Look and Learn: The Ideal Conditions for a Snowboard Photographer
Pieter Ceizer Debuts ‘No Tears’ Wood Sculptures and New Metal Artworks at Art Miami
An eventful week for the Paris-based artist and typographer.
Holiday Gift Guide 2023: The Best Gifts For Travel Photography
Whether you’re traveling with just the phone in your pocket, a new mirrorless camera or 20 lbs. of lenses and accessories these are some great gifts to make your life easier and take better photos in 2024. From photographing Northern Lights in the Arctic or island hopping in the Maldives check out which of these you’ll want with you on your next adventure.
Peak Design Everyday Messenger Bag
Courtesy of Peak Design
Peak Design Everyday Messenger Bag
Perfect for smaller trips the Peak Design Everyday Messenger Bag and its customizable inserts allow you to comfortably fit a camera, a few lenses, accessories, laptop and a tablet inside along with zippered pockets for quick access to passport, sunglasses or anything else you need handy. Included straps allow you to easily attach a tripod. And the mag-latch allows the bag to be opened and closed with one hand — making it easy to quickly get to your camera and take a shot without even putting down your coffee. And when not traveling — as the name suggests — its convenient size makes it a perfect everyday laptop bag as well.
Think Tank Airport International
Courtesy of Think Tank
Think Tank Airport International
When you’re carrying a serious amount of equipment it’s time to forgo the camera backpacks and get a dedicated carry-on roller suitcase. The Think Tank Airport International is the perfect size for most journeys, able to fit two DSLRs, multiple lenses, flashes and accessories with a separate front compartment for laptop, tablet and documents. Think Tank has a few different models in their Airport line but for most the Airport International will get the job done, holding the most gear but small enough to meet carry-on guidelines for international airlines.
Away Carry-On Flex Suitcase
Courtesy of Away Travel
Away Carry-On Flex Suitcase
A travel photographer needs to pack clothing for a trip like everyone else. But what makes this top-rated and best-selling suitcase especially good for photographers? Its hard shell and wheels can handle the abuse of a heavy camera bag strapped on top to the pull-up handle. Where other carry-ons eventually get destroyed by this extra weight my Away suitcase is still going strong after testing it with a year of constant travel. Their regular Carry-On works well enough but the Flex model lets you expand capacity when needed. Also available in an Aluminum Edition.
Polaroid I-2 Instant Camera
Courtesy of Polaroid
Polaroid I-2 Instant Camera
A new generation has been falling in love with film cameras and now they can discover the fun of instant photography with the new Polaroid I-2. Forget the models you’ll find in your parents’ attic, this pro-style version combines Polaroid’s sharpest-ever lens along with its first-ever manual controls, allowing you to choose the f-stop and shutter speed you want to make your vision come to life – instantly. There are also multi-exposure and timer modes and both color and B/W film packs are available to purchase along with the camera.
Peak Design Travel Tripod
Courtesy of Peak Design
Peak Design Travel Tripod
A travel tripod that accomplishes the best of all worlds. It’s lightweight but strong enough to handle a DSLR with a heavy lens. It ingeniously folds up small enough to throw into a camera bag or carry-on suitcase but extends to 60”. There’s one simple adjustment ring to line up your photo and there’s even an iPhone holder hidden inside the main column. Available in two versions: Carbon Fiber (2.81 lbs) and Aluminum (3.44 lbs.).
Nine Volt AirCap
Courtesy of Nine Volt
Nine Volt AirCap
People are using AirTags to keep track of everything from luggage to keys to passport holders. And while it’s a great idea to stash one inside your camera bag Nine Volt has taking the security game one step further with their AirCap. It replaces your camera’s body cap and contains a magnetic secret compartment that holds an AirTag. Should you accidentally leave it somewhere, or have it taken from your bag, the camera can now be tracked directly.
