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Get Cooking With Molly Baz for Crate & Barrel’s Kitchen Collection

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Design

The latest collaboration to slide across our screens is this bright and bold 61-piece kitchen collection from chef and cookbook author Molly Baz and Crate & Barrel. The Molly Baz for Crate & Barrel collection features lots of curves, color (“Molly Baz blue!”), and considerate touches that only a cook like her might dream up. And dreamed she did. The overarching concept is that these pieces can live as easily on kitchen countertops during dinner prep as they can on your dining table during a meal. There are pieces for cooking, storing, and serving – all of Molly’s most-used kitchen tools – designed to her specifications using FSC®-certified materials.

“This collection was created and designed with the home cook in mind. I felt very strongly about that – it can and should serve any and all types of home cooks,” Molly shared with us. “The line features a whole range that makes stepping into the kitchen a joy rather than a chore. I wanted to bring good design, and a bit of playfulness and color, to all elements of the cooking, wine-ing, and dining processes, with the ultimate goal of making every bit of it just a little less stressful, and a lot more fun.”

The Molly Baz for Crate & Barrel collection features sleek and bright designs, including bowls, glassware, serving trays, cutting boards, and kitchen tools – and even Molly’s signature crossback apron. All of the pieces follow her relaxed approach to entertaining, highlighting pieces that are modern, versatile, and meant to be used every day.

“Molly brought her fresh and bold perspective to the design process, creating an inspired kitchen and entertaining collection for our brand,” Sebastian Brauer, Senior Vice President of Product Design, Crate & Barrel commented. “Her passion to help people love their time in the kitchen drove us to look at kitchen tools and entertaining items through a different lens, which made for an open collaboration process. We also both love Italian and American design, and referenced different iconic periods like the 50s and 70s for inspiration.”

To begin, Molly worked closely with her designer husband, Ben, to create the initial voice and vision for the collection. “We started by sitting around a table with a couple of friends, scribbling down all of our hopes and dreams for the line. There were no limitations in our first round of ideating – I’m a big proponent of both “dream big” and “no bad ideas” philosophies. We then took that list to Crate & Barrel to see what was feasible.”

“They were super open to our ideas, and very supportive of the direction we chose to go in,” she said. “Once we had established a color palette and materials (warm woods, primary colors, colored glass, silicone) we got to work, iterating over and over and over again, reviewing samples, tweaking and changing, until the collection felt unified, polished, and complete.”

The brand was open to some of the more outlandish pieces as well. “I mean, let’s be honest, nobody needs an ice bucket or a seafood tower,” Molly quipped. “But the team saw the value in including some more eccentric pieces to make sure the collection really captured my spirit and personality with an eye towards keeping things fun and whimsical and unexpected.”

While the collection as a whole is show-stopping, it’s the thoughtful touches in each piece that standout. The measuring spoon set includes an uncommon ¾ teaspoon measure, and the glassware was designed for the drinks Molly and Ben make most – wine, martinis, and spritzes.

woman with long blonde hair stands behind a white counter covered in colorful kitchenwares

Molly Baz

Then there’s the infamous seafood tower, which is the chef’s go-to order at restaurants. It was the first product Molly designed for the collection, a design that’s versatile with a removable top tier for easy storage. “I knew I wanted to include a seafood tower (as ridiculous as it sounds), so it was one of the first things we tackled. It was one of the many items on my “dream big” list, and surprisingly the team at Crate & Barrel was super gung-ho about designing one,” she surprisingly shared. “There’s something so fun and celebratory to me about the idea of bringing the culture of raw bars and seafood towers – something you really only expect to partake in at a restaurant – into the home. Of course, the tower can actually be used for so much more than just seafood – at the end of the day, it’s just three really freaking cute stacked shallow bowls.”

Molly and the team at Crate & Barrel created an entire design language and made it through creating 59 more pieces before coming to the last one: the snack tray. “We were deep in a martini phase at the time, and had just been to Bemelmans Bar in NYC for one of the city’s most iconic martinis. With any cocktail you order at Bemelmans, a trifecta of snacks is always served,” she shared about its inception.

