Throughout the month of June, cities across the U.S. celebrate the LGBTQ community in various ways. In an exciting new campaign, NYC Pride’s WorldPride Mural Project Initiative, collaborated with production and curation partner, The LISA Project NYC, founding partner, HSBC Bank, and major supporter, Macy’s to participate in the 2019 World Pride celebration. The LISA Project is a non-profit organization, with a mission to unite and support a diverse group of artists in NYC to curate the start of mural art districts throughout the city. 50 local and international artists were selected to create murals across the five boroughs of New York that reflect and honor the beauty, struggle, and strides of the LGBTQIA+ community throughout May and June. B&A Mural Artist, Buff Monster, was among the artists selected to participate in the creation of these murals. “I’m excited to contribute this giant mural to the neighborhood and I’m happy to bring awareness to the struggles and triumphs of the LGBTQ community.” Buff Monster’s giant pride mural was completed near his Manhattan studio on the Lower East Side. Measuring 94 feet wide and 31 feet high, the mural stretches across the entire face of a building on Chrystie Street. Buff Monster is not unfamiliar with working in this space. In 2014, he worked on a different mural with the LISA Project on the same wall that his new mural is painted on. “I’ve always loved this building; there is a park across the street, you can see the mural for blocks away and there is a lot of traffic turning at the mural for the Holland tunnel (outside of which another huge mural of mine is located).” Buff Monster’s mural is the largest of the 50 curated for this initiative across NYC, featuring a “diverse group of characters with various expressions unified by a rainbow; capturing various stages of the struggle and triumph of the LGBTQ community,” explains Buff Monster. The figures of the mural are on brand with Buff Monster’s work, one-eyed, animated, characters. However, rather than each character being their own individual color, which is seen in most of his work, each character is filled in with a rainbow gradient of color. While each of their personal expressions makes them unique, the rainbow gradient unites the characters with the symbol of the World Pride celebration.  When walking past the mural alongside the building, it’s easy to just see the characters one by one. But, when looking at the whole wall with a little more distance, one can see how the expressions of the various characters tell the story Buff Monster intended - both the struggles and triumphs of the LGBTQ community. This mural was a seven-day undertaking and is just a bit smaller than the largest mural Buff Monster has ever worked on. The LISA Project team prepared and prime the wall, Buff Monster then sketched his design and filled it all in with the help of his assistants Amanda and Sam. “I’m very happy to be a part of this historic celebration, especially at a time that we’re divided more than ever. Big thanks to the LISA Project and NYC Pride for all their support, my assistants Amanda and Sam, and of course, Dana Dynamite.”

With the rise of mobile cell phones, most individuals have a camera at their disposal, right in the palm of their hand. In a world where anyone can become the director of their own story, cell phone companies have taken the extra step to showcase the professional quality of the cameras within their devices as well as the latest designs. In her latest collaboration with Google, photographer Taylor Rainbolt showcased the new Pixel phone in a campaign shot entirely on the device itself. “Google gave me direction, but it was kind of up to me to learn how to use the phone. They gave it to me a few days before the shoot to get my bearings and shoot some personal shots of friends,” explained Taylor. “It was different first going into the shoot because it’s not an actual camera like I’m used to. Once I had the freedom to play, I got much more comfortable with the device. It was definitely the hardest job I’ve ever done technically. The shot in the theatre took six or seven hours to light. Just the one shot. We turned off every single light possible in the theatre, even if it was someone’s cell phone light, because the Pixel is that good that you can literally capture the smallest light. Everything was done in camera on the phone, and we didn’t manipulate any of the shots. Everything you see is raw.” Although it’s not required for every project, Taylor enjoys being fully involved in the process, including the location and model scouting. During the conversation with Google about casting, Taylor realized that she had friends that had the look the brand was hoping to cast. She created a deck of friends and loved ones who would fit in well with the aesthetic of the shoot. “Google liked practically everyone that I cast,” said Taylor. “It was really great because being from LA with a community that’s so diverse, my friend groups are into different things. I like that I can bring them into my work. I think it’s important to show diversity in casting and work in general because these are real people that I interact with and I want people to see that, and feel like they can be themselves.” “I shot my friend Hazel for Solar Magazine and also for this shoot. I think that people are under the impression that being Indian means like wearing a jewel in the middle of your forehead and you wear a wrap around your head. We stereotype people and put people into boxes when really Hazel is just a normal girl, she’s a person just like the rest of us. So I think that when people see that everyone is kind of the same then we can all just love each other, and stop