Experiments with Color

Here are a few experiments that mix variations of color with random things I have around the house. The toys came from the "tree of fun," a fake tree in our living room where we retire miscellaneous items that should really be thrown away. Other items in the tree of fun include an old cell phone, mardi gras beads, a shamrock headband, a multi-colored slinky, a stuffed flamingo, and hot pink duck beads. Perhaps these will be the subjects of my next still life.

In the meantime, I thought these bits of color could brighten this dreary day in NYC. Check out the duckies and the piggy in my Etsy shop. Happy Friday!

 

Photographer Elad Lassry

 

Born in Tel Aviv, photographer Elad Lassry now lives and works in L.A. What you see here is just a small sampling of the amazing photography that he makes. I find this particular work most interesting because he is able to reinvent an everyday object by disconnecting it from common associations and putting it on display. He takes the glossy watch or the shimmering bottle of perfume from a commercial magazine ad and replaces that gloss and glam with a mundane item that suddenly tells an interesting story.

From vegetables to lit candles to figurines, he captivates us with the formality of the informal objects. He transforms the expected into the unexpected. The presentation is pretty fabulous, too: The photographs are no larger than a page in a magazine and each one is complimented by a matching bold-colored frame.

Christopher Bollen described Lassry’s work by saying, “It's as if Lassry isn't offering new images to a world—already drowning in them—he's bringing old ones back to give them a second act.”

 images via [Lugring Augustine], [David Kordansky Gallery], [MOMA]

The Loving Story at ICP

Here is an inspiring story of a courageous and dedicated couple who stood up for their rights to be together. Richard and Mildred Loving were an interracial couple who, after getting married in Washington, D.C., returned to Virginia to find that their home state considered the legal union a crime of miscegenation (mixing races). Bound by love, Richard and Mildred boldly fought for their cause until the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia overturned the country's miscegenation laws with a unanimous ruling in their favor.

The Loving Story, now on exhibit at ICP in New York, is a collection of twenty vintage prints by LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet. He spent two weeks with the couple, "waiting patiently for telling moments to emerge," and successfully captured the essence of the couple as a compassionate and devoted team. Richard and Mildred are a symbol of "love as an inalienable right." They believed in the strength of love, and their dedication to each other and their family is evident in these photographs.

via [ICP], [Lens]

Early Color by Saul Leiter

I am a huge fan of Saul Leiter's work, specifically his Early Color photographs. Leiter made his living as a fashion photographer in the 1950's and 60's but always continued making his own personal work as well. He liked to stroll the streets of New York and capture quiet, solitary moments in the city by observing the urban world without interrupting. He once said, "I spent a great deal of my life being ignored. I was always very happy that way. Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learned to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently. I simply looked at the world, not really prepared for anything."

His photographs involve innovative compositions, soft focus, reflections, and unexpected viewpoints. He is able to capture still moments in the city that are often overlooked in the chaos of everyday life. His use of fragmentation and reflections creates a depth that the viewer must work through—his photographs are "fragments of endless possibilities." The painterly feel to the images is due both to his formal training as an abstract painter as well as his love for buying expired film that would produce muted color variations within his images.

 

Images via Early Color by Saul Leiter and [Retronaut]