Ren Rox

Based in London, art directs all her shoots, shortlisted in the Portraiture category at the 2010 Sony World Photography Awards, and publications in The Face, Dazed and Confused, Oyster, Blackbook among others. Her photos have a certain quietness, though the subjects aren't boring or dull at all, which I love. See more at renrox.com.

chestnuts

Fashion illustrations by James.

Switchblade aesthetics

The 'Giallo' genre is one that evolves around sexuality, violence, suspense, aesthetics and fashion to name a couple of elements. Named after Italian suspense and thriller publications with a yellow (giallo) cover, it has become one of the most interesting film genres of its time. The giallo movies gained great popularity in the sixties, with directors such as Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava. What makes these movies particularly interesting is that the narrative isn’t the main focus. The visual aesthetics are equally important, maybe even more important. All these things combined result in beautiful but horrific thrillers/horrors with very thin storylines.

Now, many years after it’s peak, a new generation of Giallo lovers has risen. Two of them, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, decided to make a Giallo movie themselves and succeeded. Amer is one of the most visually astonishing movies I have ever seen. Every scene is a moving picture. Composition, styling, color, framing, everything is in it's place. It’s an experience, the directors wanted to stimulate all five of the senses, so expect spot-on sound editing, intense cuts, an amazing soundtrack and mind-boggling visuals.

A small premiere for the Dutch readers, there will be a Dutch dvd and theatrical release later on this year. Make sure to watch it then or later on this week at the Imagine Film Festival in Amsterdam. Check out the movie site for trailers and background information.

enter: Space

Bright Young Things Gallery is a small gallery in Amsterdam, showing the work of distinctive and talented, up and coming young artists in Contemporary Art & Photography. On friday 23/4 they open the exhibition enter: Space, in collaboration with Streetlab_. Katrien Franken, Sabrina van den Heuvel, Annika Keijser, Sandder Lanen, Karol Lasia and Michel Willemsen will all show their vision of the space around us and man's relation to it.

"Enter:Space portrais our surrounding, tangible or not, as the leading character in photo and video work.

How does man influence the landscape or atmosphere around him? How do surroundings influence man? What do surroundings or atmosphere, visible or not, reveal about human presence? All these questions centre around a non human subject that says everything about our humanity."

23/4 - 20/4 at Streetlab_Projectspace, Postjesweg 2 Amsterdam.

Katrien Franken


Annika Keijser


Sandder Lanen


Karol Lasia


Michel Willemsen

bella, o bella!

DEAR FRIEND & LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER BELLA HOWARD HAS A NEW WEBSITE......
HEART ITTTTTT!

http://bellahoward.co.uk/

Dream on

writing barefoot

Jonathan Waiter - Odd beauty

Most models will be agreed to be naturally beautiful and photogenic, so simply taking a picture of them where they're looking good isn't too hard. You will probably succeed in it without any photographic education, just snapping at random with a cheap camera. Jonathan Waiter chose another way. He dares to go beyond the natural beauty of his subjects, to catch them with wry faces and "ugly" grimaces. "Ugly" because the result isn't that unsightly straight away. "I like a certain oddness, or maybe something that reminds me of a wild animal", and he "want[s] the viewer to ask questions about the girl or have an intuitive feeling about the girls personality or mental state" (via). His images make you question beauty, instead of giving answers about it, instead of telling you what is beauty and what is not.

Waiter was born in LA, but has lived/worked in the Netherlands as well. He has a strong liking for Dutch girls, because "they have the most beautiful faces" (via). I really hope to see more his work in the near future! See more of his work here and read an interview with him here.

Brian Lichtenberg for Alternative Apparel

LA based designer Brian Lichtenberg, who we know from his designs in angular cuts and with sharp prints and Lady Gaga's crime scene tape in her newest video Telephone, teamed up with Alternative Apparel to serve us some nice apparel, which is a nice addition the their otherwise slightly safe and boring stuff. I haven't been able to find out when it will be in stores but in advance just see some of it here, shot nicely by Greko Sklavounos, a directer/visual artist also from LA.






All images via grekotv.blogspot.com