The Absurd Food Photography of Brittney Meyer

You may remember our recent profile with food photographer Max Kelly.  Kelly's work is what you might refer to as "higher brow."

Today, we bring you something decidedly, how do we say this, "less higher brow": As in, the absurdist food photography of Brittney Meyer. Some images can be a bit stomach-churning (molding cheese and decomposing pasta) but most are synonymous with a night at the disco, assuming shiny dance floors, colorful strobe lights and deliberately bad backdrops are your thing.

No, Meyers' isn't the most mindblowingly moving work we've ever seen, but it's not supposed to be. There's no denying that choco-pops soaring through the universe bring a warm feeling of ease to our bodies, that maybe all could be right in the world.  

Besides, we never tire of people lampooning  the equally (though unintentionally) terrible food commercials that feature flying shredded cheese, tomatoes being diced midair under a waterfall and char-broiled burgers that seemingly flip themselves. And Meyers' work seems to poke an underhanded jab at that kind of ridiculousness.

Most of Meyer's images--like her tacos surfing the ocean or her cubes of ground meat enjoying a pink Hawaiian sunset--are begging to be used as backgrounds for your summer party invitation.  And we don't see anything wrong with that.

Head on over to Meyer's site to view more, but first, a few of our faves:

Getting Nude with Laura Pannack's "Young British Naturists"

In Laura Pannack's photography series "Young British Naturists," she explores the daily lives of a group of nudists living in different parts of England. Contrary to what you might expect, the nudists she met were not your usual exhibitionists.

"It was interesting to discover that in fact naturists are not exhibitionists and gaining their trust was extremely difficult." said Pannack. One method to helping them ease into it was by working in the buff herself: "In order to understand why my subjects were naturists and gain their trust I decided to also be naked–this in fact allowed my subjects to feel like I was the vulnerable one. They were extremely comfortable and we were able to connect without feeling any insecurity or fear of judgement.

Pannack began the project after working on a series on youth and adolescence, and thought photographing only young naturists could be a mode of defying the stereotypes we generally associate with people who prefer to go about their daily activities completely naked.

For starters, one mistake we often make is associating nudity with self confidence or a certain level of maturity. Many of the people Pannack met used nudism (or naturism) as an escape from their everyday lives. Another misconception many have is that nudism is "super sexy," but as you can see in Pannack's images there's nothing explicitly sexy about eating cereal or playing ping pong in the nude. In fact, the banality almost overshadows any senstationalism.

Still, Pannack didn't precisely set out dispel a stereotype. "I simply wanted to explore an idea," she said. "I thought it was interesting that these young people were all naturists for such different reasons. They were all very individual." 

"Young British Naturists" runs at One And A Half Gallery in London through June 29, 2012.  

For those of us not across the pond, a couple more selects:

Photographer Alejandro Chaskielberg's Uncharacteristic Kenya

For those that haven't actually traveled to Kenya, imagining what life there looks like, your mind may drift to the stereotypes of "impoverished African village" imagery: red dirt, barefoot children, mud houses with straw roofs and women in bright prints carrying bundles on their heads. Luckily, photographer Alejandro Chaskielberg dispels these stereotypes with a stunning new series of portraits of people living in the Turkana region of northwest Kenya.

His images are most certainly colorful, but unlike most images we see of African village life, these are composed, staged and--most notably, perhaps--they're taken at night. In fact, Chaskielberg hauled out a couple of generators to light these magnificent nighttime portraits of Kenyan families and communities.

Having directed a number of documentaries, it makes sense Chaskielberg's work here feels so cinematic. As for the choice to shoot in the dark, Chaskielberg says “I’ve always been attracted by the night, because it is the time when the most fascinating things can happen."

Born in Buenos Aires, Chaskielberg is the Director of Photography at ENERC, Argentina's National Film and Audiovisual Art Institute. He started out working for local newspapers and magazines as a photojournalist, and only began exhibiting his own work in 2006. Since then he's won several awards, including the prestigious L'Iris D'Or and the 2011 Sony World Photography Award for Photographer of the Year.

Below we've got a few choice selects, though we urge you to view the rest of his portfolio on his website.

Q&A: 3rd Ward's Max Kelly On The Flavor of Food Photography

All photos by Max Kelly

With 3rd Ward's Culinary Incubator on the horizon, food has been on our minds quite a bit (read: nonstop--someone make us something now.) Anyhow, as we yearn for that mouth-watering future, we've been busy feasting our eyes on the food photography of 3rd Ward member Max Kelly. We caught up with him to find out more about how it all began.

You can check out some of Kelly's delicious shots both below and on his new website--but first, our Q&A:

3rd Ward's John Ruscher: So how did you get into food photography?

Max Kelly: I've always known that I wanted to work in a field in which I could physically see my accomplishments at the end of a day's work. Before food photography, I worked as a camera operator on commercial film sets, and realized that while I enjoy video, still photography is where my true passion lies.

