8 de outubro de 2004

Helmut Newton

Este blog pecou, mas vai-se redimir.

Até hoje não falei do grande mestre da fotografia vulgar (segundo as suas próprias palavras). Aqui vai a minha homenagem.



HELMUT NEWTON (1920-2004) (German)

Now an Australian, Helmut Newton was born in Berlin on October 31st, 1920.

After fighting in the Second World War with the Australian army, he moves to Paris in 1957, where he begins working as a professional photographer.

As a fashion and female nude photographer, he appears in the most important magazines such as "Vogue", "Elle", "Queen", "Stern" and "Playboy". Since 1981 he lives in Monte Carlo.

Newton is a master of beauty and cultivates an extremely personal erotic vision. He says so himself: "I am superficial, my images aren't deep. Good taste is the anti-fashion, the anti-photo, the anti-woman, the anti-eroticism. Vulgarity is life, is fun, the desire for extreme reactions."

The prevailing scenery in his photos are beaches, fashion, or the halls and rooms of large hotels. Although his eroticism is superficiality, taken to extremes, the plasticity of the work is wonderful.

His models, cold, severe and disturbing are the exact opposite of Hamilton's - which are delicate and fragile.

His greatness lies in his unique vision of the ?erotic? in photography.

Among his published works, we can cite "White Woman", "Sleepless Nights" and "Big Nudes".

Died January 23, 2004 in an automobile accident in Los Angeles.


Cyberwomen 1, 2000


Cyberwomen 3, 2000


Domestic Nude VI and Art Dealer, Pacific Palisades, California 1992


David Lynch and Isabella Rossellini

6 de outubro de 2004

Adivinha quem voltou??

Life is back!

Agora só me falta arranjar uma maneira de a comprar aqui em Portugal :(



The photographic journal Life returns to US news-stands Friday with its backers hoping to restore its former glory. The photo journal disappeared from news-stands in 1972 and a short-lived revival in 2000 failed to match its heyday circulation which spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s.

However, a fresh bid to revive Life will see it hit news-stands as a supplement with over 70 newspapers around the U.S. Initial circulation is pegged at 12 million in its classic format, with the same red and white Life logo. Screen godess Monroe will not grace the cover on Friday, but the actress Sarah Jessica Parker, star of the popular television series "Sex and the City."

Informative and entertaining, humourous and serious, the original Life magazine employed some of the world's most renowned photographers whose pictures marked an era. Robert Capa snapped the Allied D-Day landings on the beaches at Normandy. Life's 1930s photos of immigrants are reputed to have inspired John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath".

Richard Avedon

Vendo estes últimos três posts, parece que este é um blog de necrologia, não devia ser o caso, mas este tem sido um mau ano para a fotografia...



Richard Avedon, the revolutionary photographer who redefined fashion photography as an art form while achieving critical acclaim through his stark black-and-white portraits of the powerful and celebrated, died Friday. He was 81.

Avedon suffered a brain hemorrhage last month while on assignment in San Antonio, Texas, for The New Yorker, taking pictures for a piece called "On Democracy." He spent months on the project, shooting politicians, delegates and citizens from around the country.

He died at Methodist Hospital, said Perri Dorset, a spokeswoman for the magazine.

Avedon's influence on photography was immense, and his sensuous fashion work helped create the era of supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. But Avedon went in another direction with his portrait work, shooting unsparing and often unflattering shots of subjects from Marilyn Monroe to Michael Moore.

"The results can be pitiless," Time magazine critic Richard Lacayo once noted of the black-and-white portraits. "With every wrinkle and sag set out in high relief, even the mightiest plutocrat seems just one more dwindling mortal."

As a Publishers Weekly review once noted, Avedon helped create the cachet of celebrity -- if he took someone's picture, they must be famous. His fun-loving, fantasy-inspiring approach helped turn the fashion industry into a multibillion-dollar business.

AP


Michael More, The New Yorker


Charlize Theron and Patty Jenkins, Actress, and Director of Monster, The New Yorker