Photography | artistvenu

Phantom Clouds Descend from the Sky in Vorja Sánchez’s Illustrated Photos

October 30, 2021 (updated June 24, 2022) Published by artistvenu

Image © Vorja Sánchez, shared with permission

In Vorja Sánchez’s ghostly dreamworld, spectral creatures plunge from the sky with long, wispy appendages that grasp onto the landscape. The Barcelona-based artist and illustrator (previously) disrupts otherwise peaceful photos with the massive forms that haunt unsuspecting hikers and farm animals as they peek out from behind a hill or congregate in airborne groups. Prints of the playfully illustrated phantoms are available in Sánchez’s shop, and you can find more from the series on Instagram.

View more images here…

Stunning Shots from the 2021 Close-Up Photographer of the Year Competition Unveil Nature’s Minuscule Details

October 27, 2021 (updated October 27, 2021) Published by artistvenu

Andy Sand’s “Lachnum niveum”

Salamander silhouettes, an ant clutching a snack, and the diverse findings of an unintentional insect trap are a few of the winners of the 2021 Close-Up Photographer of the Year contest (previously). Now in its third year, the global competition garnered more than 9,000 entries across 55 countries, an incredible selection that unveils the stunning and minuscule details of the natural world. See some of our favorite shots below, and view all winners on the contest’s site. (via Kottke)

Read the full article here…

Legendary Cinematographer Roger Deakins on Getting Rejected from Film School and Releasing His First Book of Photographs at 72

September 29, 2021 (updated June 24, 2022) Published by artistvenu

Roger Deakins, Paignton Lion and the Gull (2015). © Roger A. Deakins

Shortly before Roger Deakins sat down for this interview about his new book of photographs, Byways, the cinematographer received an email from director Denis Villeneuve, with whom he’d worked on Blade Runner 2049.

“I can see it’s you,” Deakins recalled Villeneuve saying about the book, meaning that he recognized the eye behind the images.

I can too. Embedded throughout Byways, published this month by Damiani, are many of the Deakins hallmarks made famous by his lens work for directors including Sam Mendes and the Coen brothers, and in such acclaimed films as The Shawshank Redemption and Skyfall. In the book, the yawning highways and wind-whipped hills from a set of shots taken outside Albuquerque seem to recall the landscapes of No Country for Old Men, for instance, while a handful of bleached-out Norwegian vistas put Fargo front of mind.

Read the full article here…

A Short Film Dives into the 15-Year Process Behind the Documentary ‘Fantastic Fungi’

September 5, 2021 (updated June 24, 2022) Published by artistvenu

We shared footage of the mesmerizing mycelium networks pulsing underneath our feet back in 2019 to mark the opening of Louie Schwartzberg’s Fantastic Fungi, and now the dedicated director takes viewers behind the scenes to show his painstaking process. Filmed throughout a 15-year period in his home studio, Schwartzberg’s timelapses zero in on myriad spores as they burst open, sprawl in every direction, and morph in color and texture. They’re a compelling visual representation of time and nature’s cyclical processes, which he explores in a new short film produced by WIRED.

Read the full article here…

Making It: Getting Started with Cyanotypes

September 1, 2021 (updated June 24, 2022) Published by artistvenu

ULF SAUPE

Artist Eric William Carroll describes cyanotypes as the “photographic versions of finger painting: They’re tactile, child friendly, and yield immediate satisfaction.” Watching the process unfold, he says, “is equal parts magic and nostalgia.”

A variety of camera-less photograph, the cyanotype was invented in 1842 by astronomer and scientist John Herschel. Some of the best-known examples of cyanotypes are those made by British botanist Anna Atkins (1799–1871); Herschel was a family friend who taught her the technique. Atkins used cyanotype printing to produce accurate images of her botanical specimens, and her 1843 book, Part 1 of British Algae—thought to be the first book of photographs ever made—pioneered photography as a medium for scientific illustration.

Read the full article here…

recycling an inheritance

August 19, 2021 (updated August 19, 2021) Published by jayInStudio

when the mother of my late partner, john reuter-pacyna, fled germany during WWII, she took only her most valuable belongings. they were limited to two suitcases. amazingly, one of the things she took was a 12-volume set of german encyclopedias attempting to show all the animals that lived on all continents, and in all of the oceans and seas.

i inherited that set of heavy tomes from john, and would sometimes leaf through them. the quality of the images was exceptional. all were original etchings and lithographs. with old-style german lettering that was nearly impossible to decipher. but i knew they couldn’t stay in my bookcase forever. something good had to come of them.

i ended up donating the complete set to my sister, chery baird. and she ended up producing 4 wonderful series of collages using their illustrations. she even deciphered the german enough to look up the animals in english, and added that information to the back of each collage!

