Paul Barbera is a lifestyle and interior photographer with a reportage style spanning cultural anthropology to luxury living, who we've been following since the very beginning of Another Something & Co, when we stumbled upon his tremendous Where They Create project. Paul is one of those extraordinary photographers striving to capture the complex emotional honesty of his subjects by reverting to a minimalist approach. He shoots in natural light and avoids overly complicated technical arrangements which permit authenticity and a voyeuristic thrill to come to the fore. Born in Melbourne, Australia and currently residing in New York City (when not on the road or in the air), Barbera has a Bachelors of Fine Arts and now a days is commissioned throughout Asia, Europe and Australia for a broad scala of publications ranging from fashion to documentary. Next to his ongoing Where They Create series, Paul also started the Love-Lost project in which he captures beautiful woman from around the globe. As we've been inspired by Paul for all these years, we now ask him what has been inspirational in his life. [ Continue reading ]
We are highly inspired by the online platform of writer Darrell Hartman and his brother Oliver Hartman, which they founded last year and named Jungles in Paris. The extraordinary project aims to redefine armchair travel using a global network of professional photographers and filmmakers, producing and presenting short, focused stories on culture, craft, geography, and wildlife around the world. Instead of splendor the Hartman brothers aim to go small and observe with an highly critical eye by focusing on the unexpected surprises uncovered by the careful traveler, from ritual skin-piercing in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, the beautiful aesthetic of the colorful house fences one finds in Rwanda, to the Ranch Rodeo in a small town in Wyoming, USA. As Darrell is such an inspiration for both his vision and his dogmatic approach in these rather superficial times, we've asked him some questions on what has and still inspires him in life. [ Continue reading ]
Mikael Kennedy is a New York City-based commercial and fine art photographer, which we have been following since the very beginning of our online endeavors. We first noticed his extraordinary work through his internationally acclaimed Polaroid travel blog; Passport to Trespass, which documented his 10 years of wandering the United States with a Polaroid SX70, concluded by the photographer in 2011. Now a days Kennedy’s Polaroids are part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, as well as in private collections worldwide. Other work of his has appeared in print in The New Yorker, Nylon, Dazed & Confused, WWD, and his photography has been being profiled online with GQ, Esquire, Time, Newsweek Magazine, and the WSJ, among others. Having been inspired by both Mikael's nomadic way of living and the elegant aesthetic one finds in his works, oftenly created during these travels: we now ask him what has inspired him along the road. [ Continue reading ]
After our friends of The Travel Almanac premiered their interesting new venture last June in the form of TTA Editions, of which the second installment will be released somewhere in the beginning of 2015, they now will release the latest edition from their core: magazine number 8. Paul Kominek and his team created yet another incredible edition starting with the subtle blue cover color and suave cover subject Bryan Ferry. Next to the article on the Roxy Music frontman, one will find other features on the provocative photographer Leigh Ledare, the New York City-based painter Bjarne Melgaard, one of our favorite photographers Viviane Sassen, filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky and finally musician Laurel Halo. The issue also holds a special feature on Iceland, winter boots and a story portraying the very skillful chocolatiers of the capital of chocolate; Belgium (also our all time favorite place to stay in Antwerp: Boulevard Leopold is mentioned). [ Continue reading ]
Istanbul, the beautiful city on the Bosphorus, is famous for its countless minarets, magnificent palaces, colorful markets and traders, seagulls and stray cats. The Turkish city is the only metropolis in the world that unites two continents. Traditional crafts collide with a young and blossoming art and design scene, which is slowly changing the face and image of the city. The 24th issue of inspirational Karlsruhe-based magazine Slanted takes a close-up look at contemporary design work and all the tumultuous developments in this cultural melting pot city balanced between the Orient and the Occident. On their one-week-trip the Slanted team met 15 design studios and produced comprehensive studio portraits which provide a vivid and up-to-the-minute picture of the scene. The resulting video interviews have been enriched with video material from the Shutterstock collection, and finally, thanks to augmented reality and the Junaio app, readers can easily watch embedded videos of the Istanbul turu on mobile devices. So good! [ Continue reading ]
