#Award-Winning Portrait Photographer

[alex-matus]

Award-Winning Portrait Photographer

Explore the world through the lens of Alex Matus, an award-winning portrait photographer renowned for capturing timeless moments. Immerse yourself in a visual journey where every frame tells a unique story. Discover the artistry behind captivating portraits that transcend time and emotion.

[jopageuk]

Website: https://www.jopage.co.uk/

Address: The Waterworks, Sandy Lane, Framfield, East Sussex, TN22 5PX, England, United Kingdom

Jo Page Photography specializes in capturing the fleeting moments of newborns, expectant mothers, and family bonds with a natural and organic style. Based in the picturesque Sussex countryside, our studio offers a serene woodland setting ideal for creating timeless memories. With nearly two decades of experience, Jo Page, an award-winning photographer, ensures each session is personalized, comfortable, and enjoyable, promising photos that you'll treasure for a lifetime.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jopagephotography

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jo_page_photography/

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[goldenamaranthe-blog]

New Hobby - Sinner By...: Angel & Vaggie

Angel: Vaaaaaggie?

Vaggie: ........The answer is no.

Angel: What? I didn't even ask anything yet!

Vaggie: You only call me my actual name when you want something. That something usually being some sort of contraband. So, no.

Angel: What?! Why I never! I was just wondering if you would help an aspiring photographer by being my model!

Vaggie: Aspiring photographer??? Since when are you into photography?

Angel: Since Alastor vaporized every video recording device in the hotel aside from our phones.

Vaggie: (arches an eyebrow)

Angel: And after you and Charlie found all my drug stashes and fed them to Niffty.

Vaggie: What? We haven't found any stashes in months.

Niffty: (spiraling out of control as she turbo cleans the hotel) CLEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!

Angel: Oh..... (pulls up a fancy camera) So, anyway, whaddya say, Toots?

Vaggie: (can't even deny that she's slightly touched that Angel would want to use her as a model for a new, healthy hobby) I... guess I can help out.

Angel: PERFECT!!!! Here, (throws a bunch of leather into Vaggie's arms) put these on and stuff this in your lip! (Plunks an unlit cigarette in Vaggie's mouth)

Vaggie: Angel! What the fuck?!

-1 Week Later-

Hazbins: (watching the news)

Katie Killjoy: And in other news, local famous porn star, Angel Dust, wins Sinner Independant Award at the Pride Photography Competition for his submission "Angel by Day/Sinner by Night".

-Picture of Vaggie in two different positions as a singular portrait cut diagonally. Lower portion is Vaggie wearing fishnet tights, heels, black leather skirt, her old exorcist tank top cut off to show more midriff, leather jacket and fingerless gloves, and holding a lit cigarette to her lips while she struts a "solomn" badass pose. Upper half shows Vaggie working around the hotel in her usual attire, but an angel wing is sticking out as she flies around the lobby-

Charlie: (drooling and blushing at the "Sinner" portion of the picture) WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!?!?

Vaggie: Not gonna lie, Angel. You did pretty good.

Angel: (fist bumps Vaggie) Damn right, I did. And I told ya you looked good.

Vaggie: Damn right, I do.

[scotianostra]

Born on December 8th 1826 on a farm in Crathie, John Brown, servant to Queen Victoria.

Brown was a servant at Balmoral at the time it was purchased by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He became Albert's personal ghillie and friend. After Albert's death in 1861, Brown was brought to court as a companion and personal servant to the grief-stricken Victoria, in hopes that his ties to her beloved Albert and Balmoral would help her emerge from her deepening gloom.

John Brown took his role as personal servant very seriously, and was devoted to Victoria and her well-being. Victoria was devoted to him in return, as he treated her unlike any of those surrounding her. Brown was honest and forthright, though this often wasn't welcomed by the queen's family and officials. Edward, Prince of Wales, was often at the receiving end of Brown's tongue. Much talk arose concerning the relationship between Brown and the Queen, and Victoria was often referred to as "Mrs. Brown". Victoria dismissed the talk as "ill-natured gossip". Stories exist even to this day that the two were secretly married, but it is most unlikely.

Brown saved the Victoria's life at least once, as during an assassination attempt in 1872. He was awarded two medals created especially for him by Victoria - the Faithful Servant Medal and the Devoted Service Medal. He wore them with the utmost pride.

