The Jacquemus Les Sculptures collection, launched on January 29, 2024, exemplifies fashion designer Simon Porte’s boundary-pushing aesthetic.
Fan appreciate the Jacquemus Les Sculptures collection: “What an amazing collection”
Capturing Culture: Local photographer’s exhibit showcases hip-hop, music celebrities
Visitors to Harrisburg’s city hall may see a few famous faces they recognize.
For the next two months, photographs of hip-hop artists and other celebrities by local photographer Leon Laing will be displayed in the MLK City Government Center atrium.
Laing, a Harrisburg resident, has worked since the early 2000s to capture cultural moments, photographing everyone from rappers J. Cole, Drake and Kendrick Lamar to local artists as well. Before he started his blog, Vigoronline.com, no one else locally was providing this type of coverage, he said.
“There was no one covering urban music, Black music, hip hop, R&B. No one was writing about it or taking photos,” he said. “So I said, let me fill this void.”
Laing has photographed local artists at Harrisburg events, festivals and concerts, but also regularly travels to Philadelphia, Washington D.C., New York City and other larger metros to snap pictures of celebs.
His exhibit at city hall showcases a range of photos from his earlier years, using his father’s film camera, to more recent shots. The exhibit is part of the Art Association of Harrisburg’s Community Exhibition Program.
Photo of J. Cole by Leon Laing.
Laing said that he has always been artistic and grew an interest in photography while an art student at HACC. He also took art classes at the Art Association of Harrisburg and eventually zoomed in on celebrity and music culture as his focus. He made connections in the music industry and studied all things music, specifically hip-hop news, and began to find himself behind the camera at concerts and even meeting and interviewing artists backstage.
“I’ve been blessed to do this and to get access to people that other people don’t,” he said.
Laing has also photographed several famous actors and rappers who have connections to Harrisburg, such as the late actor Michael K. Williams.
“I like to show that we are a small city, but we’re hip,” he said. “I’m always trying to bring some of the experience from these larger cities to Harrisburg.”
The photo exhibit will be on display in city hall through March, and Laing hopes that visitors will find joy in spotting a celeb they love and enjoy reflecting on cultural moments spanning decades.
“I like to see the smile on people’s faces,” he said. “I’d like to give Harrisburg residents a sense of pride. We are a small city, but we have some cool things going on.”
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DMTV Milkshake: Soaring With Solar Sailor, a High-Glam Take on a Beautiful Future
In this week’s Milkshake, we talk to the French-born, U.S.-raised designer about mastering his materials, and his creative ambitions. Djivan Schapira’s latest collection, titled Solar Sailor, seems to be plucked from a utopian future, idyllically Space Age, luxurious and grand. Schapira describes this body of work, now on view at the Todd Merrill Studio in TriBeCa, as “a love letter to the space race era of design [remixing] the production art of Tron, Daft Punk’s visionary costumes, [and] the Bauhaus revival of the 1970s.” The workshop from where these designs are launched is located in Union City, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River. “It’s similar to what designers in the automotive industry were doing during the ’60s. You’ll find a lot of soft curves, a lot of vibrant colors, and combinations of materials that together create this sleek and sexy body of work.”
Schapira was six when he came to the U.S. from France, and he studied architecture at the Parsons School of Design. Now, he works primarily with resin, color, and light. “Resin is very temperamental – you need to be in complete control of your work environment to yield the best results,” he says. “When we’re working with resin, there’s always a final coat, and that final coat always needs to be pristine. You need to be sure that your environment is, first of all, adequately temperatured, and where the moisture levels are just right, but also clean in the sense that there’s not floating particles that could then land in your piece. When you’re working on a large-scale piece, that can be tricky – one of the more challenging things is just making sure you don’t have to re-pour a piece because a fly flew into it or something.”
Schapira also showed us a furnishing he sees as indicative of where he’ll head in 2024, a small breakfast table produced for a private client. “This piece actually carries a bronze wire that’s embedded, which is something that you’ll see in a lot of my work – what’s a little newer is how these pieces feature translucent resin,” he says. “The fact that the resin is transparent allows light to carry through the piece, which adds a certain dimension that I haven’t experimented with too much. That’s definitely something I’m going to be doing more of, letting the subtleties of the colors shine through the resin, while letting light really do its thing.” For more, tune in!
Diana Ostrom, who has written for Wallpaper, Interior Design, ID, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets, is also the author of Faraway Places, a newsletter about travel.
Milkshake, DMTV’s (Design Milk TV) first regular series, shakes up the traditional interview format by asking designers, creatives, educators, and industry professionals to select interview questions at random from their favorite bowl or vessel. During their candid discussions, you’ll not only gain a peek into their personal homeware collections, but also valuable insights into their work, life, and passions.
New York City photographer showcases the rare stillness of Times Square in new book
Bob Krasner shooting in Times Square, 2023.
Photo by Daniel Root
A New York City photographer is showcasing the beauty that you find between the flashing lights of Times Square in a new limited edition photography book.