“We love that ritual and decided that we should find a way to bring intentional snacking into the home kitchen. We made two of them. Both take the form of concentric circles, one with two cavities and the other with three.” One of her favorite ways to use the piece? “I love to put a big dollop of aioli in the Big Snack Tray and then fill all the remaining moats with little dippers to create a grand aioli of sorts. The smaller one is great for popcorn, chips, and nuts, and can just as easily sit on your lap while watching a movie as it can be the centerpiece to your coffee table.”

Brauer called out his favorite piece as the Cae Salad Bowl for its versatility and oversized nature. “It’s perfect for composed salads, grains, and even linguine vongole to go from kitchen to table. I also love the earthy, neutral glaze and modern sculptural shape – perfect for indoor/outdoor dining and super California cool. It’s simple and elegant for entertaining, but also a functional piece that can stay out on the table to hold everyday items like fruit. This piece was inspired by Molly’s iconic Cae Sal recipe, which our customers love.”

“My eyes are dazzled every time I see the collection all together as a whole,” Molly said of her work with the brand. When pressed she added, “I think one of my favorite pieces are the salt and pepper grinders. They’re nesting, and they look like little people to me. They’re so stunning on a beautifully set table, and also look phenomenal next to your condiment caddy in your kitchen. Also, I love salt. I think most people know that but…”

Be sure to check out the entire Molly Baz for Crate & Barrel collection. You can also pick up the chef’s cookbook Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach and Recipes to Repeat: A Cookbook and pre-order the latest one, More Is More: Get Loose in the Kitchen: A Cookbook.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

The Met Walks a Fine Line on Lagerfeld: Judge the Clothes, Not the Man

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

“The Line of Beauty” focuses on dualities in the dazzling work of the legendary designer, but it is coy about the controversies.

I admit: I never entirely drank the Karl Lagerfeld Kool-Aid. I was not one of those critics (and there were some) who would clutch their breast, shriek “genius!” and swoon after every show.

I often felt that for every extraordinary piece the designer created for Chanel or Fendi — by the time I started in fashion, his career at Chloé was at an end — there would be another clunker of a dress or a suit: unflattering, frumpy, kind of awkward. I found the set-building he did for his Chanel shows in the latter years (the supermarkets, rocket ships, and icebergs in the Grand Palais) not just a smart social media move (which it was) but too often an egregious display of a bottomless budget and sleight of hand to distract from what was on the runway. Sure, that tweed sweatsuit made that model look like a Real Housewife — but everyone was looking at the double-C branded pasta on the faux megamart shelf instead!

Once I got spoken to by the Chanel press office for not fully “understanding” Lagerfeld’s vision. But as I wrote in the designer’s obituary (he died in 2019), while he unquestionably changed the business of the industry — its marketing, its branding, its very structure — thanks to his ability to take on a heritage house like Chanel and reinvent it with the detritus of its own codes, I didn’t think he really changed wardrobes. He didn’t give the world a new silhouette, or an expression of identity, the way Coco Chanel herself did, with the bouclé suit, or Christian Dior, with the New Look, or Saint Laurent, with Le Smoking, the tuxedo suit for women.

All of which is to say that when I heard the Metropolitan Museum of Art would be dedicating its 2023 Costume Institute to Lagerfeld, I had a mixed reaction. On one hand it made sense: in a 65-year career, which included 26 years at Chanel, 54 at Fendi, 25 at Chloé (in two separate stints), and 35 at his own brand (for years he juggled multiple jobs at the same time), plus stints at Patou and Balmain (phew), the man loomed like a colossus over the modern fashion landscape. On the other hand, the show raised a lot of questions.

Fendi fur coat designed by Karl Lagerfeld, 2012-2013, with polychrome dyed mink, fox, Kidassia goat.Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

The bar is very high for one-person exhibitions — usually defined by names that changed the vocabulary of dress. There have only been 10 of them at the Met in the last 50 years, including Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and most recently, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. Generally, the Costume Institute has focused on thematic displays, like last year’s show on American fashion, or 2019’s “Camp.” And even beyond the questions of Lagerfeld’s actual products, there were the issues of his public statements, a number of which were fatphobic, Islamophobic, racist, and sexist, deriding everyone from Angela Merkel, the former Chancellor of Germany, to the singer Adele.

Should he really be put on a museum pedestal, his art (if that is what it was) separated from his self?

