I’m floored by the beauty of these time-lapse photographs of golden butterflies in Japan. Their neon trails against the backgrounds creates images that look almost as if they were done with brushstrokes. I’m so inspired.
It looks dizzying and psychedelic. I love it.
Also, happy New Year’s, everyone! I’ve decided to stop being a bad blogger this year. What are your thoughts on 2012?
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Dear Gareth Pugh,
If you could just messenger me over the following looks from your new collection, that would be great. You’ve even sold me on the colour white.
Smooches!
Alex
(Seriously, I would sell my baby brother for this jacket. Sorry Charles. I love you and all, but I’m a sucker for asymmetrical closures and interesting peplums.)
Sleek, black, vaguely armour-like. WANT.
Disco cyborg. Hate the leggings, covet the dress.
This is so cool and android-at-a-Ren-faire-y. I want to twirl around in it.
I think my other brother might have to be exchanged for this jacket. Sorry, Max. Your charms are no match for metallic drapey awesomeness.
So, Gareth, what do you think? Do we have a deal? My undying love and two brothers in exchange for your awesome clothing?
What do you mean, it doesn’t sound like you’re getting much out of it?
So cruel of you, Gareth. I thought you were better than that.
[via where you will also find awesome menswear looks which I ignored in my selfish focus on my own imaginary wardrobe.]
And inspiration to revisit the collection thanks to Gene!
Actually just one of David Terraza‘s beautiful photographs of Madrid, but doesn’t it look like the beginning to a story? It’s so perfect, it’s almost clichéd. The scene, any scene, just writes itself.
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I feel like this portrait of Daria by Hedi Slimane is pretty close to the Platonic ideal of casual beauty that all things like Gap ads and so on shoot for. I never really noticed before quite how beautiful her face is. Obviously I was aware that she is beautiful, but it had not really struck me until now.The contrast against the sloppy clothing really brings it out. Hedi is usually able to bring out new details from his subjects, though, so this revelation ought to come as no suprise. I’m really quite fond of this photograph.
Daria Werbowy by Hedi Slimane for Paris Vogue August 2007.
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There’s something about Trent Parke‘s photography that reminds me of David Lynch’s movies, particularly Inland Empire. I think it’s his use of unusual lighting. It gives his photos that sense of normalcy gone terribly, terribly twisted that I see throughout Lynch’s work. Parke’s pictures are wonderfully thought-provoking. I love how he manages to evoke this sense of motion and dreaminess, just through his use of lighting, until the subject becomes almost abstracted.
I’m not going to quote this directly, as I can’t find the source, but I could swear that I saw an interview with Parke where he talked about his inspiration for photographing his work, Minutes to Midnight, coming from a quote about the Australian lack of innocence, and wanting to document the process through which it happened. In order to do this, he took a roadtrip around Australia with his wife (photographer Narelle Autio) for two years, and just took pictures of everything he saw. The results are stunning.
The pictures I’ve put up come from his series “Minutes to Midnight”, “Dream/Life” and “The Seventh Wave”. He started shooting in colour, but I found I preferred the moodiness of his black-and-white photos.
I’ve always loved vintage postcards, and have been thinking about starting a collection of them. I’m enchanted by these insights into the culture of travelling a century ago. Also the compositions and subject matter of these post cards are so much different from the postcards we have today. Or maybe it’s just the black and white that are making me think so.
Anyway, I stumbled across this collection of postcards of Algeria from 1906 in Postalectrice’s photostream on Flickr. They’re all by Jean Geiser. I love them because they’re somehow so simultaneously timeless and of their time. I only wish I could know the stories behind this photographer and his travels. casual Googling reveals only more pictures of Algeria, so presumably he spent a great deal of time there. I guess I’ll have to use my imagination to fill in the holes in his story. How romantic.
My dad and his family lived in Korea for five years when I was younger. During that time I came to visit them many times and fell in love with the country. They have an exploratory bent, so I was able to travel all over the country, from the DMZ down to Jeju Island, by way of many cities on the mainland. I even spent a month working there one summer, which further cemented my love for the place. It’s an extraordinary country.
It fascinated me because my preconceptions were so off the reality. Coming from Turin, Italy, which is hardly an international capital (We have lots of Moroccans, Romanians and Peruvians, randomly, but not too much else. ‘Cept a couple American mutts like myself) I didn’t really have much of a conception of Korea. I knew of China, from trips there with my mom and stepdad, and I knew about Japan from books and the anime I watched when I went over to my friend Chiara’s after school, but when presented with the fact that my dad was moving from glamourous, familiar Paris to Seoul, Korea I drew a blank. I pulled out the K volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica that we still have down in the living room, flipped to the page, read about the country, grew bored at the thought of political systems, and just took my knowledge of Japan and China and jumbling them together until I had achieved a generic Northeast Asian mishmash that I termed “Korea” in my head. No biggie, right?
When I finally arrived, I was delighted to find I was mistaken. I was captivated by the country’s rich history, the language (which is SO fascinating, and which i can only say like ten words in… sigh), the amazing food, and the cool modern arts scene. Above all, though, I fell in love with the beautiful textiles and traditional dresses. It was fascinating to see the hanboks in so many ways– firstly, stiffly, beautifully preserved in museums, then sold in stores, when I learned that they are still sometimes worn, though in a more ceremonial sense, then brought cheesily to life in the soap operas I’d watch on tv at my dad’s, making up the plots since I couldn’t understand the dialogue. It was also really interesting to see the role the dresses played in the modern culture. I’m kicking myself for not being able to recall more details, but I seem to recall an exibition feauturing stylized hanbok made out of gorgeous handmade paper, in gorgeous jewel tones. Beautiful.
All this to say, I love Korea, I love hanbok, and I really love this editorial from Vogue Korea October 2007, featuring hanbok. It’s beautiful how they play with the already-substantial volume of the dresses, highlighting the airiness of the materials, turning it into a series of curves rather than the more rigid geometric form it seems when at rest. It’s also a treat to see the underskirts and the socks, and imagine how all the layers fit together into daily wear of these dresses. Photographer Kim Kyung-Soo has found a way to show a life and a richness in these garments that I’ve never seen in my time admiring them.
PS: Sorry for all the rambling. I wrote this late at night, and I get a little chatterbox-y when I can’t sleep. Also, Korea rocks!
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