Since the 6th of June the beautiful exhibition 'Amsterdam! Ed van der Elsken, oude foto’s 1947-1970' is running in Het Stadsarchief Amsterdam, the museum attached to the Municipal Archive of Amsterdam. The exhibition coincides with the reprint of the book of the beautiful series which originally was published in 1979. At that time it was a powerful collaboration between the great and famous photographer and the just as great graphic designer Anthon Beeke, making it rather a classic made out of Dutch excellence, which over the last decades had been out of print and sought after. At the time of the original release, the two greats created a new kind of visual communication, which gained them a lot of praise, showing the city of Amsterdam in the course of those decades in all its diversity to a worldwide audience. [ Continue reading ]

The latest story by the always inspiring Jungles in Paris is once again of great beauty. It focusses on the the camel herders living in the largest Indian state by area, named Rajasthan, which translates to Land of Kingdoms. A large part of the state comprises of the Thar or Great Indian Desert, in which one still finds a significant group of people living of camel herding. The centre for these herders in terms of trade is the town named Pushkar and its fair which attracts herdsman from all over the desert. The images for this story were all taken in this town, located in the middle of the Rajasthan state and more importantly the Thar Desert, which explains why it attracts herdsman from all over, which prove to be the perfect subjects with their highly stylish appearance through colorful turbans and garments, beautiful accessories and faces showing the hardships of the desert. [ Continue reading ]

We really like the new collection and accompanying amazing lookbook of London designers Agi & Sam. The Autumn/Winter 2014 collection was named Watu Nguvu, the Swahili word for 'people power,' and the lookbook was shot by the never disappointing and regular Agi & Sam collaborator Luke Stephenson. The lookbook places Agi & Sam’s monochrome collection, showing a lot more maturity in its designs, in a odd eighties office environment, remembering of the BBC series, outfitted with the odd swivel chair and classic desktop computer. As ever with Luke’s photography, there is a playful element to the compositions, especially where the model is snacking on a snickers or acting as tech support making it one of our favorite outings of this season. [ Continue reading ]

Running only a couple more days in the Tokyo-based Taka Ishii Gallery: the beautiful exhibition named 'Love on the Left Eye' by 74-years old Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. The exhibition, Araki’s twenty-first with Taka Ishii Gallery, consists of 65 prints which have been selected from the photographer’s most recent work. The title of the exhibition refers to possibly the most famous Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken’s 1954 book 'Love on the Left Bank.' When Araki was around twenty years old, he saw 'Love on the Left Bank,' and from a continued inspiration he now took photographs of women in poses inspired by the work of van der Elsken. 'Love on the Left Eye' therefore can be seen as an homage to van der Elsken, but also shows a very personal side of the Japanese photographer. Since October of last year, Araki has been largely unable to see out of his right eye due to a retinal artery obstruction, which is reflected directly in the right side of the photographs which are blacked out with magic marker. [ Continue reading ]

Since the 80's Dutch photographer Ralf Mitsch has been fascinated by what lays behind the people who are heavily tattooed. What motivated them, what role do the tattoos play in their particular life or even their vision on the world? With his on-going series 'Why I Love Tattoos' the photographer has been asking these questions through his lens for many years, and last month the project resulted in the first printed publication. The book, which was released in May and will have its official launch on the 15th of June in the Amsterdam-based NAME Gallery, the spectator is offered a selection of subjects which Mitsch has had before his lens, to find out about the stories behind that Maori tribal design, traditional Japanese body tattoo or a collection of smaller tattoos totally filling one's arm or leg. The book contains more than 50 beautiful, full-page portraits of people from all over the globe who have visited the photographer's studio through the years. Each photographed tells a personal story of the hidden truth behind their tattoos, plus features a short interview by (heavily tattooed) author and journalist Henk van Straten, who's also one of the subjects featured in the book. [ Continue reading ]

We love this beautiful collaboration between German fine leather house TSATSAS and photographer Ramon Haindl, initiated by Aesthetics Habitat. The project is the latest endeavor from Aesthetics Habitat's motivation to stimulate independent creation of genuine content in cooperation with brands and creative visionaries. And this particular collaboration is even coming from a like-minded neighbourhood as both, photographer Ramon Haindl and fine leather craftsmen TSATSAS, live and work in Frankfurt am Main. Subtle structures and a high level of attention to the characteristics of surface invite you to observe the fundamental significance of skin without the disturbance of color. A sensitive ensemble of details and protagonists embracing a simply perfect product. Creative Direction on the project was done by our friends of Deutsche & Japaner, completing the line-up of creatives perfectly. [ Continue reading ]

