The Selby visits the Berlin apartment of fellow B&A artist Olaf Hajek. The illustrator currently divides his time between the apartment in the Mitte borough of Berlin and London and New York. The Selby photographed details in the apartment including a wall covered in chalkboard paint, statues and artifacts from Hajek’s travels, and framed artwork including a collection of twenty-three frames with sayings that include the word “Run” in them. Hajek also answered one of The Selby’s famous hand-written Q&As. He drew a map of his favorite spots in Mitte, illustrated his own version of the German flag, and offered up his favorite things about South Africa, Berlin, and New York City. Hajek comments he has long been a fan of The Selby’s blog and was thrilled to be included on it. He adds, “I love the way how he shows people in their homes and the way he portraits them.”

See more of The Selby’s photography here.

See Olaf Hajek’s illustration portfolio here.

Hot off a NYC press the first B&A Journal ships today.  The newspaper style journal presents iconic images from our artists and photographers.  B&A teamed up with the Brooklyn Brothers on the project.  Stephen Rutterford, Creative Director at Brooklyn Brothers comments, “As an Art Director I think it will be refreshing to receive something tactile and non digital for a change.”

Please visit the Journal online.

Brian Doben has been capturing Nashville’s famous recording artists for over a decade. His photographs of Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, and Reba McEntire among others have been featured in People and People Country Stars magazines on several occasions. For his latest project, Doben has shifted his focus to the city’s up-and-coming talents. “Project Nashville” captures musicians who are making the journey towards stardom and hoping for fame like their predecessors.

The inspiration for the project came from a recent shoot with Keith Urban where he talked about how he got his start in Nashville. Doben realized there was a project in Nashville to explore new talent. He captured up-and-coming artists such as DB Harris, Delta Saints, Nora Jane, Space Capone, and Phil Hummer and the White Falcone. Many of the famous musicians that Doben has shot have returned to the city to play with the newer talent.  The project is ongoing and Doben is eager to capture more of Nashville’s next stars.

See more images from “Project Nashville” here.

Stuart Hall has spent the past two years capturing glacial melting in Greenland. The project is a continuation of previous work in which he had photographed the glacial melting in Iceland. A 2010 article by Click Green on record ice cap melting in Greenland inspired Hall. Researchers from the University of St Andrews, the University of Aberystwyth and Ohio State University had monitored the breakup of a large portion of the region’s largest glacier, likely caused by climate changes. Hall wanted to record the icebergs that had broken away.

Hall traveled to east and northeast Greenland starting in early 2009 and photographed the glaciers throughout the changing seasons. Freezing conditions, high seas, and fog prevented him from photographing on many days. Hall was interested in the effect the melting has on industry and the environment. Icebergs make it difficult to set rigs for oil and gas.

See more of Stuart Hall’s photography here.

Ever since he was a child, Sergio del Puerto has been trying to make still lifes with his toys. His love of creating pleasing compositions out of everyday materials has translated into his design firm, Serial Cut. Established in 1999, Serial Cut delivers quality art direction, illustration, animation, 3D rendering, and graphic design.

Pictured above is one of Serial Cut’s newest works, a reinterpretation of the MTV logo to promote The Hard Times of RJ Berger. The MTV comedy series follows the daily life of a well-endowed teenager. Debuting in summer 2010, MTV has renewed the series for a second series to begin in 2011. Serial Cut turns the recognizable “M” into a set of hairy legs underneath a pair of underwear showcasing a generous bulge. Special guest

Typoburger
Client: Burger King Germany

Serial Cut builds a mouthwatering burger out of tasty letters highlighting the fresh ingredients that Burger King uses. Special guest designer: Jimmy Andersson.

Spanish Ham Roll
Client: Icex

This image was published as a poster in ICEX’s annual magazine Diseño. Parma Ham uncurls itself into an “S” to promote Spanish design in the UK. Special guest designer: Jimmy Andersson.

Aztec Fruits
Personal Project

Serial Cut pays homage to the great masters of painting. Aztec designs are worked into a QR code. Special guest designer: Jimmy Andersson.

Rockoil
Personal Project

Serial Cut’s visual explanation of the word “Rockoil,” a mixture of lowpoly rock mountain versus a prominent oily surface. Special guest designer: Jimmy Andersson

fail-ure
A Serial Cut brand

Fail-ure, a Serial Cut brand, is a collection of everyday knits with eye-catching graphics in bold colors.

