okfine

Yep, you read right. You don't need an ice cream machine to make this super simple and refreshing dessert. You can also easily customize this to whatever fruit you might have on hand. I had a cantaloupe and some honeydew melons left over from a Mother's Day brunch I hosted with my SILs. Can't let that fruit go to waste! So I set out to make something sweet.

Instead of melons you could easily use any kind of berries, peaches, or plums (skins removed). I would not, however, recommend making this with apples or grapes. I think the texture would change substantially, just FYI.

I lightly flavored mine with mint, but you can leave that out if you don't much care for mint. 

But you're crazy in that case, because mint is awesome. 

Melon Sorbet, makes 3-4 servings (I doubled this recipe using both my melon types).

4-5 cups melon cut into small cubes (outer skin removed)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 sprig of fresh mint
2 teaspoons meringue powder
2 tablespoons water

Cut up the melon and place in a big ziplock bag. Freeze overnight.

In a pot, whisk together the sugar and water over medium/high heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, add the mint, and allow to steep for 30 minutes. Remove the mint and reserve the syrup until you need it. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the meringue powder and water. Whisk until you create a lot of foam. This is an egg white substitute. You could use egg whites if you prefer, but since we aren't cooking them I feel it's safer to simply use the substitute. This adds a nice creamy texture to the sorbet. 

In a food processor, combine the frozen fruit, syrup, and egg whites (a.k.a. the meringue powder + water mixture). Blend just until smooth. 

Your sorbet is ready to serve right out of the food processor. If you don't plan to consume it all right away, be sure to store it in the freezer or it will not retain its sorbet consistency. Enjoy! xo. Emma

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photography: Sarah Rhodes. Photos edited with Sunday of the Folk Collection.

Hi! Holly here, to show you how to create a very simple treat box! This box fits two French macarons perfectly but will also work for other small sweets such as truffles or profiteroles!  It’s an easy way to create a fancy package for a special gift or favour.

I was inspired by the Mendl’s box after watching The Grand Budapest Hotel and how pretty it looked to just pull lightly on a ribbon to open the box, unveiling your sweet treat!  This box is a one-time-use, simple package that you can whip up in very little time.

Supplies:
-PDF template (Download Patisserie Box)
-card stock in your choice of colour (I chose paper with a Swiss dot pattern on it because it’s pretty!)
-scissors
-bone folder to score the cardstock
-ribbon cut in 20-24” lengths

Step One: Print the template on your cardstock and cut it out.

Step Two: Using a bone folder (or carefully using the edge of your scissors, like I did), score along the lines where you’re going to fold the box. Using pressure, fold along the scored lines, including the flaps, to create the box.

Step Three: Place your treats inside, and as you hold the box’s shape, tie it closed with a ribbon. (It’s nice to have an extra set of hands for this.) Drape the ribbon over the top of the box, centered, then cross the ribbon on the bottom of the box, coming up at the alternate sides. Finish by tying a pretty bow!

These look beautiful piled up on a cake stand or individually at a place setting. They would be a great option for wedding and party favours or for tea parties & gifting!  If you’re interested in learning to make your own French macarons (they're not as hard as you might think!), don’t forget to check out my crash course!  

Enjoy dressing up your macarons, and get ready to give a gift that’s sure to bring a smile! xo. Holly

Credits // Author: Holly Neufeld. Photography by: Sarah Rhodes. Photos edited with Opal of the Signature Collection.

Hi there. It’s Trey again. So you can switch to a dude voice in your head reading this. My go-to man reading voice in my head is Richard Gere, and not my own, for some reason. Make of that what you will, I guess.

Anyway, job hunting. With it being graduation season, it seemed like an appropriate subject. We talk a lot about starting your own venture here, but let’s face it: There aren’t enough customers out there for every single person to have their own company, so a lot of you might be job shopping. You might be thinking, “Emma’s husband offering job hunting advice? Step 1: Marry a business owner. Step 2: Work there. Great.” Understandable. So I’ll focus on my career hunting pre-ABM, as I’ve done my share and been relatively successful landing some positions I loved.

Graduating college is weird, right? All the movies make it seem like some blissful moment of glory—you know, throw your hat in the air, freeze frame, happily ever after, etc. But for me, all that was overshadowed by this heavy notion of “now what?” I no longer had the option to sign up for my responsibilities. I had to apply and compete for them. It was 2008 (you know, the year the market plummeted). I had a degree with a double major in philosophy and journalism, and sadly, there weren’t a lot of jobs out there for pontificating about split infinitives (most choose to not care). Plus, less than 30% of college graduates actually work in the field they majored in.

