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Taco Talk: Jordan Poorman Cocker of the Crystal Bridges Museum
6 places to buy holiday gifts for the art lover in your life
From artist studios in northeast Minneapolis to high-end artworks in Edina, there’s an art gift for everyone.
Go see Iris Van Herpen’s hi-tech haute couture sculptures IRL in Paris
…plus all the other fashion news you missed this week, from Goohmeo’s erotic sports collection to Michaela Coel bagging a fashion award and Timothée Chalamet’s cursed Wonka suit
Wheels of Freedom: Nayquan Shuler takes us on a visual journey of Myrtle Beach’s Black Bike Week
For Nayquan Shuler, documenting South Carolina’s Atlantic Beach Bike Festival (Black Bike Week) in Myrtle Beach is as much an act of cultural preservation as it is an exploration of home. The photographer has always been one degree away from its rich history, thanks to anecdotes from his uncles and cousins who would attend. Now, experiencing it for the first time, and describing it as a “rite of passage,” he shows us the flair and style of 2023’s edition and its binding community spirit in Kings Highway.
Coming to photography during the blog era, Nayquan got much inspiration from the online sphere, as opposed to his surroundings in Columbia, just two hours away from Myrtle Beach. “I was influenced by Madbury Club, Street Etiquette, and Tumblr. It made me curious about travelling and photography, which eventually pushed me to start documenting the people and things around me.” Similarly, before starting on Kings Highway, Nayquan was scouring Facebook before stumbling across the Black Bike Week group, and learning about the week’s series of events. “The first day was tough because it was raining and a lot of people decided to leave early,” he tells us. Soon hearing about a parking garage party nearby, he instead decided to start the project there, making way for documentations of their memorabilia and costume.
Halide says it will never support video, so it’s launching Kino instead
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The makers of the popular photography app say Kino is expected to launch in February 2024 now that Apple supports log video encoding.
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Halide cofounder Ben Sandofsky has a message for everyone who’s asked if video capture will be added to the popular iPhone photography app: “Never.” Lux, the development team behind Halide, is instead working on Kino — a new, dedicated video capture app for iPhones that aims to provide professional recording features now that Apple supports log video encoding. Its release is scheduled for February… if all goes as planned.
Just as the Halide photography app was released in 2017 to coincide with Apple adding RAW support for iPhone, Kino’s development was prompted by Apple announcing support for log video encoding in September, a format that allows more detail to be preserved for post-production color grading. In Sandofsky’s own words, “Log video is to filmmakers what RAW is to photographers” — a powerful file format that allows for more enhanced editing capabilities. At present, Apple Log — the company’s own version of the log video encoding format — is only supported on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Information about Kino’s features is slim, and pricing hasn’t been revealed yet. Sandofsky says he used a “simple version” of the Kino app to record his video announcement but didn’t run through any details. The team behind Kino has set a deadline to launch the app by February 2024 to avoid any delays that may be caused by the arrival of Sandofsky’s first child (congrats!) and will be openly sharing developmental updates along the way. “We have an idea for what we want the app to be, but we don’t know how we’re going to get there,” said Sandofsky.
Harmony of nature: A symphony in sculpture and sound by Ambika Hinduja
Exploring the intersection of art and music with impeccable imagination
iPhone photography tips: Master exposure control for stunning image quality
iPhone photography tips: Capturing the perfect shot requires mastering exposure, the key to controlling image brightness, whether you’re a photography pro or a casual snapper. Fortunately, adjusting exposure on your iPhone is a simple process, providing you with the flexibility to fine-tune both before and after capturing an image. Before you snap a photo, the iPhone camera automatically sets focus and exposure while face detection balances
exposure across multiple faces. If you prefer manual control, follow these steps:
1. Open the Camera app.
2. Tap the screen to reveal the automatic focus area and exposure setting.
3. Adjust the focus area by tapping where you want it.
4. Fine-tune exposure by dragging up or down next to the focus area.
For added convenience, you can lock your manual focus and exposure settings by touching and holding the focus area until “AE/AF Lock” appears. To unlock settings, simply tap the screen. Also read: Google Messages Photomoji rolled out! Know how to use it – step-by-step guide
On iPhone 11 and later models, precision is at your fingertips:
Tap, tap, and move the slider to adjust exposure.
The exposure remains locked until you reopen the Camera app.
To preserve exposure settings between sessions, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and turn on Exposure Adjustment.