Making of The Brilliant Design Lecture

Low-fi objects and materials are transformed into a fun graphic for The Brilliant Design Lecture, an all-day event featuring special speakers in the simulation of a retro TV game show. Photographer: Paloma Rincón.

Links:
Serial Cut
Serial Cut at Bernstein & Andriulli
Serial Cut feature on Trendland

Am I Collective’s ESPN posters for the World Cup were so popular, fans were “practically hammering down [their] doors for some of the posters as souvenirs for the World Cup.” Thanks to high demand, Am I Collective presents a commemorative poster celebrating Spain’s victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Download the high-res file here for free.

Links:
Am I Collective Blog
Am I Collective portfolio

For the past few months Kareem Black has been documenting his nightlife escapades with a special section on his website entitled /LIFE. Whereas his commercial work is what he shoots during the day, /LIFE is Kareem Black uncut and unbridled in the evening – dirty Chinatown toilets, flowing Champagne in dingy dive bars, and girls riding inflatable fish balloons.

When New York Magazine approached Black to photograph a story on the hotel nightlife scene in New York, the extension of his /LIFE project in a new environment was only natural. Jackie Ladner of New York Magazine explains, “I could see from the free style of Kareem’s ‘Life’ section on his site that he had a positive spirit and a strength. Though this shoot was a slight challenge (July 4th weekend and the hottest day), his way with people made him perfect for an assignment that required him to step into a room, capture people unguarded having a great time as if they all knew each other, and with an amazing eye for details, found moments that were so familiar yet still alluring.”

Black toured The Standard, Hotel Gansevoort, The Bowery Hotel, Gramercy Park Hotel, and Ace Hotel for the story “Checkout Time is 4A.M.”. Says Jonathan Van Meter in New York Magazine, “After decades of irrelevancy—the last place on Earth most New Yorkers would go to be at the center of it all—hotels have become, for better or worse, a cultural force in the city again.”

Whether it be rooftop bar, a lounge on the 18th floor, or a lobby, hotel impresarios André Balazs, Ian Schrager, Michael Achenbaum, and partners Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson have crafted a nightlife market that calls to New Yorkers with their stylish design and sense of escapism. However, the saturation of boutique hotels is in danger of putting themselves out of business. Comments Schrager to Van Meter, “The risk is that these unique hotels that we did become the rule rather than the exception.”

Kareem Black: /LIFE

Trends come and go but Kareem Black will always be there to capture the scene. Notes Black, “Life happens. I always have my camera ready so as not to miss it, or let it pass me by as it were. I find myself asking to hang out with and document total strangers. The project is endless because at the end of the day its a document of my life. /Life is how I have fun now and I never want to forget this time.”

-Helen Shih

Read the full story at New York Magazine
View more work by Kareem Black

“Everyone has stuff they care or obsess about,” states Michael Warren. He asks people to bring their most treasured objects, dead, alive, or somewhere in-between for his “Somebodies” project. The only requirement for the objects is that they are able to be carried by hand. The results run the gamut – a boy brings his favorite toys, a father brings used tissues of his late wife, and a sculptor brings a mysteriously formed rock. Each week on Warren’s “Somebodies” blog a new portrait will be posted with that person’s object of value. The chosen objects give insight into each person as the viewer learns about what makes the objects so precious.

Pictured above:

“Hi I’m Lisa

The trash that I’ve brought today is from the beaches of Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth Rhode Island. It shouldn’t be there so I pick it up.”

Tidbit:
This is the also the area of the state in which I live. I became passionate about the trash when I became involved with the Surfrider Foundation in Rhode Island.

My name is Ayden

I am 6 years old.
Today I brought some of my Bakugans.
I don’t know why I like them, I just do.

Thank you.

My name is Ron and today I brought Kleenexes of my late wife Lisa.

The joke that we had, (which really wasn’t a joke) was the fact that she was always blowing her nose and leaving the Kleenexes all over the place. I’d find them in the bed, on the bed, in the sofa, and on the sofa. She’d just blow her nose and leave the Kleenex and I would always complain, “Don’t you know what a wastebasket looks like?”

One time she said, “Well one of these days I’m not going to be around and you’re going to find one of these Kleenex and you are going to feel sorry for giving me such a hard time about them.”