'Cinci Lei' by Dutch photographer Joost Vandebrug follows the lives of a group of kids that inhabit the tunnels underneath the streets of Bucharest, oftenly referred to as the Lost Boys. Vandebrug has been documenting the Lost Boys since early 2011. Over the years he has become very close with many of them, learning their incredible stories. He saw the coming of age of a generation set against a backdrop of drug addiction, powerful friendships, orphanages, harsh winters and boiling summers. It started when Vandebrug gave Costel, one of the Lost Boys, a few pictures that he had shot of him the day before, and he then carefully invited him down to show where he lived. With no common language, photography became a way to communicate. 'Cinci Lei' has been the first official publication of the inspiring project by Vandebrug and was financed through Kickstarter. [ Continue reading ]

Launched in London in April 2011, IRÈNE was born out of the desire of three young women, Geneviève Eliard, Esthèle Girardet and Lucie Santamans, to revive some forgotten values of eroticism. Soon-after they moved back to Paris where they continued their adventure. IRÈNE explores elegant eroticism by following surrealistic references as well as popular icons or contemporary photography. Around erotic poems, texts, photographs and collages, IRÈNE leads the way on the land of an elegant, modern and feminine eroticism that was unloaded of any vulgarity. The process of creation of IRÈNE is based on an erotic poem deconstructed, then reconstructed as an exquisite corpse. Each word represents an idea developed with talent by international contributors. After the first issue, which was exclusively released online, IRÈNE also became available in a paper version. Now a days it is a multidisciplinary platform; a website, a blog and the organization of creative and sensual events for her admirers and contributors to join her erotic journey. Recently the beautiful issue #5 was released. [ Continue reading ]

We really like the latest by the Lisbon-based publisher Pierre von Kleist editions. The book named 'Japan Drug' by António Júlio Duarte features moody, grainy black and white photographs portraying urban Japan in a very anonymous and isolated fashion. The images were taken 17 years ago when the Portuguese photographer visited Japan all by himself. It was a time, with the insecurities evoked by the new millennium ahead becoming apparent, but above all a period in time in which both economical and technological perspectives seemed endless. Looking back a lot has changed over the years that have past, with sentiments all over the globe becoming more and more sombre. A sombreness which already speaks through the imagery of António Júlio Duarte as if the photographer then already felt that times wouldn't stay the same, and therefore the right time to share his images was right now. [ Continue reading ]

On the 10th of May the second solo exhibition of the greatly talented, and one of our favorites at this moment, photographic artist Adam Jeppesen opened at the Brussels-based Galerie van der Mieden. As with his earlier series 'The Flatlands Camp Project', the series named 'X' is also based on his journeys around the world, in which the Danish photographers takes the traditions of travel photography to new grounds. In his new series Jeppesen has worked with photogravure, wanting to explore the possibilities of further evolving this graphic side of his work. The motives in this series of photogravures stay completely anonymous, every context of place and time is stripped by the artist. Deserted landscapes that are neutral and empty, cold mountains and desserts, located somewhere between documentary and dream, which makes it possible for the viewer to create a personal imagination about the place. Jeppesen’s very private journeys become potentially universal. [ Continue reading ]

We are honored to give a little preview of  a new Where They Create story by our friend Paul Barbera. It features the London office of creative agency Wieden+Kennedy, which shows a lot of character, but also the large size of one of the leading offices worldwide. The inspiring ongoing Where They Create series documents creative working spaces from all around the world through the lens of Paul. With Where They Create, the Australian photographer found a way to turn his inherent voyeurism into a form of anthropological research. Looking for absurd and hidden elements within the seemingly normal, Paul enters the studios of international creative people: artists, art directors, architects, designers, stylists  and captures all the details of their personal stories and artistic processes. His curiosity, naturalness and good eye for interiors, together with his ability to transmit emotions and warmth make his project unique and constantly inspiring. From the need many creatives have to transform their offices into intimate spaces, almost like home, keeping things close to be able to create their workspace will almost alway show a lot of personality. Others could work anywhere, travelling with the bare essentials as Paul does, but everybody, even if for a while, leaves personal traces, aspects that don’t pass unnoticed, laying there to be caught by Paul. [ Continue reading ]

We love the amazing still life campaign featuring Linda Farrow's Spring/Summer 2014 icons, shot by the highly talented Belgian photographer Frederik Vercruysse in a collaboration with art direction studio Uber en Kosher. Vercruysse is most known for his minimalistic, but highly stylized photography and former collaborations with Filip Dujardin. For the seasonal pieces shot by Vercruysse, Linda Farrow draws inspiration from cosmetic pastels and a new-found love for the eclectic stylish Seventies, creating a diverse and adventurous exploration of fashion eyewear. The constant elements are the hyper-luxe materials including snakeskin and gold, superlative finish and fashion-forward shapes Linda Farrow has become renowned for. The campaign showcases the LFL306 model, crafted from yellow gold and ash snakeskin frame teamed with gold plated lens, and the LFL300, made out of rose gold and its amazing mocha snakeskin frame teamed with a rose gold lens. [ Continue reading ]

