Pop Culture | Chase Jarvis Blog

Archive | Pop Culture RSS feed for this section

Reality Bender — Interview with Street Artist that Transforms Sidewalks into 3-D Wonderland

By Chase on March 4, 2013

Regular readers here know I’m a big fan of street art. And when I find good stuff, I share it. In particular the work of Tracy Lee Stum have blown my mind of late – pushing the boundaries of what can be done with perspective and chalk, creating innovative new ways to expand the medium. Where most people see a piece of chalk and a stretch of sidewalk, Tracy sees yawning chasms, hidden underground cities, mythological creatures and ancient gods. To Tracy, it’s all a matter of perspective. That’s why I caught up with her in an interview below.

Anamorphic art (distorted perspective which requires the viewer to occupy a specific vantage point) is as old as the Renaissance. This new stuff from artists like Tracy borrows from that era and overlays a new urban canvas — pieces taking as “little” as 4 hours, or as long as four or more days. Nevermind that sometimes weather conditions will destroy a piece before it’s even finished.

CJ: At this point in your career, you have made art in many different countries. Is there anywhere you specifically like to work?

TS: Good question! I like working wherever I have an adequate surface, good weather (no rain) and a crowd. Certainly big cities are terrific for these works but I am also keen to travel to more 3rd world countries to introduce the art form to communities there. Art inspires and oftentimes folks in those areas don’t have access to what the 1st world population has. I’d like to bring my art form to those out of the way places.

CJ: How do you keep your passion for this specific medium alive?

TS: I’ve been doing this for a long time – 14 years! – so I do understand about keeping the passion going for the art form. I personally strive to find new ways of creating innovative images with different approaches to composition and design – a challenge keeps me going! And of course, there is nothing as satisfying as getting to the drawing phase, where color and line and all the methods you employ as an artist come into play. That makes it easy to stay excited about the art. Authenticity is huge for me and I push myself to stay authentic.

CJ: When you conceptualize a piece, do you have a specific scale in mind, or do you wait for the perfect space to create an idea you have?

TS: It’s a combination of these things – I usually have a sketchbook full of concepts (ideas come to me intuitively and I simply jot them down for later reference) and when a project presents itself, I will consider location, actual site, space, size, and interactivity needs. Scaling a painting to work with live participants is a fun challenge for me and one that requires considerable mental contemplation. I spend quite a bit of time going over my image design to make it work the best it can with a particular scale. Some designs demand specific spaces and those come to the foreground when a venue or site is offered that will accommodate them.

CJ: Do you create your pieces completely from your mind’s eye, or do you have a sketch you work off of?

TS: In the past I have typically used a sketch, albeit rough ones, to work from. I’ve also used a camera lens to view the site and imagine a likely image for the space. Lately though, I seem to find that approach somewhat restrictive and prefer to create on the spot. I may rough out an idea and once the properties of a good design are worked out, I forget the sketch and go with impulses I get while working on the actual painting. Often times, and this has been true throughout my career, I begin with one idea and then make significant changes to the design as I am developing it on the street. Again, I receive impulses and follow those absolutely – they always take me to a better result than staying with a rigid framework. I’m fairly fluent in the principles that govern 3d works so I feel fully confident to spontaneously create a design at any given time and place.

Thanks Tracy. More of this badass work found here… http://www.tracyleestum.com/gallery

Transparent Cameras – Photo Gallery of X-Rayed Cameras

By Jerard on March 1, 2013

In the shuffle of airport security I like to sneak a peek over the shoulder of the TSA agent and catch a glimpse of my gear as it moves through the X-ray. Shaving kit, headphones, a book, my ipad and usually a camera or two. It’s cool to see a quick view of the inner workings of the things we carry. Even cooler when it’s your camera’s hidden internal magic.

Photographer Blake Billings has created an entire series of that moment with his X-rayed camera photos. Here are the things that are moving around inside the magic light box.

Can you identify the model/make of these transparent cameras? Any of your favorites in the series?

Original story via our friends at PetaPixel

Legendary Celebrity Photog Chris Buck + Musical Guest Hey Marseilles on cjLIVE – [RE-WATCH]

By Chase on February 27, 2013

In this episode of chasejarvisLIVE I sat down with legendary photographer Chris Buck and hosted special musical guest Hey Marseilles.

Chris has taken the concept of “celebrity photography” and flipped it upside-down. By applying a playful, twisted fine art mentality to celebrity photography (and his commercial work) Chris has created some of the most interesting work I’ve seen. He is truly one of my all-time favs. We talked about everything under the sun, including his work with editorial giants like GQ and Esquire and what it’s like to photograph President Obama and what his life is like as the photographer of a good 100 or so of the top celebrities in the world. Never afraid to push the line – Chris often erases it, which is why he’s been one of the most powerhouse photographers of the past decade.

