Official Trailer for ‘Vishniac’ Doc Film About a Forgotten Photographer

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Official Trailer for ‘Vishniac’ Doc Film About a Forgotten Photographer

Official Trailer for ‘Vishniac’ Doc Film About a Forgotten Photographer

by
January 8, 2024
Source: YouTube

Vishniac Trailer

“I would ask him about the people in the pictures, and he would say ‘these are our people.'” Abramorama has revealed an official trailer for a documentary film titled Vishniac, about a photographer who has been forgotten in time. Difficult and flamboyant, Roman Vishniac captured iconic images of Jewish life, from the cafes of pre-war Berlin to the shtetls of Eastern Europe. But it would be up to his daughter to preserve his legacy. American-Israeli Director Laura Bialis (Rock in the Red Zone), along with executive producer Nancy Spielberg and producer Roberta Grossman, take us on a journey through the various chapters in the life of the photographer. From the cosmopolitan streets of pre-war Berlin, to the shtetlach in Poland and Lithuania to the Princeton offices of Albert Einstein, Vishniac’s achievements in art & science invited praise and controversy. Vishniac explores the person behind the photos, while illuminating the many surprising chapters of his life. It’s opening in NY & LA cinemas first before expanding to a few more art house theaters.

Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Laura Bialis’ documentary Vishniac, direct from YouTube:

Vishniac Poster

Roman Vishniac is best known for having traversed Eastern Europe from 1935 – 1938, on assignment to photograph Jewish life. Less than a decade later all these communities would be wiped out and his iconic photographs would provide the last visual records of an entire world. Through his photographs, we see Jewish life – in Eastern European shtetls and in Weimar-era Berlin – and witness the Nazi rise to power. After the war, his work continued with images of Berlin in ruins and Jewish children in Displaced Persons camps. Vishniac delves into the person and story behind the photos as it frames Vishniac’s legacy as a key modernist photographer and preserver of memory. Through his stunning images, Vishniac introduces new audiences to a lost world that is quickly fading from our grasp. Vishniac is directed by American-Israeli filmmaker Laura Bialis, director of the doc films Tak for Alt: Survival of a Human Spirit, Refusenik, View from the Bridge, and Rock in the Red Zone previously. It’s produced by Roberta Grossman and Laura Bialis. This initially premiered at the 2023 Santa Barbara Film Festival last year. Abramorama opens Vishniac in select US theaters (NY then LA) starting January 19th, 2024 coming soon. For more, visit the official site.

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Photographer Fined For Almost Flying Drone Into Fatboy Slim at Concert

By in Photography

Photographer Fined For Almost Flying Drone Into Fatboy Slim at Concert

Photographer fined flying drone crash fatboy slim concert

A photographer was fined over $1,100 (£891) after he almost crashed a drone into Fatboy Slim as the DJ performed at a concert in front of thousands of people.

Amateur photographer Giles Dalby was filming an atmospheric video of Fatboy Slim’s (real name Norman Cook) concert at Brighton Beach in Brighton, U.K. on July 22, 2022.

However, Dalby mixed up the controls on his DJI Mavic mini drone. The photographer put the drone into sports mode — making it harder to avoid obstacles — and flew the device onto the stage where Cook was performing.

Dalby’s drone crashed onto the stage 15 minutes before the concert ended. The device narrowly missed Cook and endangered members of the 8,500-strong crowd.

‘An Honest Mistake’

On Thursday, Dalby appeared in Brighton Magistrates Court to face charges of operating the drone in a careless or negligent manner, which put lives and property in danger.

According to ISP Today, Dalby admitted recklessly allowing a drone to put Cook and the audience at risk. The photographer expressed remorse during the court case and clarified that he had no harmful intentions.

Dalby explained that he was aiming for a dramatic aerial shot of the concert but lost control of the drone after mistakenly activating the sport mode, which disabled some collision sensors.

“I did not intend to put anyone in danger. I wanted to create a slow, cinematic appearance,” Dalby tells the court.

“I crashed trying to leave the area, looking to back out for an overview of the scene and finish with a wide view.

“It was an honest mistake that I will ensure will never repeat itself.