How to Enhance your photos further with filters
1. Open the Camera app and choose Photo or Portrait mode.
2. Tap, then select a filter by swiping left or right.
3. Capture the shot with your chosen filter.
In the Photos app, you can remove or change a photo’s filter easily. For composition assistance, use a grid or level on your camera screen:
1. Go to Settings > Camera.
2. Turn on Grid and Level to display these aids on the camera screen.
Post-capture, refine your shots in the Photos app using editing tools:
Align shots further and adjust horizontal and vertical perspectives.
Explore additional editing options for a polished final result.
Mastering exposure on your iPhone camera empowers you to unleash your creativity and capture visually stunning moments effortlessly. Hope these iPhone photography tips will help you snap the best images of your life.
Artist uses material culture from his native Saudi Arabia to explore identity, heritage and history
Image Credit: Supplied
A room filled with vibrantly coloured beaded works depicting the three holy sites every Muslim pilgrim aspires to see—Makkah, Madinah and Jerusalem—constituted an artwork by Saudi artist Sultan bin Fahad created for the first edition of the Diriyah Biennale in the JAX district of Riyadh at the end of 2021. Titled Dream Travelled (2021), the room is startlingly beautiful, almost meditative with its alignment of Hajj murals and images from the Holy Qur’an made of thousands of coloured beads. The work was pivotal not only for its aesthetic and subject matter but for its display in the first ever contemporary art biennale to be staged in the Kingdom. Over the last several years, Sultan bin Fahad has created artworks and staged exhibitions that often incorporate remnants in the form of relics, discarded objects and memorabilia from Saudi Arabia’s past in the creation of highly conceptual artworks that look to revive and remember their role in the Kingdom’s social metamorphosis.
“I use nostalgia to investigate Saudi culture, contemporising our past and digging up the stories emanating from within found objects,” Bin Fahad explains. In March 2019 he staged ‘The Red Palace’ exhibition inspired by the Red Palace in Riyadh, an important palace in the Kingdom’s capital that played an important role in key historical and political events of the 20th century. The exhibition took place during a crucial time for the Kingdom—just a few months prior to the granting of tourist visas to allow visitors access to Saudi Arabia after it had been closed for decades. In many ways, the Saudi art -scene, which had been a largely grassroots and underground enterprise for decades, has grown in tandem with the Kingdom’s grand schemes for transformation and is now supported by the Ministry of Culture. Bin Fahad is one of the country’s artists whose work has been widely exhibited both at home and abroad in a variety of public and private exhibitions.
Conceptual in nature that allows the viewer to investigate the meaning behind his art while reveling in the -aesthetic -magnitude of his variously sized installations, Sultan bin Fahad, as he explains, wants to shine light through his art on unknown parts of history. “My work is all about taking unfamiliar parts of history to recontextualise them in familiar ways through conceptual art; to me, it’s about deconstructing prior ideas, stripping them down, and giving them new life in my own personalised conceptual world,” he says. His main medium remains the material culture of his native Saudi Arabia. Through his work, he reinterprets stories and narratives found in the historical telling of the Kingdom and gives them new life and form through his art. The result are works that serve to reimagine found objects, Islam, Saudi history and identity.
The artistic journey and process of creating his work, which regularly involves scavenging to find old or lost material, is intrinsic to Sultan bin Fahad’s art creation. “I’m always on the -lookout for the next great thing,” he says. “All my works are special to me—and The Red Palace was a particularly special case, a happy accident of venue inspiring creation, the space itself being vital to my work there—but to be honest my greatest work is always the one I’m working on, and when that’s done and exhibited to the public the floor is open for their -judgement.”
His work is one that commemorates but also intellectualises the Kingdom’s past and present history and it does so through a nostalgic beauty—one that strives to rekindle moments that might have been forgotten to most, but which serve as vital understanding for the present day transformation occurring in Sultan bin Fahad’s country.
During this year’s inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, staged by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, Sultan bin Fahad presented Holy Land (2023), a mixed media installation -revealing the souvenirs and other wares that were once sold by merchants and pilgrims in the two Holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. In the form of prayer mats, thermos flasks, bottles, tins and other objects, all decorated in the style of their countries of origin, the pieces reflect remnants of an economy that now no longer exists. Onto the objects, Sultan bin Fahad has imposed images once found on flasks sold to create what he called “a garden of love and joy” in which the visitors to the artwork can choose their own path.