Lens Rentals by Lensrentals
Photographers always love buying new gear but instead of shelling out thousands of dollars for a super-telephoto you’re only going to use for a week on safari it makes better sense to rent instead. Companies like Lensrental make this a breeze with a wide selection of lenses, cameras and other gear that are shipped directly to your home to use for the exact time you need them. When you’re done just repack everything in the same box and use the included return label to send back. Also great for trying out equipment before you commit to purchasing.
Polar bear in Churchill, Canada
Adam Morganstern
Polar Bears
All right, you can’t actually buy a photographer a polar bear. But you can get them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to photograph them on a trip with Frontiers North. With trips based out of Churchill, Canada, photographers will spend a few days at a Tundra Base Station and go on full-day excursions to see Polar Bears in their natural habitat — all conducted with an eye towards conservation and minimal intervention with the animals and their environment. Frontiers North also runs photo trips for Beluga Whales and Northern Lights experiences.
Better iPhone Camera Apps
The camera app that comes with your iPhone does a lot of things well but to open up the true power of the camera you always have with you look to apps like Halide and ProCamera which allow better control over exposure, shutter speed and aperture. Also check out Ephemeris for visualizing the paths of the sun and moon and knowing where and when to place your camera for the perfect shot.
Flighty
One more app that any traveler can benefit from is Flighty which works like your personal assistant. Put your flight info into the app — or have it automatically read it from your email or calendar — and you will get constant up-to-date info on any delays, gate info and your overall flight plan along with other useful info like transfers and time zone changes. The app also allows you to choose how to share this info with others automatically — no more constantly texting people your updates and whereabouts.
Kamryn Baker Photography opens new choices
Local leaders joined together for a ribbon cutting ceremony at Kamryn Baker Photography at 1022 N. Mill Street.
This new studio offers a variety of props and backgrounds to meet the needs of the community.
Ice sculptures, rare books and a hot chocolate crawl: Your weekend guide to things to do
Beyoncé fans can catch a special sing-along screening of ‘Renaissance’ on Saturday
A Major Retrospective Celebrates Iris van Herpen’s Mesmerizing Designs at the Intersection of Art, Fashion, and Science
Carla van de Puttelaar for Iris van Herpen, various collections (2020). All images courtesy of Musée des Arts Décoratifs, shared with permission
Water, skeletons, and the origins of life usher in a major retrospective of the exquisite, otherworldly garments of Iris van Herpen (previously). On view now at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Sculpting the Senses is a celebration of the Dutch designer’s groundbreaking contributions to fashion, particularly her collaborative sensibilities and interest in working across art and science.
Van Herpen founded her eponymous brand in 2007 and has since created a vast oeuvre embracing the beauty of the natural world. Her “Arachne bustier,” part of the Meta Morphism collection, for example, features a sculptural form evocative of wings atop a gossamer bodice. Other works are similarly shapely, like those in Hypnosis, which feature bulbous skirts and mind-bending patterns that sway with mesmerizing movement.
“Dynamic tension, fluidity, delicacy, and complexity, as well as poetry and philosophy: these are the main elements of the dialogues she establishes between body and clothing, which allow her to convey a new, rich, enthusiastic perspective on the world to come,” writes curator Cloé Pitiot.
In addition to van Herpen’s designs, the exhibition also includes works by artists like Casey Curran, Rogan Brown, and Janaina Mello Landini, who have either inspired or collaborated with the designer over the years.
Sculpting the Senses is on view through April 28 in Paris. Pick up the accompanying monograph, which contains a forward by Tilda Swinton, from Bookshop.