Last Thursday, on the 18th of September, the exhibition named 'Sonic' opened in the Paris-based Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent. It takes a look at 15 years of Hedi Slimane's photographic musical archives, ranging from London to New York, with particular focus on the beautiful Californian cycle begun in 2007, from which came 'California Song', the exhibition at the MOCA / Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in November 2011. In 'Sonic' studio portraits of highly influential and heroic rock figures like Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Pete Doherty, Amy Winehouse and Brian Wilson, stand alongside images of alternative scenes from London or California. The exhibition is completed with a video installation, juxtaposing the musical cycles of London (2003-2007) and California (2007-2014) in a documentary style, painting an alternative portrait of two generations of performers and their fans. This combination of two worlds; that of the icons of rock and roll and on the other side the rock and roll to be found in everyday life, exemplifies Slimane's unique creative vision and masterful observations from which all his work, whether as Artistic Director in fashion or as a photographer, stems. Make sure to visit whenever in Paris! [ Continue reading ]
What started as the creation of a weekend house of architect Manuel Aires Mateus ended as one of the most beautiful retreats we have seen in a long time, named Casas na Areia, located one hour south of Lisbon, in Comporta, Portugal. The beautiful region is known for the magnificent white sandy beaches, the wine, fresh fish, the rice paddies and the pine trees. It's integrated on the natural reserve of river Sado, home to a great variety of wild life such as flamingos, storks and dolphins, but also one of the best places in Portugal for bird watching, with 100 different species to be seen in just 1 day. Next to this, the design of Casas Na Areia is simply mind-blowing, making it the perfect place to forget about everything and find peace of mind. [ Continue reading ]
During super Typhoon Yolanda, or Haiyan, in November 2013 the people of Bantayan, a small island in the central Philippines, took shelter in schools and government buildings. After the storm the residents of these impoverished fishing communities returned to the site of their villages to find a devastated landscape, littered with felled coconut trees, corrugated iron, and twisted palm fronds.
International aid flooded in to help the victims in the form of food, medical supplies and temporary shelter. After six months the tents and tarpaulins are gradually being replaced by swiftly erected plywood houses, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Kerry Dean, a British photographer, and Alex McIntosh, a member of Centre for Sustainable Fashion, a research centre at London College of Fashion, recently travelled to the Philippines to photograph and interview the residents of Bantayan, many of who are still living in donated tents or temporary shelters, cobbled together from the wreckage of their former homes. The result is a beautiful and insightful series that captures a conundrum, a vibrant, colourful community, welcoming and open but fearful of and unprepared for a future where little seems secure. [ Continue reading ]
The latest story by the ever-inspiring Jungles in Paris brings us back to colorful India where talented Belgian travel photographer Pascal Mannaerts moved from the camel herders of The Great Indian Desert towards the east of North-India where at four locations the utmost fascinating and impressive Hindu festival Kumbh Mela is celebrated. The festival which takes place at the confluence of three sacred rivers; the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarasvati, is the largest regular gathering of people on earth. Pilgrims come together at a time and place of divine indication, forming a massive swell of humanity from which a single type usually stands out: the sadhu, or holy man. [ Continue reading ]
We love this beautiful and insightful film by London-based director William Williamson for DAZED named 'The Silent Conversation'. The aesthetic and gripping short looks into the relation between the people of Lahore, Pakistan, and everyday fashion. As well as visualising the feel of garments and textiles and the importance of clothes-making in Pakistan, the film explores how clothing fits into Pakistan’s strong traditions; traditions that are also being broken. In a country where people are standing up more and more against harsh social mores that ask for countless restrictions, fashion becomes more than a means to dress up and look nice. As shown through the examples of female police women and transvestites in the film, fashion is used as a tool to express authority, individuality and boldness, which is tremendously captured by Williamson, who also created a tremendous soundtrack for the imagery. [ Continue reading ]
