

There has been a series of photographs trending on the internet recently from Andy Prokh of his four year old daughter Catherine and his Tomcat Lilu. The series shows the relationship between the two family members and what they get up to in the time they have lived together.

The photographs are cute and the compositions are really clever. The fact that the Tomcat Lilu plays along with the set up creates very funny photographs. I don't know how he had the patience to photograph Lilu, my cat never cooperates with me when I photograph her! The images rely a lot on timing and chance, capturing the images at the right moment as well as some photoshop trickery.

You can see more photographs on Andy Prokh's website. http://www.photodom.com/member/andy%20prokh

Instagram Favourites - March 2013

Unfortunately instagram doesn't allow you to see other users 'liked' photos yet, so I wanted to share some of my favourite photos that were posted this month. Links to all the instagram pages are below (although some may be set to private)  listing from top left to right.

1. Swans - Sophie Slade, 2. Party Rings - Ellie Trerise, 3. Tulips - Rosy Smith, 4. Polka Dot Wellies - Jade Hopcroft, 5. Carrot Cocktail - Jamie Oliver, 6. Nail Wheel - Boom Nails, 7. Nail Wraps, Shopncla, 8. Wrapping - Lobster and Swan, 9. Citrus Fruits - Aiala Hernando, 10. Teapots- Ellie Trerise, 11. Puppy Paws - Emma Zentner, 12. Engagement Party Cakes - Heather Kendrick, 13. Hong Kong - Avi Bernet, 14. Hotwells Riverside - Louisa Brain, 15. Papercut Fox - Rosie Tea, 16. Skiing Sauze d'Oulx - Heather Kendrick. 

Daredevil Mustang Wanted - Skywalking Photos

Skywalking is a dangerous photographic fad which has hit the internet. There are many young photographers in Russia climbing to extreme heights to take crazy photographs which make your stomach turn. 

But Ukrainian daredevil Mustang Wanted has taken this concept further by photographing himself hanging from edges by his arms and legs! Im not afraid of heights but his photographs make me feel queasy as there are no safety harnesses or trickery of any sorts!

You can see more of Mustang Wanted's photos and videos on his website.

http://www.mustang-wanted.com

 

 

 

Felice Varini - Anamorphic Paintings

Swiss artist Felice Varini creates amazing optical illusions with his anamorphic paintings which cover buildings and even entire villages!

"At first they appear to simply be gigantic swooping shapes painted across buildings around the world… but find the correct focal point and they pop into astounding geometric forms." 

 To make his pieces, Varini first finds a location where people can interact with the space for his point of observation. He then projects his images on to the location and traces the shapes with paint.

You can see more of Felice Varini's work on his website.
http://www.varini.org/02indc/indgen.html 

 Photographs below:
1. “Encerclement à dix,” Centre d’Art Contemporain, Thouars, France – 1999
2. “Orangerie du cha‰teau de Versailles” – 2006
3. “Archi e Corone” – 2003

Perfectly Timed Photos

Entertaining post from Twitsed Sifter showing a series of perfectly timed photos. They include images which capture events in a fraction of a second, in the perfect place with the perfect angle. I have seen some of these photographs on other blogs before and there are may other amazingly timed photos on the internet. This series of 50 images however are a very good 'representative of the concept.'

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/03/most-perfectly-timed-photos-ever/

1. Lightning - Photograph by Jay Fine
2. Olympic Rings - Photograph by Reuters/ Luke MacGrego
3. Crane - Photograph by Bruno Gerber
4. Fence - Photograph by Tea Kolo
5. Eagle - Photograph by Pam Mullins
6. Swimmer - Photograph by Adam Pretty