-
9.24.18 Paola + Murray Get Stuffed in Houston for GQ
325 million people live in America, and that number represents just as many palates, preferences, and food cultures. There are thousands of communities ready to display their unique takes on new and classic menus, and while some are part of an expected roster there are surprising additions all the time. This month GQ highlighted the food scene in Houston Texas and asked Paola + Murray to document their own time through the Space City. “Murray and I loved shooting the Houston story for GQ,” says Paola Ambrosi De Magistris, who makes up the photography duo with her husband Murray Hall. “It was our first time in the hot and sticky city and we were not expecting to find such an interesting mix of people, foods, architecture, art, and culture.” Houston is a massive city built by a confluence of cultures that each offer fantastical flavors and a roster of special personalities. “We met a few different characters but our favorite was definitely the Bookity Bookity Boudain Man,” explains Paola. “We had to hunt him down on our first night in Houston. You will usually find him in the Walmart parking lot in the outskirts of the city but only on certain nights and the only way to find him is via his Facebook page that is not always up to date. We could not find him right away and had to drive to two different parking lots in different spots if the city… He was the nicest guy, one that did not have an easy life but he loves to share his passion for making boudains and making people happy. It was really late when we found him and we had eaten so much already but we could not say no to the ‘boudain man.’” Their hunger and curiosity were sated by the exploration and experience that ended with a great meal, a meal you could only find if you looked hard enough and cared more about the experience of your taste buds than eating off freshly pressed linens. Every food scene is different, and no one knows that better than Paola + Murray who have followed their tummies and camera lenses the world over. They know something about what makes local food great. “Quirkiness, big hearts, and open arms were a common denominator of most of the people we met in Huston,” Paola says. “This GQ assignment was honestly so much fun and so different from the many other travel assignments we have been on, mainly because of the people we encountered and the diversity in the food we tasted and photographed.” If the photos whet your appetite, at least now you know where to get your next meal. -
9.20.18 Taylor Rainbolt Vibes with Migos and Finish Line
It’s not every day that Migos opens a car wash, but in a recent campaign with Taylor Rainbolt for Finish Line, they did just that. Taylor met up with the hip hop trio to pop off on the whips, for the latest in the ongoing Shoes So Fresh campaign. Taylor captured a series of images that highlight Migos’ favorite products from Finish Line’s current selection. “We’re trying to create the vibe that it’s a party all the time, so it’s a lot of loud music, a lot of talking to talent and getting them excited and recreating almost an 80s party scene with the lighting and everything,” Taylor explains. “[Migos is] like actors in a sense where they just want the product to be amazing and do the take over and over again until they felt like it was right, so that was really great, it was a really great collaborative.” Riverdale actress Vanessa Morgan was also in attendance for when the party moved out to the pool. You’ll notice a lot of the images are from different mediums, including digital and Polaroid, and that’s something that Taylor really enjoyed. “It was really cool because [Finish Line was] really adamant about me using film and stuff like that so I got to mix digital with film and play around with it,” Taylor says. “People like having tangible things and being able to process really fast. So, I’m getting what they are actually giving me. The mood is more authentic and we’re taking our time because I only have so many Polaroids in my camera.” With each moment being precious, a ton of care was brought into the creation of every image. The results are calibrated and carefully constructed in such a way that feels effortless. And when you’re partying with Migos and Finish Line that’s exactly what you want. -
9.21.18 Yuko Shimizu Gives Face to SK-II's Regional Exclusives