“For writers they say write what you know, so for me it’s more so that I create what I know while also always trying to know more,” he explains. “I have a process: I think of or learn of -something I like (whether a tangible piece, a story, or a theoretical object), I start researching everything about it in a deep dive, and then I begin conceptualising it to life through an exciting creation. Sometimes it’s a success, sometimes it isn’t, but what’s most important to me is not the endpoint but the process; the creative journey is integral in my opinion to knowing the past and understanding the future.”
In reflecting on his country’s past through found materials and other items, Sultan bin Fahad also creates work that allow for present personal exploration, as he did with Holy Land. The visitor or viewer of the work takes in the messages, historical and cultural symbolism presented to them, and then, through the work, is provided ways to personally reflect.
In Desert Kite (2022), a large outdoor installation bin Fahad created for the last edition of Desert X AlUla. Created in the shape of a desert kite, or keyhole, a traditional construction found in the northwest of Saudi Arabia created to trap animals, which appeared in deserts and ancient sites of heritage, including AlUla’s landscapes, were also most likely used by the Nabataeans to decorate their monuments and to -celebrate and protect their -communities both in life and death. Sultan bin Fahad recreated the shape to create a form that both collects and herds—like its ancient predecessor. Inside, the structure has an open-air circular chamber within which a clear urn in the form of a tall spike is placed in the center and can also been seen from outside of the structure. If one looked carefully at the urn, it seemed that mythical creatures could be trapped inside.
While a work that reflects on Saudi’s ancient past, it also leaves room for the visitor to experience it and explore. The open-air chamber itself is akin to a meditative room. Inside, the spectator can stop, rest and ponder not only the heritage Sultan bin Fahad recreates but also the beauty of AlUla’s natural surroundings.
In another recent work, this time in the form of a carpet collection titled Delights commissioned by Iwan Maktabi for the first of its kind curated collection of carpets that commissioned creatives from the Gulf region, Sultan bin Fahad -commemorates familiar phrases traditionally used during weddings and other happy occasions. Laden with vibrant colours and elaborate detailing, like that found in Dream Travelled, the visuals Sultan bin Fahad used for his collection of carpets were inspired by a traditional Saudi tin box of delights with inscriptions of prosperous wishes. They were historically offered to guests attending weddings. On the carpet, the hands of the bride and groom’s fathers come together to seal the promise of everlasting union. The image is framed by rose petals, swirling lines and colored vines reflective of the edges of time. The collection depicts a scene of happiness, unity and adoration. It is a moment of divine order and love—one to stand the test of time.
The collection is, like other works by Sultan bin Fahad, a journey through time, place, culture, beauty, strife and history.Connecting past to present, Sultan bin Fahad’s stories evoke -multi-layered journeys between the latent relationship of what is remembered and what remains silently contained within the corporeal.
Art for bin Fahad is a journey through intangible memories and tangible cultures. It rekindles the past with the present.
Commercial photography student wins prestigious British Photography Award
Shelby Nolan-Hoare won the People’s Choice Award with her image titled ‘Doll’s House’
Shelby Nolan-Hoare, a BA (Hons) Commercial Photography student from Arts University Plymouth, has been awarded the People’s Choice Winner of the Fashion Category at this year’s British Photography Awards with her captivating image titled ‘Dolls House’.
The British Photography Awards are organised by a team of British photographers, and throughout the year they run a series of online and live events, including a charity-oriented photography competition, live and virtual galleries and an annual black-tie gala. This year’s prestigious awards ceremony took place at the Dorchester Park Lane in London this month, where Shelby’s outstanding achievement was revealed.
Final-year student Shelby said,
“Winning the People’s Choice was an incredibly proud moment. When I found out that I was one of 25 shortlisted photographers in the Fashion category, I couldn’t believe it. The overwhelming support that I received from family, friends and local groups both in Plymouth and Hampshire was surreal. Looking at the other talented photographers in my category, I was not expecting to win and the honour of being shortlisted alone was rewarding.
When Magic Radio presenter Neev Spencer announced my name as the People’s Choice winner and I saw my picture on the big screen, me and my family were in complete shock. To earn this title as a student photographer is a major achievement and I’m so proud of how far I have come in such a short period of time.”
Shelby is one of many BA (Hons) Commercial Photography students who have produced award-winning photography during their recent studies at Arts University Plymouth. First-class graduate Katy Johnson achieved second place in the Wex Student Photography Competition, Official Selection in the International Photography Awards (IPA) in 2023 and an Honourable Mention in the 2022 Awards. Matthew Marshall, a talented second-year student, clinched a win in the prestigious EIZO UK Student Awards. He was recognized in the Single Image category for his captivating photograph of the iconic Plymouth landmark, Tinside Lido.
