August book bag: from a new book of Lee Miller photographs to a ‘sexy’ publication of contemporary Indigenous art

By in Native

August book bag: from a new book of Lee Miller photographs to a ‘sexy’ publication of contemporary Indigenous art

Antony Penrose, Lee Miller: Photographs, Thames & Hudson, £30 (hb)

Lee Miller, the model-turned-Surrealist-turned-World War II correspondent, is having a moment. A long-awaited new biopic starring Kate Winslet as Miller is due for release later this year (the multitalented Miller is often pigeonholed as Man Ray’s assistant but the new film casts her as the protagonist). Winslet has written the foreword to this new volume which, says the publisher, presents “100 of the most outstanding photographs taken by photographer, model and Surrealist muse Miller”. Her son, the photographer Antony Penrose, has compiled the image selection which includes Jean Cocteau, Palais Royal arcade, Paris, France (1944) and Picnic, Île Sainte-Marguerite, Cannes, France (1937).

Simon Morley, Modern Painting: A Concise History (World of Art), Thames & Hudson, 320pp, £18.99 (pb)

The art historian Simon Morley updates Herbert Read’s history of Modern painting, first published in 1959. Morley writes in the preface: “This new concise history tells a more inclusive story than Read’s, one that places painting in a broader stylistic, historical, geographical, and gender and ethnic frame.” Structured chronologically, the analysis “explores the dramatic transformations and challenges of painting over the past 250 years”, according to a publisher’s statement. The book covers areas such as “the roots of Modern Painting”, “Cubism to Dada” and “Postmodernism”. More recently added artists include Hilma af Klint, Fahrelnissa Zeid, Faith Ringgold and Banksy.

Jeffrey Gibson (ed), An Indigenous Present, Delmonico Books/Big NDN Press, 448pp, $75 (hb)

The artist Jeffrey Gibson brings Native North American contemporary artists to the fore in this survey of indigenous art exploring “concepts, forms and mediums” via more than 60 practitioners including Teresa Baker, Natalie Ball and Laakkuluk Williamson.“Historically, books about contemporary Native and Indigenous art have often been composed of academic essays illustrated with artworks by Indigenous makers. The writing often references previously published texts that can be problematic and outmoded… I wanted to make a lavish picture book (‘sexy’ was a word I used a lot to describe this project),” Gibson says in a statement. Gibson was recently announced as the US representative at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024.

Paul Olivennes (editor-in-chief), Magma (series), Magma, 224pp, €60 (hb)

This new annual journal is in the tradition of fabled 20th-century revues d’art such as Georges Bataille’s Documents(1929) and the Surrealism tome Minotaure (1933). “These magazines offered direct access to artistic creation. They were the place for the avant-garde, both artistic and literary,” says Paul Olivennes, the founder and editor-in-chief of Magma. “I wanted to revive this format, which has now disappeared, in all its aesthetic, graphic, and intellectual sophistication.” The inaugural edition features 18 artists including Sophie Calle, Lucas Arruda and Frida Orupabo, along with more than 80 works of art and literary texts, most of them unpublished.

Saudi Arabia Ministry of Culture (ed), Scripts and Calligraphy: Paths to the Soul, Skira, 272pp, £43 (hb)

This comprehensive overview of Arabic calligraphy over the centuries analyses the handwriting form across four thematic categories: Light, Letter, Space and Poetry. “The project [the book accompanies an exhibition at Riyadh’s Irqah Hospital, until 23 December] gracefully interlaces classical and contemporary artworks, creating a constant dialogue between past and present,” according to a publisher’s statement. Works by more than 34 calligraphers such as Nabeel Bukhari, Bayan Barboud and Abdulrahman Elshahed feature alongside pieces by contemporary artists such as Timo Nasseri. A spokesperson for Skira says that the publisher will “release numerous titles over the next several years as the official publisher of the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Culture”.

‘We never even bid one dollar’: Sheikha Al-Mayassa discusses Salvator Mundi and controversy around Damien Hirst’s foetus works in new book

By in Art World News

‘We never even bid one dollar’: Sheikha Al-Mayassa discusses Salvator Mundi and controversy around Damien Hirst’s foetus works in new book

In 2006, Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani emerged as one of the art world’s power collectors after her father, the then ruling emir, appointed her to run Qatar Museums. Al-Mayassa rarely gives interviews. But in a new book by the collector Dani Levinas, The Guardians of Art: Conversations with Major Collectors, she discusses how she modified architect Jean Nouvel’s plans for the Qatar National Museum, why the art market is prone to overheating and the controversy over Damien Hirst’s giant uterus sculptures, titled The Miraculous Journey (2005-13) which went back on show in Doha in 2018. The interview dates from 2019.