Karl Lagerfeld with his close friend Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue and current mastermind behind the gala that supports the Costume Institute, in 2014.Amy Lombard for The New York Times

An answer of sorts can now be found in “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” which opens May 5 in the museum’s Tisch Galleries. It is a tightly edited, highly enjoyable, ultimately convincing argument from the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, Andrew Bolton, that when you strip away the controversies and the mythology, what you are left with is a pure expression of a great technical imagination combined with an omnivorous cultural curiosity. The advantage of 65 years of work that produced over 10,000 pieces of clothing (at least that’s the number Bolton said he perused for the show) is that in distilling them down to just over 200 garments, Bolton is free to focus on the most evocative pieces. And they are almost all, indeed, dazzling.

But the exhibition also fails entirely, and deliberately, to address the complications of the man. Bolton admits as much in the introduction to the exhibition’s catalog: “We did not want to emphasize ‘Lagerfeld the man,’” he writes, but rather “Lagerfeld the designer”; to find the connective tissue in a 65-year career that could often seem profligate in the extreme: flitting here, there and everywhere; reluctant to commit. In an interview this week, the curator elaborated on his stance, saying he wanted to leave the judgments on character to historians and biographers. And yet Lagerfeld the man is also the ghost in the machine of the show: impossible to ignore.

Karl Lagerfeld ensemble, 2009, showing a shirt of white cotton poplin; shirt of black silk taffeta, and a handbag of black and white mesh with a photograph of Lagerfeld’s face.Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

Indeed, the concept around which the exhibition itself is built — a narrative of dualities — implies the paradox at the heart of the Lagerfeld story: He was a man who loved, and made, beautiful things while sometimes blithely giving voice to ugliness.

If not officially a retrospective — Lagerfeld famously hated them, saying no one wanted to “look at a bunch of old dresses” — the show is more like an essay in clothes, based on an organizing principle derived from the 18th-century artist and writer William Hogarth’s 1753 book “The Analysis of Beauty,” with the author’s beloved Serpentine curve, or “line of beauty,” which signified liveliness and variety, juxtaposed against the straight line, which Lagerfeld also prized, as the dueling forces in his aesthetic. (“The Line of Beauty” is also, as it happens, a 2004 Booker Prize-winning novel by the British writer Alan Hollinghurst about gay life, class and politics in Thatcherite Britain, but though Bolton acknowledged that he loved the book, he said it had nothing to do with the exhibition.)

From there the lines and dualities proliferate in nine different groupings: the masculine/feminine lines giving way to the romantic/military influences, which give way to the rococo/classical, which in turn lead to the historical/futuristic and so on and on. There are so many lines they can be hard to follow; Bolton has a tendency to over-egg his theses, perhaps to justify fashion’s place in the museum. In the end you can ignore them all, and enjoy the show purely as a visual feast.

Gallery representing the Figurative Line/Abstract Line duality, with a trio of Fendi dresses (2016/17) on the lower level inspired by the Danish fairy tale illustrator Kay Nielsen, and Chloe looks from the late 1960s and early 1970s above, inspired by the English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley.Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

The line conceit proves most useful in providing a template for the show’s designer, the architect Tadao Ando (who was once commissioned to create a house for Lagerfeld that was never built). The space is composed of multiple galleries that undulate and curve around on themselves with little openings through which other galleries can be glimpsed — to allow peeks forward into the future, or back to the past. The effect is slightly disorienting in a good way, making it easy to lose oneself in the fields of Lagerfeldiana.

And what fields they are. Two little tweed Chanel lunching suits seem to vaporize into mist at the hems. An egg-shaped Fendi coat is composed of thousands of tiny brightly colored mink mosaic tiles, like a pointillist painting; another, strafed by overlapping shades made of layers of scrunched-up tulle that only look like fur. Lagerfeld could see possibilities in material that seemed otherwise inconceivable; he minted sequins out of concrete, and wood.