Brown's devotion to the Queen would ultimately cost him his life. He contracted a severe chill, which he could have avoided had he taken to his sick bed, and died at Windsor Castle at the age of 56. Victoria kept his memory alive until her death in 1901 (a miniature portrait of Brown was buried with her), but Brown's enemies had their revenge. Edward VII destroyed any reminders of Brown, including busts, papers, and photographs. The relationship of John Brown and Queen Victoria was the subject of the award-winning 1996 film Mrs. Brown.

[louisupdates]

FITFWT24: MASTERPOST

FASHION [x]

LITHOGRAPHS [x]

SELFIES & PORTRAITS [x]

OUTRO SONGS [x]

TWITTER SPREE 23.1.2024

John Delf/ Sennheiser interview: FITFWT Sound Engineering

FESTIVALS

FITFWT23

LOUIS TOMLINSON LIVE - 24.4.2024: Fan videos vs Spotify canvas

ASIA

24 Jan - Bengkel Space SCBD, JAKARTA: video 1, video 2, video 3

AUSTRALIA

28 Jan - Sidney Myer Music Bowl, MELBOURNE (fitfwt24: melbourne)

30 Jan - Riverstage, BRISBANE (#fitfwt24: brisbane)

2 Feb - Qudos Bank Arena, SYDNEY (#fitfwt24: sydney)

TEKATE PAL NORTE FESTIVAL

30 Mar - MONTERREY, MEXICO (cap. 80k) (#fitfwt24: tecate) (PRESS CONFERENCE) MTY 360, Tiempo, El Ambiente, Reforma

IHEART RADIO AWARDS - 1 APR 2023: Joshua Halling wins Best Tour Photographer

PRE-TOUR PRESS RUN, LATAM

2 Apr - SÃO PAULO, Brazil: Radio Mix FM, Foquinha, MTV Brazil, CNN Brazil, Capricho, POPLine Brazil, g1, Nickelodeon, Billboard Br

4 Apr - SANTIAGO, Chile: Los 40 Chile, CNN Chile, Canal 13, Bio Bio Chile, La Cuarta, Radio Disney Chile, Radio Planeta

6 Apr - BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Los 40 Argentina, TN La Viola, HeinowPY, MTV Sur, Clarín, Sergio Aguero, TELESHOW, #velez sarafield stadium, Esto es Datta, Tu Musica Hoy, Telenoche, Canal 13, Billboard Argentina, Algos De Musica, Radio Disney LA

NORTHERN MUSIC AWARDS - 23 APR 2023: raffle (#northern music awards)

LOUIS IGTV - 27.4.2024

LATAM - IGTV with transcription 27.6.2024

2 May - Centro de Convenciones Amador, PANAMA CITY (#fitfwt24: panama)

5 May - Coliseo de Puerto Rico, SAN JUAN (#fitfwt24: san juan)

8 May - Jeunesse Arena, RIO DE JANEIRO (#fitfwt24: rio de janeiro)

11 May - Allianz Parque, SÃO PAULO (#fitfwt24: são paulo)

12 May - Ligga Arena Cap, CURITIBA (#fitfwt24: curitiba)

15 May - Antel Arena, MONTEVIDEO: (#fitfwt24: montevideo)

18 May - Velez Sarsfield, BUENOS AIRES: (#fitfwt24: buenos aires)

21 May - Jockey Club del Paraguay, ASUNCIÓN: (#fitfwt24: asuncion)

24 May - Bicentenario Stadium, SANTIAGO (#fitfwt24: santiago)

26 May - Arena 1, LIMA: (#fitfwt24: lima)

28 May - Coliseo Medplus, BOGOTÁ: (#fitfwt24: bogota)

30 May - Parque Viva, SAN JOSE: (#fitfwt24: san jose)

1 Jun - Autodrómo Hermanos Rodriguez - Curva 4, MEXICO CITY: (#fitfwt24: mexico city)

4 Jun - Auditorio Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, QUERETARO: (#fitfwt24: queretaro)

6 Jun - Arena VFG, GUADALAJARA: (#fitfwt24: guadalajara)

AWAY FROM HOME FESTIVAL

8 JUN - MERIDA, Mexico (cap. 10k+): (#afhf 2024)

EUROS 2024 (#louiseuros24)

PINKPOP FESTIVAL

22 Jun - LANDGRAAF, Netherlands (cap. 70k): 17:55 to 18:55 (#louispinkpop24)

GLASTONBURY 2024 (#louisglasto24)