The Guardians of Art: Conversations with Major Collectors

Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad al Thani is on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most powerful women. The sister of the Emir of Qatar and daughter of the legendary Hamad Bin Khalifa al Thani and Mozabint Nasser, she has become the most powerful woman in the art world for her work as head of the Qatar Museums, a position that affords her the ability to acquire works with a practically unlimited annual budget that has shaken up the international market. She has been responsible for bringing to Qatar blue chip contemporary artists such as Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst and Richard Serra. She is credited with some of the most notorious acquisitions of recent times, hitting authentic records for their economic value, with names ranging from Cézanne to Rothko.

“Actually, I’ve always been interested in the creative world, but I didn’t study Art but Political Science and Literature at Duke,” she explained during a conversation at her palatial home in New York, the day before the inauguration of the Qatar National Museum in Doha [in 2019], a true 40,000 sq. m wonder of design created by the French architect Jean Nouvel. And she added: “‘the main thing for us was to open the museum properly, no matter that it was planned for 2016.”

The force behind the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, the Arab Museum of Modern Art and the Orientalist Museum, she explains about the genesis of the new museum: “Jean Nouvel had different plans, one of which was that the museum be underground and that there would be nothing around the palace [former royal palace of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Jassim and home to the National Museum of Qatar]. I told him that it was a slightly claustrophobic idea and I asked him to think of something else. Perhaps he was a little offended, but finally he came up with such a beautiful and architecturally complex structure that architects have come from all over the world to admire his daring and talent.”

The eyes of half the world also turned to Qatar for the controversial placement of fourteen giant bronze sculptures by Damien Hirst—13 foetuses and a baby that represent the development of an embryo until birth at the Sidra hospital. “To be honest, we didn’t think it would upset the Qataris too much, but it is also true that we had already had controversies when we opened a major exhibition by Hirst. Part of the public, who were not familiar with his work, thought that his works with embalmed animals had been executed by him, which goes against our religion,” she explains, before clarifying, “If you let your children have Barbies, what is wrong in us exhibiting sculptures that represent babies? The work is part of the hospital and we are happy with it, although I would like to make it clear that our goal was never to provoke and that, once the controversy began, we tried to dialogue with the people who were offended, knowing that there is not one single piece that everyone likes. Enjoying art is contagious and some works may be viewed differently in 20 years’ time.”

But what does she think of the worrying phenomenon of a few private collectors acquiring works of historical value that iconic museums cannot aspire to because of their asking price? “This phenomenon is not unique to the art world, which is a market like any other. Having said that, we do not want to inflate it. Some of the things that have been said are absolutely false, like, for instance, that we offered a lot of money for a Da Vinci when in fact we never even bid one dollar,”she says in reference to the Salvator Mundi bought by the Louvre in Abu Dhabi [the work was sold at Christie’s in 2017 to a phone bidder on behalf of the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman].“There are some collectors with a lot of money and little knowledge who damage the market and can destroy the careers of great artists. All the actors involved want to inflate this artificial and unhealthy bubble which I believe will be punctured at some point by the market itself. In addition, museums are not only the owner of artworks, but also exhibit them, frame them within a context, place them in a catalogue that has a certain meaning and help everyone enjoy art.”

Al-Mayassa makes a point of stating that she is not a collector herself, among other reasons, to avoid possible conflicts of interest, and that all her plans are medium-to-long term. “I like it when people can see what is behind a dress, a chair or a painting, because knowledge can be used so that life, which is so short, can have another meaning. To that end, you have to think about the reasons why things happen, instead of assuming that they just simply happen.”

• Dani Levinas, The Guardians of Art: Conversations with Major Collectors, La Fábrica, 176pp, $33/£29 (pb)

I paid $3,000 for my wedding photos and they are the WORST pictures

By in Photography

I paid $3,000 for my wedding photos and they are the WORST pictures

I paid $3,000 dollars for the WORST wedding photos ever – and now my photographer is ghosting me because I asked for a refund

  • Brooke is a Montana-based bride who received the ‘worst’ wedding photos
  • She took to TikTok to share the ‘terrible’ snaps that she paid $3,000 for
  • The newlywed noted that she hasn’t gotten her money back 

By Kelsi Karruli For Dailymail.Com

Updated: 14:54 EDT, 1 August 2023

A new bride has revealed she paid a whopping $3,000 for wedding photos that ended up being ‘terrible’. 