The thing I love most about photography is that it's a gateway to any other subject matter that you find you're passionate about. I'm fascinated by the mechanics of cameras, the ways in which light can interact differently with a subject, and the effects of composition on a viewer—and it's a privilege to explore my other interests through this lens.

JR: Where's the passion for food come from?

MK: I grew up in Brooklyn, in a very food-minded family that cooked and traveled often—so I had the benefit of being exposed to many different flavors and cultures at an early age. Food is a vast topic, and one which is universally shared. I'm captivated by the fact that there are infinite possibilities and variations for any dish, and that two people from different parts of the world can look at the same ingredient in totally different ways.

JR: Does food photography require a different approach from shooting other subjects?

MK: Still life photography is more focused on creating an environment than other types of photography. Sometimes, this means rearranging or adding props to a real-life location, while in other instances, "locations" are fabricated from scratch. Creating environments and choosing props that impart visual cues about a dish is a large part of food photography.

Beyond that, there is of course the factor of having a small window of time to photograph the food before the ingredients wilt, dry or otherwise lose their fresh appearance. For this reason, communicating well with your team and having a clear vision of the final product before beginning to shoot is essential.

JR: Did anything at 3rd Ward influence your work in particular?

MK: I found 3rd Ward's classes and coworking space to be a great help when I first struck out on my own as a freelancer. The Branding Your Vision class for photographers drove home the point that it's essential that your work have a unique and consistent look. It helped me create a style that was my own, and not rooted in what I thought was "popular" and "marketable". 

The Business of Photography class gave me insight into how publications hire photographers, as well as the most effective ways to get my work into the hands of photo editors and creative directors.

...and now for some of Kelly's gorgeous attempts to make you eat your laptop:

-- John Ruscher

The Abandoned "Wonderland" of Photographer Catherine Hyland

With our recent coverage of a deserted German themepark, preceded by a profile on Detroit's dilapidated train stations, you might think we suffer from some type of strange abandonment issues.

Truth be told, there just seems to be a surge in talented artists infiltrating and documenting otherwise discarded environments. Not necessarily a "new" concept per se, though when we come across work we find visually arresting, we naturally just have to share.

Which brings us to photographer Catherine Hyland's Wonderland--an utterly haunting, full-color take on an Asian themepark, abandoned before it ever even opened. 

As Hyland describes the work:

Trapped in limbo, a hybrid space between the ‘real’ and the artificial, this environment induces a sense of transformation or manipulation that appears to permeate and displace the realm of fantasy. Tamed by the locals, the uncompleted remnants of Wonderland become the antithesis of everything it was supposed to be, its value altered permanently.

For whatever reason, Wonderland's work makes us feel especially melancholy (which, as you can glean from Hyland's description is likely Mission Accomplished).

See for yourself here:

All Images: Courtesy catherinehyland.co.uk

Call For Entries: 2013 Hearst 8x10 Photography Biennial

For the past three years the Hearst Corporation has held the 8x10 Photography Biennial, "a competition to recognize and showcase the professional work of talented young photographers." It's an incredible opportunity for emerging photographers to get their work seen by an important audience. Every year approximately 100 photographs by 8 winners are shown in the atrium of the Hearst Tower in the Alexey Brodovitch Gallery and Hearst Gallery.

Last year's winners ran the gamut from portraiture, photojournalism, architectural, digital manipulation and  landscape. We particularly like Rena Effendi's series of Georgian refugees (shown above and below) -- we feel like they'd fit right in amongst Magnum's school of photojournalism. 

Judges this year include ELLE’s Roberta Myers, Town & Country’s Alexandra Kotur, Gallerists James Danzinger, Yancey Richardson and Yossi Milo, collector John Demsey and photographers Matthew Pillsbury and Timothy White. Submissions are open for photographers aged 18 - 35 until August 1, 2012. The winners will be announced in January 2013 and the exhibition will run through May 2013. In the meantime, peruse some of our Photography classes. Who knows? You just might be able to make that August deadline.

Close-Up: Fashion Photographer Angelo Pennetta's "Outtakes"

We find it impressive that in the mere two years that Angelo Pennetta has worked as a fashion photographer he's photographed some of the world's most famous stars, musicians and just plain "beautiful" people. Of course, those photographers are a dime-a-dozen, though Pennetta manages to avoid the typical glossy magazine style--those "perfect," airbrushed moments--and succeeds in capturing faces we know in a raw (but still flattering) light. Recent shots include Dree Hemingway for the poster of her new film, "Starlet," Katy Perry for her spot in V Magazine, Raquel Zimmerman for The New York Times Style Magazine and Lindsey Wixson and Claudia Schiffer for Self Service. In the span of a few months, Pennetta's shot campaigns for Chloe, Givenchy and Pollini. Not bad, Mr. Pennetta.

