Mary Had A Little Lamb Goes Nuts

I picked up a what perceived to be a cute poetry book the other day. Aww, its called Of Lamb. I opened up the book, started to read, and BAM! insanity ensues. In poet Matthea Harvey’s version of “Mary Had A Little Lamb”, Mary is psychotic, the lamb has a stutter, and they want to conceive half-human/half-lamb babies. I’m quite fond of demented Edward Gorey like illustration + poetry tales so I’m a fan. Illustrator Amy Jean Porter  also did a great job of depicting the insane tone of this book.

The Illustrated Malcolm Gladwell

Check out this beautiful illustrated version of Malcolm Gladwell‘s books. He and artist Brian Rea collaborated together to bring a fresh look to his bestsellers not unlike the updated Food Rules by Michael Pollan. I’m definitely noticing an interesting trend in these non-fiction gone art books.

I wrote about The End of Book Design  a few weeks back and the interview with Debbie Milman below brings some good insight to the topic.

“In one way its the worst time to be illustrating books, but because of that, its also the best time. This now has value that it may not have had five years ago. It’s a permanent object. A lot of physical books are going away but these are the types of books that are now selling more than before.” -Paul Sahre

It’s quite similar to Hollywood turning all blockbusters into 3D films to get viewers to the theatre. Because books are just texts that can be kindled (like movies can be downloaded) there has to be more value for a reader to go out and buy a physical book. I think adding great art both on the cover and within the bounds of the text and integrating the words and images to become it’s own work of art is a beautiful way of attempting to perserve the physical book.

I Ate Reindeer Heart

and then I saw magic.

I just got back from the most amazing press trip to Northern Norway. Everything I experienced was unreal but witnessing the Northern Lights on the last night was the cherry on top. More pictures soon!

Winter Style in Amsterdam

One of my favorite assignments for my job is finding interesting people in Amsterdam to be placed in the Street Style section of the magazine. When I first started shooting this series last summer, I was a bit shocked by the lack of stylish people out on the streets. While it’s no Paris or Milan, it’s still a cultural European capital and I expected it to be much easier to snap trendy people on the streets. As the weather grew colder, I began to worry even more that  Amsterdammers would just throw on their big dark coats to get through the dreary winter. Surprisingly, I’ve been seeing the most interesting outfits in the last two months. Turns out, the locals here thrive on layering and love their outerwear! As a Texan, I’m still struggling to find a balance between frumpy comfort and winter cool and this shoot has been teaching me a thing or two about looking good through it all.

You can read the original street style articles here.

Mostly Pictures of Russians

Love these paintings by Amsterdam based artist and art director Cari Vander Yacht.

I Fell into the Internet Hole

and found these. I can’t come out. I’m obsessed with these mashups by Australian musician/dj/insane editor of sound Pogo. I must have watched the Alice in Wonderland re-mix about ten times.

A little about the artist below.

Thank You NY Public Library

Thank you New York Public Library for giving us these GIFs, the 2012 version of Stereographs. Make your own here!

Love Ever After

Why do I immediately start tearing up when I see old married couples? Five seconds after playing photographer Lauren Fleishman‘s kickstarter video, I was bawling in front of the computer. Normal love bores me but if you’ve been through 50 years of commitment: through wars, poverty, distance, children, grandchildren, and death and you’re still in love?! That’s the greatest thing.

Fleishman captured the stories of several couples who have been married for over five decades and she now has a kickstarter project running to turn these photo stories into a book. Her project is running for 22 more days if you want to support her!

Bang!

“She was afraid, but it was only love”
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Especially to you Arun!

Bloody Magical Kazakhstan

Photographer Pavel Prokopchik went to Kazakhstan to take these breathtaking images of Apashka and her pilgrims. Apashka, meaning granny in Kazakhs is a shaman woman who was told by the spirits to find a holy mountain. Eight years ago, she discovered her sacred spot in Ungurtas, Kazakhstan and has since built a home there. She now accepts visitors from around the world and they partake in rituals such as slaying a goat and pouring the blood over their bodies. I’m so intrigued by this granny. If you’re in Amsterdam, Prokopchik also has an exhibition on Russian Sub-Cultures at the Foam.