Obsessing… make me up macaron

I can’t get this Vogue Japan editorial out of my head.

When I go to sleep at night, it plays on my mind.

I love the use of macaron colours – banana, liquorice, musk – delicious!

I often get people’s names, foreign words and great editorials stuck on loop in my brain for weeks… then they get pushed out and overridden by a new idea, word or image.

Japanese Vogue : February 2012 : Photographer Liz Collins

View full Candy Kisses editorial on Models.com

Last year I had the name ‘Zooey Deschanel’ running circles in my mind for at least half the year and when I’m learning a language it will be whole lists of vocab… not sure what this says about me!

A Sit Down With… Photographer Michael Mundy

Happy 2012!

Over the last few days I’ve been obsessing over a few things, one of them being a new blog I’ve fallen in love with called An Afternoon With…

An Afternoon With… is the brainchild of New York based photographer, Michael Mundy and his partner Nhi Nguyen, in which Mundy shoots subjects in their spaces amongst their own things. I love seeing how different people organise and decorate their space, it satisfies my inner voyeur.

Readers are given only one line at the end of every post about the subject, allowing each set of images and their ‘things’ to tell the story. It’s a simple, honest yet beautiful portrayal about people. Adding to the blog’s simplicity, all images are lit naturally and appear without retouching.

Michael politely obliged Eclectic Kate with a sit down over New Years, here is what he had to say:

EK: You started in the industry by shooting rock bands, how did you get into interiors?

MM: I  started assisting a photographer (Oberto Gili) who shot interiors. I had never seen anything like it before. I was immediately captivated by how he looked at things. I had never thought about shooting rooms and inanimate objects before. But the way he shot them was like art not just pictures of rooms. That changed my life.

EK: When and why did you start “An Afternoon With… “

MM: An Afternoon With was started in April 2010. I had started a blog just showing things I liked and inspiration etc. Nhi (AAW Co-founder) saw immediately that this was the perfect platform to present images I had been shooting of my friends and acquaintances. She started taking these shoots I had been doing and putting them online. Little by little it started to come together as the project you see now.

EK: How do you choose/find subjects to shoot for the blog? 

MM: We started with friends and asked each one to recommend someone else. This way there is this organic growth built-in which we wouldn’t have otherwise. Along the way we choose people we meet who we feel will expand the project.

EK: If you weren’t photographing interiors and creating blogs and Tumblr’s… what would you be doing?

MM: I’d still be taking pictures it’s what I do. If I didn’t do that maybe Id write more. Pictures were always a quicker means for me than writing though I see them both in the same category.

EK: What’s your New Years resolution?

MM: As always to try to be a little nicer than last year. As far as goals for this year I want to start this portrait series I have in mind. That’s definitely on the forefront.

Michael Mundy’s work can also be found on his other blog, The Refind and via his Tumblr.

All photography in this post appears courtesy of Michael Mundy and An Afternoon With…

A fresh perspective

A found these pics my daughter took a while back and thought I would share.

I love the perspective that she, at 100cm tall, has compared to me.

I also love the textures that she’s picked up, whether this was on purpose or not.

Without discrediting the professionals, it’s interesting to see a photo you love and know that it was taken without the filter of a trained eye.

‘Nuff said, enjoy the pics:

Gracie in the daisies. Photography by AB

Yearning for a belly rub. Photography by AB

Like a tiger. Photography by AB

Be Still

All images in this post are credited to Robyn Stacey

Imagine being given free range to fossil through the archives of your favourite museum or library.

Access to back rooms, sorting through large-scale pull-out drawers while wearing white cotton gloves and perhaps even a lab coat… sorry I’m getting away from myself.

Last Wednesday night I was lucky enough to attend a talk at the Museum of Sydney (MOS) called Creating beautiful images with the things you love: Sibella Court on House. 

Sibella Court is a successful Sydney-based interiors stylist who works in publishing and commercial interiors, she also has a great little store in Surry Hills, Sydney, called The Society Inc, which she describes as “a haberdashery meets hardware store.”

Court has three published books, Etc., The Stylist’s Guide to NYC, and Nomad and is currently working on a fourth due out in October 2012. I could go on (and on) about Sibella Court’s work however things are better said from the horses’ mouth, so please click on The Society Inc link at the end of this post to find out more.

Wednesday night’s talk was held to open a new exhibition at the MOS called House which showcased sumptuous, still-life images by photographer Robyn Stacey. Stacey was given access to pillage the resources of the Caroline Simpson library and a selection of Historic Houses Trust properties to create a selection of evocative cornucopia’s of food, fruit, books, textiles and historical objects from around the home. While I don’t think it would be fair to Robyn to replicate the images in full here, I’ve cropped a few of her shots as a teaser in the hope that you all either attend the exhibition or purchase the accompanying book (written in conjunction with Peter Timms) and is available to purchase here

Sibella talked on her love of still life and the art of creating a perfect balance of object d’art. I feel this is something everyone can take and use in the context of your own home.

I encourage those who have even a smidge of an interest in interiors and design to either go see the exhibition or view the book, it’s as inspiring as it is beautiful.

I loved the spines and pages of the old books in the photograph below, this is a snapshot of a much larger image… you have to read the book or visit the exhibition to see more!

A great selection of covers, pages and spines

LINKS:

For more info on Sibella Court and The Society Inc click here

For more info on the Museum of Sydney, The Historic Houses Trust or the House – Robyn Stacey exhibition click here