A trio of Chanel looks: (from left) the “evaporating hem” couture suit, 2003; tiered skirt (2002-2003); couture wedding sequin tunic and three-dimensional floral skirt, 2015.Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

There are Chloé dresses in Sonia Delaunay-esque prints and trompe l’oeil Grecian drapes. A Chanel frock coat is cut away not at the front but at the back, to expose frothing iridescent tiers. There are almost no logos in sight (a fun game is: guess which look goes with which brand; all four of his main employers were show sponsors), just as there is little of the kitschy play with brand iconography that helped make Chanel a part of pop culture — the double C boxing gloves, and bikinis — and that has been widely imitated at other brands. But there are cumulus clouds of feathers and blossoming rosettes made of lace and gleaming sequin armor that romp across centuries and salons.

Lagerfeld dress for Chanel, 1997, left, overlaid with a horsehair lace, and Fendi, 2017, right, with flowers of white shaved mink.Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

Through it all, one shape appears again and again: the jacket pinched just a bit at the spine, so the shoulder blades roll up and back, raising the arm hole just so, with the line curving down over the waist. Bolton calls this the “Schlemmer shape,” after an Oskar Schlemmer painting, “Bauhaus Stairway” from 1932 (the period between the wars in Germany having been one of Lagerfeld’s gravitational poles).

Chanel haute couture jacket of black brushed wool and Lurex twill, plus a signature camellia brooch, 2003-4.Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

The designer’s sketches for a Fendi coat, to which were often turned over to his “premières” to realize.Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

Ditto the sketches that were Lagerfeld’s primary means of communication, and are displayed with garments as their origin story. The designer would hand these drawings, which were conceived in the round (he thought not just from the front, but from the back) to the heads of his ateliers, to be “read” like their own private language. Just how that worked is enlivened by a group of absorbing videos created by the documentary filmmaker Loïc Prigent that are interviews with those premières d’atelier — the people who translated the designer’s sketches — about their work with Lagerfeld. They exude humanity, affection and pride.

As it happens, the videos are shown in the exhibition’s first gallery. You reach them after an entrance antechamber with another video, this one a close-up of Lagerfeld’s hands sketching a dress, along one wall; at the end of the room, like a punctuation mark, is a reconstruction of Lagerfeld’s Chanel desk, piled high with books and papers (each element chosen by Bolton to represent the breadth of Lagerfeld’s various obsessions, from Aubrey Beardsley to Diet Coke). Next to the desk is a pair of the designer’s black shoes, sitting empty on the floor. This opening video and desk mirror the exhibition’s close: another video of Lagerfeld’s hands, sketching — this time not dresses, but himself. Catty-corner to that visual are a set of vitrines displaying the designer’s signature accessories: the fingerless black leather gloves, black shades and fan, that were the artifacts of the character he constructed for himself. Or “caricature,” as he called it.

A table by Martin Szekely that Lagerfeld used as a desk in his Chanel office, at “A Line of Beauty.”Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

Landon Nordeman for The New York Times

Just before that, however, is a small ellipse of a room lined with 80 iPhones plus one at the center, all loaded with the same video of Lagerfeld laughing, as well as some of his most famous quotes: “I have one instinct that is stronger than all others: the survival instinct”; “I always say what I think, and sometimes even what I don’t.” None of the bad ones, of course, though the latter statement seems particularly telling.

It’s a lost opportunity. Because by choosing to sandwich the clothes between representations of the man, the show actually suggests you can’t separate that man, in all his messy, uncomfortable reality, from the alchemy of his art — and you shouldn’t. That mess and discomfort is part of the mix; it’s part of the legacy, as it is for many of our most formative figures. If the Met can’t encourage that public conversation, what institution can?

Lagerfeld once said, in a quote that is inscribed over the entrance to the show, “Fashion does not belong in a museum.” This exhibition makes a glorious case that the clothes he made really do. But so, too, do the complications, and the tension.

Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty

May 5 through July 16, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan; 212-535-7710; metmuseum.org.

Hyundai’s “Choose Yours” Marketing Campaign Unveils The All-New, All-Electric IONIQ 6 and IONIQ 5, While Featuring A Black Love Story

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., May 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Hyundai Motor America and its African American marketing agency of record, Culture Brands, launched their new multicultural campaign featuring the all-electric vehicle models, IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6. The latest addition to the popular OKAY Hyundai series, the new campaign, titled “Choose Yours”, spotlights the vehicles’ emotional design, versatility and individualized electrified experiences.