I kind of felt like I was holding a blank map. My roommate moved to KC, and the little market research company I worked for was quickly shrinking and had me cut to part time at $9/hr. So I moved back in with my parents and slept on a twin mattress on the floor in their basement. I spent pretty much every spare minute scouring job sites and listings. I started out really picky, and by the end I was throwing my resume at anything with 40 hours and vague enough applicant requirements. This went on for months, and I have to say it was one of the most defeating pockets of my life. It can be hard not to take all the rejection personally. But I didn’t give up, and a local ad agency decided to give me a shot in account service.

And since then, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. That same ad agency that gave me a shot ended up laying off 75% of its staff. And then I was in the same job-hunting situation, only older and feeling even more defeated. I certainly can’t speak for all fields, but here are some things I noticed through it all, now having been on both sides of the hiring process.

1. Identify your strengths, not just interests
First, you need a clear definition of yourself as a worker. Your interests are simply what you like to do, whereas your strengths are what you can offer an employer.  A company only cares about your interests insomuch as it improves what you can offer them.

Plus, if you start with your strengths, you open yourself up to positions you might’ve otherwise overlooked. For example, I’m a huge music fan, but so is 95% of humanity. If I narrow my job hunt to my interest in music, I’m just restricting myself to a very competitive (and not very lucrative) job market. And I don’t really have any outstanding strengths in the field that markedly set me above every other guy who was in a medium-low band in college. That said, I have a strength in management and communication. I’m a people person. And thinking from that perspective opened me up to a whole world of positions I’d never considered. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to work in a field where you excel, rather than blend in. Find what you’re good at, something a company needs, and do that.

2. Keep the resume prioritized and concise
There could easily be a whole post about resumes. But above all else, lead with the most important information, and only make the resume as long as it needs to be. Having watched others review resumes as well as reviewing several myself, I can tell you with confidence a lot of employers skim read. They’re just people after all. Chances are, if they’re hiring, they’re probably busier than usual. So they’re trying to find the useful information in your resume as soon as possible. So if you bury your experience and strengths between a bunch of nice-to-knows vs. need-to-knows, they’ll likely get overlooked.

3. Network, network, network
I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, and it can make the job hunt sound more like luck than anything else. Yes, it’s true that the most talented person does not always get the job. The person with right friends does. And you can choose to write yourself off as an unlucky introvert and curse the unfairness of life, or you can decidedly get your name out there. Where do your friends and family work? Where do your friends’ friends work? Find companies where you might fit and excel. Then, find a connection to someone with hiring power/influence. This is exactly how I got someone to look at my resume at that ad agency, which made it possible to start this leg of my career.

You have to find a way to get your resume to rise above those online forms they make you fill out, and nothing does that better than word of mouth within the company.

4. Informational interviews
Here’s a networking tool. Don’t overlook a company just because they’re not hiring. If you’re able to track down a valuable contact there, see if they’ll set up an informational interview to talk about their company and the kind of employee they’re looking for. This accomplishes a few things. First, it further establishes this person you meet with as a connection within a company you’re interested in. Second, it communicates forward thinking and your passion for the company. And last, chances are someone working for the company is well connected throughout the industry. While this company might not be hiring, they can recommend you to a similar company that is.

5. LinkedIn
Yeah, I know. I know. Another social network where you have to build ANOTHER network base. Shouldn’t Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and whatever Google+ is be enough? You might even already have an account that’s just sitting there. Believe it or not, when it comes to job hunting, LinkedIn is far and away the most useful social network. It prioritizes sorting people by the company they work for. You can find a company you love and then find a person that could connect you to it. I’ve had several job recruiters find me because of it. I’ve landed several interviews through finding connections. Yes, it can feel shameless, but it totally works. It’s how I got my job at an agency in Nashville (a city I really wanted to live in). If you’re only half-heartedly using it, try out its full potential and establish some connections. Think of it as an active tool to find people rather than a passive tool for people to find you.