Also featured in this episode was some incredible music. Remember more than a year ago when we brought you LIVE to our humble little show bands like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (now #1 in the USA, double platinum, and headed to perform on this week on SNL – March 2) and The Lumineers (nominated for 2 Grammys) long before they were blowing up? Well we did that same thing again for this show. Hey Marseilles, brought us a full performance. Thanks for tuning in if you caught it LIVE and if not tune in for the next episode of chasejarvisLIVE for yet another conversation with the most fascinating people I know, who are doing big things in the world – coming April 3.

_______
Special thanks to our sponsors who help make this show possible – please follow them and let them know you appreciate the free content. #Respect.
Help us welcome new sponsor Borrowlenses.com to chasejarvisLIVE and follow them on twitter @borrowlenses. They are helping make the world a more creative place by supporting the show and supplying gear to photographers and filmmakers everywhere who need a gear solution TODAY.

Manfrotto: @manfrotto_tweet
liveBooks: @liveBooks (p.s. they are also offering special starter package deal for a photo website, exclusive for chasejarvisLIVE fans here.
HP: @hpprint
Broncolor: @hasselbladbron

War & Fashion – Intellectual Exercise or Gut Punch?

By Chase on February 25, 2013

A few days ago Moni Basu of CNN published a provocative piece comparing the photography of War to the photography of Fashion.

Whether this is an absurd evocation, an intellectual exercise, or an astute reflection I’m not calling it. I can’t. But the idea of taking an individual photographer who has shot both war and fashion and juxtaposing images from the two bodies of work, was curious and very disturbing. At one end, sure, there’s the composition and technique – brilliantly and noticably similar…at the other end of the spectrum is the danger of belittling such a weighty topic as war with such a flippant topic as fashion. All in all, plenty of tension, which is why I thought this a worthy share.

I still don’t know what to think. Generally speaking its not a surprise that popular reactions worldwide to this piece have been swift and, dare I say it, overwhelmingly unflattering. Basu has been quick to defend herself by explaining:

We are not comparing war to fashion. We are comparing the photos that come from those disparate circumstances.

But can you compare the photos taken of disparate circumstances without comparing the circumstances themselves? It’s a big stretch to take for the sake of alliteration. Just as Basu took the scales to the two forms of photography, we should take them to her project. On the one hand, I understand the goal of juxtaposition for being evocative. Whether bravery or naiveté, it takes a large dose of both in large doses to dive right into the deep end, which is what she did.

This project will always be an invitation for serious criticism and judgment. Write what words you may write around the images, but sitting an image of American soldiers at the same table as runway models with the title “War & Fashion” at the head is a guaranteed poke with a sharp stick for many. Even for those opposed to war (or fashion for that matter).

I wrote about wartime photojournalists a few weeks ago in part to celebrate the individuals who took the photos but also to appreciate the work itself. Although I threw up a sequence of shots, each photo really deserves to stand on its own — such is the emotional impact they have. It’s hard to imagine comparing say, Eddie Adams’ iconic Vietnam photo to a model having her makeup put on.

I guess I “get” it, but I’m not sure on the issue of taste. But then, I’m no Moni Basu.

[If this topic is unsettling to begin with, please don't scroll down to look at the photos. And please no ranting. Opinion yes, thrashing, no. This is intended/shared with the goal of critical reflection and respectful discussion only.]

Baghdad, Iraq. 2003. Photo by Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos.

NYC, USA. February, 2008. Photo by Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos.

Beirut, Lebanon. August, 2006. Photo by Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos.

NYC, USA. February, 2008. Photo by Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos.

Cairo, Eqypt. 2011. Photo by Paolo Pellegrin / Magnum Photos.

New York, 2005. Photo by Paolo Pellegrin / Magnum Photos.

Baghdad, Iraq. November, 2004. Photo by Jerome Sessini / Magnum Photos.

Milan, Italy. September, 2012. Photo by Jerome Sessini / Magnum Photos.

Cairo, Egypt. February, 2011. Photo by Alex Majoli / Magnum Photos.

NYC, USA. 2009. Photo by Alex Majoli / Magnum Photos.

From Obscurity to Internet Sensation — How Creatives Can Win the PR Game with Ryan Holiday

By Jerard on February 22, 2013

Ryan Holiday is a media genius who promotes, inflates and hacks some of the biggest names and brands in the world. He’s also the Director of Marketing for American Apparel. Oh, and he’s just 25 years old. His point-of-view is enlightening when it comes to understanding today’s complex media landscape. You might remember that I had him on chasejarvisLIVE last year. Since then his book ‘Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator’ has become a bestseller and his secrets have become well known. After dropping out of college at 19 to apprentice under the strategist Robert Greene (who appeared on another super popular episode on chasejarvisLIVE here), he went on to advise many bestselling authors and multi-platinum musicians. He is the Director of Marketing at American Apparel, where his work in advertising was internationally known. His strategies are used as case studies by Twitter, YouTube and Google and have been written about in AdAge, the New York Times, Gawker and Fast Company. Ryan is back in Seattle teaching for creativeLIVE (happening today and tomorrow here) with a course on PR for artists, entrepreneurs and businesses where he will be going deep with some of the topics we touch on in this interview.