assuming people are certain ways because that’s what society has made us believe for so long,” explained Taylor. “We still have a long way to go. We’re so saturated with imagery constantly, ultimately the goal is usually that we’re selling things. But what I can bring to the world is changing how we see things. That’s the small role I can play.” The shoot took place in LA, but the team spent their scout day looking for locations that were relatable no matter which corner of the world the viewer was from. “We wanted to find locations that didn’t feel like LA, locations that had a global feeling, as if it could be anywhere in the world. That was part of the message we wanted to get across. Grand Central Market was one of the main locations, which I felt like worked perfectly because there was so much culture and diversity there. I had a great group on this shoot. Google was very hands on. We worked as a team to get exactly what we wanted. They were a big help because they know the camera, the phone, better than I do - they built it. Having their input was really helpful.” “I think my favorite moment was honestly just having my friends involved and getting to work with them. I think that with everything going on in the world right now, there’s so many photographers, so many DJs, so many creatives, and I never really talk about photography with my friends. Having them get to see what I actually do and how seriously I take what I do and getting to share something that I love with them was my favorite part of the shoot.”

An artist’s process is ever-evolving, as not all jobs are created equal. While some creators rely on their practiced expertise, others are on a path of constant discovery, eager to push boundaries and manifest something new. Artist Craig Ward throws himself into his briefs and approaches each project with an open mind, ready to marry the needs of the client with any medium or procedure necessary. Craig is no stranger to working with new materials in his work. “Fire, powders, light, smoke, food, money… I’ll use anything that helps the type headline better tell a story. I guess the most exotic ‘material’ I’ve worked with is bacteria; living organisms. The materials for the Adobe project, by comparison, were much simpler, just a mix of glycerin and water.” In his latest collaboration with Adobe MAX, Craig was inspired by the idea of creative energy for the Core MAX logo. The logo consists of 6 triangles, so Craig’s process began by printing out a set of geometric shapes to build out the broader identity and patterns. “I pitched a handful of ideas around the theme of creativity - it being 'The Creativity Conference'.  I liked the idea of somehow visualizing creative energy - the hum of a busy studio; the buzz of solving a brief, etc. I looked at a lot of ways of visualizing different energies - bubble chambers, lightning rods, but cymatics is a concept I’m familiar with that gives a lot of interesting results relatively quickly. It's a way to image sonic energy (sound waves) by vibrating liquid at different sonic frequencies.” “The process involved a lot of trials with various lighting setups, art directing the shoot, cycling through various frequencies and photographing the resulting vibrations. The post-production on the backend was handled by myself also. I work with a photographer called Linden Gledhill and his background is in immunology. He's super smart and is also a keen photographer, so he’s able to combine his scientific know-how with photographic know-how, particularly when it comes to scientific processes. The hardest part was doing the maths for high-speed imaging. The LED's strobe at a certain rate and the waves vibrate at another so we had to work out how to sync up the strobing of the lights with the frame rate of the camera AND the wavelength of the vibrations. Not super easy stuff for a visual person.” Some briefs require Craig to create his projects new from the ground up, while others entail working backward to break down elements that already exist. In his recent project with Time Magazine, Craig Ward deconstructed the UK flag and influenced the cover story’s subject line. “Time came to me with the brief to interpret this headline, which was, at that time, “The Plot To Dismantle Europe”. I gave them three concepts that I came up with over that weekend. When you’re creating a magazine cover, it’s all about being easiest to see on a newsstand and attract people’s attention,  so initially, I had sort of pitched this idea of the typography being stitched into the title on the top of it,” explained Craig. “I went out and found some fabric and sat down with it at the scanner. I frayed it and pulled it apart, as best I could, and scanned it in six or seven times, and just sent over a few selects of that in these various states of disarray. I went in with photoshop to color in every stitch to make it look like it was stitched, but I was very proud of it because it was a reflex, probably one of the better reflexes in a while actually. Even up close it holds up, in fact, it looks better up close than it does farther away.” Most of Craig’s work is created to accompany a larger reveal, be it a new brand or product, a new company launch, or even a new idea in a headline. For his project with Time Magazine, Craig’s art had an influence on the overall story. “This always happens with editorial, but they changed the headline at the very last minute. It was actually very flattering because they changed it to  “Unraveling of Europe” to fit the cover that I came up with.”  Craig's unique approach to the execution of the briefs from both Time Magazine and Adobe MAX took the extra step to elevate and bring the message in his typography to life.