It is a really good year for one of Amsterdam's more visible entrepreneurs: Casper Reinders. After opening a beautiful new gallery earlier this year, this month he opened yet another restaurant, his tenth, named Nacional. The bistro style restaurant, which is a collaborative effort of Reinders and partners Dobson and Uzcudun, aims to give new élan to one of the more sleazy squares of Amsterdam's city center, the Leidseplein, offering French cuisine with a modern New York-twist. Nacional's spacious interior, somewhat in line with the new Libertine Gallery, shows an eclectic mix of vintage, art and design, among which is a tremendous huge specimen of Piet Parra's beautiful Cold figure, which was released by CASE STUDYO in miniature size last month. The restaurant can handle as many as 140 guests with its surface of 460 m², making Nacional a little piece of New York right in the middle of Amsterdam. [ Continue reading ]
Rita Braz is a photographer and art director, born and raised in Lisbon, but living and working in Berlin since 2010. She has a self-proclaimed obsession with analogue cameras and black and white films, which she translated into the ongoing online outlet for her work aptly named Analogue Stories. We particularly like her travel stories which take the spectator all over Europe. In the selection Rita made for us we see images from her Balkan tour, a road trip from Berlin to Sarajevo where she would capture the Film Festival. It also features some images from her homeland Portugal which she left, but always carries with her in her heart and finally images from her elaborate trips all over her new home, Germany, exploring the country all the way from the Dutch border to the Polish exit. [ Continue reading ]
We truly love the city of Lisbon and during our previous stays, without a doubt, we have found our trusted home away from home, but recently another beautiful option was brought to our attention. Located in one of Lisbon’s most charming neighborhoods; Janelas Verdes, the hotel named Palácio Ramalhete is an amazing example of 18th century Portuguese architecture, where all original features have been preserved to maintain its timeless romantic charm. Because of the caring and thorough renovation, the eye pleasing hotel offers tradition combined with the comfort and modern luxuries to make ones stay as pleasant as possible. [ Continue reading ]
In May of this year the inspiring The Word Magazine from Brussels decided it was time to extend their online curation of the best from Belgium into a publication. The beautiful magazine This is Belgium which is the result of this ambition elegantly presents the most interesting initiatives in the country most famous for its fries, chocolate and fashion designers. The magazine is a 164-page guidebook with a broad range of Belgian Art, Food, Photography, Music, Travel and Neighbourhood tips from the The Word’s team of editors. Part useful guide, part passionate love letter, This is Belgium captures our southern neighbor thoroughly, introducing the country with its modest, but part highly creative inhabitants in a beautiful fashion. [ Continue reading ]
On the 12th of June, our friend designer Ellen Truijen officially opened her first brand store in Maastricht; the city where she resides and works in the far south of The Netherlands. The store sells, naturally, Ellen's leather bags and accessories, but also clothing, lingerie and other must haves by other designers. Grown out of the store named mos, which housed in the same location and already sold Ellen's products, the shop now truly sails under the flag of the ellen:truijen brand. Focus in the offered products lays on designers who still cherish locality, creating honest quality products like Ellen herself, such as POPcph, Brosbi, Lena Berens, the lingerie of Gent-based La Fille d'O, lipbalm by Kiyoko, the immaculate Mast Brothers chocolate and accessoires by Gabriel+Guevara and Lisanne Janssen next to Ellen's own beautiful collection. [ 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 ]
This week The Travel Almanac presented a great new project named TTA Editions. In each Edition a selected artist, designer or other creative entity is asked by The Travel Almanac to design a product in a specific category which has a more or less direct relation to travel, after which every product will be released in a very limited edition available in select fashion boutiques and through The Travel Almanac website. For the debut Edition, fashion designer Bernhard Willhelm has created a very unique and beautiful Imabari cotton beach towel, which were produced on the island of Shikoku in Japan, each containing 34 individually hand-stitched embroideries. The towel has just been released in an Edition of 20 pieces. [ Continue reading ]
We are truly amazed by what in our eyes is one of the most inspiring retail concepts of late, which opened its doors in Los Angeles in April of this year. The store named Please Do Not Enter is a one-of-a-kind progressive men’s luxury retail and exhibition space in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, offering an eclectic array of exclusive, carefully selected and timeless contemporary goods. From design to art and fashion, each piece has an unheard-of story that the founders, Nicolas Libert and Emmanuel Renoird, are longing to share with its visitors. From a vision, we totally agree with, moving away from hype brands and temporal trends, Please Do Not Enter offers a genuinely subjective collection, an as they call it themselves: ode to modern life. Pleasing the eye goes hand in hand with timeless quality and functionality, hybridizing the traditional gallery concept of tight curation with a retail space urging everyone to enter despite its name telling the opposite. [ Continue reading ]