“Epicycle” dress, ‘Hypnosis’ collection (2019), glass organza, crepe, PetG, mylar. Image © Dominique Maitre
Luigi and Iango for Iris van Herpen, “Skeleton Dress,” in collaboration with Isaie Bloch, ‘Capriole Collection’ (2020)
Left: “Suminagashi” dress, ‘Hypnosis’ collection (2019), polyurethane, mylar, tulle. Image © Dominique Maitre. Right: “Epicycle” dress, ‘Hypnosis’ collection (2019), glass organza, crepe, PetG, mylar. Image © Dominique Maitre
Iris van Herpen in collaboration with Perry Hall, “Fractal Flows” dress, ‘Sensory Seas’ collection (2020), glass organza, Komon Kobo, tulle. Image © Dominique Maitre
“Arachne bustier,” ‘Meta Morphism’ collection (2022), polyester silk, mylar, tulle, Swarovski crystals, embroidery thread, stainless steel. Image © Dominique Maitre
David Uzochukwu for Iris van Herpen, “Hydrozoa Dress,” ‘Sensory Seas’ collection'(2020). Right: David Uzochukwu for Iris van Herpen, “Sensory Seas Dress” and “Nautiloid Dress,” ‘Sensory Seas’ collection (2020)
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A Major Retrospective Celebrates Iris van Herpen’s Mesmerizing Designs at the Intersection of Art, Fashion, and Science appeared first on Colossal.
Director of Photography Paul Daley On How ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Pulled Off That Locusts Scene
Awards Daily talks to Paul Daley, director of photography on The Righteous Gemstones, about all the bonkers scenes from the third season of the HBO dramedy.
Locusts. Musical numbers. Nude fight scenes. Season 3 of The Righteous Gemstones is filled with memorable moments, and in an e-chat, I asked director of photography Paul Daley about a few of everyone’s favorites.
Awards Daily: What was it like shooting that epic fight scene between Stephen and BJ?
Paul Daley: The episode that had the fight scene between Steven and BJ was directed by Jonathan Watson. In my opinion, the episode brought a great deal of tension to the season. It mixed the comedy and the drama to great effect. Myself, Jonathan, and Steve Thompson, the gaffer, went to the location on four separate occasions to completely nail down the camera, stunt, and lighting positions and to work out how to photograph the overtly sexual and nude situation comedically and not pornographically. The ultimate goal was to see BJ finally stop being the heel, and for the first time successfully assert himself. That scene was actually shot 2nd unit.
AD: Uncle Baby Billy’s big “Payday” song feels like an Esther Williams movie. Was that kind of your inspiration?
PD: Ah, yes, the “Payday” song. Every season of Gemstones has one blockbuster musical scene, and this was it for Season 3. As with all of our locations, we scouted extensively and frequently as this location had some unique challenges. The episode was directed by Danny McBride, and he had solid ideas and plans for the sequence. The production design was absolutely first-rate, showcasing the Zions Landing opulence, and we had all the tools necessary to achieve Danny’s vision. We incorporated a crane, dollies, steadicam, and underwater cameras a little hand-held in there as well. Obviously all the gear and prep gets you only so far; it takes a Walton Goggins as Baby Billy to produce yet another sublime performance. He got all of the background players excited and fired up, and the entire set was having a great time. It was the old Baby Billy magic that brought this scene to life. I think you’re right. It really does play like an Esther Williams movie. I take that as high praise.
AD: The locust scene on the Bible Bonkers set is so surprising and comes out of nowhere! Was that fun to anticipate that surprise?
PD: The locust scene is one of the more complicated endeavors undertaken on Gemstones. The entire game show set was built in a warehouse from scratch. I believe we had something in the range of 200 moving fixtures along with static units in the grid. There were a number of elements to achieve the effect of swarming insects. We had Ritter fans blowing packing peanuts across the stage during crowd scenes. We used actual locusts stuck to our actors for close-ups, and of course, we had CG locusts to round it all out. We used a great deal of interactive lighting to achieve the effect of insects flying across a stage through gameshow-type lights and used several settings on our board for the various degrees of mayhem. Gaffer Steve Thompson and programmer Matt Clark were instrumental in the process. I will say Levi falling off the balcony in a frantic panic has to be one of my favorite moments of the show.
AD: The Righteous Gemstones fluctuates between comedy and drama a lot in its tone. How do you capture that in its look?
I agree with you this season really straddles the line between comedy and drama. I spoke with Jody Hill, who directed most of the episodes, about shifting the look a little more toward the dramatic. I am greatly inspired by 1970s-era British and American films, and I specifically referenced a movie called The Ipcress File. I asked the camera operators to watch that movie, and we incorporated a number of the shots and angles that played throughout that picture in this season of Gemstones. I think Jody quite reasonably had some reservations at the beginning, but to his credit, let us get on with it, and I believe it ultimately worked quite successfully.