Brooke is a Montana-based content creator who frequently shows off her handmade crafts, however, she has now taken to TikTok to blast her wedding photographer for giving her the ‘worst pictures’. 

In a viral clip, which has so far amassed over  2.6 million views, she gave her followers a peek at the ‘out of focus’ snaps. 

She accused the photographer – whom she didn’t name – of poorly editing the images, not capturing her best angles, and then refusing to refund her when she complained. 

Brooke is a Montana-based who has revealed she paid a whopping $3,000 for wedding photos that ended up being 'terrible'

In a viral clip, which has so far amassed over 2.6 million views, she gave her followers a peek at the 'out of focus' snaps

She accused the photographer - whom she didn't name - of poorly editing the flicks, not capturing her best angles, and refusing to refund her

Brooke said: ‘Want to see some of the worst first dance wedding photos I’ve ever seen in my entire life? Well I have got you covered because they’re mine. 

‘If you are married and you’ve had issues with your wedding photographer, what did you do?’

She noted that when she and her husband got their photos back, she was ‘floored’ because the snaps were ‘out of focus, the other photographer was in them, [and] they were just bad all around.’ 

The newlywed explained that after she saw the flicks, she did what ‘any dissatisfied customer would do’ and contacted the photographer. 

However, according to Brooke, the woman who snapped them just became ‘pissed off.’ 

She then showed viewers two photos from her first dance that were ‘out of focus.’ 

‘She will not answer my husband’s phone calls, [or] my mother-in-law’s phone calls, she told me I’m not allowed to contact her other than email, which I have. 

‘We got married in October, and it’s now May and I’m still dissatisfied with the photos, they’re out of focus, I don’t have many photos of guests that attended actually almost everybody came from out of state – my maid of honor was from out of the country and I have one photo with her and it’s blurry. 

She noted that when her and her husband got their photos back, she was 'floored' because the snaps were 'out of focus, the other photographer is in them, they are just bad all around'

She lamented over this photo specifically because it made her feel very insecure

Brooke explained this photo was supposed to show her and her friend's matching foot tattoos, however, the photographer cut out their feet

In this flick captured on her wedding day, the second photographer was in the frame

The photographer also cut off guest's heads in other photos

‘So, I just don’t even know what to do at this point, any help would be welcomed,’ she explained. 

In a series of follow-up videos, she showed many other snaps that she claimed were blurry and poorly edited. 

She said that in one photo she and her friend wanted to capture their matching foot tattoos and the photographer cropped out their feet. 

The photographer also cut off guest’s heads in other photos and even had the second photographer in frame. 

The new bride noted that she saw the photographer’s social media and liked that she photographed women with similar body types as her and booked her, adding that she did ask to see the photographer’s galleries but never got a chance to.   

Brooke explained that she attempted to contact the photographer many times, however, has yet to hear back. 

Brooke said she attempted to contact the photographer many times, however, has yet to hear back

Brooke said she attempted to contact the photographer many times, however, has yet to hear back

Viewers flooded the comments section and agreed with Brooke, with many pushing her to get her money back

Her latest update revealed that she had sent the photographer a formal list of demands, adding that if they weren’t met she would be taking her to small claims court. 

Viewers flooded the comments section and agreed with Brooke, with many pushing her to get her money back.

One person wrote: ‘When I say my mouth dropped!!! Those are terrible!! Girl… I’m so awfully sorry! I’d sue!’

‘Oh my, I didn’t think it would be this bad, I feel so sorry,’ another user commented. 

Someone else wrote: ‘Girl, she did you so dirty. I’m so sorry.’ 

‘Sue!’ commented another person. 

Indigenous art celebrated in juried exhibition at Woodland

By in Native

Indigenous art celebrated in juried exhibition at Woodland

An opening reception on Saturday for Indigenous Art 2023 drew about 200 people to the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford.

Now in its 48th year, the show is the longest running juried Indigenous art exhibition in Canada.

“It offers opportunities to bring together artists at all levels of their careers working in all media,” said Woodland’s executive director Heather George. “(It) celebrates the beauty, brilliance, and diversity of arts in Indigenous communities and nations.”

George said the catalogue cover piece “The Inter-generational Love Series” by Ohsweken artist Shayde Sandy speaks to the important role art plays in Indigenous communities.

“Art expresses moments of pain and moments of joy and love,” she said. “Indigenous artists are storytellers of the highest calibre.

“Their ability to move our hearts and connect across diverse communities and nations is evidence of the important role art plays in the well-being of our families, clans, and nations.”

Woodland curator Patricia Deadman said close to 100 works were submitted by 60 artists that had to be narrowed down to the final installation.

