Fotografieke » Photography

A few bits and pieces

Marieke — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:15:39 +0000

I’m too busy taking care of other business right now so blogging has sunk a few spots on my list of priorities, sadly. But my eyes always wander all over the net looking for wonderful stuff, so let me just give you a mini-report for now. I will be back very soon with some reviews on recent cd releases and some other cool things.

Trailer for ‘A Single Man’
You know those ads for designer clothes and perfumes, those that look so very stylishly theatrical? Well this is a movie trailer that looks like an ad that looks theatrical! No wonder really, considering that the movie is directed by Tom Ford, of all people.

Liu Bolin – ‘Transparency’ artist
I found this amazing artist’s pictures through V1kram‘s blog. Yes, it’s painted!

Sondre Lerche – pictures by Isabell N. Wedin
Sondre kindly mentioned photographer Isabell N. Wedin on Twitter in regard to the new pictures used for his latest recording, ‘Heartbeat Radio’. I’m planning a little review later on.

Etsy shop: Elizabeth Wren Vintage
Ever since I started watching Mad Men and long before that show even started I developed an uncontrollable desire for 60s items. In those days there was such an incredible mix of quality products and pure, pure kitsch. But both very easy on the eye! Elizabeth Wren dug up some interesting vintage items.

What defines a ‘great’ movie poster?

Marieke — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:27:35 +0000

Working as a volunteer at a local moviehouse, while I sell tickets for the movies on view for the evening I find myself staring at the movie posters across the counter a lot longer than I’d like to admit. It’s become quite entertaining to analyze the movie posters on display and try to put into words why I prefer one poster over the other.

Recognizability is what’s important for the blockbusters of the western world. As a fan of independent, small movies I can’t stand all those generic, commercial movie posters. On the other hand, a poster for a commercial movie looking all artsy and intellectual, will most likely bore the living crap out of blockbuster lovers. The trick is to come up with a design that will register just long enough to remind people to walk into the theatre. A cracking movie poster is an incredibly powerful marketing tool.
I’m not condemning the movie industry and all its plain looking promo-material. The quality of all that plain looking promo-material isn’t bad at all. But what I do find interesting is how most commercial movie posters become rather hysterically predictable when in larger numbers.

Because of this I’d like to show just how much they all look like the next one, and I’d like to propose different methods of designing a movie poster, with a slightly tongue-in-cheek approach. I just can’t help myself..

I’ve collected recent posters (all 2009) to vizualize my theory:

Action/Thriller
It comes as no surprise that this is all about men, very anxious looking men, surrounded by either anxious looking villains or buddies, an occasional anxious looking woman and/or a gloomy environment. The little head-turn and suspicious glance to the side are also clear action poster characteristics.

Action/Adventure
Crossing over to adventure we notice more anxious looking ladies and gentlemen, this time (mostly) on their own, completely centered, weapon drawn and ready for battle. Whatever battle they’re facing, it’s bound to be rough. (although I’m wondering what Mr. Gray’s up to)

Drama
We’re moving slowly from anxious to happy or sad facial expressions. In the category drama the designers develop a sudden urge to use lots of squares and rectangles to be able to get either the entire cast involved or show some moviestills.

Romance/Comedy
I try my best to avoid any movie where the actors are potrayed looking like the ones below. This category needs no further explanation I’m sure. One thing though: a lot of men still haven’t worn off their anxious looks or have gone to shocked/ill-at-ease.

Animation/Family
Designers find it necessary to be as obvious as possible if it comes to flicks for kids, therefor including most, if not all characters and use as many colours as possible. Kids love it, you know! And notice the huddling.

Now let me propose some solutions and show alternative ways of making a poster look awesome. Again I’m only showing posters from 2009.

Characteristics
If we’re talking about characteristics, why not use the main character’s? And keep it simple, less=more.

Graphics
Don’t shy away from using pencils, brush, crayons, but same goes for Photoshop, Illustrator and the lot.

Teenagers
Dealing with teenagers? Go all Juno, use their crazy imagination!

Love Story
Want to focus on the couple? Use colour, go abstract. No white backgrounds! And be easy on the leading actors, don’t photoshop the poor people until they look like their own waxmodels.

Cast
Sure you can introduce the entire cast if that’s your thing. Put them in one scene for example. Do an impromptu shoot between takes. And if you insist on using geometry keep it interesting. Use colour, avoid predictable (a)symmetry.

Moviestills
If you’re using moviestills for your design, why not just use one as a whole? Toy around with typography and its location within the moviestill, surprise and charm people with a stunning shot.

Faceless
Designs without the actors can send off a powerful message. All the more room for graphics and your own creativity.

After writing this item I came across actually just one blog that discusses movie posters and does so on a regular basis. If you’ve been drooling over the above posters, whichever posters you were drooling over, you’ll enjoy this blog: Movie Poster Addict.