6. Never overlook internships or any chance at experience
The more experience you have, the easier you make the job hunt. The best way to show you know how to do something is to do it. Again, I can’t speak for all fields, especially the public sector and highly specialized positions (healthcare, accounting, engineering, etc.). But in general business, experience wins over education every single time. I’ve seen college dropouts with ample freelancing/contract experience get the job over people with their masters. And that’s so annoying, because I can control the education I get, but it’s a lot harder to control my experience if a company won’t hire me. It’s this catch-22. I can’t get a job to get the experience to get the job. So if you’re looking to break into a field, consider an internship. Or start freelancing for some of your friends’ small ventures or needs. Offer up free services. Employers aren't going to ask how much you got paid to do it. They just want to see what you’ve done in a real-world situation.

7. Take any opportunity to show you care
Every piece of extra effort is noticed and appreciated. If you’re applying, definitely write a custom email (or cover letter) for each company. We can always tell when it’s copied and pasted generically. Dress up for an interview or meeting. Do your homework on the company. Learn about their values, culture, news, or just anything you can find online about them. Make it really clear you want the job.

8. Think of an interview like a conversation more than an audition
Here’s another topic that could get its own post. Yes, they need someone with the right skills, and the interview will mostly center on that. But more than hiring a functional set of skills, they’re hiring a friend—someone they’re going to have to be around for 40 hours a week. If they like you as a person, that immediately pushes you to the top of the list. Ask a lot of questions about the job. As far as you’re concerned, they’re experts about the company. Make them feel like that, and be sure to show your interest in what they’re saying. Follow the rabbit trail down any tangents they want to go on. Make them laugh. I promise if they enjoy the conversation, they’ll remember you.

Above all, be comfortable. The best thing my dad ever taught me about interviewing was that the interviewers want to hire you. They want to be done with the search. And they want you to be the one. They’re hiring because they need help immediately. If you’re the right person, that means they’re relieved of some stress.

9. Follow up
This is an easy one. Again, you’re dealing with busy people. It’s very possible they didn’t get your email with your resume. Or if you’ve already interviewed, and it’s been a couple weeks, check in and see where they are in the decision-making process. Anything you can do to elevate your name a little helps.

10. Be patient and try not to get your heart set on one job
When I first started my job hunt after college, I found this position online that had me obsessed: Music Editor Assistant at Amazon. If I recall, the job pretty much entailed helping choose featured albums for the music page and the short write-up descriptor copy. It had vague enough requirements for me to qualify, and I felt like a perfect fit for it. Part journalism, part music. I could do that! I completely customized my resume for it and wrote an overlong, embarrassingly passionate cover letter. After I submitted my resume to their automated job recruitment system, I was so excited I told my dad about it. He just kind of smirked and started rapid-firing questions at me: “Seattle? Who do you know up there? Why would they hire someone in Missouri? Do you know anyone who works for there? How are you going to get your resume looked at?” I wanted to think my dad just didn’t understand how the Internet worked and that he was totally wrong. But sadly, nope. Never even got a response.

You will find several jobs that you think are the one, the kind that get you daydreaming. Most of them won’t be. You will not get the vast majority of the jobs you apply for. And don’t be discouraged by that. It’s just a game of numbers. Keep applying. Keep trying. I’ve applied for hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in my life. It can take months, a year, or in some cases, years. You might have to take a lesser job while you continue to hunt. The only way you can guarantee you won’t get a job you love is to stop trying.

None of these tips are the magic bullet. Unfortunately, that doesn’t exist in job hunting. It’s a combination and a lot of trial and error. The whole process can be wildly discouraging, but I can't recommend enough to push through. It will get better. -Trey  

Credits // Author: Trey George. Photography: Sarah Rhodes. Photos edited with Bowie and Stella from the Signature Collection.

It’s nice to see the boys at HEAVYTIME (Smalltime + The Heavy Mental) are back up to their old tricks, and their two latest publishing efforts are some great looking editions from artists Keith Stone & Joe Fidel Roberts. You can give said publications a look below & pick them both up (which is highly recommended) by clicking here.

new stamp ink pads + old library book =

Hello everyone, are you ready to bake again or still recovering from indulging during the holidays? Whether ready or not, I’m sure you will be soon again, especially when your family starts to crave your homemade goodies! How are you anyway? I hope you’re all doing well and enjoyed the holiday break and are filled with inspiration for the coming year. This is Jillian and I have a wonderful New Years recipe for you to enjoy over Sunday afternoon tea and newspaper reading… I don’t know about you, but today was my first day back at work following a 2 week break. I decided that I needed something to sweeten the first working day of 2014, so I made an apple and cranberry yeast cake for morning tea. This recipe was inspired by a rhubarb yeast cake recipe from Stephanie Alexander’s book, ‘The Cook’s Companion’.