Ironically, that was the case, because Lisa died suddenly of septic shock.

After she died, I was going through some of her bathrobes and found these Kleenexes. I just laughed because I remembered the conversation we had and I never thought that she would die.

When something like this happens you just want to keep things. Anything.

It’s weird because since she was cremated I couldn’t get a lock of her hair. I have some of her hairbrushes with a little of her hair. I actually cleaned the bathtub that was clogged, so I have a ‘clog’ of her hair.

But the Kleenexes are the only things that really I know she touched on this planet so I keep them.

It’s strange, but what can you do?”

Tidbit:

The young girl the picture is our daughter Kiki. She was only three when she lost her mom.

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If Warren had to choose one object, it would be a wisteria bloom from his back porch. “After 18 years of never producing flowers, the tree finally decided to bloom this spring,” explains Warren. View more of Michael Warren’s “Somebodies” project.

Stewart Cohen’s book Identity examines a series of subjects and what makes them unique as individuals. The monograph is compromised of 50 portraits, to which each person Cohen poses the question, “What makes you unique as an individual?” The hand-written answers are displayed on the facing page, giving each portrait a personal touch.

Cohen doggedly pursued characters for his project for over a decade, some were the result of hours of faxing and letter-writing, others happened serendipitously. There are rock and blues legends such as John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, and Edgar Winter. Artists such as Ed Ruscha, Jenny Holzer, Fiona Rae, and Andrew Bennett hold court. Lest we forget those who advanced the sciences such as Jack S. Kilby, Jane Goodall, and Stephen Hawking. Playwrights, novelists, directors, architects, musicians, actors, and many more characters grace the pages of Cohen’s book.

Cohen was asked what drove him to make this book, and he responded “My quest is to find authentic human stories. I feel like reality is a lot stranger than we think it could ever be. When I photograph people I ask them a lot of questions and they tell stories that can’t be made up – that’s what keeps me going.”

When it came to choosing his subjects, no one was out of the question. There were demoralizing times when he would receive 10 or 20 polite declines in a row, but he kept pushing to find the next subject.

“Today people have so many publicists and handlers,” he lamented, “as the years go by, people become more and more guarded.” Those who agreed to be in the book were doing so on their own volition, volunteering their time and day to Cohen and he was able to talk to his subjects at length.

Cohen concludes, “The more you read the book, I hope you realize that everyone has their own goals and dreams; and that whatever direction you choose it is completely within your grasp. There’s so many choices that we can make in our life.”

Please join us for the artist reception and book signing for Stewart Cohen: Identity, A photographic meditation from the inside out

PDNB gallery
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 8, 2010. 6-9pm
Exhibition: April 8 – 14th, 2010

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Links:
Preview the book at Dream Editions Press
Learn more at Stewart Cohen’s blog
View Stewart Cohen’s portfolio

Haveric spent about half a year developing the app, working on it whenever he had free time from his busy shooting schedule. The user-friendly interface is simple and easy to navigate. The app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Stills of the app below.

Links:
Purchase the iphone app for FREE
View Emir Haveric’s portfolio

Kareem Black was in Haiti March 5th – 11th, 2010 with six other creatives from New York City on behalf of Healing Haiti and Print for Change. Their trip was made possible thanks to a generous donation from BBDO. The group calls themselves “The Sept,” or “The Seven,” and consists of photographers Wyatt Gallery and Alessandro Simonetti, writer Adam Reeves, writer and director Eugene Fuller, and illustrator and EVP of DesignWorks at BBDO, Craig Duffney.

The group visited orphanages, helped deliver water, and documented their time in Haiti – taking photos, shooting video, and talking to locals. Black was candid about life in Haiti, stating, “There’s no garbage disposal, no local police force or army, they burn garbage and bodies, there’s sewage in the streets, pigs eating the sewage, and children playing with the pigs.”

In the midst of volunteering, Black and the others quickly became aware that there was no easy nor permanent solution to the current situation in Haiti. Without money or passports, it is difficult to leave the stricken island. The lack of infrastructure exacerbates problems and housing solutions are still meager as many people camp out in tents.

And yet, “I don’t want to record death and destruction – everybody knows that story,” says Black. Instead, Black chose to focus on the people, especially children, because “[they] are the hope and future of the nation.” He furthers, “I want to give the culture some sort of dignity.”