AD: The final scene of the season, with Mama Gemstone looking on, almost feels like a series finale. What does this scene mean for the larger picture?
PD: The final scene of Season 3 was actually shot in two pieces due to actor availability. Part one was Aimee Leigh Gemstone as a ghost-like figure observing her family from afar, which was done on a stage. Part two happened a few weeks later and had a particularly ambitious schedule because of shortened daylight hours at that time of year. It also incorporated simultaneously shooting the entire Gemstone clan and the monster truck stunt work with multiple frame rate passes. Having the entire family together at the same time was unusual and special, so I agree with you that the final scene does feel like a beautiful and natural ending. However, knowing the writers as I do, one should be cautious pulling the curtain down quite yet. Surprises are their specialty, so it’s just as likely to be the end of the beginning as it is the end of the Gemstone Empire.
The Righteous Gemstones Season 3 is streaming on Max.
Investigation Finds Israeli Tank Crew Responsible for Photographer’s Death
An investigation conducted by the Reuters news agency into the killing of one of its visual journalists in southern Lebanon has concluded that an Israeli tank crew is responsible.
Issam Abdallah, 37, was killed by a 120mm fin-stabilized tank shell round as he lent on a wall that Reuters asserts was fired from an Israeli tank. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi, 28, was severely wounded; needing a leg amputation.
Abdallah and Assi were part of a group of media covering cross-border clashes between the Isreal Defense Force (IDF) and Hezbollah on October 13. All present were wearing press jackets and clearly identifiable.
Expert analysis of munitions fragments along with satellite images, survivor accounts, and video recordings led Reuters editor-in-chief, Alessandra Galloni, to declare that an “Israeli tank crew killed our colleague Issam Abdallah.”
“We condemn Issam’s killing,” Galloni says. “We call on Israel to explain how this could have happened and to hold to account those responsible for his death and the wounding of Christina Assi of the AFP, our colleagues Thaier Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, and the three other journalists.”
The press that day had chosen a spot on an open hillside where they were clearly visible. The group of journalists and photographers had been filming smoke and gunfire for an hour before the first shell hit which killed Abdallah.
A second shell was fired at the group less than a minute later which caused a car owned by Al Jazeera to explode. The two strikes in quick succession make it likely it was targeted.
The remnant of the 120mm tank shell found at the scene is used by the Israeli military’s Merkava tanks. Reuters report claims Hezbollah does not have tanks and the Lebanese army’s largest caliber tank round is 105mm.
“The strikes were deliberate and targeted,” AFP says. “They arrived within 37 seconds of each other and just a few metres apart. The journalists were clearly identified as press, away from any military activity. The Israeli army has extensive aerial surveillance resources in the area.”
Direct attacks on journalists who are classed as civilians are illegal under international law. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say the attack should be investigated as a possible war crime.
“Those responsible for Issam Abdallah’s unlawful killing and the injuring of six other journalists must be held accountable,” says Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa
The IDF and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire on a daily basis since Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel on October 7. Two journalists have died in Lebanon since the war began.
Shop for holiday gifts from Native artists at Lloyd Center
More Videos
NAYA’s Native Made Marketplace will be going on at the Lloyd Center on Dec. 9-10. Dozens of Native artists will be selling jewelry, clothing and crafts.
Convenient but boring: iPhone photography doesn’t cut it for this filmmaker
Digital film photography and video are immediate, functional and convenient, but they could never be called poetry, according to leading British concept artist, Tacita Dean.
The pixels of the digital camera or video recorder are not of the physical world and those self-correcting filters and functions that help tidy up imperfections remove chance, mystery, and artistry from the format.
Tacita Dean in the fore of The Wreck of Hope (2022), depicting a receding glacier and the impacts of climate change.Credit: Janie Barrett
“I’m not condemning it, but it just doesn’t move me,” Dean says ahead of her solo show, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s summer blockbuster, which opens on Saturday.