Fresh cranberries are impossible to find in Australia where I live, so we have to use frozen or dried cranberries. Maybe it is the same where you live? Rhubarb would make a great substitute if you can’t find fresh or frozen cranberries. If you’re not keen on cranberries, you could make an apple and walnut version instead swapping out the cranberries for some walnuts and sultanas (golden raisins) and use lemon juice and rind instead of orange to flavor the fruit and the glaze.

I recently bought a stand mixer with a dough hook and it made whipping up the dough for this cake a breeze. Once you’ve made the dough and rolled it out, it’s then filled with loads of sweetened fruit. The top is slashed before baking to allow some of the fruit to peek through. If you don’t feel like doing this you could always roll up the dough and slice it to make scrolls.

I then finished the cake with an orange glaze but that step is optional. If you don’t feel like icing the cake, you could just brush the uncooked cake with melted butter and sprinkle the top with some cinnamon sugar before baking.

Here’s the recipe for you for Apple and Cranberry Tea Cake – serves 10

Ingredients
85 gm (3 oz) butter, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup milk
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tbl caster sugar
2 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

Apple and Cranberry filling
450 gm apple (1 lb), peeled, cored and finely diced
1/2 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tbl orange juice
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Orange Icing
Reserved juice
1 tsp melted butter
1/2 cup sifted pure icing sugar

Method
Put the butter and milk in a small saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter melts and the milk is lukewarm. Add the vanilla and set to one side. Mix the flour, sugar and dried yeast in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Make a well in the centre, then with the motor running, add the egg and sufficient milk mixture to make a soft dough then knead until smooth and shiny (5 minutes). Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

While the dough is proving, make the filling. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl apart from the cinnamon and set to one side for 30 minutes. Drain the fruit, reserving the juice for later. On a lightly floured surface, punch the air from the dough; then roll out to a 20cm x 30cm (8 x 12 inch) rectangle before transferring to an oven tray lined with baking paper. Spread the drained fruit over the middle of the dough, leaving a 5cm (2 inch) border along the long sides. Sprinkle the filling with the cinnamon. Cut the long sides through to the filling at 3cm intervals using a pair of kitchen scissors. Fold the ends of the dough over the filling and then fold strips alternately across the filling in a criss-cross pattern, pressing the ends to seal. There should be glimpses of the filling within. Cover the cake with a tea towel and stand in a warm place for a further 30 minutes, to prove.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Bake the yeast cake until the crust is golden, a skewer inserted withdraws clean and the filling is cooked ~ 30 – 40 minutes. You may need to cover the yeast cake with baking paper to prevent over browning. Cool on the tray for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.For the orange icing, mix the icing sugar, 1-2 tbl of the reserved juice and the melted butter in a bowl or until smooth. You may need to use a little extra reserved juice. Drizzle the icing over yeast cake and serve. I use a 20 ml tablespoon and a conventional oven. You’ll need to lower the temperature if you’re using a fan forced oven.

By the way, the cake is best eaten the day it’s made but I had some for my breakfast this morning and it still tasted pretty good. Good luck with your return to work. See you again next month with another Delicious Bites post – Jillian.

(text/photos: jillian leiboff)

Some great artwork, design & collage by John Leigh aka KARBORN.

Forest Kelley is an MFA candidate in Photography at the Rhode Island School of Design. Originally from Barre, Massachusetts, he received a BA in Social Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 2013, he was awarded a Graduate Studies research grant from the Rhode Island School of Design for his ongoing series, Michael. Michael Michael is a subjective investigation into the life of Forest's uncle, a gay man and artist who was found dead at the base of a rock ledge in June 1985, just as AIDS was entering the gay male conscience. Michael’s presumed suicide occurred soon after the arrival of widely available HIV antibody tests, and just one month before actor Rock Hudson publicly acknowledged his battle with AIDS, an event that catalyzed a shift in public thinking around the mysterious disease. Forest's work is an endeavor to comprehend events and experiences lost to the past or augmented through oral history and myth making. In this project, he restages history in order to imagine the challenges, as well as moments of reprieve, for gay men living in rural Massachusetts prior to his uncle’s death. He combines ephemera, disparate symbolism, and cultural reference to emphasize difficulties that Michael faced while attempting to reconcile conflicting aspects of his identity. This series of photographs, sculpture, and installation is a rumination on the questions that arise in the wake of untimely passing. Forest’s revisit of history speaks more to the desire to envision intangible events than to an attempt to document a constellation of facts. He engages in the staging of dreams and speculative experiences, as well as the reenactment of memories, known events, and parallel histories. To see more of Forest's work, visit his website

 

Photographer Vincent Dixon and the Mimi Foundation ( a non-profit that helps cancer patients to deal with their condition), join forces to produce ‘If only for a Second’, a poignant book-project that includes the portraits of 20 cancer patients under a positive light.

