BLOG - Photography

Yacht of Giorgio Armani

I was searching through our portfolio of images and kept coming back to the one shown below of Georgia's apartment in LA. I love all of the photographs from this shoot and couldn't help myself from researching photographer William Abranowicz. He has credits with Elle Decor and Architectural Digest as well as many others. I think he has a beautiful eye for composition and a lovely way with light. While he works with many subjects, I tried to stick to the interiors for today.

Designed by Carolina George : Photographed by William Abronowicz

Designed by Gomez and Associates : Photographed by William Abranowicz

Designed by Steve Volpe : Photographed by William Abranowicz

Designed by Steve Volpe : Photographed by William Abranowicz

Photographed by William Abranowicz

Photographed by William Abranowicz

Photographed by William Abranowicz

Light installation by James Turrell : Photography by William Abranowicz

Photographed by William Abranowicz

Photographed by William Abranowicz

Photographed by William Abranowicz

Georgia and I were discussing how we much wished we could have attended the Maison-Objet show in Paris last week. Paris is definitely one of my favorite places to visit. As I followed my friends on Instagram and Facebook who were at the show, my desire to be there only intensified. We vowed that next year we will attend. In the meantime I find myself looking back on photos that I took during last trip there. I thought I would share them with you.

Metropolitan Museum

I must be in an artsy mood. Yesterday I went to the Met. To be honest I was going in hopes of giant Christmas trees and pretty lights. What I found, however, was the amazing photography exhibit : Faking It. This exhibit was dedicated to the art of photo manipulation before Photoshop. Most of the images shown below are more surreal, but the exhibit was showing things from early color correction (as you can see in the studio photograph of the Woman with Umbrella in the Rain) to multiple exposures to editing people in (or out) of the picture. The exhibition is on display until January 27.

Audrey Hepburn : by Richard Avedon, 1967

Woman Riding a Moth : Unknown, 1950

Untitled : by Jerry N. Uelsmann, 1976

Sealed Power Piston Rings : by John Paul Pennebaker, 1933

Woman in Champagne Glass : by Howard S. Redell, 1930

Woman with Umbrella in the Rain : by Kusakabe Kimbei, 1870s

Leap into the Void : by Yves Klein, 1960

Me + Cat : by Wanda Wulz, 1932

This morning I realized that Edvard Munch's famous painting, The Scream, will be on view at MoMA in a little over a week. My cultural interests piqued, I began searching for other artistic news and came across some dance photography by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Upon first clicking on the link, I was expecting to see photographs of the famous Russian ballet dancer. Quickly I realized my reading error. These were pictures taken by Baryshnikov of contemporary dancers. He plays with shutter speed and exposure to capture and create some beautiful images.   

Mikhail Baryshnikov and Kathleen Moore photographed by Eve Arnold

Mikhail Baryshnikov (I can't find the photographer for this picture!)

Mikhail Baryshnikov photographed by Annie Liebovitz

Photo by Mikhail Baryshnikov

Photo by Mikhail Baryshnikov

Photo by Mikhail Baryshnikov

Photo by Mikhail Baryshnikov

Photo by Mikhail Baryshnikov

View the rest of the photos here: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/through-a-lens-baryshnikov-falls-in-love-with-dance-again/

For my birthday and anniversary present, my husband took me to Paris during the Thanksgiving holiday.  It was an amazing trip and we had a great time visiting the museums, antique shops, galleries, and flea markets. Architecturally, Paris is one of my favorite cities and I love how the winding streets lead to open plazas and parks.  At night these urban vistas are breathtaking and I did my best to capture these moments when I could....

At night, the city truly comes to life.

As you can see below we were lucky enough to have walked by the Eiffel Tower at 8pm, right when the lights start to sparkle. I believe this happens only during the holiday season.

One of the best parts of being in Paris over the Thanksgiving Holiday was that the streets were already lit up for the Christmas Season. 

The trees below were my absolute favorite!!!

The lobby of the George V hotel was equally as festive and unlike anything I had ever seen before. A member of the staff told me that more than 1,000,000 Swarovski crystal were used to create this installation.

My recent trip to Turkey was one of great inspiration and I took thousands of photos. Of those, nearly 900 were detail shots of architecture, textiles, and design elements. At the time I was not sure how or when I would use these images but I knew they would be a wonderful library of design ideas and act as a visual travelogue of an amazing trip.

Well, I ended up using the images sooner than expected. For the past few weeks we have been working on a variety of fabric designs based on the images that I took while I was traveling.  Great photos have a way of inspiring design at the most unexpected times.  Below are a few samples of early prototypes.  The test swatches arrive tomorrow and I just can't wait!!!

above: The Dome of the Blue Mosque

below: Fabric inspired by the Blue Mosque

above: Stained Glass Window detail

below: Fabric inspired by image above

above: detail of gate from the "golden cage" found in the Harem complex

below: fabric inspired by detail of "golden cage"

above: wall detail from Harem Complex

below: fabric inspired by wall detail