CJ:I believe that this is the most exciting time in the history of mankind to be an artist. And I’ve heard you say that we’ve entered a “new economic model.” Do you agree with the fact there is more opportunity for creatives right now than ever?

RH:I totally agree. Look, you could post a video online tomorrow and it could get a million views within 24 hours. You could email a link to your product to a blogger and it could become a major media story within minutes. And what does all that cost? NOTHING. It’s amazing. I don’t think those things were ever possible before, or if they were, you’d have to retain enormously expensive agencies and professionals to help you. So yes, it’s a spectacular time to be a creative. HOWEVER, it’s not always as simple as just posting a video or emailing a link. Look at the people who have managed to have repeated success online–there are methods and tricks and processess that make this replicable and possible and that’s what I’ve spent my time studying, implementing and writing about.

CJ: You are a well-known voracious reader. What books could you recommend for people who are interested in growing their PR and Media efforts?

RH: Believe it or not, I think some of the best books about marketing don’t talk about marketing at all.
I like the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, I think Saul Alinsky’s books on community organizing are AMAZING (Rules for Radicals and Reveille for Radicals). I would also suggest people read Clay Shirky’s book about Here Comes Everybody and the book Blue Ocean Strategy (which is easily translatable to marketing and positioning your creative business). And of course, Seth Godin has laid out probably the best basics in terms of understanding marketing and business in Purple Cow, Permission Marketing, The Icarus Deception and all those books. I tried to write my book to fill in the gaps

CJ: What is the first step for a creative to get their work noticed… from someone besides their mom?

RH: I’d say hold on a second. People think about marketing too early and too late. Before you think about, I want creatives to be POSITIVE their work and business is ready for lots of attention. If your website sucks or your distribution is disorganized, do you really want anyone other than your mom to buy from you? Getting in the New York Times would be a disaster. So hang on a second and make sure your house is in order (and this is something we’re going to talk about in the creativeLIVE class today and tomorrow.
Then I would say: are you ready to be a full time marketer? Because marketing is not something you do two weeks before the product comes out either. It’s a lifestyle. You have to think and breathe it constantly. You have to know the influencers in your space, create messages and content they can spread. You have to bake that into your product. In other words, campaigns take time and resources and unless you’re going to dedicate yourself to doing it–it won’t happen and you won’t get results.

CJ: What are the tools you could not live without in getting your job done?

RH: There’s no question the single most effective tool in marketing is relationships: who do you know? Who can you reach out to to share your message? If you don’t have any answer to those questions it doesn’t matter how many great apps or tools you have. So I want to recommend that people spend less time obsessing about technology and more time with people, building connections, friendships and reciprocal relationships. But personally in terms of tools, I’m completely dependent on Google Docs and Basecamp. It’s how I collaborate with my employees and keep all my research and contacts organized.

CJ: Who are the people you really admire in today’s over-saturated world of noisy content? Who is breaking through that noise and more importantly,why are they able to?

RH: Joey Roth, who I’m going to have on during my class is an amazing example of what a talented, driven person can do–how one designer running his own small business can get more PR and publicity than he knows what to do with. And he gets it for the right reasons: he makes a great product and connects to the right influencers to share it. I’m going to talk to him and get him to share his secrets with everyone in the class.

The term PR is a slippery one these days. There is this blurry line between PR and Marketing now — but it really seems to put the individual creator at an advantage. What is efficient PR in 2013? Is there still a place for Edelman and giants of the PR world? Or are they on their way out in this time of the creator taking control?

RH: To me, PR and marketing are the same thing. And they all come down to a single principle in today’s attention economy: doing interesting things. Businesses need to be create content and messages that facilitate their customers talking about them and their product. That’s PR–giving the public something to talk about and relate to. Obviously there is still a place for PR giants because giant companies have totally different problems than entrepreneurs and growing companies. But if I had a choice, I’d much rather be a creator–operating on a small scale, able to do exciting things and quickly getting my message out.

CJ: Lets assume, with the help of your methodology and a lot or hard work, a creative achieves a level of success. They get the business, the attention, some audience. How do they take it to the next level?

RH:Marketing is how you scale–as they’re calling it now it’s a form of “growth hacking.” At the end of the day, the whole point of market is to drive new business right? So if you’re not doing that with your marketing its just an art project. For me, as I’ve grown my business, I’ve tried to bring people along with me. I am always training new people, teaching them what I know so they can come along and grow. I want to take on new clients so I can give them (and myself) an opportunity to try new things. I think creatives have an obligation to pay it forward and give the same training and advice that people gave them. To me that goes hand and hand with scaling up your business from a one man shop to a two man shop to a many-person shop.