It has been a while since we visited The Graham & Co. last October and therefore it's a good time to go back to the lovely 20 room hotel in Phoenicia, a small town in the Catskill region of New York State not far from Woodstock. Inspired by the heritage of the Catskills, The Graham & Co. is a modern take on the classic weekend getaway. Located at the foot of Hunter Mountain close to Phoenicia’s main street, the hotel is the perfect getaway from the city laying at about 2,5 hours by car. The Graham & Co. was founded by Jeff Madalena, owner of clothing store Oak, Jason Gnewikow, a partner and creative director at Athletics, a New York-based design studio and their friends Amanda Bupp and Bianca Barattini. When they noticed that the old Cobblestone Motel in Phoenicia was for sale, they felt it would be the perfect project to combine their love of interiors and travel and in July 2013 they opened The Graham & Co. for business. [ Continue reading ]
On the 23th until the 25th of May, the remote and beautiful surroundings of Ireland’s Inis Oírr, will welcome the return of Drop Everything, a free contemporary culture Biennial, for its second edition. Situated on the edge of the Atlantic and close to Galway, Inis Oírr is the smallest of the three Aran Islands and provides an unforgettably atmospheric and unique setting for this intimate weekender of creativity and culture. Visitors to the island can expect talks, installations, screenings, DJ sets and impromptu pop-ups across the island, as well as communal dining, a curated boutique of editions and products created by the collaborating artists and ample opportunity to explore the wild beauty of this tiny and remarkable place. [ Continue reading ]
'The Outsiders: New Outdoor Creativity' is the latest inspirational publication by German publishing house Gestalten. Created out of the fact that more and more people are turning to the great outdoors when seeking peace and balance, whether hiking through the mountains or simply spending a night in a tent far away from civilization. The Outsiders showcases the outlook and passions of the new creative scene that has emerged and draws inspiration from this development along with its original products, brands, and ideas. The products and projects presented in this book are better, both in concept and design, making them more radical and complete than its predecessors. Combining handicraft with the latest technology, they incorporate illustrations, photography, and graphic art as well as trends in product design and fashion. Here, the fundamental challenges posed by the wilderness meet the aesthetic needs of the design-literate urbanite in ways that are atmospheric and likeable, with the occasional romantic or ironic wink. [ 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 ]
Yesterday citizenM officially opened its first hotel in the USA, just off the corner of Broadway and 50th street citizenM Times Square the next chapter for the Dutch hotel chain was just opened. With its 21 floors and 230 rooms this is the biggest citizenM till date. The hotel with a city view boasting rooftop bar, a beautiful terrace and a sky gym including an outdoor yoga space, continues its persistent offer of affordable luxury and everything seems to be in order to succeed once again in delivering just that in New York. The lobby of the hotel has the familiar citizenM cosiness, and is open for guests and visitors, with the canteenM open 24 hours a day for quality food, coffee and even cocktails. The Times Square hotel also shows the continuation of the creative partnerships of citizenM. These include the involvement of architecture agency concrete, Vitra, bookstore MENDO and the amazing art collection one finds throughout the hotel. [ Continue reading ]
Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek, who became famous for his use or rather reuse of unorthodox materials in his designs, has collaborated with textile designer Borre Akkersdijk on a beautiful new project which will be presented at Salone del Mobile from today until the 13th of April. The project started at one point at Spazio Rosanna Orlandi, a former ties factory in Milan, in which Eek found large quantities of unused silk necktie fabrics. After reaching out to Akkersdijk, the designers created a new product out of the tie garments. After careful selection through color and designs, a new larger garment was created out of the smaller pieces. First these small pieces were sewn together, subsequently filled with padding and finally it was totally stitched together, creating beautiful quilts illustrated by the designs which originally were to be found on the ties. The quilts are presented the coming days at Rosanna Orlandi which is the regular location of exhibition during Salone, creating a full circle, bringing the garments back to the place this journey originally started. [ Continue reading ]