“This is a fine example of contemporary Indigenous art,” she noted. “It reflects the essence of our ways. It remains central to knowing where we came from and shaping the future for the next generation.”

Sandy, a 22-year-old artist from Ohsweken, submitted to the juried exhibition for the very first time after obtaining a degree in Fine Arts from Queen’s University.

Six Nations artist Shayde Sandy had two of her large painting selected to be exhibited in Indigenous Art 2023 at Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford.
Six Nations artist Shayde Sandy had two large paintings selected to be included in Indigenous Art 2023, the 48th annual juried exhibition at Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford.. Photo by Brian Thompson /The Expositor

Her two large pieces – oil paintings with an acrylic background – depict her mother and two aunts, each holding newborns; and her grandfather sitting with her brother and cousin.

“I like to focus on the positive because I feel like with native people, a lot of the time it’s very negative or just not accurate,” she said. “I wanted to focus on candid moments, so people know we’re still here. We’re still existing and doing good.

“Getting selected, I was very honoured to represent my people.”

Indigenous Art 2023 features works in media that include paintings, pottery, photography, carvings, beadwork, and ceramics that occupy all three gallery spaces at Woodland Cultural Centre.

The exhibition runs until September 30.

bethompson@postmedia.com

Leah Ring Creates a Playful + Colorful Desert Oasis in Yucca Valley

By in Design

Leah Ring Creates a Playful + Colorful Desert Oasis in Yucca Valley

Interior and product designer Leah Ring of Another Human is back with another colorful, jaw-dropping project showcasing her vibrant design aesthetic. After years of admiring Yucca Valley’s beauty, Ring decided to embark on a design adventure in 2021, purchasing a property that would serve as both a second home and a canvas for her extreme creative ideas. Now, the once fixer-upper is a mesmerizing desert oasis that displays her remarkable design sensibilities and bold approach to color.

Nestled within the picturesque Yucca Valley, the property consists of four small buildings, each in various states of disrepair. Rather than starting from scratch, she decided to keep the structures’ envelopes intact, providing a blank canvas to let her imagination run wild.

Color is at the center of Leah Ring’s design philosophy, and each building on the property boasts its own bright hue. The main house stands out in a mesmerizing purple, while the guest house welcomes all with a warm peach exterior. These colors pop amidst the browns of the desert landscape and the greys of the hardscaping.

angled interior view of modern colorful living room with multi colored sofa

Inside the main house, you’ll find a myriad of captivating colors and custom designs. Each room is adorned with a different hue, complementing a curated mix of Ring’s own creations, California designers’ works, vintage pieces, and Moroccan rugs. The blue living room, for instance, boasts a unique sofa designed by Ring herself, featuring three shades of denim, paired with a coffee table she also created.

corner interior shot of small eating area with purple table and bench seating

end view of colorful kitchen in lime green and aqua colors

The kitchen and bathroom take the concept of bold colors to new places. Quartz countertops in deep blue are offset by lime green custom cabinets and aqua blue pulls, creating a refreshing and airy atmosphere.

colorful kitchen in lime green and aqua colors

colorful kitchen in lime green and aqua colors

shot of modern bathroom with bright green and turquoise mosaic tiles in shower

In the bathroom, green and blue tiles blend harmoniously, with the green gradually transitioning to blue as it moves down the wall. Hot pink accents, in the form of a Peter Shire toilet seat, Vola faucet, and plumbing fixtures, add an unexpected touch.

modern bathroom in shades of blue

modern bedroom with pale green walls and multicolored curtains

Lime green walls are paired with tricolor custom curtains in the bedroom, and finished off with a commissioned Liliah Rose soft sculpture hanging above the vintage Paul Frankl headboard.

angled view of modern bedroom with pale green walls and multicolored curtains

modern bedroom with pale green walls and multicolored curtains

interior shot of room with cloud murals all over and person sitting in blue chair at end

Located in another building, Ring’s office is a truly surreal space, wrapped in custom cloud mural wallpaper that she developed herself. The serene blue hue dominates the room, seen in her custom desk by Fire on the Masa and the Another Human magazine rack. The color continues in the custom quilted armchair and ottoman, which draws inspiration from winter coats, adding a touch of playfulness to this ethereal space.

interior shot of home office with long blue modern desk and cloud mural on wall

modern living space with modular sofa with colorful furnishings

The sunroom welcomes guests with a bespoke sofa that can double as a bed with plenty of storage built into the base. On the opposite side, a retrofitted vintage Malm fireplace rests beside an Another Human chair for added coziness.

