The last few weeks have been hectic, filled with 15 hour days, endless cups of coffee, frantic scribbling sessions in my notebooks coming more frequently, and trying to balance that all important work/fun ratio. However, I felt it was time to give all my blog readers the attention they have been lacking this month with an update to required reading that is long overdue.
The most minimalist and simply presented fashion blog I have seen since The Sartorialist, though Jak & jil is starting to give that blog a run for the money as my current favorite. Much like The Sartorialist, Jak & Jil is image based, capturing slices and impressions of fashion and style. But where The Sartorialist captures those beautiful random encounters with fashion on the street that he is so well known for, Jak & Jil is a little more twisted, and a little more aggressive in the styles they present, flashes of alternative and more extreme street styles are right at home among captures of models being prepped for the runway. I have always been a bit of a nerd about research and reading sources with interesting viewpoints. Jak & Jil has quickly risen to the top of my list.
Inspiration can come from anywhere, lately I have been fascinated by the work of South Korean painter Minjae Lee, his electrically colored rendition of faces have captivated me as well as his ability to use such simple figures to evoke such a response. His work is absolutely worth checking out, if for nothing else than the eye candy.
EDIT: His site currently seems to be down, but you can see several examples of his work HERE, HERE, HERE And HERE
Sad, insightful, rude, funny, and poignant, Letters to dead people has quickly become one of the favorites of my morning read. The format is simple, a well designed block of white text on a black field, deliver a quick, to the point statement about a well known dead figure. Some of my Favorites are: Sigmund Freud, Victor Hugo, Ayn Rand, and Freddie Mercury.
I have a style piece in this month’s issue of Auxiliary Magazine called Metropolis Andorgyne, featuring beauty looks combining forward looking androgynous style with a hint of glam rock. A smaller piece, but I think its memorable because the only shoot I have ever had to do with almost no voice, having hurt my throat when I was sick earlier this month. Illness aside, I was lucky to work with two very talented models; Katie and Marie, who brought a lot to the collaboration, as well as my styling team of Kristin and Shianne.
Now that I have finally recovered from the respiratory infection and throat injury that have kept me out of commission the past few days, I wanted to share the final version of the small promotional video I shot and edited together for Supreme General. Getting used to working with motion has been quite the learning experience, I know theres some kinks to work out but Im excited to keep moving forward with it.
A short behind the scenes preview at a shoot I recently worked on for Auxiliary Magazine’s february issue. I have discovered that my Kinoflos do great double duty in terms of lighting both still and motion pieces, and were used extensively on both aspects of this project.
I’m wrapping up work on my first video project, a short promotional video for Supreme General. Just wanted to get a quick video capture up to give you all a preview.
• The 99 percent has a new article up all about the importance of the word “no” to your creative business and using it to maintain your creative focus from project to project. Rather than spreading yourself too thin, follow through is the key to project completion and keeping simplicity a part of your workflow.
• With all the changes hitting the publication and magazine world, its time that we started looking towards new concepts for the future. One that has really grabbed my attention and support is Mag+. Check out the concept video and mission statement behind this new idea in rich content delivery with the simplicity of an e-reader here.
• If you are not reading Heather Morton’s blog yet, you should be. This art buy based out of Toronto provides insights from the other side of the line to photographers. her latest pieces of note include a discussion on Art buyers moving into the world of representing artists, An article on the importance of branding in photography and relating it to your vision, and her take on the essence of successful photography.
• The crew over at Dripbook is hosting a series about leveraging linkedin.com in intelligent ways to develop extremely targeted marketing lists. Check out the first installment on their blog
• A preview from V Magazine’s Size issue, beautiful work from Sølve Sundsbo brings us stunning images of plus size models from a great high fashion publication.
As I sit here in the post New Years eve chaos that is my apartment (There are house fires that look more orderly) I have been thinking a lot about new years resolutions and how futile they often are. For many people its a matter of giving themselves a task with no real goal. “Im going to lose weight” instead of “I am going to lose x pounds over y time.” For creatives it may be something that sounds like “I am going to leverage social media to make x dollars this year” or “I will book those three large wish list clients in the first business quarter of 2010″ As well intentioned and noble all of these self promises may be, I think that sometimes we lose sight of some of the important aspects of what we do. making grandiose promises that should be goals to work towards rather than the deal breaker promises we blindly make to ourselves.
I have made myself two resolutions this year which I have tried to temper with a good dose of reality and good advice from others. they are:
“I will shoot at least 2 self directed projects a month for myself to bolster my portfolio and attract clients”
I think that many photographers and creatives get caught up in frenzy of social media, marketing, branding, and market placement. While all of the above are important aspects of being a photographer in this new decade , they mean very little without the work to back it up. We should always be striving to create better images, to push our limits, and to create pictures that we truly love. Its hard to sell a product that you don’t believe in, by pushing yourself to make images that matter to you, you make it that much easier to make images that matter to your clients. Remember what Steve Martin said “The best way to make it is to be undeniably good”
“I will willingly make mistakes and fail more often”
Its only when we fail that we learn. Not every single shoot we do for ourselves has to result in portfolio images. Its so important to get out and experiment, have fun with your work, push limits, break boundaries, try new techniques, fail, realize your mistakes, correct them, and move on as a better photographer, illustrator, editor, writer… whatever. Its when you get to point that you stop learning and stop teaching yourself that you really start to lose your edge, and there is no excuse for it, not in this age where information is freely available, where peer review is abundant and democratic, and where we have more control over our creative output than ever. This resolution directly effects the first. I will be trying new techniques and workflows, new ways of looking at images, and at how I create these images.
While it has been a tumultuous holiday season, there is a lot to look forward to as well. I am in the process of launching a new brand identity, which may already be apparent to some of the regular visitors to this blog and my website. I’ll be talking about this process in the coming weeks as well as continuing to work with my fantastic new designer Nubby Twiglet on a variety of new brand and marketing elements, I’m ecstatic to be working with a professional designer after years of taking care of my design needs myself. I am also a lot more conscious of presentation and how to get my work in front of the right people, I have met some people lately that have given me some great advice on how to best do that. Moving into 2010 is a time thats filled with excitement. For a lot of people this is a significant era, its filled with possibility, uncertainty and opportunity, I can’t wait to see what the new decade has in store.
A question: what creative resolutions have the rest of you made this year?
A quick image from a project I am wrapping up. I so rarely get the chance to work in black and white when doing beauty work, it was a nice change of pace. There is an astonishing amount of hair in this image, much more than the crop here would lead you to believe.
