Found stuff

Mitch Payne's recent series above is called Untitled.  I love the incongruity of the found objects treated reverentially with a stylist's eye and carefully photographed on the forbidding street location, perhaps where they were found, against the makeshift bright green colorama.  Mitch is a talented still life photographer so it's pleasing to see him shoot outside of the studio environment. He says that this project was in response to the current trend in the still life genre where the random and bizarre are too often presented as abstract and considered. I know just what he means...Mitch Payne

Femmes Insectes

Laurent Seroussi has created this extraordinary series of images. He says of them that he wanted to challenge notions of beauty so by first photographing women styled like fashion models and then the insects, (repellant to many but Laurent thinks there's something lovely about the purity of their natural aesthetic) and then creating these hybrids, Laurent says the result is oddly and simultaneously beautiful yet repulsive.  I think they're more beautiful than repulsive.  You can also see more of Laurent's work here on his agent's site: LNB

Hindu deities brought to life

Maa Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and fortune 

Lord Shiva, god of destruction

Lord Hanuman, the Monkey God

Lord Ganesha, the Elephant God

Saw this amazing project on my twitterfeed from The New York Times.  Manjari Sharma, is an Indian photographer who relocated to the US in her early 20's.  As a child, she would spend time visiting Hindu temples with her parents and she later recalled what a powerful sensory and spiritual occurrence it was to see the statues or paintings there in situ depicting the various gods.  After having lived in the West for some time, she decided to try and recreate some of that experience by photographing the deities that meant the most to her.  She engaged a large and willing crew of craftspeople to enable her to create as much as possible in camera so that the result is that the viewer believes they are looking at a painting only to have a double-take moment when they realise it is a photograph.  She has called this project Darshan which means sight, vision or view in Sanskrit and is used most in reference to Hindu worship.  The prints are 6feet tall to emulate as closely as possible the experience of seeing the gods in a Hindu temple.  The series is currently on display at The Clamp Art Gallery New York until 12th October.

Imperilled Indian street trades

Saw this fascinating series on my twitter feed courtesy of @T1MC0LE who saw it on PetaPixel.  I have a total weakness for the subject matter, street portraits or shots of street traders, so had to feature it here. Inspired by the likes of Eugene Atget and Irving Penn, Supranav Dash (a New York-based photographer who originally hails from Kolkata) wanted to pay homage to these rapidly disappearing trades.  He explains on his site that it has always been traditional in India for certain occupations to be hereditary which is mainly dictated by caste. This is changing as younger generations challenge the status quo by seeking more lucrative work but it's also due to the inevitable advances in technology. Supranav is keen to continue the project and is seeking funding to do so. He recently showed some of the series at The New York Photo Festival "My Story" show and it's currently being exhibited at The School of Visual Arts in New York.  I love the timelessness of these shots and how Supranav has captured his subjects with such dignity and sensitivity.  Supranav Dash

Ladies in lingerie

This captivating series of ladies in lingerie is the work of Paris-based illustrator Francois Roca.  He's well known in France for his numerous book covers and also for his work for the weekly magazine Telerama but it's his personal work like the series above that for me is the most arresting.  It's reminiscent of Edward Hopper; the era, the elegance, the nod to Americana but somehow feels sharp, sexy and modern too.  See more here: Francois Roca represented by Costume 3 Pieces

Jason's Daily Nice

Jason Evans is an acclaimed and influential fashion and art photographer who regularly contributes to
i-D magazine, has lectured on photography to numerous lucky students and also has some work in the National Portrait Gallery. I have very belatedly just come across The Daily Nice which he started in 2004 and where he posts 1 x shot a day of something that has made him happy.  He began it at a time when there was a lot of negativity and fear in the press  (now hard to believe that this was the case pre-global recession but it was just as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were brewing; I remember it well) and he felt that a counter expression was necessary.  Olivia, his agent, shows some of his Daily Nices on her agency site and they are so pleasing that I couldn't resist posting some here. French writer Guy de Maupassant wrote a lovely collection of short stories called Une Gorgée de Biére which is a celebration of life's simple pleasures; Jason's Daily Nice is a wonderful visual equivalent. See more of his work here: Jason Evans

Spidey's Day Off

Love this beautifully executed series imagining how Spiderman might spend a day when he's not crimefighting and saving the world; wandering around his neighbourhood in New York, getting a coffee and maybe hanging out in the basketball court - in short being a normal guy. This is the work of Hamburg-based photographer Henning Heide who had the idea whilst working in New York in April. Fortunately he already had the costume in his suitcase so all he needed to find was a willing accomplice to wear it.  See more here: Henning Heide