interior shot of modern living space with upholstered blue chair and white corner stove

modern bedroom with rusty red organic shaped headboard and bedding with cream colored walls

Designed with hospitality in mind, the bunkhouse exudes warmth and comfort with its deep red custom linen native shaped headboard and matching bedspread with magenta trim. Vintage lamps and pink Componibili Bio Storage Units frame the bed, creating an inviting space for guests to unwind.

modern bedroom with rusty red organic shaped headboard and bedding with cream colored walls

large high ceiling bedroom with modern furnishings in cream and rusty red

modern bathroom with rusty red and pink mosaic tiles

Photography by Lance Gerber.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

Commercial photography technique: Lighting jewelry

By in Photography

Commercial photography technique: Lighting jewelry

It can be difficult to isolate jewelry from the background. With this commercial photography technique, I’ll show you how to float a necklace named Pegasus. Bonus! It can be any color at all.

Reminder: I am a Fotopro Featured Photographer and a Platypod Pro.

The set

The set consists of a four-sided rectangular box. Bottom, two sides and back. The front is left open to allow LED lights to add color to the background. The stage has a 30-inch threaded rod which is mounted in a 2×4 for stability. This is the product platform. A piece of drafting vellum is painted with black watercolor. A hole is made to slide the vellum over the threaded rod.

Point the camera straight down. With this configuration the product — in this case, Pegasus — blocks view of the rod from the camera. A dab of tacky wax holds Pegasus in place. The vellum paper adds texture and gives a cloudlike appearance to the surface under the product. With no shadows possible from the main light the product ‘floats’ in the scene.

pegasus jewelry photographed
Final image showing a commercial photography technique to float an object. Photographed at f/5.0 to keep the background soft and smooth.
pegasus jewelry before processing
Pegasus jewelry before processing. Final image showing a commercial photography technique to float an object. Photographed at f/5.0 to keep the background soft and smooth.

The gear

In addition to the set you’ll need a tripod. I’m using a Fotopro T-Roc Max. Make sure that your tripod adjustment collar is secure so you camera lens doesn’t crash into the rod. The camera is suspended over the set using a Platyball and Platypod Handle. With the camera suspended it’s wise to weight the tripod for stability. I’ve used a Neewer sandbag filled with pea gravel. You could use a weighted backpack as well. The Handle works well as it can be adjusted in many different configurations. At the end of the handle is a second ball-head. There are three Platypod Ultras. Two are holding Platypod Goosenecks. I’m using these to display the chain. The third Ultra is supporting a Falcon Eyes F7 fold LED light. With two LED panels completely controllable you can dial in ANY color and brightness desired.

Look into the gear description above to see how everything comes together.

Camera and lens

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III is my camera. A 60mm M. Zuiko f/2.8 Macro lens gets great detail. The wide aperture is important in whatever lens you choose to use. The wide aperture allows the background to fade to super softness. Closing down your aperture lets more of the black watercolor read in your image adding a bit more texture and more choices for the look for which you are going.

Main light is an COB LED from Zhiyun and is behind the scrim to keep the light from being too harsh on the subject. The larger the light source the softer the shadow edge transitions on your subject. Check out my review on the Zhiyun 100 watt LED light.

The shoot

With a super reflective subject such as jewelry you want to get light into spaces. Rather than spend a lot of time adding more confusion to the set I suggest using Photoshop as your lighting tool making a couple exposures holding a white card in place and moving it around the set. Ultimately I’ve found this to be a faster and cleaner way to work.

pegasus photographed at f/11 for more depth of field
Note the extra detail in the background. Photographed at f/11.

Photoshop

After capturing your images, it’s a quick trip to Adobe Camera RAW (or Lightroom if that’s your preferred software). Take the frames for blending and load them as layers in Photoshop. Take the photo that has the most information you want and place it on the bottom. Highlight all layers, and just to be safe, click Auto-Align Layers in the Edit menu. If there was a slight bump of the camera this will ensure you won’t end up with blurry fills. Add black masks to the upper layers. Paint with a soft white brush to allow the other areas to blend into the bottom layer working one layer at a time.

photoshop layers palette for commercial photography technique
Layers palette. Three layers for capturing all the light from different angles masking in what is wanted. See the text for the rest of the post production.
hue saturation layer illustration photoshop
Even thought there is complete color control of the background on the set sometimes clients change their mind, imagine that! Masking out the jewelry a Hue Saturation placed below allows for even more possibilities.

Even though we have complete control of the color of the background during capture, we can change the color in post as well. Adding a Hue Saturation layer while masking out Pegasus gives us even more control.