Photography: Kai Z Feng

Marieke — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:51:20 +0000

I’ve discovered this guy’s work a while ago and tried to reach him but so far no luck. I’m so excited about his style that I can’t wait any longer. I’m sure that a little plug won’t do any harm, and if it does I’m more than willing to pull this post off again.
Kai Z Feng has been in the field for a few years now, and has only been working with a camera for basically as long as his professional carreer as a photographer. He’s shot for various magazines and has had the pleasure of not only working with fashion models but a broad range of celebrities as well. Youth, elegance and energy are a few words that spring to mind when scrolling through his portfolio. Take a look:

Photography: Sally Mann

Marieke — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:19:31 +0000

I just recently came to know Sally Mann’s work. I quickly realized I should be ashamed for not knowing much of her work. By this post I do hope to have corrected that error.
Sally Mann is an American photographer who mostly works with large format cameras. She’s well-known for her collection called ‘Immediate Family’ (1992), in which Mann photographed her children in day-to-day life, during their entire childhood. She caused and still causes quite a stir with those photographs. Some people have an issue with the fact that Sally photographed her children in (half-)naked state a lot of the time. I would like to describe it as a metaphor for the protection that is childhood, no worries, no obligations, no expectations. As a child all you have to do is BE. You’ll have the rest of your life to dress and become your own person.

Geekery: Photogeek pt. 3: Accessories etc.

Marieke — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:27:21 +0000

Here’s the third and final part of the ‘Photogeek’ post series: accessories.

Camera DSLR Bag by bankgrrl

Fisher Price Camera by MINDASART

Photobag by xcessrize

Camera strap by designsbyjessie

Unisex tshirt, yellow by vital

Camera Candle by urbancase

Camera Lens Pouch by RogueTheory

Flickr Addict or Flickr Whore pinback button by BarrelOfMonkeys

Camera Pouch by plushism

Embroidered polaroid pocket journal by nowvember

Photography: Brigitte Lacombe

Marieke — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:48:55 +0000

Brigitte Lacombe is a French photographer who’s seen it all. She’s worked with the biggest names in entertainment and politics, done the portraits, the editorials, the travel shoots. There’s one part of her extensive portfolio that I love, her filmset shots. This is a small dedicational post for a friend, I hope it’ll inspire a little dear!

Geekery: Photogeek pt. 1 – Prints etc.

Marieke — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:32:54 +0000

If you’re a typical photogeek like me you’re gonna love the many geeky bits and pieces on Etsy. I’ve been collecting the best, but since there’s so much to find I’ve divided them up in a couple of categories. Here’s the first: Prints (and paintings, embroidery, photographs etc).

Yellow Polaroid Camera Print by nourishingflourish

‘A Thousand Words’ (original painting) by juliebcreative

Imperial Print by michelemaule

Smile Letterpress Poster by rollandtumblepress

Print Matryoshka by benben

Print Imperial Mark XII by nonobjective

‘Oh Snap!’ Embroidery by jayestar

Spartus Rocket Print by CB78

‘True Love Snap Happy’ print by couragemylove

Photography: Project 365

Marieke — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:51:34 +0000

If you’re frequently visiting Flickr you can’t avoid this one even if you tried: Project 365.
It is a photo pool open to anyone in need of something to get their creative juices flowing. The rules: you must upload a photograph of yourself every single day for 365 days straight. You can stop after 365 days or go on for as long as you like. It is highly amusing to browse the photo pool, watching new photos coming in day and night, it never gets boring. There are obviously tons of easy shots and completely random and off-topic nonsense, but fortunately there are plenty quality shots if you look closely.
I was blown away by the pictures taken by .bella., the work she puts into this project and her creativity is stunning. There are quite a few like her, taking a lot of time to come up with an interesting image and using advanced shooting and editing skills for a little bit of magic.

Here’s a selection of photographs taken by some of the very talented 365 photographers:

Photography: Corriette Schoenaerts

Marieke — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:03:22 +0000

Corriette Schoenaerts is a Dutch photographer mostly known for her editorial work. She takes on commissions from various magazines, mostly working on fashion shoots as well as other promotional photographs that are both refreshingly colourful and visually challenging.

Go to corrietteschoenaerts.com for more of her work.

Exhibition: Noorderlicht Photography Festival 2008

Marieke — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:58:25 +0000

‘Behind Walls / Beyond Walls’ – Eastern Europe before and after 1989

The Noorderlicht Photography Festival is gaining more international popularity with every year it seems. I think it’s completely justified, considering the well thought-out themes each year. The themes always give a colourful perspective of a certain era, culture or continent, and more importantly: it’s shown in a very social light. This is what gives the exhibition it’s spark and depth.
This year’s Noorderlicht Festival shows photographs from around 35 photographers, who all have a special bond with Eastern Europe, either because they’ve lived there or just visited places and got caught up in the social and politic issues before 1989 or the commercial whirlwind after 1989.
Either way, every photograph comes with a story, and it’s fascinating to get sucked into all the stories, solely by looking at all the faces you will walk past in this exhibition as if they’re the people you pass by on the streets every day.
The Noorderlicht Photography Festival is being in two Dutch cities in turns, Groningen and Leeuwarden. The Frisian Museum in Leeuwarden will host this year’s exhibition from September 7th until October 26th, with various satellite exhibitions throughout the city.
For every possible detail, visit the exhibition’s official site.