Luke Stephenson just started a Kickstarter campaign to publish his latest beautiful series in a collaboration with YES, who also designed 'An Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds'. Named '99 x 99s', the series is a photographic project which documents the story of the 99 ice cream through a photographic road trip around the UK. In the summer of 2013, over 25 days and 3,500 miles, Stephenson travelled around the coastline of Great Britain. Going from place to place the photographer was fascinated by the human touches that make each 99 ice cream unique. In the series the seaside ice cream vans and parlours that sold the 99s are also portrayed and the myths which surround this very British icon are discussed, giving the project a significant anthropological dimension, next to Stephenson's excellent eye for finding beautiful aesthetics in unexpected places. [ Continue reading ]

Once again we are extremely pleased to give another beautiful preview of a story by one of our favorites on the internet: Jungles in Paris, curated by Darrell and Oliver Hartman. This particular story takes place in downtown Dakar, on a beach called the Plage de Fann, although most of the regulars there don't even really need to call it by name. End-of-day beach workout is a routine part of life for many fit young guys in the city, especially the students who go there after class at nearby Cheikh Anta Diop University. They have benches with weights made from old wheel rims, and permanent apparatuses for push-ups and pull-ups. All of it is very basic. Guys do push-ups in the sand, skip rope, help and compete with each other, and just generally hang out. Of course there is lots of soccer played as well, as there is all over Senegal. There's a little side area for prayer. This is a city where you can do this sort of thing year-round, given the climate, although it's often cooler and more comfortable towards end of day. Certainly a workout place unlike any other in the world! [ Continue reading ]

On the 8th of March the Rotterdam-based Nederlands Fotomuseum opened Viviane Sassen’s exceptional photographic project titled UMBRA. We have been a fan of Sassen's work for a long time now and love this particular collaboration with the Dutch museum. Especially for the Nederlands Fotomuseum, Sassen has made a new series of works that focus on the play of light and shadow, a very characteristic element that runs through all of her work. Sassen supplements this series with previously unseen images from her archives. UMBRA, which translates to 'shadow' in Latin, presents Sassen’s autonomous work in a kaleidoscopic exhibition in which shadow is often a metaphor for the human psyche. [ Continue reading ]

Pawel Bownik’s 'Disassembly', published by newcomer Mundin, is an artist’s book in which a photographic project has been brought to the form of a non-standard picture album. The main role here is played by flowers, which Bownik disassembles into parts using DIY tools and then reassembles in possibly unchanged form. For deconstruction purposes the photographer uses glues, adhesive tapes, ropes, precisely measuring the distances between the leaves, noting them in pencil on the leaves themselves and photographing them. The resulting images, informed by the still-life tradition, perfectly imitate and evoke that which has been subjected to a destructive process. Haunting the viewer with their deformed charm, they also create an uncomfortable sense of participating in a strange experiment. Beginning with the cover image and progressing through a series of collages and drawings, the book’s narrative culminates in the middle part and comes to a conclusion with a series of sketches evoking progressively‎ the sense of being the witness of a highly aesthetic, but bizarre scientific experiment. [ Continue reading ]

David Lynch is a man of many talents. Although he is best known for his cinema, over the years he has branched out as far as his own brand of coffee, the production of music, various interior design projects and basically everything that's moldable into his moody enigmatic and subversive aesthetic. His latest form of expression, although he has been doing it throughout his life, was the exhibition and publication of his photographic series called 'The Factory Photographs' at the London-based Photographers' Gallery. The series reveal Lynch's self-confessed love of industry, machinery, man-made objects, and 'people hard at work'. The dark and brooding series of black and white photographs were taken at derelict factories in Germany, Poland, New York and England, among other places. His unique cinematic style is much in evidence in his depictions of labyrinths of passages, detritus and decaying manmade structures slowly being taken over by nature. [ Continue reading ]

We have been a fan of the work of Todd Selby from the moment he stepped into the limelight. His latest work 'Fashionable Selby' is his third collaboration with publisher Abrams books, in which the photographer moves his gaze onto the world of fashion. The book features profiles of today’s most interesting designers, stylists, models, shoemakers and other fascinating figures. The subjects are wonderfully curated; with some very familiar faces and others totally unexpected. Chapters on individual artists bring readers into the utmost inner circle of the artists, and include Selby’s signature photographs and watercolors of not only the artists and their environments, but also the things that inspire them, the materials they use, their creative process, the people who work alongside them, and the final pieces. From the showroom of the incredible Dries van Noten, the studios of Central St. Martins in London to 'techno fashion designer' Iris van Herpen's studio: Selby continues his wonderful documentation of highly inspiring people and their environments in his signature bright aesthetic. [ Continue reading ]