The participating men and women were asked to keep their eyes closed during their makeover, a step that they weren’t really aware of; they thought it was just procedure for the photo-shoot. They were not expecting to see what they saw later.

The last step of the process entailed the 20 cancer patients and a mirror (a two-way mirror which was hiding photographer Vincent Dixon behind it).

They were asked to open their eyes to see themselves. The surprise they got from the hilarious makeovers clearly shows on their faces- Dixon, behind the mirror, took photographs of their first reaction- a moment of joy, amusement and surprise.

The idea of the project was for the patients to forget about their illness for a little while at the expense of a big, ridiculous surprise.  What a fantastic artistic project!

Every photo is followed by a caption, the date and the time the photo was taken and most importantly, the exact second when the person forgot about their disease.Going through this book, the reader is carried away by laughter,giggles and carefree faces. Readers will even be surprised to have on their own faces… a smile. This is the heart of the idea of the “If only for a second ” project, to spread smiles and happiness. (via DIY Photography)

 

The post Photographs of Cancer Patients Reactions When They See Their Humorous Makeovers For The First Time appeared first on Beautiful/Decay Artist & Design.

Bobby Scheidemann was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and received a BFA from Texas State University. Bobby currently resides in Austin, Texas watching traffic, going on walks, and filming bands playing concerts in their kitchen for kitchenconcert.tumblr.com. Spectrum Nevermind On My Mind Left Down Right Up is a visual mixtape of my surroundings experienced on daily walks. I am interested in creating disparate images that are interconnected through the exploration of the decaying present. The photographs are a memory landscape that focus on spontaneity and the pure joy of seeing. Green Grass and Purple Steps and a Used Cigarette Lemon Lemon Lemon Jordan Lemon Lemon Everything Has/Everything Will Huh Food Court Dragon Frogs Frogs Frogs Flower Grid Trashbag Somewhere Sun Rises Bigger on the Inside To view more of Bobbys work please visit his website.

Jean-Baptiste Courtier‘s series ‘Natation Synchronisée’ proves that synchronized swimming will always be an eyecatcher, no matter which setting you place it in. The photographer himself says about his work: ‘Frankly, I’m quite egoistic in the way I work. I want to have the pleasure of recreating the images that exist in my mind and prefer to let the viewers to create his/her own story around the picture.’ We definitely find a soft beauty in his unusual pictures and hope you do as well.

All images © Jean Baptiste Courtier

Jimmy Marble

Published this week, I Like It What Is It? is a book of 30 detachable posters by Anthony Burrill and the stories behind them

 

Burrill has reworked many of his best-known posters for the book, as well as designing new pieces for it.  Each is printed on 355 x 279 mm board in one of three special colours plus black. The reverse of each poster has been left as grey board on which is text telling the story of each project by CR editor Patrick Burgoyne. The book itself was designed by A Practice For Everyday Life.

In this month's CR Mark Sinclair writes about the move by graphic design publishers away from traditional book formats towards 'products' – I Like It. What Is It? is very much in that vein. Within its wraparound cover, each poster is bound so that it is easily removable for putting up on the wall. The book also contains several sheets of stickers.

In this film by Andrew Telling, Burrill and Burgoyne outline the thinking behind the book

 

 

An exhibition to coincide with the publication of the book will run at KK Outlet in London's Hoxton Square from November 8 to 30.

I Like It. What Is It? is published by Laurence King, £19.95

Graphic designer and author Chip Kidd has written an introduction to graphic design for children. The book offers an entertaining and inspiring look at visual communication...

On the front cover of Chip Kidd's new book, Go! A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design, is a big red sign usually reserved for the word 'stop'. On Kidd's cover though, it says 'go'. As he explains later in the book, Kidd is toying with his readers. “It is meant first to attract your attention, then to make you want to investigate it and figure it out. And I think that's what all book covers should try to do,” he says.