Japan is known the world over for cutting edge skincare, earning global fans for dozens of brands that offer their own varieties of scrubs and serums, masks and toners. All of those products find themselves wrapped up in trends that aren’t only based on what’s available but also what the communities are using. For SK-II, a Japanese brand that caters to consumers all over the world, those trends come and go, but they’re always aware of their customers. SK-II recently invited Yuko Shimizu to create a bevy of unique boxes for specific markets, and Yuko created a collection of different pieces that plays on the cultures, aesthetics, and habits of those different markets. SK-II is based in Japan, but their products are distributed everywhere, especially in Asia. So, Yuko created six different illustrations that were affixed to packaging that made its way to Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, China, and Japan. She filled each image with cultural references specific to the exclusive release locations. The China image features a Chinese woman covered in hibiscus flowers in front of Shanghai’s skyline, while the Japanese image finds a woman weaving through bamboo in front of a sea referencing Hokusai’s famous block print under a red rising sun. Every image features Yuko’s signature sense of humor, her loyalty to detail, and astounding creativity. The process was far more expansive than what we get to see in the final compositions, and if you’re curious to see more head over to her blog for some added insight. The boxes were made available exclusively in the markets described at the local airports and catered towards women who partake in the Art of Travel. Plus they were limited edition, so if don’t have a box already: you’ve probably already missed out. -
9.18.18 Ryan McAmis, The Economist, and the Face of the 21st Century
The Digital Age has done more than merely change how we interact with one another socially, it’s also reshaped the entire economy. With these new relationships have come new jobs, and some of those jobs are super niche. Emoji Designers, playlist curators, international tutors, all these specialized jobs (and hundreds more) are only possible thanks to our online culture. And some of them are a little hard to explain. The Economist recently started a series on the 21st-Century jobs and asked Ryan McAmis to help bring them to life. Each article describing the stories behind these particular careers is preceded with a 3D mixed media collage from Ryan that offers a characterization of the worker and their unique career. Because Ryan uses a bevy of different materials, each creation is filled with different textures and colors, as well as surprising depth and emotion. Because of the sophisticated simplicity of the compositions, Ryan has to be careful about the choices he makes, and that affords him the opportunity to experiment a little bit. In the latest piece about the Emoji Designer, Ryan saw the chance to include a special light feature for the first time ever. He used a dollhouse light to give the designer’s phone a familiar glow. “I don’t know why, it just kind of pops into my head and it just works,” says Ryan. “And then after I photographed it, I tweaked it in Photoshop to make it look even better.” Part of the fun of these pieces is introducing whole new careers to an audience that’s generally of the traditional capitalism and commerce model. Ryan similarly doesn’t run into these unique careers frequently, so he’s finding it to be an educational experience himself. By approaching it this way, he’s become the ideal voice to introduce The Economist’s readers to this newer edge of the economy. “I’m terrible with technology so the one I’m doing today I had to do a lot of research on so I’m learning a lot,” explains Ryan. “I’m trying to explain it to people that don’t know either.” All of us, whether we’re creating brand new jobs for ourselves or watching them form from the outside, are better served by actively pursuing a greater understanding of the new economic landscape. Thanks to Ryan and The Economist we can learn a little more every day. -
9.10.18 Marco Grob Shows Two Sides to Jonah Hill for New York Magazine
Jonah Hills’ big break came more than 20 years ago when he starred in Superbad alongside Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. He continued to prove himself a formidable actor over the coming years, but his original pursuit was always to be on the other side of the camera. This year we’ll finally see Jonah Hill in the form he always imagined for himself, the role of Director. This week’s New Yorker features a cover story about the writer turned actor turned director with photographs by Marco Grob. Marco offers two portraits of Hill, the cover is a complex black and white while the inner photographs is a much more straightforward color image. On the cover, Marco engaged every bit of light mastery, employing a collection of sources that cover together on Hill’s face, freezing him into a dynamic representation that is scarcely offered in traditional portraiture. The composition is exacting with an entire light meant just to highlight his left eye, creating a look that is striking. It pulls Hill out of the expected trope of a youthful funny man into the aesthetics typically reserved for Orson Wells and Alfred Hitchcock. A duotone blur at the edges of red and blue add to the otherworldly quality of the image. On the inside of the magazine, Marco offers a more convention photograph of Hill, one dressed in the clothes he wore to the companion interview, once that invites us to the table to sit with him and hear him and his story. It’s not the same story that we’ll see in Hill’s upcoming mid90s, nor is it the story whose lines he’s spoken for the last two decades. It’s his story, one that he’s still writing but we’re welcome to hear. -