“There was no malicious intent. I switched it into sport mode which deactivates the downward sensor so I could come quickly up and out, but I accidentally went forward and down.”

To demonstrate his commitment to safety, Dalby pointed out that he had since obtained a drone pilot’s license. He also acknowledged his error in flying the drone over a populated area, recognizing the potential hazards involved.

However, the court was shown footage of the incident and heard that Dalby had ignored multiple warnings that appeared in the drone’s flight data.

“The footage shows a near-miss collision with the crowd and performer,” Prosecutor Megan Attree tells Brighton magistrates’ court.

“There was no damage or injury, but the risk was very real and very present.”

Dalby was ordered to pay a fine of $732 (£576 GBP), along with a $292 (£230 GBP) victim surcharge and $108 (£85 GBP) in costs, resulting in a total penalty of $1132.00 (£891 GBP).

Image credits: Header photo via Flickr/Alterna2.

The AnOther Guide: 25 Ways to Improve Your Life

By in Photography

The AnOther Guide: 25 Ways to Improve Your Life

From morning pages to eating with the seasons, here are 25 simple ways to improve your life this year

January 08, 2024

1. Keep a planner

Don’t underestimate the wave of relief that’ll wash over you once you transfer your Google Calendar into an actual physical notebook. We recommend a trusty Moleskine, or if you want something more luxurious, try a Smythson.

2. Get a red lamp for your bedroom

Red light is said to stimulate the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that your brain produces to help you fall asleep.

3. Go to the cinema on your own

Making some alone time for yourself is the ultimate indulgence, and this coming year is promising to be another great year in film.

4. Buy a radio

Marilyn Monroe was once asked, “Is it true that when you posed for that famous calendar photograph you had nothing on?” She responded, “No, I had the radio on.”

5. Get rid of email and social media notifications

Our pocket-sized pests always seem to want something. Encourage yourself to check notifications at your own pace. If it was urgent, they’d call you.

6. Write morning pages

If there’s one key takeaway from Julia Cameron’s cult 1992 self-help book The Artist’s Way, it’s morning pages: the daily practice of three pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing done first thing in the morning. Many writers and artists swear by them. In the author’s own words, “They are not high art. They are not even ‘writing’. They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind – and they are for your eyes only.”

7. Master a new recipe once a month

Feel as if you’re lacking recipes in your arsenal? Master a new one each month, and if all goes swimmingly, keep a record of the recipe on your phone so you have it on hand for the future. If you’re looking for something minimal and nourishing, try the River Cafe, or, for something elaborate and impressive, delve into Ottolenghi. Scan our recipes by Max Rocha, Laila Gohar and Jacob Lillis too. By the end of the year, you may well have 12 new dishes up your sleeve.

8. Find a new signature scent

Knowing which type of fragrance you prefer – woody, spicy, floral or aromatic, et cetera – and what your skin works with makes perfume decisions easier. Have more than one scent on hand for varying seasons and occasions.

9. Wake up half an hour early to read or write before work

Stave off sleep inertia with some light reading and writing in the morning.

10. Invest in some non-IKEA furniture

 Eschew IKEA and invest in a secondhand piece that can travel with you over the years. 

11. Sleep away from your tech

On a sleepless evening, try expelling your screens from sight and opening a book. Your tired eyes will thank you.

12. Eat with the seasons

With everything available all the time, it’s a challenge to eat seasonal produce. But doing so is not just a case of eating the freshest, tastiest produce, it’s also a great way to help the environment and feel more in tune with nature. If you can, go to your local farmer’s market, or simply buy what’s in season at the supermarket: this month, go for carrots, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, swedes, and savoy cabbage. Remember, absence makes the stomach grow fonder.

13. Invest in a print 

We suggest perusing Dashwood Books, Claire de Rouen, and Donlon Books for works by Jamie Hawkesworth, Jet Swan, Mark Borthwick, Ren Hang, and more. Or, get in touch with an emerging photographer you like via email and ask if they’re selling anything off-market.

14. Grow a plant

Try a tomato plant on your windowsill; proving you can care for something as small as a plant for at least a year is a great accomplishment.