Hyundai Captures Black Love in Action in 'Choose Yours' Marketing Campaign | Screengrab of Hyundai’s TV Ad with Culture Brands for the IONIQ 5 and 6, March 6 to 11, 2023. — Hyundai Captures Black Love in Action in ‘Choose Yours’ Marketing Campaign | Screengrab of Hyundai’s TV Ad with Culture Brands for the IONIQ 5 and 6, March 6 to 11, 2023.

Designed to strengthen the connection between Hyundai and the African American community through the embedding of cultural references and nuances in the creative messaging, the OKAY Hyundai marketing theme was first launched in Fall 2021. Bringing the same approach, “Choose Yours”, which cleverly references the viral “pick the paper” TikTok challenge, taps a real couple to experience the convenience, accessibility and joy of electrification.

Hyundai “Choose Yours” African American Interactive Ad

“Thriving in a technology-fueled world makes personal, emotional, and authentic storytelling an even more important tool for connecting with customers in a real way,” said Angela Zepeda, CMO, Hyundai Motor America. “Spotlighting Hyundai’s smart mobility vision delivers a differentiated experience through electrification, the ‘Choose Yours’ campaign highlights how the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 are a seamless fit into our couples date night and lifestyle.”

“While we continue our exploration to innovate and exceed customer expectations in a fast-growing EV market, we want to build a culture where we connect with people on their own terms and in relevant ways,” said Erik Thomas, director of experiential marketing, Hyundai Motor America. “In our latest extension of the Okay Hyundai theme, our goal is for the viewer to see Hyundai as progressive, sophisticated and streamlined, just like our real-life couple.”

The “Choose Yours” campaign was developed by Culture Brands under the leadership of Eunique Jones Gibson, founder and chief creative officer. Both spots demonstrate the versatility of Hyundai’s electric vehicles and give viewers an opportunity to experience the lifestyle that each vehicle unlocks. For the spot, the agency partnered with six-time Cannes Lions award-winning director, Rohan Blair-Mangat, who is known for his rich storytelling and emotive visuals.

“We chose to work with a real couple to punctuate how the IONIQ vehicles authentically compliment the beauty in our customers’ varied lifestyles.” said Eunique Jones Gibson. “These spots show how the vehicles seamlessly fit into a modern-day love story in a sustainable and adaptable way, which is an investment as long-standing as true love.”

The 2023 IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 campaign includes video, digital and influencer executions, and will use a variety of media platforms to amplify the messaging and vehicle features such as its quality craftsmanship, electrification and innovative technology. There are 15-, 30-, and 60- second versions of the spot available for broadcast and digital channels.

Culture Brands
Culture Brands is an independent, minority and female-owned agency that exists to authentically celebrate, reflect and represent African Americans in media. Founded in 2017, by 15-year advertising veteran Eunique Jones Gibson, we create culturally relevant and affirming campaigns and content that inspire African American audiences by ensuring they feel seen, heard and valued. At Culture Brands, we are constantly engaged in a two-way conversation with the African American community through our owned and operated media platforms and consumer brands such as the award-winning Because of Them We Can®, Because of Them We Can Box (Just For Kids), #CultureTags® and Dream Village®. Culture Brands is headquartered right outside of the nation’s capital in Hyattsville, MD. www.culturebrands.co

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America focuses on ‘Progress for Humanity’ and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles. Our 830 dealers sold more than 724,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2022, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com.

Campaign Credits
Client: Hyundai Motor America
Brand: Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 6
Agency: Culture Brands
Chief Creative Officer: Eunique Jones Gibson
Art Director: Natalie McGarvey
Associate Creative Director: Rome Green
Associate Creative Director: Gustavo Uriarte
Account Director: Britt Wright
Production Company: Eleanor Films
Executive Producer: Jessica Toscano
Digital Videos Director: Rohan Blair-Mangat
Postproduction: Post Union Editorial
Editor: Einar Thorsteinsson
Managing Director: Luis Gonzalez

SOURCE Hyundai Motor America

Joana Vasconcelos’s towering tree sculpture springs into life at French château

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Sculpture

“Tree of Life” is made of 110,000 fabric pieces crafted during lockdown from materials that were already in the artist’s studio

The Ana Chair Gets a New Contour and Softer Curves

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Design

The Ana Chair is a minimal chair created by Brooklyn-based designer Arielle Assouline-Lichten of Slash Objects presented at Milan Design Week 2023. Each Ana Chair is unique, as Assouline-Lichten sources remnant marble and is inspired by the natural veining of the stone. She cuts the marble slab into squares that, when rearranged, appear as a cohesive whole. This latest version comes with a new contour and softer curves.