Shelby’s winning image at the British Photography Awards was part of her final major project, titled ‘Liminal Space’. The project was curated to explore how clothing, prop and set design can be used as a narrative device in picture making to discuss themes of nostalgia and illusion. The composition features a model in a topsy-turvy world, appearing like a life-size doll in front of a doll’s house.
Shelby said, “Throughout my childhood experience, the concept of a doll’s house fascinated me in terms of its small-scale realism and its endless possibilities when controlling small figures in a game of house. But even though a doll’s house resembles closely to real life, the underlying tone when playing almost felt fake and sugar coated in childhood wonder to my adolescent self. This is what allured me toward this retro toy in the production stage of the photoshoot and I feel expresses in detail the ultimate definition of liminal space with my own personal experiences of nostalgia.”
“The final image that won the People’s Choice award took three practice shoots before I was finally content with the outcome. By the fourth attempt, I decided to try something completely new and featured a garment from third year Fashion Design student, Molly Adlington. With the introduction of youthful colours and a playfully shaped dress, I was able to transport the viewer back in time. Creating a scene that is not only nostalgic, but familiar in the sense that the viewer puts themselves in the shoes of the model and remembers what it’s like to play with a toy such as a doll’s house for the first time. With so much careful planning, trial and error, I’m so proud that an image I worked so hard on has received such positive feedback. As well as winning at The British Photography Awards, months prior to the competition, the photograph was also featured in Draper’s magazine, which is something that both me and Molly are incredibly proud of.”
Originally from Hampshire, 22-year-old Shelby identifies herself primarily as a fashion photographer, with a dream of working for a prominent fashion brand. Influenced by the likes of Tim Walker and Nick Knight, her work is characterised by strong storytelling elements, meticulous composition and a keen focus on lighting.
Shelby chose to study BA (Hons) Commercial Photography at Arts University Plymouth after receiving a recommendation from course leaders during her UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design.
Shelby said, “When searching for a university, I initially gravitated towards the South West for its location and photographic community. BA (Hons) Commercial Photography at Arts University Plymouth caught my eye for its broad coverage on editorial, advertising and fashion photography, as well as its equipment and facilities such as the cove studio and the resources in the Equipment Resource Centre (ERC).”
“Throughout my time in Plymouth, I really made use of my surroundings and found a lot of freelance work as part of my Professional Practice module. In my second year, I worked at the high end fashion label, Identity Fashion, based in Royal William Yard, Plymouth. There I got to photograph an array of models and outfits both in the studio and on location for use in marketing or on their brand website. I was also given the opportunity to photograph social events, charity fashion shows and even award celebrations, as Identity Fashion was declared the National Muddy Stilettos Winner for Best Women’s Fashion in 2023. Since then my work from the shop has been featured in the Plymouth Chronicle and is printed on display in store.”
“For anyone thinking of pursuing a career in photography, the best advice I have is pick up a camera and start shooting! As a beginner, I understand that the competitive nature of the industry as well as the cost of equipment can be overwhelming when you’re starting out. You could have the best education and have the most expensive equipment, but without genuine interest in what you’re doing, your pictures just won’t be as good in comparison. Look at other people’s work, try to find what makes you unique and don’t be afraid to experiment and fail. From there, you’ll build a portfolio and your work will start to reflect who you are as a photographer.”
BA (Hons) Commercial Photography at Arts University Plymouth offers the opportunities and expertise to help find success in today’s dynamic and competitive photographic industry. 100% of Commercial Photography students gave the best possible response to seven of the 27 National Student Survey 2023 questions, including 100% agreeing that “it was easy to access subject specific resources when they needed them.”
Arts University Plymouth’s Equipment Resource Centre contains over 6,000 items of industry-standard photography, film, audio, lighting, digital and analogue kit for students to book and loan, free of charge. Email to speak to a member of the BA (Hons) Commercial Photography team or find more information about how to apply to begin studying in September 2024 on the How to Apply page.
BA (Hons) Commercial Photography is also available as a January-start degree which can kickstart students’ future in the creative industries, allowing them to study their first year online at home and then join on campus for years two and three. Suitable for local applicants rethinking their plans to leave the South West for a degree, a mature learner returning to education from the workplace or an international student rethinking plans to travel overseas or looking to save costs. Find out more by visiting the Arts University Plymouth website.
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