Bob Krasner has been shooting and creating minimalist graphics of the city for the past seven years. In the summer of 2022, he was in Times Square when he noticed that occasionally the major entertainment hub had moments of stillness and quiet.
“Sometimes full billboards, every once in a while, the billboards will just go blank like for a second or two and while they switch to the next ad, they have a blank screen and then all of a sudden it fills in with imagery,” said Krasner. “I started shooting them and I really liked it. It’s such a different takeaway from Times Square than you’re used to seeing.”
Ever since, Krasner has returned to Times Square to shoot more of these images. Unlike many New Yorkers who may avoid the area because of the crowds and tourists, Krasner dives in head-first, relishing the opportunity to be there.
“You’re used to seeing thousands of people and billboards screaming at you from everywhere. People when they shoot Times Square, they tend to shoot the abundance of everything rather than just finding these kind of quiet abstract moments,” said Krasner. “I know most people who live in New York will go out of their way to walk around Times Square. I’ll go out of my way to walk right through it if I’m not taking pictures because the constant faces coming at you and they’re from everywhere, it’s like middle America and Europe — it’s just constant.”
After posting several of his photos of Times Square, Krasner got in touch with Akeem Duncan, who runs Quiet Lunch, a New York City-based publication that highlights and promotes the arts. Quiet Lunch had produced a book for a friend of Krasner’s in the past, and felt like the perfect medium.
The result was “The Archive № 7,” which as the title suggests, is the seventh installment of Quiet Lunch’s “The Archive” series. The book features a curated selection of Krasner’s Times Square photos.
The book will have a limited run with only 100 copies being printed (and also signed by Krasner).
“I think it’s a really nice little piece. [Duncan] took one look at the pictures and he was like, yes, absolutely, and he hadn’t even seen the Times Square stuff yet. He looked at my other stuff and I was like, yeah, I’ll do it,” said Krasner. “At that point, I realized that I had a really nice group of Times Square pictures and it would be perfect to do.”
Because the book is a limited run, there will only be a handful of people who are able to get their hands on one. For those who do, Krasner hopes that they are going to be able to take away something from it.
“A lot of times I’ll do pictures and I’ll put something up and somebody will say to me, ‘This really struck me emotionally.’ I think that they find things to relate to on a personal level that I would never have seen,” said Krasner. “I hope people enjoy that and I hope that you can find these moments of of serenity and order, even in a chaotic place like Times Square.”
To preorder “The Archive № 7,” visit quietlunch.com. You can follow Krasner on Instagram @bobkrasner.
Eastern Oregon University Colloquium, gallery exhibition to feature Michael Sell’s photography
LA GRANDE — Following a year-long sabbatical, Eastern Oregon University professor Michael Sell has returned to campus and will be exhibiting a new exhibit of his photography in February.
Sell will present for the next EOU Colloquium on Feb. 8 from 4-5 p.m. at the Nightingale Gallery at Eastern Oregon University.
Paradise Valley artist continues sculptures despite Parkinson’s disease diagnosis
William Daggett’s carving days are coming to an end after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Niarbyl sculpture: Manx artist reveals plans for ‘portal’ artwork
If approved, Bryan Kneale’s design will sit near to the coastal footpath at Niarbyl.
The Simpsons’ sofa and a reflective retriever
Nottinghamshire, UK
‘Driving up to work, I noticed the colour starting to change in the sky to the west. As I drove towards Oxton, I could see the mist forming, so I turned off the main road and parked up. This was taken about 15 minutes before the sun rose, giving a wonderful colour to the sky.’
Photograph: David Eberlin/Guardian Community
This new Richmond sculpture celebrates her historic ‘Strides’
‘Strides’ commemorates Daisy Jane Cooper (late Jane Cooper Johnson) and her role in integrating Westhampton Junior High School.
Innovative Lighting for Sports Photography
Sports portraits present unique lighting challenges that require creative solutions. This helpful video tutorial will show you some excellent techniques and advice for improving your sports portraits.
Coming to you from James Quantz Jr, this informative video showcases a recent photo shoot with the South Carolina beach volleyball team. Conducted indoors due to the cold January weather, Quantz Jr faces the challenge of recreating the sunny, outdoor ambiance of beach volleyball. He ingeniously combines two different light modifiers – a beauty dish and a large umbrella with diffusion – to mimic natural sunlight while maintaining the softness essential for portrait photography. This setup provides the punch and contrast of direct sunlight and the soft, even lighting necessary for full-body shots, demonstrating how blending different light sources can achieve a balanced and dynamic result.
Quantz Jr’s approach is particularly relevant for photographers who often need to adapt to varied and challenging conditions. His method of stacking a beauty dish in front of a large umbrella creates a unique light source that focuses on the athletes’ faces while evenly illuminating their entire bodies. This technique ensures that the lighting complements the athleticism and dynamics of the subjects. Additionally, the use of backlights to add edge definition and the strategic positioning of a large bounce to fill in shadows further refines the lighting arrangement, creating a convincing outdoor sports environment in an indoor studio. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Quantz Jr.