Finishing moves

I made a couple tweaks to complete the post-production. One side of the chain fell out of depth of field because I was trying to allow the background to go super smooth. Instead of going back to the set, I made a copy of the camera left chain, flipped it and masked it into the right side. There was a little dodging and burning on a Soft Light layer. Finally, I added a Levels layer with a mask to vignette just a bit to keep the viewer’s eye from escaping out of frame.

If you have any questions about this commercial photography technique please don’t hesitate to drop them in the comments below.

Yours in Creative Photography, Bob

Why AI Food Photography Is So Unappetizing

By in Photography

Why AI Food Photography Is So Unappetizing
image

The other day I found myself, as one is wont to do, wasting 10 minutes by playing around with an AI image generator. I was hungry at the time, and so eventually I began creating options for a hypothetical lunch: a shadowy charcuterie platter, rising up like the ruins of an ancient city with a sunset in the background; rings of rigid-looking calamari, seemingly made from lucite or glass, arranged in an artfully askew stack; and a circle of 12.5 cartoonish, smooth, translucent-red shrimp under a banner of cursive text that read, simply, “Shimp.” Some of the images looked like food; none of them looked edible.

As my lunchtime experiment showed, getting AI to generate a quality image requires knowing what you’re doing — starting with well-written prompts (beyond just “plate of shrimp”), a crucial step I had not taken. Sometimes, the results are amazing, like the AI-generated images Bon Appétit recently commissioned from artist Bobby Doherty, which accompanied a piece about an editor’s conversation with ChatGPT as it developed dishes for a hypothetical New American restaurant. Some of AI’s ideas for the menu were eye roll-inducing, as can be the case with New American restaurants, but Doherty’s vivid, otherworldly art still looks good enough to eat.

It would seem, however, that the average AI-generated food image is not quite there. In various corners of Reddit and Google Images, pizza slices and leaves overlap strangely or blend into each other, curries shimmer around the edges, , and other supposed foods . On Adobe Stock, users may monetize AI-generated art, provided they have the rights to do so, and label their uploads as illustrations. Most of the platform’s photorealistic still lifes and tablescapes are passable, though a few veer into the grotesque: , all body and no head, or . Images like these, and even ones that are less absurd, often reside somewhere in the uncanny valley — a much-debated locale that looms large in many conversations around AI.

Still, as tech companies tout AI’s applications for recipe development and even teaching cooking techniques, artificial neural networks are also making their entrance into the world of food photography. Some stock photo agencies, including Shutterstock, have partnered with AI platforms on their own image generation tools. Startups like Swipeby and Lunchbox intend to court restaurants and delivery operations in need of visuals for their online menus. Of course, a way to create visuals — paying food photographers to do their jobs — already exists. And beyond that ethical morass is a more immediate legal problem: Some AI models have been trained with creative works, often unlicensed, scraped from the internet, and can respond to requests to mimic specific artists. Understandably, the artists are starting to take things to court.

All moral concerns aside, for the time being, at least, food still looks most reliably delicious in the hands of food photographers, videographers, and food and prop stylists. So what is AI getting wrong? Karl F. MacDorman, a scholar of human-machine interaction and associate dean at Indiana University’s Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, says there are many theories as to what might cause certain representations to elicit feelings of eeriness or unease as they near full accuracy. “The uncanny valley is often associated with things that are liminal,” MacDorman says, as when we are not sure if something is alive or dead, animal or non-animal, real or computer-animated. This can be especially pronounced when an image mixes disparate categories, or assigns features to a subject that usually belong to very different things. It’s perhaps unsurprising that AI, at this relatively early juncture, might struggle with all of this.

While the original uncanny valley hypothesis, posited in 1970 by roboticist Masahiro Mori, was concerned only with humanoid figures, other uncanny valleys have since been demonstrated. There can be a similar effect with renderings of animals, and in a 2021 study, MacDorman and psychologist Alexander Diel found that houses can be uncanny, too. MacDorman suggests that food, likewise, has the capacity to be uncanny because of how intimately it’s connected with our lives.

John S. Allen, author of The Omnivorous Mind (published in 2012), has explored that connection from both a scientific and cultural perspective. An anthropologist who specializes in the evolution of human cognition and behavior, Allen speculated as to why some AI food can be so off-putting. “The familiar but slightly-off images are maybe the most disturbing,” he wrote in an email after I sent him some of my weirdest finds. “Maybe I interpret those in the same way I might look at something that I would usually eat, but which has spoiled or become moldy or is harboring a parasite or is in some other way not quite right.”