The conceptual photographer Carl Kleiner recently released this amazing series named 'Postures'. Known for his often-times colorful still lifes in which Kleiner finds interesting and humorous positions for the photographed; in this series the Swede selected tulips as his subject. Mounted on constructions of wire, a technique one sees more often in his work, the tulips are positioned in different somewhat melancholic angles, without losing the aesthetic of the natural characteristic of late blossoming tulips which bend over because of the weight of the petals. The beautiful lines of the flowers remind of ballet dancers gracefully performing their dance, spotlighted on either a grey or black backdrop, with one tulip having lost a single petal inevitably marking the final moments of blossoming. We love how Kleiner found all these emotional forms and sentiments through his immaculate positioning, next to the already apparent beauty of the tulip. [ Continue reading ]

We have been a fan of the work of New York-based Mikael Kennedy for some years now and really appreciate his latest series 'California'. The series captures one week in California in which the photographer is clearly on the move. The beautiful photographs with the familiar toned down color palette show the wide landscapes of the American state with only sometimes allowing traces of civilization to play a minor role within the frame. A road, roadside fences, an electrical cable, the inside of the car a photograph was taken in, and just a little glimpse of a house. Kennedy places the geographical entity of the state of California first and its inhabitants second. The pictures therefore evoke somewhat of a lonely and melancholic sentiment within the beauty of the depicted landscapes, making the urge to visit the beautiful area even greater. 'California' has been published by Done To Death Projects in a limited quantity zine of 100 pieces which sold out within four days. [ Continue reading ]

We really appreciate the work of Copenhagen-based Englishman Alastair Philip Wiper and love his recent series in which he combines two of our favorite concepts: aesthetics and craftsmanship. The beautiful series shot in the familiar clean aesthetic of the photographer shows the factory of another favorite of ours: Danish company S.N.S. Herning located in Herning and famous for its knitwear. The company was founded in 1931 by Søren Nielsen Skyt, and enjoys worldwide recognition for producing their iconic fisherman sweater using a bobble technique developed by Skyt, intended to help with insulation. The company has had it’s ups and downs, and the collection has grown and shrunk, and until just a few years ago it had shrunk so much that it was almost non-existent, surviving only by selling a few of the classic fisherman’s sweaters. That is when the grandson of the original Søren Skyt, also Søren Skyt, decided to quit his job and focus on reviving the company after which the factory depicted by Wiper was taken into use. [ Continue reading ]

'Ezekiel 36:36' is a beautiful and fascinating series by photographer Nick Ballon, portraying Bolivian Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB), one of the world’s oldest surviving airlines, in an almost surrealistic fashion. Founded in 1925, it has played an important role in every stage of the country’s history. Since its privatisation in 1994, LAB has suffered at the hands of successive administrations, becoming gradually dismantled due to chronic mismanagement and corruption. Currently under threat of closure and with its downed of aircraft slowly crumbling away, this airline continues to survive through the loyalty and faith of its remaining 180 staff. Sensitive to this poignant and transitional time, Ballon has spent six months recording the present day story of LAB. Due to the circumstances of the airline and the angles chosen by Ballon the photographs suck the viewer in, reminding of the cinema of David Lynch or the work of Philip-Lorca diCorcia. [ Continue reading ]

The Latvian photographer Inta Ruka is famous for her portrait photography. She has portrayed fellow human beings in their daily lives throughout her career, with great honesty and curiosity. The background to her intimate imagery are long conversations she has beforehand with her subjects, helping her to convey "the whole picture." She also complements her photographs with texts; anecdotes, comments, stories from their calls. That way she pushes the idea of the limits of the photograph and what can be included in a photographic work. The text helps to capture the whole picture of the people she meets and portrays. Following Inta Ruka's exhibition 'You and Me' at the Stockholm-based Fotografiska, which took place from the 5th of October until the 8th of December 2013, and in her honor, the book The Bigger Picture: A Photo Book Without Pictures was published. A highly fascinating publication carrying just Inta Ruka texts written for her photographs, without the actual images. The ambition behind this fascinating project is to challenge the reader with the question what the intrinsic qualities of photography are. [ Continue reading ]

In his project '52 Weeks, 52 Cities', developed exclusively for German museum Marta Herford, my brother Iwan Baan takes the spectator on a one-year photographic journey around the world. Always on the lookout for ingenious homes in unexpected places and outstanding construction projects. Süddeutsche Zeitung described the influence of Iwan: “our image of architecture like no other”. He has been working, very successfully, worldwide for architects including Rem Koolhas, Herzog & de Meuron, Toyo Ito or Zaha Hadid. A characteristic of his pictorial language is the engagement with the close relationship between human and architecture, between social use and the various spatial situations. [ Continue reading ]