A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design is aimed at children aged 10 and above and provides an introduction to some of the key concepts in graphics and typography. Witty, engaging and never condescending, it's exactly the kind of introduction to graphic design that I never had - but wish I did – when I was at school.

Kidd's book starts with an explanation of what graphic design is and why it's important. As he explains, “everything that is not made by nature is designed by someone...and it affects us all the time”.  He also provides a potted history of graphic design, stretching from cave paintings in 10,000 BC to the invention of Garamond in 1530, the first user-friendly Apple computer in 1984 and Photoshop in 1989. It isn't an exhaustive list but it references some key design movements and technological developments.

The rest of the book is divided into four chapters - form, typography, content and concept – which outline key design principles. In form, he presents examples of how to create powerful designs using techniques such as cropping and juxtaposing images, layering text and playing with light and dark:

And in a chapter on typography, he introduces readers to kerning, points and picas, and a selection of iconic fonts including Didot, Princetown, Huxley Vertical and of course, Gill Sans and Helvetica. It's a complex subject to relay to a young audience but Kidd pulls it off by toying with type to illustrate his points, encouraging his readers to really think about how typography affects the way we interpret words.

Chapters on content and concept introduce readers to Louis Sullivan's 'form follows function' theory, highlighting the importance of addressing the question, what are you trying to communicate? before deciding on a final design concept. While Kidd acknowledges that the idea for a concept is often the result of luck or a stroke of genius, he encourages readers to “let the problem itself give you ideas”, citing the inspiration for some of his most striking cover designs:

The book ends with a series of design projects encouraging readers to practice the theory they've learned. In one, he invites children to create their own visual identity, asking “what is your idea of yourself? And what idea of you do you want others to have?” He also suggests starting a graphic design collection and making a font specimen sheet.

Kidd's guide is full of practical advice and examples of his own work and others', including his brilliant Jurassic Park book cover - just one of more than 1000 he's designed during his design career. It's informative without being boring,  simplifies complex themes without patronising readers and most importantly, it shows children that design can, and should, be fun.

Go! A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design is published by Workman and costs $17.95. To order a copy, click here. Kidd will be posting readers' responses to practical project briefs from the book at gothebook.com.

Title of publication: SPBH BOOK CLUB VOL IV by Mariah Roberston
Name of artist: Mariah Roberston
Design: Antonio de Luca
Editor: Bruno Ceschel
Publication date: October, 2013
Edition size: 500
Format: Hardcover / Leporello Binding / HandMade
Size: 15 x 20cm
Number of pages: 40
Type of printing: Lithography
Number of pictures: 20
Price: £50, €60, $80
Description of book: Mariah Robertson is an alchemist. Her experimental approach to making art has seen images spill from the restrictions of the frame and reach across walls and floors. In SPBH Book Club Vol IV, we are presented with the results of Robertson’s time in the immersive space of the darkroom – freeing herself from the classic conventions of photographic practice, she works intuitively with photograms, irregular chemical reactions, solarizations and collage to paint the surface of the photograph and push the magical element of the medium to it’s very limits. Washed out glimpses of palm trees and beach snaps give a fleeting sense of place, hinting at a time long since past, or an unnamed paradise perhaps.
Artist website: http://www.m-a-r-i-a-h.com/
BUY IT HERE

Lynne Brouwer

Joseba Elorza is a Spain based sound technician who currently works as an illustrator and artist. In his works he uses copy and paste as a technique to de/contextualize the general knowledge, re/configure our senses and re/mix the known past with the unknown future. His works show collages of a different world, in which everything seems to be possible. Also Joseba Elorzas pictures imply a sense of ironic humor addressed to the society, showing ordinary, well-known things in a confusing new way.

All images © Joseba Elorza

Posters designed by Felix Pfäffli, a.ka. Feixen Title: Picasso Previously on Feixen Folkert

Margherita Urbani is an Italian born graphic designer whose work spans illustration, editorial and interactive. Now living in Philadelphia and working at an advertising agency, Urbani continues to create pieces that are light-hearted and eye-catching. When she isn’t designing, she is flexing her creative muscles by drawing and making zines.

Collab with Andy Rementer

Collab with Andy Rementer

Pick up one of her zines here or here.

——————–

Also worth viewing…
Andy J Miller
Andrew Neyer
Colorcubic

Share This

A Huge thanks to UncommonGoods for sponsoring this week’s RSS Feed!