15. Go to the theatre

At the Barbican, there’s the Royal Shakespeare Company and Joe Hisaishi award-winning staging of Hayao Miyazaki’s anime classic My Neighbour Totoro, running until March 23. There’s a revival of Neil Simon’s romantic comedy Plaza Suite arriving at London’s Savoy Theatre on January 17 starring Sarah-Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and the much-anticipated new play from Jez Butterworth, The Hills of California, arriving at the Harold Pinter Theatre on January 27.

16. Send thank-you letters

Writing thank-you notes is a good (and sadly dying) art. Stock up on postcards on trips to art galleries, keep a stamp sheet from Royal Mail in your wallet, and send a note after receiving a gift, attending a particularly good party, or staying at someone’s home. It will brighten someone else’s day, and takes less than five minutes to execute.

17. Holiday alone

The ultimate character-building exercise. And it’s great being beholden to no one.

18. Go cold water swimming

People either love or hate cold water swimming, but you can’t knock it until you try it. Those who fall into the former camp cite the rush of dopamine and serotonin, and ensuing euphoria, as a reason to get into icy water during the colder months. Find more information about wild swimming safety and access in the UK from The Outdoor Swimming Society.

19. Paint one room in your house a colour that isn’t white

Painting your house white (yes, even off-white) may be a calming choice but it’s also a safe one. According to Pantone, Peach Fuzz is set to be the colour of 2024 – it could easily spruce up a tired bathroom or bedroom. Or, take some retro inspiration from the modernist master of colour, Le Corbusier, the hand-painted murals of the Bloomsbury Group’s Charleston House, and the maximalist rooms of English decorator David Hicks. Create a moodboard of what you like and go from there.

20. Find your tipple and learn how to make it

Finding your signature drink will be a game of trial and error, but once you’ve discovered it, there will be no more poring over cocktail menus for minutes on end. Get your hands on the ingredients that you need to make it, and soon, you’ll be able to impress houseguests with your favourite beverage, perfected your way. For inspiration, look to these recipes by mixologist Sean Blake.

21. Get your trousers tailored

Finding the perfect pair of trousers is a rarity, especially when it comes to fit. We forget a tailor can adjust our trousers to make them just how we want them, or even give them a small customisation to make them unique. A pair of jeans ​​can take 1,800 gallons of water to produce; working with what we have can help not only take care of the planet, but our pockets too. Read master tailor Lizzie Radcliffe’s top five tips on securing the perfect pair of jeans here. And we’re not necessarily talking about Savile Row tailors here; your local alteration services work well too.

22. Support independent journalism

Or better yet, subscribe to a title in print. For indie titles, we love Apartamento, Butt, The Leopard, Marfa Journal, Luncheon, Motor Dance Journal, Worms, Viscose Journal, TON, and The Skirt Chronicles.

23. Come up with a packing list

If you travel often, it’s handy to come up with one definitive packing list. Joan Didion famously taped her list on the closet door of her house in Malibu, which consisted of everything she needed while on journalism assignments; her chicest essentials include a mohair throw, a typewriter, stockings, cigarettes, and bourbon.

24. Join a book club

Worms Magazine runs a free monthly book club at Reference Point in London, hosted by gallerist Rose Easton (the group will discuss Julia Fox’s new memoir on January 15); or there’s Burning House Book Club, where UK members get sent a new book each month (£15 monthly), and access to online discussions – experimental, countercultural titles are favoured by the likes of Annie Ernaux, Tilly Lawless, Lynne Tillman and Audre Lorde. Equally, why not start your own book club with a couple of friends and voyage through the literary canon together?

25. In spring and summer, walk to work 

Clear your mind before you fill it with work, and you’ll find yourself having a more productive day. Use the walk to plan your day, breathe some fresh air, and find some peace. Plus, last year’s study that just 4,000 steps a day could be enough to reduce a person’s risk of early death should be enough to get you out the door.

Design ni Dukaan Explores Sensory Perception Through Novel Office Design

By in Design

Design ni Dukaan Explores Sensory Perception Through Novel Office Design

Design ni Dukaan subverts expectations of the architectural process from the creative brief to the fully realized concepts reflected in their fresh approach to interiors and space planning in an office project located in the city of Gandhidham in Gujarat, India. Through enhancing the intrinsic qualities of their material palette, the Ahmedabad-based architecture firm, helmed by Veeram Shah, seeks to elevate the level of craft one might expect in workplace design.

