Literary Lunches

Here's a delightful idea from Dinah Fried who has recreated some famous dishes in literature; Oliver Twist's workhouse gruel, the high tea place setting that Alice would have had in Wonderland and the swiss cheese sandwiches and malted milk Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye would have eaten (I guess; I've not read it but must!).  Would love to see more and more of this series; what about Proust's madeleine dipped in the tisane in Remembrance of Things Past or even a jolly Famous 5 picnic of pork pies and hardboiled eggs with lashings of ginger beer?  http://www.dinahfried.com/fictitious-dishes/

Heirlooms

Most of us have something we treasure, passed on from a loved one.  I've just read The Hare with the Amber Eyes, a spellbinding book about a collection of small Japanese objects called netsuke that a potter called Edmund de Waal inherited from his uncle.  He writes about how they came to be in the family's possession and what they come to symbolise to him. I have a stack of old pictures from my great grandmother which I'm sure ignited my love of photography and also some autograph books from her time spent as a nurse in the 1st World War in which her patients have drawn pictures and written poems and messages of thanks.  So Joakim Blockstrom's beautiful The Heirloom Project has struck a chord.  See more here: http://www.theheirloomproject.co.uk/  And also more of Joakim's work: http://joakimblockstrom.com/

Walking Shadows

Making the shadow rather than the person the subject of these illustrations is a genius idea; it's almost as if the colourful shadow shape reflects the person's alter ego. Jason Ratliff is the man responsible and you can buy prints from his site here: http://www.jasonratliff.net/index.php?/t-shirts/walking-shadow-series/  First seen on HUH.

Graphic collage

Met the lovely Laura from WICCA Agency the other day who has a fantastically talented stable of artists, all offering something a little different from the norm.  Fell in love with these collages by Anthony Zinonos which are simple and yet so clever.  Laura & Cathy at WICCA had had them printed so sensitively in their agency book that you could almost feel the different paper stock of the torn red paper in Motor Car.  See more here: http://wiccaartists.co.uk/01_AZ/index.html

Same but different

Leo Caillard's lifeguard huts on the beaches of Miami are inspired by the highly influential duo Bernd & Hilla Becher's water towers shot in the 70's.  The idea is that by shooting a series of the same subject with the same form, the more apparent the differences between each become.  I just like the interesting choice of stand-out colours and patterns in these beachscapes. Leo has also done a thought-provoking exploration of what will happen in the future to all the digitally created cultural content we are creating now. See more here: http://leocaillard.com/

Hear about my tattoo...

Found these on Visual Daily.  I am fascinated by tattoos. I don't have one and no desire to either - am too chicken and can't think what I'd have put where - but I always wonder what the story is behind the decision to have one and where it goes on the body.  I read a crazy statistic somewhere that something like 1 in 3 of us in the UK now has a tattoo.  Isaac and Wendy's blog, Pen & Ink, documents these decisions with these wonderful diagrammatic sketches. The handwritten copy which accompanies each drawing adds a charming personal touch; you can almost hear the voice of the person talking about their tattoo.  Looks like this project hasn't been going on for long so hope to see more posts and if you fancy seeing your tattoo and story described in this way, get in touch with them:  penandink.tumblr.com

Tweeter Street

Here's another meet the tweeters project. London-based photographer Michael Hughes noticed an app on his new smartphone that allowed him to see who was tweeting in his vicinity.  This got him thinking; he wanted to know what these people looked like and where they were when they tweeted.  So he chose the most eyecatching posts and contacted the people behind them, asking if they wanted to recreate the moment they'd just tweeted about. Besides satisfying his (and our!) curiosity, Michael says this project aims to humanise the social media experience, reminding us that real people are behind the tweets.  Michael's site: http://www.michaelhughesphoto.com/  The tweeterstreet site: http://www.tweeterstreet.com/

Us Alone

Just seen this stunning series of portraits by Laura Stevens on theprintspace blog.  She photographed real couples in London, Brighton and Paris with the intention of showing the less romantic moments in the life of a co-habiting couple.  I love how the theatrical feel of the lighting intensifies the emotion and tension of the couples to superbly dramatic effect. She will be showing in Riga, Arles and Singapore this year and you can see more here http://www.laurastevens.co.uk/.  The post on theprintspace blog is here: http://www.theprintspace.co.uk/blog/laura-stevens/

Robot alert!

Laurent Chehere's work is surreal but playful.  He's just done a show in France of a series depicting flying buildings which was very well received.  The magic hour light in these shots of a giant transformer-type robot roaming around the suburbs of some sunkissed city causing havoc, lends an unsettling quality to the series and I think the shots where you see him less are certainly the most powerful.  See more of his work here: http://zeyneprepresents.com/photographer-laurent-chehere-18-72-places