In Black’s photos and videos taken by the group, one can see that people are still able to smile and dance and enjoy themselves. In a small nation that has born the brunt of a natural disaster, there is still beauty and joy to be held. Children, especially, reacted energetically to Black’s camera, overjoyed at seeing their image displayed on the screen of his digital camera.

The group aims to take all of their footage, photos, and experiences and assemble a book and/or show with all proceeds going to charity. They want to tell their story and inspire others to give back to Haiti, whether that’s writing a check, volunteering, or donating tools for growth and learning such as cameras and personal computers. Reflects Black, “It’s very easy to lose hope – I almost did, but this is our way of helping Haiti one day at a time.”

-Helen Shih

From September 2008 to August 2009, Matthew Monteith was a fellow at the American Academy in Rome. The Academy awards one-year fellowships to four visual artists each year and recently, they created the Abigail Cohen Rome Prize in photography, specifically enabling one photographer to live at the academy while working on a project. Monteith was interested in investigating how different institutions shape the way people look at art. While in Rome, he chose to make a series of images dealing with the odd disconnect of viewing art in a hermetic environment.

With the question, “What does it mean to view art, to be educated, to be able to see the world?” in mind, Monteith followed art students, designers, scholars, tourists, and others around Rome. He visited gardens, museums, public spaces, and churches. “I was trying to describe a viewer’s paradise,” says Monteith. “This place of looking and spending time truly considering something, which is often lost in the rush of contemporary society.”

In Monteith’s photos, the viewer observes the beholder as they take in the actual object. “We study many things in abstraction. You can read forever about Bernini and how he sculpts marble, but until you actually sit there and spend a considerable amount of time with the work itself, you don’t really grasp it,” explains Monteith.

Naturally, the city of Rome is woven into Monteith’s photos. Steeped in history and full of inherent contradictions of the old and new, Rome is a mecca for many an art-lover coming to the city to learn about art, culture, and themselves. As Monteith observes, “There are traces of all parts of art history, in every corner of every building or even in normal every day objects.”

The search for meaning in Rome’s closed environments relates to a series of photos Monteith took of the Yale School of Art while studying for his MFA. As a graduate student who had foregone undergraduate education, Monteith viewed academia as an “odd contradiction.” If the museums and galleries of Rome are where art is viewed in an airtight environment, then art school is where art is created in an airtight environment. “Art school is completely sealed off and removed from the world. It’s completely surreal, people pursuing their projects like a locked cabinet of curiosities. And yet, without these very small, controlled environments, it becomes difficult to move ideas forward,” states Monteith. “Art school gives students a certain freedom and license to create.”

The enclosed atmosphere of art school can also be found in many of Rome’s art institutions, created to preserve work, to hold it in a static state. Monteith reflects, “As priorities and values shift, the meaning of the artwork and architecture does too. When looking at a Renaissance sculpture in a city of contemporary concerns and pursuits, the object is both in and out of its time period, subject to the perceptions of today. The work becomes somehow unreal, its meaning unmoored.”

Monteith spent time in Northern Italy, in Lugo and Venice, as well as in Rome. He describes Lugo as “a nice, middle-class, unremarkable town,” which is the very reason a local hotel-owner invites photographers to visit Lugo and create work reflecting on the different worlds of the small town. Monteith also visited the Venice Biennale, the famed contemporary art fair. Unlike the quiet, sacred world of art museums, he found the Venice Biennale to be “a complete overload of stimulation.” Says Monteith, “After several hours, you have to become very specific about what you do, or else you observe none of it.”

Born in Michigan, Monteith’s parents painted, sculpted, and designed furniture. His nontraditional upbringing gave Monteith the freedom to pursue his artistic ambitions, outside the usual path of high school then college. He studied photography at the International Center of Photography and then spent years traveling in and photographing around the Czech Republic before earning an MFA from the Yale School of Art. He has taught at Yale, Pratt, and is currently teaching at the ICP.

Learn more about Matthew Monteith and view his portfolio here.

Olaf Hajek’s debut monograph Flowerhead is being released in Europe in Feburary, 2010 by Gestalten. The international release follows shortly in March, 2010. The book is full of advertising, editorial, commercial portraits, fashion illustration, and rarely seen personal work from over the past three years of Hajek’s long illustration career.