CJ: Final thought: What are the opportunities that you see creatives missing? The things right in front of our faces that can make a massive difference in success that most people walk right by?

RH: The web is infinite. There’s no limit to the amount of content it can produce or the amount of posts that a blog can publish. So stop thinking that getting press is hard. People WANT to write and talk about you. So give them what they want! Stop sitting around and waiting for them to come to you. Embrace this awesome opportunity and use it to your advantage.

Check out Ryan on this week’s creativeLIVE workshop here.
Ryan Holiday currently lives in New Orleans with his rebellious puppy, Hanno.

Photo History 101: Rare Color Photos of Paris in the Early 1900s

By Chase on February 22, 2013

There is a school of thought that proposes the Earth is home to a smattering of “sacred sites” — energy centers, places of mystery and wonder — earth Chakras some call them. The Pyramids. Lake Titicaca. Mt. Fuji. You get it. I don’t know if Paris is on that list, but it should be. There’s a magic to that city, so much so that I lived there for a few years not all that long ago and get back there on the regular a couple times each year.

So it was with serious interest that I ravaged through these extremely rare color photographs of Paris taken in the early 1900s that recently crossed my desk. And I’ll admit to a fair amount of digging (thanks for the help Ben) to validate their authenticity (I was sure they were hand colored or Photoshop fakes), but rest assured these are no fakes.

Students of photography and its history (um… both of you) will appreciate that these here stills were taken using the “Autochrome Lumière” technology, a tricky process patented in 1903 by the wonderous Lumière brothers of France. These gents were the real deal. The pointillist… say, slightly impressionist quality of the photographs is a result of the coarseness of the dyed starch that coated the glass plate and served as the original “color filter” idea. [photo apps, eat your heart out - this shiz is the real deal]

All the images featured below were shot between 1907 and 1930 – many of them the work of a banker named Albert Kahn, who sent Autochrome photographers across continents to create what he called the “Archives of the Planet.” Who said bankers weren’t creative? Put that it your abacus pipe and smoke it – happy weekend.

[All images here - courtesy of the Albert Kahn Museum. Much gratitude and respect. Amusez-vous bien!]

What You Need for Your Photography Business – [Guess What? It's Not a Camera]

By Chase on February 19, 2013

Put bluntly, if we creatives want to make a real livelihood with our work – we need to realize that the business end of the stick if we’re holding. And while you know I’m always up for the occasional rant on this topic, I today decided to save myself a few blood vessels and some hot air, and instead passed the baton over to my homie, best-selling business/finance author and master of psychology, Ramit Sethi. I’ve said this before in public – Ramit taught me more about the business side of art in 30 minutes than I’d learned in the previous 5 years. As such, if you listen to one person about this shiz, I suggest you listen to Ramit. – Chase

Thanks Chase.

Let me start by asking you a couple questions.

Do you need the latest camera or software? Will it help grow your business?

Or is it more likely that the latest shiny equipment is distracting you from finding clients who will pay what you’re worth?

Today, as in right now, creating a framework to think about whether buying the latest equipment will actually help you grow your creative business and earn more money. Here’s how this came up: I was in San Francisco, shooting a day of video, and on a break I overheard my crew talking about whether they should buy a $70,000 camera to grow their business.

My ears perked up. I asked them why they would buy it. Their answers were wishy-washy and vague: “Well…it’ll help us get exposure…” So on the spot I suggested a framework to use when deciding whether to purchase new equipment for your creative business.

You might be surprised to hear what I suggested.

1) There’s a time and a place when buying the right equipment will help grow your business
2) But surprisingly, most clients don’t care about your equipment
3) If you can figure out what they value, you can save tens of thousands of dollars on equipment and actually make your clients happier — at the same time.

Put another way: I’ve hired many photographers, videographers, writers, and designers in the last 3 years. Can you guess how many times I’ve asked what camera or software they use? Answer: Zero. I’ve spoken to Chase about this as well. How many times do you think he’s been asked about his equipment unless it’s a super elite, over the top shoot. His answer is the same: zero. Put simply… buyers simply don’t care about that. And usually that equipment won’t help you make the thing you need to make.

Now, there is a time and a place to invest in the right equipment. You can become the ‘specialty guy or gal’ at this or that, but I bet dollars to donuts that we’re not talking about what you need NOW. When you’re growing your creative business, here’s a little video to guidance how to know whether you should invest in new equipment…or decide to first focus on other areas of your business….

By the way, in the video I mention deeply understanding your clients to figure out what they value. (This is how you can find better clients, charge more, and work with the people you want to.) If you’re curious how I study my own clients, here’s the actual survey I’ve used to generate over $100,000. Feel free to use it for your own business.

