Pinch. A design office.

Tuesday Flickr Set: A sip of Paris, circa 1962. Tom Palumbo.

When Mike Dempsey waxed his admiration of Jean Seberg in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 ‘À bout de soufflé (Breathless), there was little for which to take issue. She was a singular beauty. And so seemingly French (a born Iowan, actually) with that cropped cut, cigarette and wooly cabled fisherman's sweater. I recall thinking—as McIsaac and I discussed again earlier this very evening—that Paris in the early 60's would have been an inimitable time (and place) to roam. Of course, part of that is most certainly imagined nostalgia, but the other part I must believe, exemplified glamour in its purest form. Like Seberg; equal parts gorgeous and intrigue, even if merely an illusory construct. Smack dab in the middle of all of that were the men and the women who worked and lived, devoured and documented the café scene at a time "when content, space and scale coalesced". Tom Palumbo, a fashion photographer for Harper's Bazaar (with Alexey Brodovitch), Vogue, and other publications was but one of those able chroniclers. As Palumbo explains in his profile, this collection marks the beginning of an extensive archiving project with New York's Wonderbread. We can only hope there is much, much more in which to await. In the meantime, there are decades of Palumbo's work yet to sip in.

Posted by Eric Hillerns in Photography | 17 February 2009 | Permalink | Comment on this post (8 so far)

Tuesday Flickr Set: The lens of Ettubrute.

Ettubrute is an American architect and photographer living in the Netherlands. According to his profile, the bloke's name is James Leng and much like his European travels, his work has been finding its way around the world (wide webs).

The entire photostream is worth a look, but Leng's architectural documentation is most alluring. Foreign Office Architects' stark and superb Social Housing Project, Richard Rogers' Barahas Terminal 4 project in Madrid, and the Villa VPro offices from Dutch firm MVRDV are at once contemplative and spirited. One might argue that subject matter this good is easy to capture. And they'd be wrong. Leng sees space from an architect's perspective and in doing so, understands the environmental relationship between the built and the natural. There exists a sense of human activity in every shot, and yet rarely is a figure present for scale, further underlying the premise that the subject is the subject and nothing more.

Leng's Timelapse series has received more-than-solid response from visual designers in the Twitterverse, as well. Rotterdam Snow in January and Turkish Dinner Get-Together are just two of his animated assemblies that seem ready made for advertising. If advertising, for its better part, was only that good.

Posted by Eric Hillerns in Photography | 03 February 2009 | Permalink | Comment on this post

Tuesday Flickr Set: Holgaroids from Eye Static.

I've been a fan of the Holga 120-Series with its meniscus lens — and basically one measurable aperture — since I was a third-year college student. The vignetted capture that the leaky medium format plastic box camera created was unlike anything else I had seen outside of their pricier (and more advanced) Lomo series cousins. Ethereal results akin to a couple hits of acid and Floyd's Animals (or at least that's how I think I remember them). And while inexpensive, to refer to it as a toy never seemed entirely fair or accurate. In reality, it's a tool of considerable reach.

As others, Atlanta designer and photographer, Mark Weaver (Eye Static), has shared his results with Holgaroids, his Flickr set of Holga images captured while using a Polaroid back. Check it and if you haven't used a Holga, a Lomo, or the gorgeous Diana and would like to try your hand with one of these beautiful babies, pay a visit the Lomographic Society International site and take your pick.

Posted by Eric Hillerns in Photography | 20 January 2009 | Permalink | Comment on this post

Tuesday Flickr Set: Superbomba throws down the gauntlet.

She told us this was The Best. What else can we say? And besides, it's Tuesday and we're in an agreeable mood.

Posted by Eric Hillerns in Photography | 14 October 2008 | Permalink | Comment on this post

Tuesday Flickr Set: Legos by Balakov.

Man-about-town Mr. Mark Conahan suggested this set from UK photographer Mike Stimpson (known as Balakov on Flickr). Seems that Mr. Stimpson has spent the better part of his leisure recreating and photographing historical scenes and cultural milestones. Using Legos. Many of his foremost sets reimagine the famous photographic works of (now) famous photographers. And nearly all samples link to the original reference as well as Stimpson's own creative process. An interesting—and at times, disturbing—diary of life and living, conflict, tragedy and personal triumph as remembered in smiling plastic.

Via Conahan, via Gizmodo.

On a related note, a new friend of Pinch, John Fulton, from Seattle's Pyramid Communications, was reminded of this project from European art collective, Henry VIII's Wives. Hint: Click the right arrow button above the menu.

Posted by Eric Hillerns in Photography | 10 June 2008 | Permalink | Comment on this post

Gorgeous, Georgis.

After a couple of years of threatening to exchange business cards, we finally sat down with photographer Anthony Georgis. We should note that prior to our initial face-to-face, our dear pal Kate Kockler (also long-time ladyfriend of the subject) repeatedly referred to Anthony in conversation as 'Big Tony'. So, when he finally paid us a visit to Pinch House a couple of weeks back, we were a bit bewildered to discover that, in fact, he wasn't really that big. (We'll just need to go ahead and trust Kate on her context for the handle, but I guess that's another, ahem, post.) Kidding aside, to suggest that we were merely taken with Mr. Georgis' work would fall somewhat short. Truth; the guy is a damn fine shooter and among the other Pinch projects in consideration, we're looking forward to developing a short film together for AIGA Portland. Thanks, Kate. You got yourself a good one there. Now, put that marketing background to use and let some others know.

Posted by Eric Hillerns in Photography | 05 April 2008 | Permalink | Comment on this post