Vestibule showcasing brand signage, and a space to remove and store shoes

Textural storage space and seating built into the wall.

Built-ins to create seating for guests to remove and store shoes

“Let us make an attempt to use our knowledge and details to reimagine office spaces,” Shah says in his client briefs. “Can we use materiality as a means to find a solution for this? Can we use this process to create a warm work culture? Can art inserts become a seamless part of the volume?” As evidenced by this project, an atmosphere empathetic to user experience has the potential to induce positivity and in turn foster a more productive workplace.

An art wall upon entering the reception area.

Art-wall made with five layers of brown glass

Detail of the art-wall glass demonstrating transparency

Detail of the art-wall glass demonstrating transparency

The 1,328-square-foot space embraces the existing architectural structure, weaving material and programming together through a volume that feels more like inhabiting an art installation than a corporate headquarters. Much like adaptive reuse, this approach conserves resources by forgoing the need for a great deal of virgin materials while allowing the building’s unique imperfections to be sewn into the present with warm teak, brown glass, and terracotta microcement. “We are glad that the client’s vision is aligned with ours,” Shah says.

Reception table

The reception table as guests turn the corner

Rear side of entry vestibule with custom desk and art wall.

Glass installation and reception table as guests turn the corner

Half-wall with cutout looking at reception area

Details in hall-wall viewing reception area

Traditional sliding shutters are traded for a folding door adorned with modernist patterns to avoid using commercial solutions upon entry to the building proper and foreshadowing the bespoke experience ahead. Visitors make their way to a vestibule seemingly carved out of stone, with ledges that serve as seating for rest and shelves to accommodate shoe storage, before turning the corner to be greeted by an art wall. The intervention is composed of 5 layers of 5mm thick brown glass that creates a halo effect when activated by daylight. A sculptural reception table pulls focus then moves the eye opposite to a sinuous curve wrapping around the waiting area and casual seating, which is flooded with daylight.

Details in hall-wall viewing waiting area

Details in hall-wall viewing waiting area

Work stations beyond the half-wall

Beyond reception and adjacent to a waiting area is an open workspace for discussion

Desks in a conference room

Office project head cabin

Flanking the public spaces are a variety of workstations with varying amounts of privacy. The southernmost end of the office houses the first executive cabin, kitchenette, and lavatory, while the opposite end features the second executive cabin and marble Mandir hidden behind doors with ornamentation to denote its significance. Furnishings like the tables take a cue from their context showcasing micro concrete punctuated by wood’s warmth.

A hallway with closet at the end and office to the left.

Executive cabin 1 off the hallway with a mandir

An office space with a sofa against a patterned wall

Executive cabin 1

Office space with long desk and chairs

Executive cabin 1

Illustrated elements also echo through wall treatments, installations, and artwork. Successful solutions are just as much a collaboration between the client and design team as they are conversations with the visual language of the past and present. Pattern-making is a particular device employed by the studio taking inspiration from Burle Marx to inspire surface treatments for solid partitions and sandwiched glass details.

Office desk and chair

Executive cabin 1

View into office space with workstations

Custom workstations

The firm also collaborated with artist Rutva Joshi for original pieces that hang in the executive cabins. “We deliberated upon the conceptualization of an office environment characterized by monochromatic aesthetics. As an artist, my creative vernacular is rooted in map making, and in this particular context, I drew inspiration from the intricacies of Gandhidham city where the office is situated,” Joshi says. “The resulting artistic expression manifests in the deliberate integration of geometric forms within a cartographic framework. It’s crucial to note that the mapped representation of Gandhidham is a result of imaginative exploration, not an accurate depiction.”

Workstation

Custom workstation and view through adjacent office spaces

Office space with desk, art, credenza

Executive cabin 2

Office space with desk, art, credenza

Executive cabin 2

This peculiar assignment evolved into a creative exercise for the architect rather than a curation of furnishings at the client’s behest, typical of some interior design. “Every facet of this project from the lights, loose furniture, office chairs, handle details, murals, art and even the logo of the company was designed by Design Ni Dukaan,” Shah adds. “The sense of artistic fulfillment that permeates this endeavor is simply sublime.”