I now return you to your regular programming. [Thanks Ramit! - chase]

100 Ideas that Changed Photography

By Chase on February 15, 2013

Every so often, I am reminded of the tectonic shifts in photography that seem to skip under the radar in our exploding world of photography and photographers. No harm, no foul — but it snaps my head back into place when pointing these out from time to time.

Mary Warner Marian’s book 100 Ideas that Changed Photography” does a damn nice job highlighting some of these shifts. It’s her personal take on the most influential ideas that have shaped photography, from the daguerreotype in the early 19th century up to the digital revolution and beyond.

Now… top “100″ lists are always risky business. Inevitable omissions beget unavoidable criticism; the author’s author-ity (and intelligence) gets questioned; the business of “TOP 100″ lists is decried. NO so long ago, when I created a little 240 page book of portraits titled “Seattle 100, which featured my personal curation of 106 people influentially driving culiture in Seattle, it was not to prescribe the “best” 100…not “THE” 100, but simply A 100 if you catch my drift. Fortunately for us, Marian’s book seems to take the same approach — curated list of her own design and one that I respect. Ultimately, this book is a reminder that much of the fear and chatter expressed in our modern day, the alleged affronts to the “craft” of photography by new technologies, are seriously misplaced. The art of capturing light has been evolving since Christian Gobrecht first illustrated the workings of a camera obscura.

As the author Marien puts it:

While it may seem that a new photo technology is born every day, photography is still what we make it, not what it makes us.

chasejarvis_100IdeasThatChangedPhotography

IDEA # 1: THE CAMERA OBSCURA When Christian Gobrecht illustrated the workings of a camera obscura for Abraham Rees’s The Cyclopedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature (1805-22), he was careful to show how the device created an inverted image.

Collodian

IDEA # 13: COLLODION Photographers who used the collodion process had to process their glass plates before and after exposure. They brought a portable darkroom and sometimes employed assistants to help.

The Lens

IDEA # 9: THE LENS Specially designed weights or impromptu inventions were attached to the shutter to create timed lens exposures.

Negative/Positive.

IDEA # 4: NEGATIVE/POSITIVE The negative formed the basis of photography until the digital age. It is based on the reversal of dark and light tone.

Images and captions courtesy of Laurence King.

Dream Photos and Proof That Our Mind is Made of Creative Gold [work of Ronen Goldman]

By Chase on February 12, 2013

What’s in a dream? For me, dreams have always been an incredibly powerful driver for creativity. At least a day or two every week, I wake up at 3am, scurry out of bed and make some notes about a future piece of work, an idea that needs development,etc. In short, the rooms of our subconscious are ripe with fruit for the picking. I’ve been considering creating a series of images of my own dreams and in doing so, stumbled on the work of Ronen Goldman. Ronen’s work is solid, simple and clean with a sprinkle of surreal, never overdone or overly dramatic. He imposes time and budgetary limits on himself so he can complete the work – focus on “making” rather than pontificating, which is something I really appreciate. As a part of researching for my future project, had a chance to ask him a few questions via email about his photographs and his creative process. See below – enjoy.

Chase Jarvis: How long have you been shooting?

Ronen Goldman: I have been shooting for about 8 years, and started the surreal series about 6 years ago.

CJ: What inspires you to pick up a camera and create this stuff?

RG: Well, I studied script writing at university, but felt that some things are difficult to express verbally. I find that visuals, and photography in particular have quite an ability to convey complex and abstract ideas.
Oh, And l love taking pictures.

CJ: Where’d you drum up the idea of photographing your dreams?

RG: It started out with a simple photo I tried to create for a music album I was putting out independently, me in the woods with a bunch of guitars which was based on a fragment of a dream I had regarding exploding guitars. from there I just created more and more (this project has been going on for six years, so about 4 or less images a year). depending on things I was going through in the different times- the images took on different “subjects” and dealt with different things.

CJ: Are there any particularly challenging concepts you have been unable to tackle?

RG: Since this is a personal project, done with zero budget, I have ideas that producing them is just outside my financial ability. I usually work with a skeleton crew of myself and maybe another person aside from the person or people in the image.

CJ: Are the images created primarily with photography or photoshop?

RG: I am more a photographer than a photoshop-er. All elements of the surreal photos are shot in the same shoot, on the same day with the same lighting, without the camera moving. I don’t “bring in” elements that werent there, and that is why the whole thing looks so believable, most of the time.

CJ: How do the models feel when you tell them what you’re planning?

RG: Great question. I was blessed that the people I choose to work with are the kind of people that “just go with it”. they trust That I know what I am doing, even if it doesnt make a whole lot of sense when I describe it ahead of time. They are in it for the art, as am I- and sometimes awesomeness occurs.