Fresh from the photoshoot of a currently sealed campaign that debuts in the Fall with a crew that she considers to be a “dream client”, photographer Brook Pifer lives to see life through her lens. When she’s not busy working with wish list brands and clients, she’s traveling and creating moments on film and translating them digitally into her own unique live motion GIFs for Instagram. “What I find really special about film GIFs is that they bring together two things I inherently love about this art: analog and directing. Obviously, I’m a photographer first, but what’s really cool is that I’m able to know that visual sense, and still have this deeper way to tell a story with something really tactile and tangible. Of course there’s an inherent spirit to shooting film and I think that blending technology of film in that way is kind of awesome. I love it.” Brook’s most recent bucket list trip was to Hawaii, but she creates wanderlust imagery from coast to coast. She photographs the people and places around her, including her pug Zoey, who has her own Instagram that documents their life together because “that dog knows how to find her light like you don’t even know.” Brook captures moments in her own travels and from moments authentically created by those who inspire her. “I’ve been working with a friend on a project called Lady Adventures,” explains Brook. “She had a career as a creative director, and she ended up selling everything and buying a van to travel across the United States. I would just meet her anywhere from Key West to Marfa, Texas, to Yosemite and Joshua Tree. We would hang out and camp and create and hike, go in the hot springs, climb boulders, and just be in nature, to be honest. When I’m with her it’s very stripped down compared to commercial, because it’s usually just me and what I can hike with. There’s beauty in stripping things away a little bit because it gives you that opportunity to capture raw and real and spontaneous moments.” When it comes to packing, Brook handles work trips the same way she packs for travel - with as many cameras as possible. “I have this running joke that I have cameras, not kids. I feel like they’re all my favorite in different ways. Each camera, when it’s in your hand, it gives you a different way to create. It’s almost like if you’re a painter and you’re using oils versus acrylics, that gives you a different feeling than that versus watercolors, and it’s the same with a camera for me. I usually pack a few different bodies, a few different cameras, a few different formats. We joke about how much can I fit in a carry-on and still get in. I’ll split them up among carry-ons between me and my husband. I like to have different bodies and different cameras for different purposes.” When she’s not traveling or creating passion projects, the photographer has a few tricks for connecting with the subjects and crew on set. Brook makes sure to bring the noise -  literally. She always has music at her photoshoots and carries a speaker. She makes the distinction of identifying as a music fan, not a critic and that her choice of song depends on the vibe of shoot. On an all-day shoot, Brook can take the music from something chill to ‘60s protest music, landing on hip-hop. “Whether it’s an actual client shoot or a personal shoot, I always treat people the same way. In some ways, I consider them less as objects and more of a co-conspirator, that way it brings models and talent to a place where they get to be an artist. When you develop that bond with somebody and develop that connection, that’s when you’re going to get the stuff where they’re relaxed, open to suggestions and things that they maybe wouldn’t want to try or ideas that may be adventurous or unexpected. That for me is how you get that ‘je ne sais quoi’.” “You fall in love with people,” admits Brook. “That’s the thing about being a photographer and director, you fall in love with people over and over again.”

Vitamin Water presented its newest “Ice” flavor in a humorous campaign that called on different artists’ to interpret the various elements of modern break-up culture. In a series of virtual exhibitions showcasing the journey of heartbreak, visitors are guided through a tour of the “Ex Museum” by the clever and endearing curator himself, “Tommy Lavender”. B&A artists, Pussykrew, designed a key piece for the museum that features a frozen-cold, bloodless heart reflective of the icy-fresh taste of the newly released blueberry lavender Vitamin Water. The frosted silver-blue heart is both beautiful and mesmerizing, yet unwelcoming, non-human, and totally hollow… just like your ex’s.  Pussykrew’s eye for intricacy and complexity is unique and always leads to stunningly elaborate works, even in the case of this more somber project. Their combined use of CGI and 3-D scanning produces visuals that are both graphic and imaginative at the same time. The striking use of texture, and vibrant, shiny colors, bring this icy heart to life.

