These exhibits happening in NYC and Paris at the same time celebrate both the artist’s incredible work and the power of a strong artist-gallerist relationship.
Daniel Arsham Exhibition Celebrates 20-Year Relationship w/ Perrotin
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Why is the new Nikon Zf an interesting camera?
Nikon has introduced a new mirrorless camera with a retro style. It’s a body that pays homage to the iconic analog FM2 model and bears a strong resemblance to the Z fc model introduced in 2021, featuring an APS-C sensor. Why might this model be of interest to architectural photographers?
Pixel Shift
For me, the Nikon Zf is a beautiful camera, but aesthetics alone don’t make a strong case in the photography business. What caught my attention with this model is the Pixel Shift feature. It’s the first Nikon camera with this capability, and I’m very curious to see how it performs in practice. If it becomes a standard feature in future models, especially in the successor to the Nikon Z7II, it could prove useful in architectural photography.
Achieve incredible resolution images with pixel shift, which uses Nikon’s in-body VR to make slight movements to the sensor while shooting multiple images. The images are then merged in editing software to achieve up to 4x normal resolution.
Small body
I’m also interested in how the new Nikon will work in combination with cameras like the Cambo Actus or Arca Swiss F-universalis. The absence of a protruding grip allows for mounting the Nikon Z fc on technical cameras.
Nikon Zf Announced for Pre-Order
Interested in pre-ordering the Zf? You can place a pre-order through B&H Photo here. The Zf is estimated to ship out around the end of October!
Night Sky at Hadrian’s Wall, Sunlit Portrait Earn Win Northern Photography Prize
The Northern Photography Prize celebrates the best in amateur photography in North East England. A pair of amateur photographers from the historic region have been awarded the landscape and portrait awards in this year’s Northern Photography Prize competition.
Dr. Julie Smith has won the landscape award called The Spirit of the North East for her image, “Dancing Trees.” The striking landscape photo shows the beautiful night sky against a foreground of swaying trees at Hadrian’s Wall, one of the region’s multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Smith explains that this image was captured using a Nikon D3300 DSLR with a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. She shot a 10-second exposure at ISO 6400.
“My day job is tackling domestic abuse. Getting out with my camera to photograph our night skies and wildlife really helps me decompress,” says Dr. Smith. “I live on the edge of the best dark skies national park in the country (Northumberland), and there’s nothing better than capturing its raw beauty as simply as possible. Being up on Hadrian’s Wall for nighttime photography is a tonic for the soul and offers some great nature foregrounds.”
She adds, “Getting the news that I’d won has quite honestly stunned me, especially given the high standard of the competition. To even be shortlisted exceeded all my expectations, but to win has blown me away and it’s a very humbling feeling.”
The Heart of the North East, the contest’s portrait award, has been won by Mick Fulcher for his image “Start of the Week.” Fulcher’s image shows a worker striding through a narrow Newcastle street as the rising sun hits the surrounding buildings.
“‘Start of the Week’ was taken just as the sun rays start to dip into the buildings around Monument. I said ‘good morning’ to this gentleman who was starting work and I decided to take a candid portrait of him going about his graft.”
“I’m blown away to be announced as winner — the shortlisted photographs this year are nothing but outstanding, and everyone who was shortlisted should be extremely proud of themselves,” says Fulcher. “With each photo, I’ve tried to improve, learn the craft and develop some sort of ‘style.’ To be chosen as the winner has pushed me to continue with this hobby and reminded me of the reason I started in the first place!”
Fulcher explains that he left school when he was 17 and after working various jobs over the years, he qualified to be a driver for the Tyne and Wear Metro in 2019. “I’m currently part of the testing and commissioning team for the new fleet,” he adds. He began taking photos a years back and became very interested in 2021. “I enjoy all styles of photography but find that I’m most comfortable with street and portraits.”
The Northern Photography Prize is now in its third year, and encourages amateur photographers of all experience levels to showcase the beauty of the North East of England through its people and places. For their awards, Smith and Fulcher each collected a £1,000 cash prize courtesy of international bestselling author LJ Ross, who founded and sponsors the prize through her publishing imprint, Dark Skies Publishing.
In addition to Smith and Fulcher, 16 photographers were shortlisted this year and their images will be exhibited at The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle until October 15.