But for every shot that makes it into a magazine editorial or becomes the identifying image of an ad campaign there are hundreds of photographs that never see the light of day. Thing is: A large number of those images can still be amazing, often times better than the photo a client eventually selects. So with the just-released series"Outtakes," Pennetta wanted to give those types of images a second life. 

There's some wonderfully candid moments; one of our favorites being model Linsday Wixson dropping the deadly-serious runway act and becoming real with a giant, goofy grin.

Meanwhile, see more of Pennetta's work, or sign up for one of 3rd Ward's Photography classes and capture some great outtakes of your own.

 

Artist Profile: Photographer Damien Rudd

A recent graduate from the University of Melbourne's photography program, Damien Rudd's oldest work dates back only to 2010, but in two years he's managed to create an impressive body of work with a distinctive voice. Among (we feel) his best work is "The sexual behavior of young people," a series inspired by a 1968 book of the same name.

Each of his series seeks to explore some major idea like death, time or love. Whatever his initial impulse is, however, we're far more interested in his use of color and soft light. His tone and composition vacillates between William Eggleston's alternately bright and muted snapshots to small scale Gregory Crewdson's in the striking use of artificial lighting and purposeful compositions. Some of his images take a different turn, integrating geometry, as in "Attraction and Repulsion" or, one of our personal favorites, "Taken Only Road." (We sincerely urge you to seek them out.)

It's thrilling to catch onto an artist when they're just striking out, and Rudd is definitely one to watch. Feeling particularly inspired by Rudd's work below, go ahead and peruse one of our Photography classes.  Though first:

 

Klaus Pichler's Subversive Still Lifes of Rotting Food

You may have heard about the UN's shocking announcement that one-third of the world's food is left to rot (as in, 1.3 billion tons.) It didn't take Austrian artist Klaus Pichler long to connect that finding to the fact that one in twelve people are malnourished and 16,000 children die each day from hunger-related causes. That's one child every five seconds.

So for his next body of work, Pichler decided to focus on all that wasted food in the photo series "One Third."

Images of beautifully-lit food at their peak of decay are shown side-by-side with reports issued by the UN"s Food and Agriculture Organization. Pichler's photos also play up the Food Supply Chain, the journey an agricultural item takes from the time it's picked, to the moment you toss it in the trash, tracking its origin, time of harvest, means of transportation, distance traveled and its carbon footprint.

"Unsurprisingly," Pichler says, "the worldwide percentage of food waste per person varies greatly: In Europe and North America, each consumer wastes between 95 and 115 kilograms of food, whilst only between 6 and 11 kilograms of edible goods are discarded per person in Sub Saharan Africa and South/ South East Asia. Considering the underlying reasons for food waste, however, comparisons between the global north and south seem to make a lot less sense: Taking a look at the ‘Food Supply Chain’, ranging from production, logistics and retail to the end con- sumer, it becomes apparent that losses occur at different stages of the process, depending on the standards of living in individual countries."

Read more of the report and see all the images, and if you're feeling particularly inspired by Pichler's (subversively) gorgeous still lifes, go ahead and check out one of 3rd Ward's photography classes.

Meanwhile:

-- Perrin Drumm

Go Here Now: The New York Times Brings Its Image Archive Back To Life On Tumblr

Photos from around the world being sorted in the New York Times' archive, a.k.a. the "morgue." (via The Lively Morgue)

"Oh super, another photo blog," you might be thinking as we (strongly) urge you to check out The Lively Morgue, which debuted last month. But hold up—this is not your run-of-the-mill, kaleidoscopic-oveload of information-style-Tumblr blog. The Lively Morgue was just aunched by the New York Times and it's a extraordinary glimpse into the newspaper's century-spanning pictorial archive.

The "morgue" comes from the long-standing nickname for that archive. "Explanations differ as to the origins of that name, but it's safe to say that the clippings were originally biographical and kept close at hand in case a subject dropped dead around deadline, requiring an instant obituary," the Times explains. The "lively," we imagine, refers to the cavalcade of exciting images that they are bringing back to life.

Of course the photographs are amazing to look at, but our favorite element is actually being able to flip each image over and see the reserve side; where photographers, journalists and editors jotted, typed, pasted and stamped each print with relevant information, before the days of computers and digital files.

The Times' collection is so vast that they've been unable to zero in on an exact number: 

How many? We don’t know. Our best guess is five million to six million prints and contact sheets (each sheet, of course, representing many discrete images) and 300,000 sacks of negatives, ranging in format size from 35 millimeter to 5 by 7 inches — at least 10 million frames in all. The picture archive also includes 13,500 DVDs, each storing about 4.7 gigabytes worth of imagery.

The Lively Morgue will feature a few photographs each week, since posting the entire Times archive would be quite a task. Even at 10 posts a day, they estimate that the print collection alone wouldn't be finished until the year 3935.

-- John Ruscher