In The Omnivorous Mind, Allen argues that young children develop what he deems a theory of food (“sort of like a first language,” he says) that is shaped over time by varied experiences and cultural influences. “Our first visual impressions of what we eat set up expectations, based on experience and memory, about what something should taste like or whether we will like it or not,” Allen says. “When the food looks off, that sets up a negative expectation.”

MacDorman’s research supports a similar idea. When it comes to “configural processing” — simultaneously responding to many features at once, as with face perception — he says humans do rely on models we’ve developed of the food that we’re eating. “We have a model of what a shrimp should look like, what’s a good example or a bad example of shrimp,” he explains. If you see a shrimp that’s strangely long and thin, it’s not uncanny because it’s novel; it’s uncanny because it’s bringing to mind a familiar model, and when we try to fit them together, “there’s something definitely not meeting your expectations.”

Still, MacDorman thinks there can be feelings other than uncanniness at play in an adverse reaction to an AI-generated food image. “It could even be empathy,” he suggested. With a headless shrimp, for example, “you might feel bad because you wouldn’t want to be it.”

Some foods may provoke stronger reactions than others. “For me it’s the meat, all the way,” says San Francisco-based food photographer Nicola Parisi. “I do think meat in general is a very hard thing to photograph, even as a human, and I can see some of the same struggles with AI” She thinks it also has yet to master other things some humans have trouble grasping, like composition, styling, and staying on trend. A dated backdrop, or a plating technique that’s no longer en vogue might not trigger any deep psychological phenomena, but they can certainly contribute to an overall value judgment of an AI-generated image. “A photo can be taken with a nice camera, and you can light it well, but it can be boring, or the styling won’t be great,” Parisi says. “A high-quality image could still be bad, you know what I mean?”

Luckily, there are professionals out there who know how to make food look great every time, and unlike AI, they can actually eat.

Hannah Walhout is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn.

Designer Desktop August 2023 With Kapitza

By in Design

Designer Desktop August 2023 With Kapitza

Design studio Kapitza, founded by sisters Petra and Nicole, wants “to color the world with positive and uplifting works of art, as we believe that color has the power to make us feel better in ourselves and our communities.” We completely agree! Located in East London, the duo collaborates with brands and institutions to create everything from large murals to pop-up events to products and more – you can check out some of their projects below!

Our Designer Desktop for August features Kapitza’s abstract composition entitled NEW WAVES. It’s full of curved line segments that connect and cross each other to create “a flowing rhythm.” Petra and Nicole shared, “We were inspired by one of our favorite artists, Vera Molár, the first female artist to incorporate computers into her practice and her constant search for challenges, new materials, and surprises.”

overhead image of a person working on a colorful geometric painting

Diversity Painting

two light-skinned people wearing all black sit in a space space filled with multiple stripe patterns and colors

Kapitza Photo: Stefanie Freynschlag

DESKTOP: 1024×768  1280×1024  1680×1050  1900×1200  2560×1440

MOBILE: iPhone XS  iPhone XS Max  iPad Pro

Learn more about Kapitza here.

View and download past Designer Desktops here.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Art Gallery: Preston Singletary – Cowboys and Indians Magazine

By in Native

Art Gallery: Preston Singletary – Cowboys and Indians Magazine

Celebrating themes of transformation, heritage, and nature, glass artist Preston Singletary (Tlingit) has become a national figure within the Northwest Native glass art movement.

Ravens. Eagles. Totem poles. Think Northwest Native glass art and his name springs to mind. With his global reputation, glass artist Preston Singletary (Tlingit) stands front and center in Seattle’s celebrated studio glass movement. His pieces range from blown and sand-carved glass tabletop sculptures to massive multisensory installations — and you’ll find them in museums from Seattle to Alaska, Massachusetts to France, Sweden to Scotland. 

Inspired by his Tlingit roots, Singletary reinterprets Native American art in glass sculptures carved with the curving arcs of the Northwest coastal Indigenous formline design. Transformation is inherent in the work. When light hits the luminous glass, it can seem alive, as if with a spirit inside. “Glass changes when the sun hits it and makes it very dynamic,” he says. “It’s also transforming the cultural art.”

Stillness, blown and sand-carved glass, 19″ x 9.5″ x 8″.

Singletary grew up in Seattle, learning about his heritage from his Tlingit great-grandmother, who passed on her culture to her family in the traditional matrilineal way, relocated the family from Alaska to Seattle, and kept a pet grizzly bear in the late 1800s. “She lived to be 100. She died in 1981,” he recalls. His bohemian-inclined parents played folk music, and Singletary plays in a mostly Native band. Glass art drew him in as a teenager in this city near where blown-glass sculptor Dale Chihuly took the world by storm and co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School, where Singletary maintains continuing ties.