“Seeing my photo framed and hung on the wall next to all the other shortlisted entries in the prestigious Biscuit Factory gallery gave me a real sense of pride and appreciation for everything that’s captivating about our region,” says Dr. Smith.
“The Northern Photography Prize resembles everything I love and cherish about my native North East. Every single image that gets submitted — and there are hundreds — seems to capture a unique moment in time, a scene of breathtaking beauty or a heartwarming smile from a stranger, that portray the region perfectly. This year the competition was of an incredibly high standard with some absolutely stunning images submitted and our strongest shortlist yet, so I’d like to congratulate Julie and Mark for winning the top prizes with their sensation entries,” says LJ Ross.
Image credits: Images courtesy of the Northern Photography Prize competition.
‘Around The Clock’ sculpture at Sugar Land fire station dedicated to first responders
The unveiling ceremony to celebrate unity between Sugar Land’s first responders and the community they serve will take place at 4 p.m. Sept. 27.
Not Ready to Say Bye to Summer? Dive Into a Pool Full of Pasta!
Ever since I spotted this Pool Pasta, I knew I had to share it with the masses! The Standard Hotel partnered with NYC design studio Jumbo to create a collection of inflatable pool floats that are anything but standard. These pool noodles have taken inspiration from the world of Italian cuisine and transformed it into a playful aquatic experience. Get ready to lounge on oversized macaroni, shells, farfalle, rigatoni, lasagna, tortellini, and ravioli that will make you feel like you’re floating in a giant “pot” of water.
In December of 2022, Jumbo unveiled their super fun pasta-shaped pool floats at Art Basel Miami in collaboration with The Standard Hotel. These supersized pasta-inspired inflatables added a touch of whimsy and creativity to the iconic pool at The Standard Miami. Just imagine relaxing on a giant tortellini or lazily drifting on a colossal macaroni – it’s a poolside experience like no other.
Each pool float in the collection has been designed to capture the essence of its pasta inspiration. But what sets them apart is the clever “Emoji-fied” twist. These inflatables are not just giant pasta shapes – they are pasta shapes with personality!
Whether you’re a pasta enthusiast or just looking for a playful way to continue summer fun, you can buy most of the Pool Pasta floats for $70 up to $175 via shopthestandard.com.
Model by Gabrielle De Castro.
Model Photography by Elkin Jaramillo.
Winners of the 2023 Astronomy Photographer of the Year
The winning and commended images from this year’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, run by Royal Observatory Greenwich, were recently announced. More than 4,000 entries were received this year from photographers in 64 countries, submitted to nine different categories. The contest organizers have shared some of the incredible winners and runners-up below—to see all of the top and shortlisted images, be sure to visit the exhibition site.
‘Everything has to be handmade’: Artists reflect on annual Cotton District Arts Festival
Charlie Ann Harris, a Jackson, Miss., native, was working as a telemarketer when she decided to use the eight hours she spent each day sitting at a desk to develop her artistic talent.
“To kill the time, I just kind of doodled, which I’ve done most of my life,” she said. “But I started taking it a little more seriously just because for eight hours a day you just repeat the same work, so you get pretty bored. I started focusing more on that and developed my own style and figured I could kind of just see if I could make business with it.”
Saturday was both Harris’ first time in Starkville and her first time selling her crafts at the Cotton District Arts Festival, an annual gathering with dozens of artisans and food vendors selling homemade creations on University Drive. Harris had colorful skateboards with hand-painted snakes and chains and a painting of a disco ball sitting in front of her booth, waiting for someone to take them home.
“Everything has to be handmade,” said Mary Switzer, executive director of the Starkville Area Arts Council. “It’s a really strict requirement that we have, and we’re really proud of that.”
Artisans and food vendors must apply to have a booth at the festival, and no two booths can sell the same items.
Although no one knows exactly when the Cotton District Arts Festival started, Starkville native Switzer said it’s been a tradition for as long as she can remember.
Dan Camp, who was often called the “mayor of the Cotton District,” started a version of the Cotton District Arts Festival in the 1980s, “but it was not the same” as it is now, arts council program coordinator Juliette Reid said.
“It was more of a social gathering, and they had musicians and they had artisans, but it wasn’t, like booths. It was more of a gathering of minds, I would say,” she said. “From what I’ve heard recently, the arts council was doing a festival. It was not called the Cotton District Arts Festival, … and then in the early 2000s we were given the name the Cotton District Arts Festival.”