CJ: Tell us a story behind one of your dream images.

RG: “The Magician” was born of a dream I had involving order within chaos. its hard to explain. but I knew the image I wanted to created. We went out into the woods, did the shot of the magician(using a Canon 5d mk2 , 50 1.2 Lens, lighting thru soft box on top of magician hat and below for face) and then used the ambient light for all the individual cards. we plotted the spiral carefully and the whole thing took about an hour of shooting. When we got back I realized the cards were underexposed, so I convinced the Magician(Dvir) to go out with me and do the whole thing again.
happily, he agreed, and it all worked out great.

CJ: What do you have planned in the future?

RG: I hope to be able to create more elaborate and enticing conceptual imagery, whether for commercial ads or personal work.
The Series is exhibited and sold as fine art editioned prints, and I hope to be able to share this type of imagery with many people, and hopefully inspire them to chronical their own dreams, or pursue creating weird ideas they may have and were afraid to produce.

Photo: Ronen Goldman

Digging Out — 30-Hour Timelapse of Northeast Storm NEMO… in 1 Minute

By Jerard on February 11, 2013

Nemo Timelapse from jere7my tho?rpe on Vimeo.

Pounded with as much as three feet of snow on Friday and Saturday, the Northeast, and especially New England, USA was basically buried by the storm called NEMO.

The region’s residents are still digging out, navigating roads lined by tall walls of snow, dealing with school closures and power outages. But for photographers – these storms bring rare opportunity. The internet has been alive with Nemo shots for days. From the empty and silent streets of Boston and New York, to the awesome 30-hour time lapse of the storm (above) on an unnamed Boston street, there is some unique imagery that comes from these storms. This timelapse captures the storm, more or less start to finish, in 1 minute. Enjoy! Created by Vimeo user: jere7my tho?rpe.

Best Album Art from the Past Year [19 images]

By Chase on February 8, 2013

Sleigh Bells / Reign of Terror

The big record companies are struggling. Indie labels are struggling. The photographers, illustrators, and graphic designers who create album covers are NOT struggling. The music industry is an entirely different beast than it was a decade ago, but apparently musicians still believe in communicating what their album, as a whole, is all about with stunning visuals.

Music seems more disposable and forgettable than ever with apps like Spotify and Rdio. I mean, you have access to more than 15 MILLION songs if you fork over the $10 bucks a month for a Spotify membership — a far lesser cost than downloading individual songs and albums to iTunes. While this accessibility to music is amazing, it’s also overwhelming. We are being bombarded with more aural pleasure than we can possibly handle.

The beauty lies in the fact that we will stumble across tunes we love that may have not crossed our path without this technology. This, in turn, can lead us to finding our new favorite band (at least until we find our NEXT new favorite band). And then we will go to their concerts. And then we will buy their vinyl. Because vinyl is making a comeback. And then we will go home, put that record on like our forefathers did before there were 8-tracks and cassettes and cds and mp3s. We will once again experience what it’s like to be grounded in a room without earbuds and iPhones. To have to get up and flip the album. To listen from beginning to end, as the artist intended. To stare at the cover and read through the liner notes.

The XX / Coexist

XV / Popular Culture

Shigeto / Lineage

ChaseJarvis_BestAlbumArt_BatForLashes_AmyRollo

Bat for Lashes / The Haunted Man

Scratch Massive / Nuit de Reve

Scissor Sisters / Magic Hour

Santigold / Master of My Make-Believe

ChaseJarvis_BestAlbumArt_Parklive_Blur_AmyRollo

Blur / Parklive

Nas / Life is Good

Laurel Halo / Quarantine

Ke$ha / Warrior

Gentleman Jesse / Leaving Atlanta

Fiona Apple / The Idler Wheel

Father John Misty / Fear Fun

Eprom / Metahuman

Brother Ali / Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color

Black Moth Super Rainbow / Cobra Juicy

ChaseJarvis_BestAlbumArt_BestCoast_AmyRollo

Bat for Lashes / The Haunted Man

Hype Machines — the Photography + Art of Movie Posters [Academy Award Nominated/Winning]

By Chase on February 7, 2013

UPDATE: Argo wins for best picture! Love or hate the Academy, it’s hard not to get a little swept up in the fever. And with the Oscars now behind us, it gives us a reason to ask “why did he/she/it win?” and disagree or agree with our co-workers at the water cooler for the next month.

I was walking into the movies with Kate not too long ago and it occurred to me that of the things I love most about going to movies is not simply seeing the movie I’ve bought tickets for — it’s seeing the trailers for movies that won’t come out for another year or so. Trailers have a ton of influence on driving interest for a new movie. And then what followed that thought was, “what about the influence of the movie poster?” Some people might think them an afterthought, but they leave first and final impressions hanging on the walls of the movie theater hallway… I stared at 100 of them.

