I first started paying attention to the photography of Valeria Lazareva when I did a post years ago about Magnificent magazine. She shot the cover for that issue (and a few more) I posted about. Since then, her photography has continued to intrigue me. Her shots are like stills from a movie -- capturing a sense of nostalgia, freedom and sensuality with very compelling characters.
Valeria, is also an architect and lives in Odessa, Ukraine. Check out more of her beautiful work here.
I can't enough of the colorful and graphic illustrations of Swedish illustrator Kari Modén.
Inspired by pop-art, South American poster design, fashion and magazines Kari's work has been commissioned for advertising and editorial work, packaging, patterns, t-shirt prints, wall paintings and websites.
Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, GQ , Elle, The Guardian, New York Times Magazine, Vogue Living & Entertainment, and Wallpaper to name a few.
She's represented in the US by the super cool agency Snyder & the Swedes.
Check out more of Kari's fun work here
When prepping for a photo shoot I look for inspiration in all kinds of places - books, blogs, magazines, even my own collection of stamps! You just never know where that element you're looking for will come from so always keep your eyes peeled.
For my most recent food shoot, for example, I looked at fashion for color inspiration. The story I was art directing was about getting children to eat healthy foods so I wanted the styling to be fun but not childlike. I wanted to bring bright happy colors, and maybe some patterns, so off I went searching.
A good reliable resource for color inspiration is the blog Color Collective. That's where I found the tear above. The clothes are from Jonathan Saunders Fall 2011 collection, and they had exactly the mix of patterns and colors I was imagining. This was the perfect starting point to create a moodboard to send to the photographer and prop stylist. When I got to the set, I was welcomed with the most awesome selection of plates, bowls and linens. Aren't they perfect? Way to make an AD very happy!
Check out Color Collective for tons more inspiring color combinations.
I just watched the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop last night, and it inspired me to do this post. The documentary is a story about French shop keeper and amateur film maker, Thierry Guetta. He is obsessed with street art and started following and filming a bunch of artists including Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and others. He eventually became a successful street artist himself. Interesting story.
Anyway, I don't know the artists who did the pieces above, but I found them around the streets here in San Francisco, and I thought they were pretty cool. Hope you like them too.
The other day I was organizing and cleaning my collection of promos and I came across this one from Debra McClinton. In case you didn't know her, Debra was one of the most amazing photographers, EVER!
Debra's beautiful work graced the pages of Yoga Journal on many occasions. I was fortunate to have worked with her on a few shoots, and she always brought so much energy, creativity and excitement. I remember the last shoot we did together, shortly before she died, was one of the craziest shoots I've ever done. We were on a location (a private garden in Marin) that had given us a very limited amount of time to shoot there. We got all set and started shooting and shooting but something was not clicking for her. She wasn't happy with the light, she wasn't happy with the wardrobe, she wanted to remove branches from a tree! I just wanted to get the shot and move on, but she just kept trying and trying. Just as we were about to get kicked out of the place she got these shots that totally captured the moment we had been trying to get all morning. I hate to admit that at first I was very frustrated but when she sent me the files, I was beyond happy! Those last shots really brought the story to life. And that to me was Debra, not happy until she got the perfect shot.
Debra's work was featured in many magazines including RealSimple, Brides, Wired, People, Country Living, Time, Fortune and lots more. One of my favorite projects she did was the RealSimple Weddings magazine. The pictures were just so gorgeous!
Debra may be gone, but her photography lives on. To see more of her beautiful work, and be inspired click here.