Hundreds of people walked the streets of the Cotton District on Saturday, where beaded jewelry, paintings of pets and flowers, macrame plant hangers, soaps, candles and any type of craft one can imagine were on display. About 95 artisans and 14 vendors sold their creations.
Jackson native Mary Williams was at a craft show in another city when a customer asked if she would attend the Cotton District Arts Festival. The artist agreed and set up a booth at the festival for the first time.
She found her passion for making Southern farmhouse creations when she asked her son to build her a birdhouse, but he didn’t have time to do it.
“And I said, ‘A birdhouse, I can do that.’” Williams said. “So, I got a little handsaw and made my birdhouse. And I said, ‘Oh, I like that.’”
After finishing the birdhouse, she put her skills to the test, made other designs from wood and painted them with lively colors.
Starkville native Tessa Luke was selling her handmade jewelry at the festival for the second time. Beaded necklaces adorned with crystals dangled from displays, catching the light.
“I really like creating beaded pieces that have, like, dangly, teardrop pieces,” she said, adding that gothic jewelry and rosaries inspire her designs.
Switzer said hosting a yearly gathering for artists and art lovers in Starkville brings the community together.
“My favorite part is definitely the artisans, and that’s because, you know, I myself am an artist and I know how important to be able to have a way to communicate with people who are interested in art,” Switzer said.
World’s best space images from Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023
The winners of Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023 have been announced. Astronomer and competition judge Edward Bloomer discussed his personal highlights and showcased some of the winning and shortlisted entries for this year’s competition, organised by the Royal Observatory in London. “The universe itself is the astrophotographer’s playground,” he says.
This year’s winner – a deep-space photograph of the Andromeda galaxy by Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty wasn’t only an aesthetically stunning image, says Bloomer, but showed a previously unseen region of ionised oxygen. “We don’t really know what’s going on there,” he says, “but we can sort of characterise it in a way now. We’re now in the process of investigating that.”
The Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition is now open at the National Maritime Museum, London.
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The Ethics of Landscape Photography
Landscape photography may not involve photographing animals or people, but that does not mean it does not come with its own set of ethics that creatives should consider each time they head out with their cameras. This fantastic video essay features an experienced landscape photographer sharing some of the most common ethical considerations creatives should be aware of and some examples of how violating them can have detrimental effects on the surrounding environment.
Coming to you from Alister Benn of Expressive Photography, this important video essay discusses some of the important ethical considerations in landscape photography. Perhaps the most common thing landscape photographers need to be aware of is damaging plant life beneath their feet. We often move well off the beaten path in order to get the shots we want, and that often means walking on top of various plant life. A single person might not destroy a local ecosystem (though individuals can certainly do plenty of damage), but little bits of damage can add up over time, and some species are so sensitive that it might only take a single errant step to kill them off. It is important that we are careful and respectful of the life around us. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Benn.
This Sculptural Seat Started Out as a Clay Mug
It’s not every day that Lalese Stamps works with wood, foam, and fabric. After all, the ceramist, founder of her own studio Lolly Lolly Ceramics, usually works with water and clay, but as it turned out, her neighbor down the hall had an interesting proposal for her.
While working out of The Fort, a late 1800s, 240,000-square-foot manufacturing plant that belongs to Fortner Custom Furniture & Upholstery, Stamps would often visit the Fortner workshop. When the Fortner team was looking for an artist from outside the furniture industry to collaborate with, the decision was a no-brainer. Stamps, just as excited, said yes. “Once I started to be able to see…what I can make by hand, like a small piece, I started to imagine bigger pieces and…the way that people interact with furniture has always been really fascinating to me,” the ceramist shares.
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Like many determined creatives before her, Stamps had previously completed a 100 Day Project, where she committed to creating a mug every day for 100 days. When it came time to pick one of those mugs and bring it to a larger scale, Mark Cryer, Commercial Sales Manager at Fortner, and Stamps agreed that mug 53/100 was the winning design.
Stamps, Cryer, and the production team at Fortner were able to bring a pair of chairs to life based on a ceramic mug with three arches forming the handle. In the translation from clay to foam, the arches become the backrest and arms of the chair. From a bird’s eye view, the three arches are clearly represented.
To learn more about the Fortner x Lolly Lolly collaboration, head to fortnerinc.com.