“There is something so generic about an iPhone picture. The challenge has gone out of making an image and I think the younger generation feels that torpor, and they want the challenge of making something in a different way.”
MCA director Suzanne Cotter regards Dean as one of the most important living contemporary artists of modern times for her extraordinary work, “aesthetically seductive and scintillating in its intelligence”.
Her oeuvre encompasses photography, printmaking and monumental chalkboard drawings, but it is for her works made in 16 mm and 35 mm film that she is best known.
Such formats first allowed millions of people to make home movies in the 20th century.
“Video and digital is more like seeing, but film is more like looking because you have to think about it the whole time; whether you are going to run out of film, the focus and imprint of light.”
Tacita Dean
For the past decade, Dean has been campaigning to save the threatened medium from new digital players who she says have “aggressively” characterised the traditional formats as old-fashioned and end-of-life technology to boost profits.
Advertisement
Dean first raised the public alarm about the threats to analogue film in 2011 when her London film lab closed overnight, once comparing the loss of film stock to a painter suddenly losing access to their oils.
In 2015, she linked up with film-maker Christopher Nolan to convince Kodak to keep production of film going.
The success of Nolan’s 70-millimetre release of Oppenheimer vindicated their stand, the boutique format proving a success with audiences worldwide.
“The 70 millimetre projections were completely sold out, but the digital projections did badly,” she said.
“Four or five years ago we were saying we wanted people to cross town to see a film projected as film and that happened with Oppenheimer. So it’s coming back. [Quentin] Tarantino gets it too, it’s building momentum. I’m trying to let others do the fighting now because it took two years out of my life.”
The passage of time, erasure and entropy are themes of Dean’s Sydney show, which comprises 25 major works or series by the artist who spreads her time between Berlin and Los Angeles. Nine new works were made especially for the MCA.
Geography Biography (2023), comes directly from the Bourse de Commerce in Paris.Credit: Janie Barrett
Dean’s most recent work, Geography Biography (2023), comes directly from the Bourse de Commerce in Paris. It’s created on her preferred medium of 35 millimetre film and comprises outtakes from her life over three decades collected from spools of footage she had haphazardly boxed in her basement.
The four-metre-high images are projected via two synchronised cinema projectors, their flapping mechanical gears forming the soundtrack to an 18-minute silent film loop that adopts masking techniques first pioneered by Dean in the 2011 edition of Unilever series set in the Turbine Hall of London’s Tate Modern.
Dean values the distinctive quality of paper prints, early photographic techniques and the chance effects that come when light imprints on layers of film emulsion. A prodigious collector of vintage postcards, these appear in her film works as frozen frames for moving images.
Analogue film and photochemical photography, she says, are beautiful and rich mediums worthy of preservation.
“It’s so physical. You can hold a second of time in front of you,” she says. “Video and digital is more like seeing, but film is more like looking because you have to think about it the whole time; whether you are going to run out of film, the focus and imprint of light. Therefore, it’s a decisive medium.”
Film offcuts and wastage are goldmines for Dean’s work. At Tate Modern, she used flash images – spot colour frames that appear at the end of film reels – for her homage to 35 millimetre film.
The MCA is to premiere a new film of the American pop artist Claes Oldenburg after Dean revisited footage she had left on the cutting room floor from a prior film portrait.
Apart from items of juvenilia, the MCA show has concentrated on works created by Dean over the past decade.
They include The Dante Project (2021) commissioned by The Royal Ballet in London, and the monumental chalk drawings, Chalk Fall (2018) from the collection of Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.
Recalling the crumbling White Cliffs of Dover, created during the turbulence of Brexit, Chalk Fall is presented together for the first time with The Wreck of Hope (2022), depicting a receding glacier and the impacts of climate change.
The new show comes just a week after the MCA revealed it was considering introducing paid entry and reducing its opening hours due to a shortfall in government funding to cover its rising costs.
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