In honor of Memorial Day, photographer Patrik Giardino teamed up with Chris Pratt, Jay Glazer, Jared Shaw, and the other faces behind The Murph Challenge, created in memoriam of U.S. Navy Seal LT. Michael Murphy, who created and used the routine while deployed. “I think this is a really great project, and it’s good timing, in honor of Memorial Day,” explained Patrik. “You train to have a really good experience, it’s almost like you train for a marathon, it's the same idea. You train for the Murph Challenge.  Jared Shaw is the ex-navy SEAL who brought me in to the project. He is a very good friend to Chris Pratt. Jared has a really amazing background, they train together all the time. He did 4 tours in Afghanistan and in Iraq.” Hero Michael Murphy was featured in the book and movie, produced and starring Mark Walberg, the Lone Survivor. Michael risked his life and continued to fight to save the lives of his unit, and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2007. That same year, his parents and brother started the LT. Michael Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation, which supports Michael’s favorite saying “Education will set you free.” The foundation is funded by donations and proceeds from the Murph Challenge, the Forged non-profit organization’s annual fundraiser. The Murph Challenge consists of a 1 mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, and a closing mile run in either a 20 pound vest or body armour. The website reads “The ‘MURPH’ is more than just a workout, it is a tradition that helps push us, humble us, and dedicate a bit of pain and sweat to honor a man who gave everything he had”. Participants have the opportunity to register their timing and compare their achievements with the unique group of registrants who also paid tribute to the challenge. “It’s a workout. It’s hard. It’s based off of the special forces and the training they do to make it through wars and attacks,” explained Patrik. Patrik got a firsthand look at the challenge during his latest project with The Murph Challenge, where he filmed a motion piece with Chris Pratt, Tyga, and Jay Glazer, owner of the gym where their challenge took place. “Chris Pratt is totally into this kind of training. As an actor, he’s done battle scenes and intense action shots in movies. He gets totally into it. He became really good friends with Jay Glazer, they work out a lot together. Chris Pratt is becoming the face of the challenge, so it’s definitely getting more attention now that he’s apart of it.” “They gave me total free range to shoot whatever I want because they trusted I would make a cool video. Chris Pratt hams it up the whole time. He’s a super funny guy. The whole group did the challenge, from beginning to end. I was running with them on the street with a camera!” said Patrik. “It was a really fun project, it didn’t feel like work, we were just having fun. It’s kind of like how the Beckham shoot was, easy and not so much pressure. Photoshoots tend to take the personality/persona of whoever you shoot, so this is kind of old school documentary but it’s got a little more style to it. I’ve worked a lot of celebrity shoots, but this is so different. You have access to people who really care about something and you create something that people feel strongly about. There’s a lot of moments where they’re totally sweaty and tired and they still talk right into the camera. It’s totally authentic.” The video Patrik filmed was meant to be debuted on Memorial Day, but because of the excitement generated by the challenge during filming, the team decided to create a teaser and post it on Chris Pratt’s Instagram. It went viral. “It wasn’t even supposed to go live yet. We were chatting in a circle, saying maybe we should just post it now, to sell more t-shirt’s before the challenge. So I shot the promo and actually went home and edited it right away. The next video is going to be about five minutes long; in that video they're going to talk about the challenge and thank all the people who do it. Everyone involved has inspirational backgrounds. There were some big names in the group too, some NFL players, some MMA fighters, actors, a bunch of different promenent people who participate in the challenge. That video is the documentary about that day and it’s going to come out Memorial Day.” “It’s really fun to be involved in this kind of environment. It’s awesome to meet all these people, it's great to challenge everyone. I didn’t exactly do the challenge because I was shooting, but running after them the whole time was pretty equal, I was sweating up and down the street,” he explained, laughing. “It’s funny, the paparazzi  was outside by the time we did the second run. There was an article in the Daily Mail about Chris Pratt getting in shape for his wedding. But we were shooting the video for the challenge. I actually made it in the Daily Mail!” To view the MURPH Challenge video featuring Chris Pratt, click here.