The Quiet Front

20th May 2014 | Katherine Jane

It is with great interest that we note that Lawrence van Niekerk, the face behind The Quiet Front, has launched an appeal on Indiegogo to fund the creation of a book showcasing photographic editorials by many of the photographers who regularly appear on the site.

You can hop straight across to Indiegogo (and even support the appeal) here, or visit The Quiet Front here.

Diego Uchitel: Polaroids

19th October 2012 | Simone Aagaard

Diego Uchitel launches his book ‘Polaroids’ this month. Uchitel used polaroid film from 1982 to 2006.

Uchitel sifted through 10,000 Polaroids, including many that once graced the 20-by-60-foot wall of Polaroids in his former space on New York’s Hudson Street. This month, some of the makings of those shoots will be revealed when his book is published by Damani and distributed in North America through Artbook/D.A.P. It will be available internationally later this Autumn.

A portrait of David Bowie and a black-and-white one of a nearly nude Gisele Bündchen are among his personal favorites.

Recalling the Los Angeles shoot with Bowie in the mid-Nineties, Uchitel says, “I just remember him saying, ‘What if I put red lipstick on?’ At that moment many people were taking pictures of David Bowie, but not like that.”

Via: WWD & Fashion Copious

The Rise and Fall of Polaroid

5th October 2012 | Alice Taylor

Mark Lamster of The Design Observer Group interviews Christopher Bonanos, author of Instant, a history of the Polaroid camera and it’s founder, Edwin Land (right).

Bonanos explores the rise, fall and small-scale revival amongst a ‘cult’ of people. Here are some extracts from the interview, but you can read the whole article here.

“Before Polaroid came along, you pretty much had to either send your film off to Kodak to be processed or build your own darkroom, and photos of a that type couldn’t be sent through the mails without the risk of arrest. So a whole new world was opened up for your friendly neighborhood perv. It’s said that the adoption of the VCR was largely propelled by the porn business, and it’s certainly true of the Web. Porn, for better or for worse, is the killer app for a lot of technological advances.”

“The profound thing is that we, as a species, can do this with our brains and our will — figure out how (for example) to take something that’s highly light-sensitive, expose a picture on it, and then two seconds later have it pop out into the sun and stay lightproof. Most people wouldn’t have the foggiest idea how to begin doing that, and Land and his crew not only figured it out–they were able to mass-produce it, in such a way that it cost less than a buck.”

“They’re the same kinds of casual snapshots that somehow also feel documentary and a little profound: people eating and drinking, sitting on the porch, whatever. And it’s even the same square format, which is not an accident: the Instagram guys explicitly pay homage to Polaroid in their logo, and have a display of old Polaroid cameras in their offices…

…the spontaneity was valuable to some people, like Andy Warhol; the color was especially useful to others, like Marie Cosindas; and the unique technology was valuable to Ansel Adams and a lot of other people.”

“Polaroid had prototype digital cameras in the 1980s, and backed down on the project, saying “we’re not in the electronics business.” What needed to be said, loudly, was that SOMEONE was going to be in that business, and it was going to destroy Polaroid’s film sales either way.”

Via: The English Group & The Design Observatory

Madonna, Steven Meisel & Sex

8th September 2012 | Alice Taylor

I’ve just come across a signed copy of the once infamous Madonna ‘Sex’ book up for auction online.

(Actually, the auction’s over and 1100 Euros really doesn’t seem such a lot to have paid for this once hugely controversial publication and unprecedented photography of such a mainstream superstar).

Anyway, the photographer that Madonna collaborated with on this book was Steven Meisel, and she has continued to work with him over the years since; including many memorable shoots for Rolling Stone magazine, Vogue Italia, Interview, W Magazine, and Vanity Fair.

There’s a selection of the photography from many of these shoots here.

Eight Kates

6th August 2012 | Simone Aagaard

Here’s four of the eight covers of the new book showcasing the best images of Kate Moss’s entire modelling career

…the other four are after the jump.

The images are as follows:

Corrine Day in 1990 | Mario Sorrenti in 1993
David Sims in 1994 | Juergen Teller in 1995
Mario Testino in 1996 | Craig McDean in 2002
Mert & Marcus in 2003 | Inez and Vinoodh in 2009