Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Brandon Stanton, a.k.a. Humans of New York. I have been following him on Facebook for years and watched him go from snapping the average passerby on the streets of New York, to going around the world to feature real stories of real people from over 20 countries, following causes, meeting refugees, and, basically, changing people's lives as well as the world a little bit at a time.
Which is why when I found out that, just like last year, HONY was going to be at the Met Gala, I was only waiting to see what he would come up with this time. While the press avidly howls at the celebrities our on the red carpet and paparazzi snapped juicy candids inside, Brandon skips on frivolous details such as what designer they're wearing or who they are currently dating, and he just finds the right questions to make anyone open up about their dreams, fears and aspirations. As per his usual format, his subjects are the focal point of the picture and each photograph is left anonymous and only accompanied by one simple quote that he extracted from their chats, which can last up to 10 minutes. I love how he included such a various range of Met personalities, not only high-profile celebrities the likes of Nicole Kidman and Elon Musk, but also employers and less "famous" faces.
All photographs via Brandon Stanton.
Which is why when I found out that, just like last year, HONY was going to be at the Met Gala, I was only waiting to see what he would come up with this time. While the press avidly howls at the celebrities our on the red carpet and paparazzi snapped juicy candids inside, Brandon skips on frivolous details such as what designer they're wearing or who they are currently dating, and he just finds the right questions to make anyone open up about their dreams, fears and aspirations. As per his usual format, his subjects are the focal point of the picture and each photograph is left anonymous and only accompanied by one simple quote that he extracted from their chats, which can last up to 10 minutes. I love how he included such a various range of Met personalities, not only high-profile celebrities the likes of Nicole Kidman and Elon Musk, but also employers and less "famous" faces.
All photographs via Brandon Stanton.
 |
| “From the moment he could speak, he could discuss.” |
 |
| "I'm afraid we're moving toward an environmental apocalypse where everyone is going to be living in slums and I'm going to be a 60-year-old woman gasping for breath." |
 |
| "We always tell each other: 'Whatever form you came in, I'd love you.'" |
 |
| "I'm a fashion associate. I come from a family of doctors and lawyers, so I do feel frivolous at times. Fashion is a luxury. I know that everyone gets dressed in the morning, so clothing is a necessity, but a dress like this is not even for the one percent—it's for the .001 percent. But there's something magical about that. When I was a little girl, I put pictures of these dresses on my bedroom wall. It's what I aspired to. And this dress was somebody's dream and vision. Fifty artisans spent thousands of hours making this. That doesn't seem frivolous to me. That seems like servitude and artistry. It's people doing what they love." |
 |
| "I grew up in India where a woman got married, settled down, and kept a house. I never thought I’d do anything different. I lived a very sheltered existence. I went to a British school, then a women’s college, and then I met my husband. I assumed that I’d be taken care of for the rest of my life. But shortly after we came to America, my husband slipped into a coma and lingered for another 15 years. We had a small child at the time. I’d never worked before, except for a part-time job in the bookshop at the Met. I was a very quiet person. And suddenly I had to make all of the decisions. I had to get a full-time job. It was empowering. I learned that I could be fearless, I could be angry, and I could fight. These were three things that I'd never had to do before. I was thinking recently that if my husband had lived, he might not have liked who I’ve become." |
 |
| "We started dating shortly after she acquired a stalker—bad start, I know. So she had security with her 24/7. Our first date went great. It was the kind of night that was clearly going to end with a kiss. But I had to kiss her in front of the security guards. It was awkward. It was like our parents were watching. The next morning she knocked on my hotel room door. She was alone. She walked into the room and said: 'I can do better.'" |
Who thought dance and flour could make such an amazing combination?