For obvious reasons, I gravitated waaaay more heavily toward the posters that use photography to illustrate the film, but I was overwhelmingly intrigued. (side: I’ve been asked in the past to shoot on movie sets and have passed, usually because the photography is second to everything else that’s going on… ) That said, more than one artist has made a career from movie posters. John Alvin was famous for his work on E.T., Blade Runner, The Little Mermaid, and the Lion King. Bob Peak was another one. His illustrations were featured on the posters for Apocalypse Now, the first five Star Trek films and Superman.

But my intrigue got me digging around for some recent ones (limited availabilty of photographers who shot these, sadly… can we change that?). So recognition of the films AND in hopes of elevating the people behind the posters going forward (where can we find these artists?), I present them here [some in multiple form] in alphabetical order…I think (maybe?)I’ll do a follow up on photographers who shoot movie posters. If you’re one of those, or know of some people who shoot them, lemme know. In the meantime, here are some recent ones (that were up for Academy Awards) with a wide range of merit. We now know that Argo won for best picture…but who won for best movie poster? And the winner is???:

Interview with a Collector — The Discovery and Legacy of the Vivian Maier Collection

By Chase on February 4, 2013

I’m a huge fan of Vivian Maier’s work. When I heard that there was an exhibition of her work right in my backyard (over at PCNW) it made me want to share some insight. In this interview, Photo Center’s Rafael Soldi and Jeffrey Goldstein discuss the in’s and out’s of discovering, developing and managing this important collection. As a curator and an artist himself, Rafael is well-qualified to dive into this interview with fine art collector Goldstein. [Check out Rafael's blog here to see some of his work.] Take it away Rafael. – Chase

Thanks Chase. The Photo Center of NW is proud to announce an upcoming exhibition of photographs by Vivian Maier (1926 – 2009) from the Jeffrey Goldstein Collection.

Maier’s work was discovered in Chicago in 2007 when boxes of abandoned prints, negatives and undeveloped film were sold at auction. Starting in the late 1940s, she shot an average of a roll of film a day. Born in New York and raised in France, she moved to Chicago in the mid-1950s, and spent the next 40 years working as a nanny to support her passion for photography. Maier died at the age of 83 before her work was ever publically recognized or exhibited.

1. How did you stumble upon Vivian Maier and how did you come to acquire this large collection of her work?

Well, the short version is that I heard about Vivian Maier through the rumor mill at a Chicago flea market that I religiously attended every Sunday morning. I knew some of the original Vivian Maier buyers that attended the auction house where Maier’s works first appeared. One of the original Vivian Maier buyers owed me a substantial amount of money, and we decided to make good on the loan through my acceptance of 57 vintage Vivian Maier photographs. At the time, this decision held a fair amount of risk, word was just starting to spread and more often than not, “discovered” artwork doesn’t stand up long-term on its own merit. This transaction was my start. Sometime later another one of the original auction buyers and I connected, and I ended up acquiring an approximate total of 20,000 images.

2.What went through your head when you first dove into Vivian Maier’s imagery?

Regardless of medium, I tend to fall for “the image,” whether it is a drawing, painting, lithograph, etching, photograph or sculpture. There is a connected history of Chicago’s art scene from the 1950′s forward that I am partial to. I felt that Vivian Maier’s imagery fell in step with what I like. It’s a chord that struck my personal sensibilities, gritty and beautiful with a great care for composition. For me, wonderful visual metaphors come out of this particular combination. Too, the images contain a no nonsense, blue-collar worker’s approach that appeals to me.

Jeffrey Goldstein Vivian Maier Prints Inc.

3. What are some of the logistical, ethical and curatorial challenges that come with interpreting, sharing and producing work by an undiscovered, deceased artist as prolific as Vivian Maier?

This is the greatest of questions and one I have spent, with the help of others, honing down over the past 2 plus years. I have worked alongside some of Chicago’s best-known artists, gallery owners and art collectors for the past 30 years, until this project came along. This taught me that you have to make quality decisions throughout all aspects of handling a collection. I have also been an avid art collector since college and now I work toward making available in the Vivian Maier archive what I personally seek as a collector. Something of quality that’s as close to the artist’s hand as possible, even if that’s in the medium of multiples (prints).

There is an inherent responsibility that is different than anything else when you are handling a deceased artist’s work. It’s their legacy, not mine. There are hands-on ethical factors on how we approach the silver gelatin printing. We always stay with first generation negatives and never crop. We don’t sell any digital work and use no digital files to make corrections on the negatives. We’re very conservative and won’t even wash the negatives for fear of doing irreversible damage. Any issues are dealt with on the finished print only with hand spotting and etching done where needed. We stay true to the sensibilities of the time when the film was shot. Exhibition size was 12″ x 12″ and the print sensibilities tended to lean towards rich darks. The edition size of 15 is kept intentionally low as done with most good art prints of any serious artist. Ethically, we work hard to stay as true as we can with both the artist intentions and the medium.