9.12.18 Remain Calm with Kyle Bean and The Observer Magazine
Calm is an elusive emotion. It seems like the world is set up to stress us out – and for good reason. When we’re stressed we act impulsively, and not always in our best interest. That can mean buying products we don’t need or indulging when we normally wouldn’t. That’s for most of us. But some of us have to act valiantly under pressure, under stress. For those people, they have to find a calm in any situation where they can work from a place of power. That’s the topic of this month’s cover story of The Observer Magazine, and the publication invited Kyle Bean to bring the concept to life in a single image. Of course, Kyle went above and beyond. Teaming up with London-based photographer Sara Morris, Kyle invested in an inventive concept that he was able to explore in a series of different executions. Remembering the old steady hand buzzer games where the player is meant to navigate a metal wand over a fixed pathway or risk a light and buzzer, Kyle created the same game but used the pathway as a way to communicate. In the first incarnation, Kyle spelled out “CALM” to be emblazoned across the front of the magazine. He kept it going by also engaging the light, and with those two images was able to create a GIF that shows the light blinking as if there were failure. A second version of the concept uses the metal path to illustrate an EKG’s reading of the human heart. Both versions of Kyle and Morris’ creation play on what it means to stay calm under pressure, even when the challenge is the calm. These moments are indescribably crucial: Sully Sullenberger landing US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River or South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster ordering evacuation ahead of a hurricane. These choices can often involve the lives of thousands and depend upon acting with a clear head. Finding calm under immense stress is a skill and a tool, and one that you never know you may need until everything is on the line. Does that stress you out? -
9.17.18 Shotopop Is Full of Surprises for Foot Locker and ASICS
Sometimes sneakers are more than just sneakers. Foot Locker’s latest collection with ASICS, the Dojo Collection, tells a whole story about integrity, courage, and discipline – thanks to Shotopop. Before the shoes released, Shotopop directed and animated an anime series of five episodes with Luka Sabbat on his own samurai adventure. Ghosts, ramen, and a lot of akido converge in a campaign that extends beyond the animations. After all, the Bushito code is all encompassing, so why shouldn’t a sneaker campaign be, too? The Sun and The Snake is the name of the collection and the animations, but it also represents the two dojos of two classes of samurai that Sabbat’s character is torn between. The Snake is where he has been training while his shoes were stolen by the nefarious Rising Sun. Over the course of five episodes, Sabbat is tested. His skills, his courage, and his loyalty all come under fire and the question is how he will come out the other end. Creating five minutes of original animation is a massive feat, especially when creating a new world. Shotopop developed the characters and aesthetics before Sabbat was even cast, so while Shotopop had some images locked down, they tailed the characters to match the actors who would play them. (You can see the behind the scenes development and how these changes were implemented if you head over to their Instagram.) But the artistry didn’t stop there. ASICS even used art from Shotopop on the packaging and distribution of the sneakers. The series is a lot of fun (and plenty funny). We won’t spoil it, but you may find that ultimately everything is not what it seems.
B&A Instafeed
- likes 103 // comments
- likes 131 // comments
- likes 100 // comments 1
- likes 126 // comments
- likes 134 // comments 1
- likes 65 // comments 1
- likes 169 // comments 2
- likes 214 // comments 1
- likes 81 // comments 1
- likes 808 // comments 17
- likes 260 // comments 3
- likes 445 // comments 12
- likes 316 // comments 10
- likes 153 // comments 4
- likes 175 // comments 1
- likes 161 // comments 5
- likes 66 // comments 1
- likes 92 // comments
- likes 76 // comments 3
- likes 350 // comments 3
- likes 811 // comments 13
- likes 205 // comments 2
- likes 87 // comments
- likes 81 // comments
- 6.20.18RT @petefowlerart: Hi vis spirit https://t.co/RV4aQvOldQ
- 6.20.18RT @stan_chow: I did a picture of Whitney https://t.co/OF1OZqRV4R