Inspiring Art Topic Discussion Like This with Me & "Private" Community Artist Members

$12 Subscription gives you full-access to a growing vault of art related content with deep and personal comments from other artists, and more... at your finger tips. Click here to join before the subscription increase!

the four series which resulted were: Zoo Zone, Menagerie, Wildlife Preserve, and Dictionary Of Marks.

the Zoo Zone series use only black and white etchings, combined with chery-made papers, and are very wide: 7 x 26″.

the Menagerie series use only the beautiful old colored lithographs, painstakingly created before the advent of color-separation technology. those are 8 x 12″, or 12 x 8″, depending on their orientation.

the Wildlife Preserve series use the large black and white etchings. those are also 8 x 12″, or 12 x 8″, depending on their orientation.

the Dictionary Of Marks series are collages made from the small cut leftovers, arranged abstractly.

i am incredibly pleased that this inheritance has been used in such a creative fashion, and will enrich the lives of the many people who will acquire these collages. a fitting tribute to john reuter-pacyna’s mother’s preservation of them – against all odds!

From Blockchain to Browser: Exhibiting NFTS, Part One

August 16, 2021 (updated June 24, 2022) Published by artistvenu

Shi Zheng, Free Fall Study III, video, 4 min.; in “The Long Cut.”

This past winter, the NFT hype cycle touted the emergence of an art market without gatekeepers, where value was determined by creators and collectors—often the same people—rather than dealers, curators, and advisers who maintain authority by limiting access. But as the market grows it seems like stakeholders in the community have realized that well-kept gates have a wayfinding function. They help audiences navigate a complex field. Artists, galleries, and other interested parties are investing energy in selection, aggregation, and presentation—activities are known as “curation,” even if they’re performed without aspects of the old-school gatekeepers’ curatorial work, like historical scholarship and conservation.

Read the full article here…

Made on a Boat, a Photographer’s Dreamy Views of the Sea

August 2, 2021 (updated August 2, 2021) Published by artistvenu

Paul Rousteau, “Lincoln Sea,” from Seascapes

In the spring of 2019, the French Embassy in Australia invited the French photographer Paul Rousteau to spend 12 days living and making artwork on a sailing boat in the Coral Sea. This atypical artist residency turned Rousteau into an active crew member of the boat, working to keep it on course, and sometimes maneuvering it through the night. In a recent email to Hyperallergic, Rousteau reflected that “Living at sea, surrounded by the elements, without internet, without material comfort, night and day, was a strong and unforgettable experience.”

At first, Rousteau took daily photographs of the sea with his camera. But he quickly found that the process fell short in capturing the vividness of the light, water, and air that surrounded him. “The camera breaks up and locks up reality,” Rousteau said. “So I started to modify my camera.

Read the full article here…

How Not to Take a Picture: In a New Book, Alec Soth, Taryn Simon, and 200 Others Share the Subjects They Would Never, Ever Photograph

August 2, 2021 (updated August 2, 2021) Published by artistvenu

Alec Soth, Ed Panar, Pittsburgh (2019) from Photo No-Nos: Meditations on What Not to Photograph(Aperture, 2021). © Alec Soth/Magnum Photo

“Death.” “Dogs.” “Sunsets.” “The Hidden Faces of The Moon.” “The Distorting Lens of the Colonial Machine.”

These are some of the entries you’ll find in Photo No-Nos, a sort of encyclopedia of all the subjects deemed off-limits by more than 200 contemporary photographers, writers, and curators. Among the experts offering their personal “no-nos” are well-known contemporary artists such as Sara Cwynar, Roe Ethridge, and Taryn Simon.

Arranged alphabetically, from “Abandoned Buildings” to “Zoom Screenshots,” the book’s list of subjects are broken up by longer passages from contributors elaborating on a particular subject or theme. For Alec Soth, “Cemeteries” tops the list of banned subjects; for Lyle Ashton Harris, it’s “Landscapes.” Eva O’Leary avoids photographing people from above, especially other women. “This way of seeing caters to the male gaze,” she writes.

Read the full article here…

Clusters of Bright Balloons Envelop Photographer Fares Micue in Her Expressive Self-Portraits

July 30, 2021 (updated June 24, 2022) Published by artistvenu

“Chasing illusions”

In her ongoing series of self-portraits, Spain-based photographer and artist Fares Micue (previously) trades her usual monarchs and lush, leafy botanicals for bright airborne balloons. The perfectly round vessels appear suspended in motion as they encircle Micue’s torso, conceal her face, or lead her up a painted stairway. The amorphous clusters follow the artist’s distinct use of color, adding either a stark contrast to her clothing and the backdrop or blending with the existing architectural palette.

Rad the full article here…

Category: Photography

Phantom Clouds Descend from the Sky in Vorja Sánchez’s Illustrated Photos

Stunning Shots from the 2021 Close-Up Photographer of the Year Competition Unveil Nature’s Minuscule Details

Legendary Cinematographer Roger Deakins on Getting Rejected from Film School and Releasing His First Book of Photographs at 72

A Short Film Dives into the 15-Year Process Behind the Documentary ‘Fantastic Fungi’

Making It: Getting Started with Cyanotypes

recycling an inheritance

Inspiring Art Topic Discussion Like This with Me & "Private" Community Artist Members

From Blockchain to Browser: Exhibiting NFTS, Part One

Made on a Boat, a Photographer’s Dreamy Views of the Sea

How Not to Take a Picture: In a New Book, Alec Soth, Taryn Simon, and 200 Others Share the Subjects They Would Never, Ever Photograph

Clusters of Bright Balloons Envelop Photographer Fares Micue in Her Expressive Self-Portraits

Photography & Digital Art

Recent Posts