Executive cabin 2 detail

Photography by Kuber Shah, courtesy of Design Ni Dukaan.

With professional degrees in architecture and journalism, Joseph has a desire to make living beautifully accessible. His work seeks to enrich the lives of others with visual communication and storytelling through design. A regular contributor to titles under the SANDOW Design Group, including Luxe and Metropolis, Joseph serves the Design Milk team as their Managing Editor. When not practicing, he teaches visual communication, theory, and design. The New York-based writer has also contributed to exhibitions hosted by the AIA New York’s Center for Architecture and Architectural Digest, and recently published essays and collage illustrations with Proseterity, a literary publication.

Wizards of the Coast admits using AI art after banning AI art

By in Art World News

Wizards of the Coast admits using AI art after banning AI art
image

Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast has been forced to admit that it published a marketing image for the game featuring “some AI components,” despite an initial insistence that the art was “created by humans and not AI.” Wizards of the Coast had banned the use of AI artwork in its products in 2023, after AI-generated artwork appeared in a Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook and caused an outcry.

The image, since deleted, was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by the official Magic: The Gathering account on Jan. 4. It showed five Magic cards resting on a valve-powered device next to a pressure gauge, in a brass-and-wood-filled steampunk laboratory setting. “It’s positively shocking how good these lands look in retro frame,” the post read.

Many fans were quick to point out elements in the image that bore the hallmarks of generative AI — in particular, difficulty rendering fine details in a consistent way (around bunches of cables, for example, or on the dial of the pressure gauge). But the Magic account initially dismissed these claims.

“We understand the confusion by fans given the style being different than the card art, but we stand by our previous statement,” the publisher replied, in another since-deleted post. “This art was created by humans and not AI.”

But a few days later, Wizards of the Coast acknowledged that it had been mistaken.

“Well, we made a mistake earlier when we said that a marketing image we posted was not created using AI,” the Magic account said in a statement posted to X on Jan. 7. “As you, our diligent community pointed out, it looks like some AI components that are now popping up in industry standard tools like Photoshop crept into our marketing creative, even if a human did the work to create the overall image.”

The publisher continued: “While the art came from a vendor, it’s on us to make sure that we are living up to our promise to support the amazing human ingenuity that makes Magic great. We already made clear that we require artists, writers, and creatives contributing to the Magic TCG to refrain from using AI generative tools to create final Magic products. Now we’re evaluating how we work with vendors on creative beyond our products – like these marketing images – to make sure that we are living up to those values.”

In a posted the same day on the Magic website, Wizards said that it wants “to get better at understanding whether and how AI is used in the creative process.” The company added, “We can’t promise to be perfect in such a fast-evolving space, especially with generative AI becoming standard in tools such as Photoshop, but our aim is to always come down on the side of human made art and artists.”

The incident drew so much attention because Wizards of the Coast — a significant employer of artists and illustrators, especially in the case of Magic card art — has repeatedly been called out before for using generative AI art in its materials, and has repeatedly distanced itself from the technology. After AI art was spotted in the D&D sourcebook Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants in August 2023, Wizards said it hadn’t been aware that the artist used AI tools, and that it would revise its artist guidelines “to make clear that artists must refrain from using AI art generation.”

Wizards then on AI art in December, after fans claimed to spot evidence of AI generation in promotional artwork for a Magic tie-in with Tomb Raider. “We require artists, writers, and creatives contributing to the Magic TCG to refrain from using AI generative tools to create final Magic products,” it said at the time.

Some artists who work for the publisher showed their frustration at its repeated failure to curb the use of AI in image creation. Long-standing Magic artist Dave Rapoza publicly split with the company after its initial denial that AI had been used. “And just like that, poof, I’m done working for wizards of the coast – you can’t say you stand against this then blatantly use AI to promote your products, emails sent, good bye you all!” he said in a tweet.

But the incident — especially the evident confusion at Wizards of the Coast over whether AI had been used in the creation of the image — shows just how hard it is going to be for companies working with large numbers of freelance artists to stay on top of this issue, as generative AI art tools become ever more widespread.

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