A hallmark of Assouline-Lichten’s designs is the innovative recycling of materials. The Ana Chair incorporates post-consumer recycled rubber for the seat and repurposed marble cutoffs, typically destined for waste, sourced from a Brooklyn yard. Multiple chairs can be created from a single slab, forming sets or pairs that are related in design.

Suitable for both indoor and outdoor environments, the Ana Chair features variations for each setting. The outdoor version employs marble and recycled rubber from Slash Objects’ tabletop collection, while the indoor version marks Assouline-Lichten’s debut in using Mohair fabric, specifically in a bold Cognac shade. The marble for the Ana Chair comes in Statuary White, Nero Marquina, and Pistache, with further customization options available using a range of stones. The rubber seat is available in Sand, Gris, and Pure Black.

Arielle Assouline-Lichten explains: “Simplicity that reveals the materials from which our world is constructed. This chair is a play on the art of simplicity and the beauty of clean lines. I wanted to create a statement piece that envelopes you into a moment of pause, where you are nestled inside the smooth stone arms. The purity of parts allows for the materials to be highlighted and the connections between parts is as minimal as possible to allow each element to exist in unison.”

To learn more about the Ana Chair, visit slashobjects.com.

Leo Lei translates his passion for minimalism into his daily-updated blog Leibal. In addition, you can find uniquely designed minimalist objects and furniture at the Leibal Store.

Lladró’s golden Darth Vader brightens up the dark side on Star Wars Day

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Sculpture

Lladró releases a golden Darth Vader sculpture on Star Wars Day, available online and in the New York concept store

Family finds success in rural photography business; new Richville studio opens

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Photography

With her new studio space, all Sarah Pearson needs to do is move her lights instead of completely setting up a new backdrop with new props, making photography a fast and easy process for clients.

PERHAM — Sometimes, returning to where you grew up can be how you find happiness and success. For one Richville family, the Pearsons, this is certainly the case. After 12 years of building their business, Photography by Sarah Jean, photographer Sarah Pearson and her husband/editor Rhett Pearson recently got to build just what they’d wanted for years: a brand new photography studio.

In fact, this new studio itself was built by Sarah’s father. Her mother, Pam Donley, even acts as “groundskeeper.” The Pearsons’ son, Aiden, will soon learn to edit himself, and their daughter, Piper, helps entertain the young kids and babies that enter the studio. Not only do clients receive photos of memorable moments when they enter this new studio, but they’re also welcomed with open arms by this full-family operation.

“In the long run, (my old studio) has been a small space, which is why we needed to build something,” Sarah explained. “It’s taken a long time to get here — 12 years to get to this point. It’s something to be excited about.”

Continuing with the “homey” and familial roots of their business, the new studio is built right next to their rural Richville family home. While Sarah is mostly an outdoor photographer — hence the beautiful outdoor space of their property — it’s nice to have indoor options available for clients when the weather cools.

Sarah and Rhett smile as they stand with their two kids, Aiden and Piper, who help out with the business when they can.

Though this new studio symbolizes yet another huge step forward for the Pearsons and Photography by Sarah Jean, it did take them many long years to get there. It all began when Sarah was growing up in Richville, just a couple of miles from where she currently lives. At around 15 years old, she moved with her sister and mother to Stillwater, a suburb of the Twin Cities, where she later met Rhett. It was here that she began to discover her love for photography.

“She wanted to be a model when she was 16, 17,” her mother, Pam, shared. “So we got her into modeling school, and she started sitting in front of the camera. She was always asking the photographers what they were doing. I guess that’s what (made her think), ‘I want to be on the other side of the camera,’ and that’s when she started venturing into it.”

Sarah continued, “And I’ve always kind of been an artist — drawing. In high school, I did photography. It was like, ‘I don’t want to be in the picture; I want to be on the other side of the picture.'”