ICE CREAM FOR FREE is a berlin-based design and illustration studio founded in 2005 by solo artist Oliver Wiegner. Often working with contrasting materials, Oliver creates dense, layered compositions brimming with marbled textures, geometric shapes and sharp typography.

——————–

Also worth viewing…
Contemporary Collage Book
Stone and Spear
Jelle Martens

Share This

A Huge thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this week’s RSS Feed!

David Szauder’s latest series ‘Failed Memory’ is a work inspired by the parallels he sees between human and digital memory: ‘Our brains store away images to retrieve them later, like files stored away on a hard drive. But when we go back and try to re-access those memories, we may find them to be corrupted in some way.’ David Szauder always adds short narratives to accompany each photo, which often give insight why the subject appears in such way and how their mind has been altered. There is for examples the regular churchgoer starting to doubt himself, a group of friends getting too deep into their discussion of metaphysics or a glamorous woman is driven to paranoia by the bubbles in her champagne. We think his visual narratives are exciting like crime stories and more than worth ‘reading’.

All images © David Szauder

Kate Wimer is a photographic artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She spends the majority of her photographic endeavors photographing the way perceptions of place and home are constructed. Wimer believes photography can be an expression of gratitude, an element of a visual song or poem used to still and understand the world. Wimer holds a BFA in studio art from Southern Utah University, and an MFA in photography from Savannah College of Art and Design. Her photographs are continually published and exhibited nationally and internationally. In this transient and nomadic age, our sense of belonging to a place is challenged. The landscapes of our past become touchstones, things to which we return and measure the distance. This sequence of photographs from my childhood home of Minnesota and temporary residence in Georgia flow together to construct a metaphor for a private view, a layered and decentered sense of place. To view more of Kates work please visit her website.

Elena Montemurro is a 22 year old Professional Photographer who graduated with a BFA in Photography in New York City at Parsons The New School for Design. Living in Brooklyn, and Originally from Long Island New York, Elena is interested in vibrant colors, staged photography, femininity, and portraits of people. All of her photography is taken with a 35 MM camera, she exclusively shoots with film. Olivia, 2013 Coming of Age Coming of Age is a series of staged photographs depicting my fantastical memories of life growing up in American suburbs. Each photograph is characterized by a model who portrays one of the many stereotypes I have encountered while navigating youth in a small town. Inspired by films and television shows that depict the "coming of age" theme, I combine my personal experience and observation to create a fantasy world relaying moments that most are familiar with. Whether conveying the feel you don't belong, depicting a character having a mental breakdown, or illustrating one who is the most popular girl in school, my photographs make tangible the phenomenon of growing up. Using color film and a thirty five millimeter camera, I create a dreamy, nostalgic mood that reveals the environment a young, anxious teenager resides in. Selective colors reflect my love for dramatic moments, as well as the film stills by which these photographs are inspired. These photographs not only reveal a great deal about myself, but also the quirky and heartbreaking moments one goes through in coming of age. Carol, 2012 Caroline at The Window, 2013 Levons Glove, 2013 The Trunk, 2012 Lauryn and Emily, 2013 Joe, 2013 Danny, 2013 Joe Downstairs, 2013 Nikki, 2013 Kevin, 2012 Jamie and The Birds, 2013 Alex, 2013 For more information about Elena and her work please visit her website.

Nick Schietromo is a fine art photographer, residing in the South Shore of Massachusetts. He pursing an undergraduate degree in Photography from New England Institute of Art. His recent shows include the Flash Forward Festival 2013: Undergraduate Photography Now and the New England Institute of Art’s Gallery. In Years Later Nick appropriates second hand images and simulates the suggested digital decay of our expanding archive. Years Later On average, there are 350 million photographs uploaded to Facebook, 42 million photos taken on Instagram and 1.42 million posted to Flickr every day. But how many of those photographs actually get printed? Half? A quarter? An eighth? Chances are most of the photographs will never get printed and shared with others in a tactile way. Fast-forward five, ten, fifteen years and the chances of finding Uncle Joe’s birthday party photographs are near impossible. And at the rate technology increases, the chances of that hard drive those photos were on and that it still works is questionable. Vernacular photography has constantly changed; and finding vintage fiber prints is amazing, voyeuristic and tactile. While a photograph from 1901 may be slightly faded and a bit roughed, I doubt we will be able to view a digital file we make now in a hundred years. Can digital images age with us like prints? Patinas, cracks, and fading will be replaced with lost and damaged files. Will we treat a glitch as fondly as a well-worn print corner or a faded image in a frame? I fear that in just a few years we won’t be able to stumble across an old family photo album. There will be no physical item to show off to others. With our short attention spans, we take the photo, post it to a social media outlet, wait for the "likes" to roll in and then move on to the next photo to post. Photos become lost in the monstrosity that is our digital archive. Though social media has ramped up how we see personal images and how many we have, will the technology, the platform if you will, stand the test of time like a 100 year old silver gelatin print? For more information, please visit his website.

