Sometimes the greatest damage we do to each other is damage of the heart. Showtime’s explosive series, ‘The Affair,’ explores the myriad ways we destroy each other in the confusing space between love and infatuation. Since the very first season of the show, Steven Lippman was brought on with the team to create their key art and this fourth season is no exception. Steven has photographed surf culture since he was a professional surfer himself, bringing the camera into the waves along with his board. Not distracted by the gravity of the water, Steven is able to capture the dynamism, drama, and stories that unfold in the crashing of every wave and on the stillness of every nautical mile. From the beginning of ‘The Affair’s’ tenure on television, Steven has used his expertise with water photography to create unique images that not only reflect the west coast setting of the show, but also the chaotic nature of the ocean and how the characters are often tossed in the currents of their personal lives to great effect. Sometimes he creates images that make it seem the characters are drowning – they often are drowning emotionally – sometimes they’re covered in anonymity provided by the opacity of the sea. Steven has followed the stories of these couples and their overturned lives, creating imagery that matches them, year after year. As they change and develop, while their relationships tumble and build, each moment is distilled and represented in what Steven does, giving us the slightest peek at what the audience should expect to experience with each new season. He manipulates the stories differently each season and it’s always an apt metaphor. There’s only one way to get the whole story but in his contribution, Steven gives us an intoxicating taste.

Marvel’s Cinematic Universe was upended at the end of 'Avengers: Infinity War,' and as the world awaits the next Avengers sequel the MCU has dropped a little piece of narrative candy to help us get to the next chapter: 'Ant-Man and the Wasp.' The first Ant-Man movie was a comparative light-hearted romp compared to the recent developments in Marvel’s universe, and the latest installment is in the exact same vein. Scott Lang, the alter ego of Ant-Man, is the perfect modern underdog, almost an anti-hero, but when Michael Muller came on to shoot the key art for the blockbuster he kept it classic. Not only did Michael create an epic poster featuring all the actors in costume in an update of the traditional Drew Struzan style, he also photographed character posters for each of the main characters. It is a blistering cast of the highest talent. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne and Hannah John-Kamen in the images that are at once energetic and engrossing. Part of what makes the posters so exciting is that they reveal pieces of the story without giving it all away: Pfeiffer is dressed up in her own superhero costume, Douglas and Fishburne’s wardrobe imply an unknown history, John-Kamen (who plays the billed villain) is the only one looking away from the audience, focused on another outside threat. Michael has used the opportunity present in each composition to give us more than just an aesthetic treat: he’s giving us clues to draw us into the story. 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' is expected to dominate the box office for most of the summer, but one thing is for sure: Michael has given us a taste and we cannot wait for more.

When Joe Pugliese headed to David Letterman’s new show on Netflix, 'My Next Guest,' the goal was to photograph images for key art – those are the pictures you see on posters and billboards to advertise for a show. Scheduling didn’t permit Joe to plan a shoot outside of the schedule of the show, so Joe had to fit his photographs into moments when Letterman had time during the filming of his first episode. Normally in these situations, the subject would meet Joe for a day separate from their shooting schedule, but that wasn’t possible. Joe leaned into his agility to get it done. That slight inconvenience ended up creating a situation that Netflix wanted to keep going. Joe did more than just get portraits: he followed Letterman around the set, on field pieces, and with guests like Barack Obama, Malala Yousafzai, and George Clooney. He photographed a documentary of what it’s like to make this new show, and what it’s like to watch Letterman work. “Once Netflix saw what the work looked like, the producers and publicity department of the show thought this would be a nice thing to continue to document,” Joe explains. “This is a big return of an iconic television figure people are going to be interested in what it looks like behind the scenes.”  The Late Show with David Letterman was a TV staple for more than two decades, but being a part of a major television Network, Letterman had to perform to a set of standards that was guaranteed to sell time to advertisers. His show on Netflix doesn’t have the same constraints. “This is more introspective, it is talking about peoples’ legacies, meaningful things in their lives,” Joe explains. “This combination of portraiture and reportage underscored that’s something very meaningful to me. Something that I thought was a really nice to cover, to round out what is normally just a portrait session.” When Joe started off as a photographer he worked in reportage and then moved over to portraiture. With My Next Guest, Joe has been able to use all of his skills in both arenas to create work that’s revealing and intimate and gives us deeper insight by delivering moments with Letterman and his guests. “It’s been an eye-opening journey into a new approach and it’s exciting,” Joe says. “I have the foundation for it and now I just want to flex that muscle more.”

Made famous by Keith Haring’s legendary “Crack is Whack” mural from the 1970s, the Bowery Wall on Houston Street is the most well-known canvas for street art in New York City. Managed by Goldman Properties, the wall is more than a rite of passage for street artists, it is practically the peak of the form. Until a couple weeks ago, the wall hosted an original piece by Banksy, but he requested it come down early so Tristan Eaton grabbed his cans and got to work. He wanted to give us an indulgence that we often won't even give ourselves. Street art is one of the fastest forms of art and created outside of the pressures of capitalist structures. The results tend to be reactive and truthful, responding to the culture and politics with agility and boldness. Americans are currently engaged in intense political turmoil, the ramifications of which will likely to reverberate for decades. It's not just an American experience, but New Yorkers feel the issues acutely as the center of American culture. It’s a lot to take in on a daily basis, almost oppressively so, and Tristan wanted to give us a break. An intermission from the terror. “This piece is meant to be a break from the daily horror of global events, a momentary pause to let your mind wander and escape the collective anxiety felt in the United States today,” Tristan explained on his Instagram. “I was compelled to paint something intentionally apolitical. A literal INTERMISSION from the noise and madness - nothing more.” It’s notable that Tristan took over from Banksy whose piece was sharply political, an indictment of the Turkish government over their persecution of Zehra Dogan for painting an image of a destroyed Kurdish town draped in Turkish flags. In the endless battle to bend the curve of history towards justice, emotional and visual fatigue is real and a well-sharpened tool of the oppressor. Every soldier needs their rest, their respite. Tristan’s latest piece offers an intermission to find that rest, inspiration, and some colorful joy.