And so her passion for photography began. She earned a bachelor’s in fine arts and photography at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, and once she graduated, she began pursuing her photography career in Stillwater.

A photo of yours truly (Elizabeth Vierkant, writer of this article) as taken by Sarah Pearson on the day of our chat.

Things were a little rough near the Twin Cities, however, and she and Rhett were struggling to get by. While Sarah had some photography clients, she wasn’t able to quite make a living off of it, especially with rent being about $1,100 a month for the couple. Once they had their first kid, Aiden, they really started to reconsider what they were doing.

“I was working two jobs,” Rhett said, remembering the struggle. “I was doing construction, and then I was going and working at a deli at night, until 9 or 10 at night … We were just throwing our money away to rent and kind of just spinning our wheels … We’re just kind of wondering what the heck we’re going to do with the rest of our lives, and Sarah said, ‘Well, we could move back to my home town and kind of start over.’ And at the time, I was just like, ‘You know, what do we have to lose?'”

And so, the Pearsons got a U-Haul on a Tuesday and moved to Richville on a Wednesday. Rhett interviewed for a job on Thursday and started working on Monday. Everything happened so fast, but clearly, it worked out. Rhett joked that he and Sarah are polar opposites. While he tends to be quite pessimistic, she’s ever the optimist. She was the one who wanted to buy a house in Richville. She was the one who wanted to start Photography by Sarah Jean. Eventually, she was even the one who wanted to get the new studio done.

“She’s always right,” he laughed.

“And it always worked out,” Pam added.

Sarah shows off her new studio space, complete with multiple backdrops and set-ups.

The family spent the last 12 years continuing to build the business side-by-side. Though Rhett was originally a landscaper, the business grew to the point that Sarah asked him to be her “chief editor.” As quite the tech-savvy guy, he ended up being the perfect person for the job. Soon, their oldest, Aiden, plans to learn how to edit to help the family business grow and keep up with the busy client list.

The Pearsons are now able to completely live off the money earned from Photography by Sarah Jean, which is a big step forward from their struggles to get by in Stillwater. With the new studio officially completed as of about three weeks ago, the business can continue to grow.

“I’m really excited to start this new chapter,” Sarah said. “(The new studio) is great.”

Now with a new, much larger space, Sarah can set up multiple backdrops and sets with a variety of furniture and props. Whenever she wants to take photos at a new set, all she has to do is move the lighting and help the client make the perfect pose. There’s no more completely tearing down a set to put up a new one. Not only is the process a lot smoother, but it’s easier on both Sarah and the client.

Complete with a lounge space for people to relax and chat during a photo session, clients can enjoy the cozy atmosphere of sunny lighting, wood floors and music in the background. Though close to the Pearson home, it’s also separate, allowing for the homey feeling to stay without the chaos of a family house. A separate room was even built in the back with long tables and a fridge for a comfortable editing space.

Photography by Sarah Jean is currently hosting a grand opening special for their new studio. For more information, visit

Photography by Sarah Jean on Facebook

, email sarjeanels@yahoo.com or call 651-472-3381.

“(I love) being around people, and the outcome of photography is happiness,” Sarah said. “People are excited to get a picture taken or to see the results.”

Photography Exhibition – Thaddé Comar Wins the 6th AOYF Award for Human Rights Photography

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Photography

Thaddé Comar wins the sixth edition of the AOYF Human Rights Photography Award for his project entitled How was your dream? which looks at new forms of protest and insurgency in a contemporary era dominated by controlling societies.

The AOYF Human Rights Photography Award 2023 was presented on Thursday 27 April 2023 to early career artist Thaddé Comar for the quality and originality of his strong and engaging work on the theme of digital technologies and their impact on our daily lives (“Human Rights 3.0”). The winning artist and the four other finalists will exhibit their work for one month at the Geneva Centre of Photography. The winning artist will also receive a financial contribution to produce an exhibition based on the winning project and to continue his or her commitment to human rights. This award is given by the Act On Your Future Foundation, in partnership with the Geneva Centre of Photography and six renowned European art schools. In addition, throughout the group exhibition, a series of lectures, practical workshops and school visits will be offered to raise public awareness of human rights through the works on display.

