ALEX PRAGER

Really digging the work of LA based photographer, Alex Prager.  Found her via the M + B  gallery site.  Her stuff has a really dark undertone, but the subjects are very artfully crafted with great color pairing and equally expressive lighting, especially in her "Compulsion" series with the eyes juxtaposed against tragic moments.  Especially interesting to read below after living in LA for 3 + years now.

Her thoughts on her work:

"This series is to a great degree inspired by Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is a beautiful place. The magic is still here.

Everything is possible, but there is a very dark element here too.

You can feel it when you've been here for a few months at a time.

The sky is always blue, the birds are always singing.

It's a strange picture of perfection, but there is this eerie monotony that creeps in after a while.

I think it can slowly drive people crazy. 

That sense of unease under the surface of all this beauty and promise."

PARADISE

I've been looking through more of Matthias' stuff, and I had to post this one out of pure love and enjoyment. So Mr. Heiderich, you get two posts' of noteworthy praise.

via flickr.

Totems by: Alaine Delorme

Some people are hip to carrying bags or babies on their backs, but in Shanghai, you can carry a warehouse load of things. Saves a few trips, right?
Aliane Delorme has captured this quirky balance of humans and objects in their engineering wonder. Simply beautiful!

color wheely

from modcloth

cover lovers

an entire site dedicated to the wonderful works of album art covers.  i insist you continue to explore...

I like this one above.  And it reminds me of the band, Prisoners, new music video - "Little Ole Me".  Shot and directed by the one, Jonny Look.





ok...this is one pretty good too.

Holi - a celebration of color!

I was listening to NPR this morning when a story came on about the Indian festival of Holi.  Basically, people gather together on the streets and paint themselves with beautiful pigments in celebration of the welcoming of spring and good overcoming evil.

I found the ritual so fascinating and dug up some photos from last year's festival in preparation for this coming Sunday's Holi celebration that will go until March 1st. I only wish I could be in India on this day...

npr story here

photos courtesy of Gemunu Amarasinghe





























photo from here

Simply amazing.

mark the date

This amazing design by Oscar Diaz actually follows the days of the month by spreading ink over each day's number AS WELL as having a color related to our perception of the weather on that month. The colors range from dark blue in December to, three shades of green in spring or oranges, red in the summer. Pretty amazing, huh?

Talk about watching the progression of time pass...







Check out more of Oscar's stuff on his website.  I found some of these pictures from Matt Eastwood's blog.

Hope you enjoyed!

Maleonn photography

Today's post features another photographer named Maleonn from Shanghai, China.  I urge you to check out his site with his beautiful and inspiring works of art and design. A lot of his stuff is very dark (I happened to pick out some of the more colorful ones here, however), but he balances these desaturated tones with pops of brightly colored props, makeup, and lighting.  One of my new found favorites.

I found this photographer while searching on the Share Some Candy blog..

Honestly, where do you find a gigantic peach? (other than from a boy named James)

I love his ability to create these fantasy moments in urban environments.

Slightly graphic, but mind you, it's all cotton.

Be sure to check out Maleonn's site. Lots more of these beautifully art directed moments in photography.

Cheers,

Lauren