Lately, after attending a series of lectures about photoshoot ideas and how to turn ingenious concepts into simple but effective low-tech solutions, I have been looking at photographs and editorials under a different light. Even after coming to a decision with my group about our perfume brand photoshoot, I was still on the lookout for creative ideas to keep as a reference for future projects. I have to admit, having never been in a studio on the other side of the camera, I wasn't sure whether I would like being an art director for a while, but it actually turned out to be pretty fun! I'm not sure if this is the path I would want to go on, but it is definitely something I will enjoy exploring more throughout my degree, which is why I've been avidly collecting inspiring images on my Pinterest (look out for my #art direction boards at the bottom!).
I came across this particular series by Russian dance photographer Alexander Yakovlev and completely fell in love with them. After admiring them for a while I immediately felt the urge to reproduce them, and, keeping in mind Tim's advice on "photoshoot cheats", noticed right away how the whole idea was based around a very simple concept to recreate: the use of movement and flour.
I love the smoky, almost ethereal consistency of the flour, and how it seems to elongate the ballerinas' beautiful movements in the air. I believe that the elusive quality of the flours would be suited really well to a fragrance ad, and the way it blurs with the models' bodies links it with the idea of scent and identity and whatever meaning it might carry. Maybe I just have a thing for conceptual visuals, but I found myself wishing I were able to use this trick in our ad.
Another reason why I felt this was a rather serendipitous discovery is that I recently found out that for our summer activity we will have the chance to work on a live project with a brand! And as we got to pick, I decided to go with this brand called Dance4 and focus on the relationship between fashion and dance. I'm not sure what exactly this project will entail as we haven't been briefed yet, but I just thought it was pretty interesting and I have to admit I am pretty excited to find out more.
I highly recommend checking out his other work both on his website and his instagram! I am hoping to write soon something about my other idea for a perfume brand which in the end my group and I didn't go for, but that I really really liked so, even if the module is almost over, I am not quite ready to give up on yet. And I must say this guy's work has really inspired me in terms of visuals and aesthetics for this brand. So stay tuned to see more on that!
B x
Lately, after attending a series of lectures about photoshoot ideas and how to turn ingenious concepts into simple but effective low-tech solutions, I have been looking at photographs and editorials under a different light. Even after coming to a decision with my group about our perfume brand photoshoot, I was still on the lookout for creative ideas to keep as a reference for future projects. I have to admit, having never been in a studio on the other side of the camera, I wasn't sure whether I would like being an art director for a while, but it actually turned out to be pretty fun! I'm not sure if this is the path I would want to go on, but it is definitely something I will enjoy exploring more throughout my degree, which is why I've been avidly collecting inspiring images on my Pinterest (look out for my #art direction boards at the bottom!).
I came across this particular series by Russian dance photographer Alexander Yakovlev and completely fell in love with them. After admiring them for a while I immediately felt the urge to reproduce them, and, keeping in mind Tim's advice on "photoshoot cheats", noticed right away how the whole idea was based around a very simple concept to recreate: the use of movement and flour.
I love the smoky, almost ethereal consistency of the flour, and how it seems to elongate the ballerinas' beautiful movements in the air. I believe that the elusive quality of the flours would be suited really well to a fragrance ad, and the way it blurs with the models' bodies links it with the idea of scent and identity and whatever meaning it might carry. Maybe I just have a thing for conceptual visuals, but I found myself wishing I were able to use this trick in our ad.
Another reason why I felt this was a rather serendipitous discovery is that I recently found out that for our summer activity we will have the chance to work on a live project with a brand! And as we got to pick, I decided to go with this brand called Dance4 and focus on the relationship between fashion and dance. I'm not sure what exactly this project will entail as we haven't been briefed yet, but I just thought it was pretty interesting and I have to admit I am pretty excited to find out more.
I highly recommend checking out his other work both on his website and his instagram! I am hoping to write soon something about my other idea for a perfume brand which in the end my group and I didn't go for, but that I really really liked so, even if the module is almost over, I am not quite ready to give up on yet. And I must say this guy's work has really inspired me in terms of visuals and aesthetics for this brand. So stay tuned to see more on that!
B x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)