The urban space is striking. Its tall and mysterious buildings, crowds of anonymous people, an endless sea of concrete are constantly intriguing Clarissa Bonet. ‘City Space’ is a ongoing photographic exploration of the urban environment and her perception of it. She is interested in the physical space of the city and its emotional and psychological impact on the body. ‘These photographs reconstruct mundane events in the city that I have personally experienced or witnessed in public. Stark light, deep shadow and muted color are visual strategies I explore to describe the city’. In a way she uses the city as a stage and transforms the physical space into a psychological one. The images she creates do not represent a commonality of experience but instead provide a personal interpretation of the urban landscape.

All images © Clarissa Bonet

A selection of tongue in cheek typographic works from New Yorker Baron Von Fancy,
you can see some more of his creations on his tumblr or over on his instagram.

Sarah Stankey received a BFA in photography from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in May 2013. She now resides in the small city of Madison, Wisconsin where she grew up. She is the editorial assistant for the online photography zine Lenscratch and has contributed to websites such as Flak Photo. Her work has been featured on Lenscratch and in F-Stop Magazine. She has exhibited at the Perspectives Gallery in Milwaukee and the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison. In September, her work will be included in a group exhibition at the Soho Photo Gallery in New York. Hive (Italy) 2012 Koi (Olbrich Gardens, Madison) 2013 The world seems filled with infinite possibility and beauty, providing me with glimpses into the magic found in the everyday. Wanderlust has revealed to me the balance between the ephemeral and the eternal. "There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot." -Aldo Leopold Pink (Salt Lake CIty, UT) 2012 Migration (Milwaukee, WI) 2012 Snow (Madison, WI) 2012 Wave (Lake Michigan) 2012 Glo Fish (Shedd Aquarium, Chicago) 2013 Moss (Kohler-Andrae State Park, WI) 2013 Smoke (Rock Island State Park, WI) 2012 Cocoon (Milwaukee Public Museum) 2013 Jackrabbit (Yellowstone National Park) 2011 Gecko (Campofilone, Italy) 2012 For more information, please visit her website.

Aaron McElroy (b. 1978, Daytona, FL) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He started with photography in 2005. Shortly after he was accepted at the New England School of Photography, graduating in 2007. He most recently had solo shows at Horton Gallery NY, NY., and at Ampersand Gallery, Portland, OR. Today we feature, After Awake, his recent publication collaboration with Ampersand Gallery and Fine Books. Pick up a copy while you still can! Edition of 100. 6 x 8 in. Perfect bound soft cover, Gilt foil stamped cover, 94 pages, 44 color photographs. After Wake After Wake is a collection of visual fragments & anonymous female subjects from the artist’s daily life. Separated from the minutia of McElroy’s lived reality, however, the photographs also allow for an endless drift of fictitious suggestion & voyeurism. After Wake can be a half-alert morning recollection of disjointed dreams. Or it's a catalog of contradictory eyewitness accounts. It may also be something like the outtakes from a B movie chronicling pleasure, grotesque beauty, infidelity, addiction, abuse & redemption. In short, After Wake is a collection of provoking photographs by McElory that eschews concept & meaning in favor of imagination & a stream of inchoate ideas. Aaron's work was part of group exhibitions at FOAM Photography Museum, Amsterdam, NL, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY, Chelsea Art Museum, NY, NY., and Noorderlicht gallery Groningen, NL, among others. In 2013, two monographs were published: “Aaron McElroy: SPBN”, with Self Publish Be Happy, and “After Wake”, with Ampersand Gallery. As part of the collective AM projects, he was included in Nocturnes, a limited edition six person box set, designed and published by dienacht Publishing. Nocturnes was selected for “The books we loved” in 2012 by Time Magazine, and was part of the exhibit ICP Triennial, International Center for Photography, NY, NY. Most recently he featured in the book Nudity Today: edited by Jesse Pearson and published by Picture Box. Check out Ampersand Gallery and Fine Books. To view more of Aaron's work, please visit his website.