Dominant themes in Singletary’s art tend toward transformation, animal spirits, and shamanism. Ravens appear frequently. “The raven is the basis of a lot of the stories. How Raven brought order to the world. Not only did he steal the sun from this old man who was hoarding it, and give it as a gift to the world, but he also did several other actions. He essentially brought order to the world. He stole the spring water from Petrel and tried to swallow it up, and the water dripping out of his mouth became the rivers and streams,” Singletary explains. Eagle is the other Tlingit tribal moiety. “There was this boy playing on the beach and there was famine, so the eagle dropped salmon down for the boy. So that’s Eagle as a spirit helper in the context of the story. He provides food to the boy, who shares it with his village and becomes a leader because of his special connection with Eagle,” Singletary says.

Killer Whale Totem (reverse), lead crystal, 106″ x 33.5″ x 22″.

Influenced by both modernism and primitivism, Singletary, 59, often works with amulet forms. “There are a lot of shaman amulets, like pieces of bone or tooth. I make them larger as sculptural objects. Then I’ll put themes of transformation—animals morphing into humans. So it alludes to the spirituality of humankind,” he says. Recently he’s been delving deeper into symbolism and metaphors. “I’ve been working with elders, with people who help me understand the stories from different perspectives, so more of a Joseph Campbell type of approach,” he says. “You can create an art piece from any action within the story.”

His monumental Killer Whale Totem standing over eight feet tall was created with woodcarver David Svenson then cast in lead crystal in the Czech Republic. “It’s talking about the killer whale as the main crest symbol representing my family and the eagle moiety on the top, and the bottom is a wolf design, which is a more archaic crest symbol,” Singletary says. There’s also a thunderbird representing the clan that adopted Svenson.

Golden Eagle, blown and sand-carved glass, 20.5″ x 14″ x 11″.

The Two Ravens totem explores cross-cultural mythology. “Odin is there because my wife is Swedish,” Singletary says. “He’s a Norse god and kind of a shaman figure. The two birds on his shoulder are ravens. Odin is always associated with ravens. The other characters are my daughter and my son and a wolf representing our cockapoo. And my wife on top.”

Raven in the Beginning of Time is a stand-alone raven covered with formline designs. “Raven is originally a white bird. Most albino animals in Indigenous culture are thought of as supernatural beings, so the raven has transformational capabilities,” Singletary says. The regal Golden Eagle has a curved beak. “It’s a newer form with the extended wings. Eagles are a symbol of power. And they’re hunters and pretty special. They have powers in their own right.”

The Place Where You Go to Listen, blown and sand carved glass, 22.75″ x 24″ x 7″.

The untitled oystercatcher rattle in black and amber portrays an oystercatcher on the top with a mountain goat on the bottom. Lying across it is a reclining shaman figure. “The shaman is emaciated and fasting, or potentially dying, based on a real traditional image of a shaman I’ve seen in carved style,” Singletary says. “Those rattles were originally made to connect a shaman to his spirit helpers and for healing rituals.” 

A poignant egg-shaped sculpture titled Unassimilated depicts a raven in front of a cityscape. “It was based on a song my band does. It’s a spoken-word piece about Raven coming back from a long journey. He comes back to his homeland and instead of tall trees, he sees these tall buildings. He finds this tree that’s been washed out to sea, and it’s all heavy with salt water. So he’s sitting on this log and sort of crying because his homeland is transformed to where he can’t even recognize it.”

Unassimilated, blown and sand-carved glass, 18.5″ x 12.5″ x 3.5″.

Standing outdoors in Portland, Oregon, the abstracted Tlingit Dancing Staff sculpture was a collaboration between Singletary and David Franklin. “That’s a steel and glass construction for public art. We were looking for durable materials that could be made and installed outside,” Singletary says. The red dot on the top represents the sun, with a raven’s beak holding it up.

Taken as a whole, Singletary believes his work is “a connection to ancient tradition, but now it’s very modern. Now the culture has a new medium.” 

Raven in the Beginning of Time, blown and sand-carved glass, 20.75″ x 9″ x 16″.

Preston Singletary’s traveling exhibition Raven and the Box of Daylight is on view at Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, through July 2, 2023, then at Oklahoma City Museum of Art in Oklahoma City November 11, 2023 – April 28, 2024. He is represented by Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, Sandra Ainsley Gallery in Toronto, and Traver Gallery in Seattle. Smaller works may be found at additional galleries and museum stores. Visit the artist online at prestonsingletary.com.

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