The hardest part of the project, as with any project, is dealing with the money aspects. There is a notion out there that money bastardizes art, and I disagree. Anyone who makes art, needs materials, space, frames, shipping, art insurance, storage and so forth. Money is needed to solve these problems. Money well used is an incredible problem-solving tool. The logistics are immense and exciting. I’m with a small and tremendous dedicated group of talented people. Their individual indelible mark on the project gives us our successes. We treat this project like archaeology, careful not to disrupt or destroy, let the material speak for itself.

Jeffrey Goldstein Vivian Maier Prints Inc.

4. Vivian Maier was first and foremost an image-maker. She did not delve much into the darkroom; she did not exhibit her work or publish her photographs. How do you see your role now as a major figure in the dissemination of her images? What is the importance of the work your team is doing to bring her images to life?

There is fundamental understanding we all have had to come to, those in the project, the casual gallery goer and the collector. Vivian Maier, as far as we know, was not into printing. We feel that her images are worthy of printing so the question is how should we approach printing? The answer we feel works best contains our least personalized interpretation while staying rooted in the sensibilities of the time the film was shot. To a certain extent, we also factor in the sensibilities of the city that the artist lived in. It’s important that we make available an exceptional viewing experience featuring the work of a brilliant artist that was uniquely inspirational.

Jeffrey Goldstein Vivian Maier Prints Inc.

5. Tell us more about the book. How did it come about? How is it special compared to other Vivian Maier books out there?

The book deal for Vivian Maier, Out of the Shadows, took about 2 minutes to consummate. I meet with Richard Cahan and his business partner, Michael Williams in my kitchen surrounded by boxes of unsorted photos and negatives. Cahan was previously the photo editor for the Chicago Sun-Times for 17 years. Williams turned out to be one of the most visually poetic people I have come across. He is incredibly clever in putting pieces of a puzzle together in order to bring a visual story to life. The book cracks open the first inkling we have of who Vivian Maier was as a person. Also, it’s radical in showing the vast range of what she shot beyond her known street photography. The book shows how the ordinary captivated her and how she turned everyday things into something extraordinary. The first edition of 8000 has sold out and the 2nd printing is now available through the author’s site, cityfilespress.com. A limited amount of books from the first printing will be available at Photo Center NW.

Jeffrey Goldstein Vivian Maier Prints Inc.

6. How can we connect with Vivian Maier?

The best place to get the full force of Vivian Maier’s images is at the gallery shows. We are very pleased to partner up with Seattle’s Photo Center NW for a show that runs from the Feb 1 – March 28. An official opening date is set for Feb 15th. Photo Center staff can answer any questions you may have related to the show along with information on print and book sales. I think I can speak on behalf of the Photo Center, the authors of Vivian Maier, Out of the Shadows and the overall Vivian Maier project team, when I express a great appreciation for the public’s interest in acquiring prints or books. We consider these sales as a form of sponsorship that we need to continue to maintain the collection and to move the project forward. Please stay posted on PCNW’s site, pcnw.org, for the date and time of a book talk and slide show by Richard Cahan. We look forward to seeing you there! For print sales and additional information please contact Ann Pallesen, Photo Center Gallery Director, (206) 720-7222 x11

This video helps to illustrate the interview:

The Vivian Maier Photography Project from Aaron Cahan on Vimeo.

Jeffrey Goldstein Vivian Maier Prints Inc.

ChaseJarvis_Jeffrey Goldstein Vivian Maier Prints Inc.

Jeffrey Goldstein Vivian Maier Prints Inc.

← Older posts Newer posts →

Reality Bender — Interview with Street Artist that Transforms Sidewalks into 3-D Wonderland

Transparent Cameras – Photo Gallery of X-Rayed Cameras

Legendary Celebrity Photog Chris Buck + Musical Guest Hey Marseilles on cjLIVE – [RE-WATCH]

War & Fashion – Intellectual Exercise or Gut Punch?

From Obscurity to Internet Sensation — How Creatives Can Win the PR Game with Ryan Holiday

Photo History 101: Rare Color Photos of Paris in the Early 1900s

What You Need for Your Photography Business – [Guess What? It's Not a Camera]

100 Ideas that Changed Photography

Dream Photos and Proof That Our Mind is Made of Creative Gold [work of Ronen Goldman]

Digging Out — 30-Hour Timelapse of Northeast Storm NEMO… in 1 Minute

Best Album Art from the Past Year [19 images]

Hype Machines — the Photography + Art of Movie Posters [Academy Award Nominated/Winning]

Interview with a Collector — The Discovery and Legacy of the Vivian Maier Collection

Inspiration

Twitter

Side Projects

Thanks

popular by topic

Archives