The Act On Your Future Foundation, the Geneva Centre of Photography and the partners of the AOYF Human Rights Photography Award 2023 are pleased to announce the name of Thaddé Comar, winner of the sixth edition of the competition, who graduated from a prestigious European art school: Comar Thaddé, How was your dream? (ECAL, Lausanne, born in 1993) The winner’s project and those of the four other finalists will be exhibited at the Centre de la photographie Genève from 28 April to 28 May 2023. In addition, several free events, including a photo-conference, round tables, hands-on workshops and school visits, will be offered during the exhibition to raise awareness of human rights through the eyes of the artists on display.

Thaddé Comar

Thaddé Comar was born in France in 1993. In 2018, he graduated with distinction from the ECAL in Lausanne. His practice is deeply linked to current events and social movements and ranges from editorial to commissioned and personal projects.

The jury notes that the winning project in particular takes a critical and informed look at the issue of social movements and their evolution in relation to the tools of surveillance and repression linked to new digital technologies. In addition to taking a critical look at this issue, and its implications for the specific case of Hong Kong, it also looks with relevance at possible strategies of empowerment and emancipation.

Awards

As the winner of the 2023 edition of the competition, the winner will receive an amount of CHF 10’000, distributed as follows

A contribution equivalent to the sum of CHF 7’000.00 exclusively for the project.

Award

As the winner of the 2023 edition of the competition, the winner will receive a sum of CHF 10,000, distributed as follows

A contribution equivalent to the sum of CHF 7,000, which will be used exclusively for the preparation of the exhibition (material and production), which will be considered as an integral part of the winning project
A sum of CHF 3,000 in cash, which can be freely used by the winner.

The four other finalists will each receive CHF 500 in cash for the quality of their work.
The projects of the winner and the four other finalists 2023 can be seen at the Geneva Centre of Photography from 28 April to 28 May 2023.

Programme of events

A series of lectures, practical workshops and school visits will be offered throughout the group exhibition to raise awareness and make one of the great challenges of our time more tangible. These activities, which are open to the public and free to access, will be aimed primarily at art schools, educational institutions in the region, artists and professionals in the sector, as well as the networks of partner organisations.
Photo-conference and round tables

3 May 2023 at 6.30 pm Photo-conference: Iran, faces of a plural youth With Hanieh Ziaei, political scientist, and Gwenvaël Engel, photographer.
15 May 2023 at 6.30 pm Round table organised with the Empowerment Foundation: Privacy and human dignity in the virtual world

School visits and practical workshops

School visits Offered to classes from 5P onwards, from 28 April to 28 May 2023.

14 and 24 May 2023 Workshops for artists and professionals:
Strategies of invisibility with Zoé Aubry, artist and former finalist of the AOYF Prize

www.actonyourfuture.org

www.centrephotogeneve.ch

Sculpture for King’s coronation will show how he has become more ‘sophisticated’

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Sculpture

Frances Segelman previously sculpted the then Prince of Wales in 2014.

The V&A is opening its huge new photography centre this month

May 4, 2023 By Admin in Photography

The V&A has a huge, world-class photography collection. And a huge, world class photography collection, obviously, deserves a huge, world-class photography gallery, so that’s what they’re opening at the end of May. The first bit of the V&A Photography Centre was opened in 2018, but now they’re launching the second half, which will make it the largest space in the UK for a permanent photography collection.

The newly completed centre will feature seven galleries dedicated to the history of the medium, all drawn from the V&A’s 200 year old collection. Two of the new rooms will be dedicated to changing exhibitions of contemporary and experimental photography from around the world. The other new spaces will look more closely at how photography is made, preserved and studied.

There will be new acquisitions to ogle by contemporary photographers like Liz Johnson Artur, Sammy Baloji and Vera Lutter, as well as new commissions by Jake Elwes and a huge new photographic sculpture by environmentally focused artist Noémie Goudal.

Photography redefined, and continues to define, how we see the world, both artistically and on an everyday level. The V&A Photography Centre gives the medium the attention it deserves. Combine it with The Photographers’ Gallery, the annual Photo London fair and London’s seemingly countless smaller photography galleries, and you start to build a picture of a city in love with the camera.

The V&A Photography Centre opens May 25. Free. More details here.

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