San Francisco has experienced an incredible transition over the last decade. As soon as it was identified as ground zero for tech development, the socioeconomics of the city changed drastically. In that time the social makeup, property value, and identity of the city shifted and the reaction has been rightfully mixed, to put it lightly. As the city grapples with its different identity, it has shifted and expanded in ways that the larger community isn’t happy with, and that is understandable. No one wants their home to change. As a way to celebrate the diversity of San Francisco neighborhoods, the city teamed up with Jason Madara, George McCalman and Bayview Underground on a series of posters that feature more than two dozen Bayview residents for a projected dubbed I AM BAYVIEW. “It was a joy for Jason and me to take part in this community initiative, from conception to execution to installation,” said George McCalman. “We wanted to celebrate the Bayview community — the people who have a desire to be seen and who have a say in how their homes and community are being portrayed.” “The idea was born from several conversations about gentrification in San Francisco,” McCalman posted on his Instagram, @mccalmanco. “It’s an ongoing (and frustrating) subject amongst those of us who live here. In the course of talking, we came up with the idea of photographing the people representative of the values of a neighborhood that is suddenly desirable. One of the issues, oftentimes, is the people who live there are ignored in favor of expansion and ‘growth.’ We felt differently. We wanted to celebrate the current community; the people who have a desire to be seen, and have a say in how their homes and community are being portrayed. It was our mission to say, visually, that if you’re going to move to a neighborhood, you should get to know the people who live there.” McCalman and Madara leaned hard into representative diversity. They approached subjects from all walks of life, backgrounds, and racial representation, each of whom hold a special place in their communities. Social leaders, business owners, commentators, all vocal residents of the city who are fully engaged. Gentrification is often a destructive force, but confronting the issue head on with the community’s leaders is the only way to counter some of its subtler effects. Madara and McCalman have worked together extensively in the past, including their ‘Individuals’ series from 2015 that photographed artists and entrepreneurs from all over San Francisco to create intimate portraits. I AM BAYVIEW is an extension of that very same story, delving deeper into the figures that are beloved in this neighborhood. “My intent for this project was to make a beautiful portrait series of a diverse community and show the range of people that in this vibrant area of the city,” Madara says. So that’s what they did. Since being released to the public, the project has catalyzed a fiery conversation about the impact of gentrification in San Francisco and the responsibility of representation. Some of the dialogue has been constructive and that’s what Madara and McCalman are pouring their energy into, passionate to continue the conversation and engage the community even deeper. The conversation itself is important. The conversation was the intended result. Everything that’s happened since the release of the project was what was supposed to happen, in a way. “What constitutes a neighborhood in San Francisco? Especially a historically black one? Who decides who is Bayview?,” McCalman mused on his Instagram, questions that were present while they conceived the project, and questions that are still present today. These questions may not have answers, but as the community engages with each other and does the work of finding those answers, they’ll get closer to understanding and finding a common truth that includes all residents of Bayview, and represents the neighborhood they love.

For most of us, picking up a snack at the corner store is little more than just that. We don’t put too much thought into how we’re choosing products from the shelves, but the information is out there to make better and informed decisions. Coconut water brand Harmless Harvest is one of the responsible choices, preferring to work directly with coconut farmers in free trade agreements who use analog techniques to create a drink that is free of additives and harmful processes. It means the bottles are more expensive, that’s true, but the brand knows you’ll pay for the superior product. Harmless Harvest isn’t engaged in a race to the bottom of your budget but to the top of your ethics and they invited Joey L to help them spread the message. Joey headed to Thailand’s Ratchaburi province to meet the farmers and get their stories.  “The people we chose to celebrate in the images are hardworking and proud stewards of nature,” Joey says on his blog. “Within the vast irrigation canals of the coconut fields is an ecosystem of mixed agriculture: rare herbs on top to prevent soil erosion, medicinal grasses grown on the sides, and schools of fish within the water itself. Instead of using pesticides, a variety of beneficial insects are released into the fields to battle pests.” A great many of the farmers in the area have updated their crops to better flow with more industrial techniques, but the farmers Joey photographed in Thailand, and that work with Harmless Harvest, continue the time-tested techniques of the past. These techniques are just as effective today as they’ve ever been and that’s why Joey shot the images in black and white. “The goal of the black and white treatment was not to appear ‘vintage,’ but rather to emanate a classic, timeless look which reflects the natural ingredients in the product, and the honest and traditional agricultural techniques used by farmers,” Joey says. Joey was able to engender intimacy with his subjects as they invited him into their lives, their business, and their livelihoods. You can see it in the smiles on their faces, the pride in their work. “As someone who spends his time shooting 50% commissioned advertising projects and the other 50% traveling and shooting personal work, I always enjoy when a project bridges the gap and involves the merits of both disciplines of photography,” Joey says. “I fell in love with the place, the people, and I shot enough to make an entire series.”