Born in Germany and raised in Holland, Olaf Hajek draws inspiration from far-away places such as folk art in Africa and South America and the detailed work and interesting perspectives of India and Persia.

How did you come up with the title of the book?
Why Flowerhead? I created the name because I create a lot of hats where the flowers grow into the hair, or beards become flowers, so I call them Naturemen and Flowerheads. I like the idea that there is something natural and human coming together.

What role does nature play in your artwork?
What I like about the idea of nature is not that I see it in an organic form – nature for me could be very abstract and it gives u an idea about the creation. It’s not that I see a tree and it’s a tree. The tree could be sad, the tree could be powerful, the tree could be a little bit angry. That’s also something that I like about natural elements – birds, flowers, snakes, and insects – all these things together can be frightening, but they can also be very colorful and very nice.

Who were some of your early influences?
When I was a child I was always looking at art books and trying to draw and paint. I would get my pocket money together to buy books from artists such as French impressionists. A little bit later I became a big fan of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, their work had a kind of beauty with a morbid atmosphere and that’s where I developed my direction.

What is your current concept of beauty?
I’m very much aware of what I’m seeing and what is happening around me – I’m touched by a special kind of beauty. I like the idea of beauty with a broken surface and I don’t like so much perfection.

What does this book mean to you?
When Gestalten came to me to make a book about my work I was happy, but I was completely anxious about how the book would look. Now when I show the book around, it gives a good impression of what I’ve done so far. I think the quality of the work is consistent, there’s no “this work was bad and this work is better,” so I think a good way to put it is that the book is like a treasure box for me.

How did you choose what went into the book?
I was choosing the work for what it was – I didn’t say to myself, “Oh, you have to put this in because it’s a big client.” If I created something that was nice, then I didn’t care whom it was for. I just looked through my scans and sent Gestalten 150 images, and I thought they’d choose maybe just a portion of them – but they actually took all 150.

Your inspirations come from a variety of places; do you travel often to brush up on the cultures?
I have been going to Capetown the last 7 years. I never go on vacation in the summer because I love Berlin summer, so I travel to South Africa as a wintertime escape. I have also been to South America, and I really, really have to go to India one day. It’s more of the idea of the culture rather than the actual place. I also go to New York a lot for business. The first thing I do when I go to New York is the American Folk Art Museum, that’s one of my favorites, especially the Henry Darger room.

What are your future plans?
It would be wonderful to do another book. I have something I am currently working on which is music for the future. I’m going to South Africa in 4 weeks and when I return to Berlin there will be a show of my newest work, some work that’s not even in the book. Also I hope to have a show and book signing in New York.

That’s great! I hope to see you in New York in the spring. Thank you for your time.

-Helen Shih

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Links:
Olaf Hajek’s Portfolio
Flowerhead preview at Gestalten
Olaf Hajek interview on Gestalten.tv

The blog will resume January 4th, 2009. Cheers!

Animation and direction by:
12 foot 6

Art By:
Andrew Rae
Andrew Bannecker
Stan Chow
Am I Collective
Josh Cochran
Nishant Choksi
FriendsWithYou
Nathan Fox
Big Chief
Tatiana Arocha
Tristan Eaton
Sarah Coleman
Ben Wachenje
12foot6

Sound, Music, and Voice:
Expansion Team

English folklore dates back centuries ago. Popular English folklore stories include the tale of Robin Hood and the legend of King Arthur. Although some traditions are widely believed and recognized throughout England, most folklore is specific to certain areas and each region has its own myriad of rich traditions.

Henry Bourne traveled around the UK photographing participants at various folklore festivals and events, capturing a diverse and colorful array of people. In his portraits one can see that British folklore customs are very much alive today.

The English Folklore portrait project arose from a discussion Bourne had with Simon Costin, the director of the Museum of British Folklore. Costin’s unparalleled enthusiasm and folklore knowledge has been indispensable. He campaigns for funds and awareness of British Folklore as he voyages around the UK in a mini museum that is an elaborately styled caravan.

Bourne opted not to include the scenery of each event. Instead, he shot portraits in a portable daylight studio, unifying the images with a clean, white background. You can view more of the kaleidoscope of portraits at Henry Bourne’s website.