MAIN SQUARE FEST

4 Jul - ARRAS, France (cap. 40k): 18:15 to 19:15 (#louismainsq24)

RUISROCK FESTIVAL

7 Jul - Ruissalo Island, TURKU, Finland (cap. 35k): 19:15 (#louisruisrock24)

MEO MARES VIVAS FESTIVAL

21 Jul - VILA NOVA DE GAIA, Portugal (cap. 30k): 21:45 (#louismaresvivas24)

MORRIÑA FESTIVAL

26 Jul- PORTO DE A CORUÑA, Spain (cap. 20k): 23:50 (#louismorrina24)

ARENAL SOUND FESTIVAL

2 Aug - BURRIANA, CASTELLO, Spain (cap. 50k): 23:20 - 00:40 (#louisarenalsound24)

SANTANDER FESTIVAL

3 Aug - SANTANDER, Spain (cap. 15k): 1:30 - 2:30 AM (#louissantander24)

UNTOLD FESTIVAL

8 Aug - CLUJ-NAPOCA, Romania (main stage cap. 30k, 2023 attendance 400k): 21:45 - 23:00 (#louisuntold24)

SZIGET FESTIVAL

10 Aug - BUDAPEST, Hungary (cap. 92k): 19:15 to 20:30 (#louissziget24)

FREQUENCY FESTIVAL

16 Aug - ST. PÖLTEN, Austria (cap. 140k) (#louisfrequency24)

CABARET VERT FESTIVAL

18 AUG - CHARLEVILLE-MÉZIÈRES, France (cap. 90k): 19:10 - 20:10 (#louiscabaretvert24)

VICTORIOUS FESTIVAL

23 Aug - PORTSMOUTH, UK (cap. 65k): 16:45 - 17:30 (#louisvictorious24)

ZURICH OPENAIR FESTIVAL

24 AUG - ZURICH, Switzerland (cap. 80k): 19:40 - 20:40 (#louiszurichopenair24)

FESTNINGEN FESTIVAL

30 Aug - TRONDHEIM, Norway: 17:30 - 18:30 (#louisfestningen24)

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX

31 Aug - 1 Sep - MONZA, Italy (#louismonza24)

LIVE FROM FEST ISTANBUL

6 Sep - Festival Park Yenikapı, ISTANBUL, Turkey (cap. 10k): 21:30 - (#louisfestistanbul24)

LOLLAPALOOZA BERLIN

7 Sep - Olympiastadion & Olympiapark, BERLIN, Germany (cap. 100k): 18:15 - 19:10 (#louislolla24)

SUPERBLOOM FESTIVAL

8 Sep - Olympiapark and Olympiastadion, MUNICH, Germany (cap. 50k): 17:35 - 18:35 (#louissuperbloom24)

Louis’ FAREWELL REEL

UNDER THE TONGUE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF FOOTBALL’S MOST ICONIC BOOT

11 Dec - YouTube (#louisunderthetongue) (transcript)

[eddy25960]

Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, stars of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, captured the hearts of audiences worldwide with their tender portrayals of Shakespeare’s ill-fated lovers. Their youthful authenticity breathed life into the timeless tragedy, making it one of the most acclaimed and visually arresting renditions of the play. Zeffirelli’s decision to cast teenagers—Whiting at 17 and Hussey at 15���marked a departure from traditional portrayals, infusing the film with genuine youthful innocence and passion. This casting choice resonated deeply with a generation navigating the complexities of love and defiance amidst the backdrop of a socially transformative 1960s. The film became a cultural touchstone, earning widespread praise and securing Academy Award wins for its costume design and cinematography. The Vogue photo shoot by Karen Radkai, capturing Whiting and Hussey in 1968, immortalized their beauty and chemistry beyond the screen. Radkai, a pioneering female photographer known for her sophisticated and emotive work, framed the young stars with striking elegance, underscoring the fashion world’s enchantment with cinematic icons. Hussey and Whiting’s image in Vogue symbolized the era’s fascination with blending classic art forms and contemporary style, aligning with the decade's spirit of innovation. Their portrayal of Romeo and Juliet became emblematic of youthful rebellion and undying love, resonating with a generation that championed social change and challenged conventions. For Olivia Hussey, the film was a springboard to a storied career, while Leonard Whiting's legacy became inextricably tied to his poignant turn as Romeo. Together, they remain etched in the cinematic memory, their Vogue portraits serving as a poignant reminder of their transformative impact on Shakespearean cinema and 1960s popular culture, reflecting the timeless power of love, youth, and artistic passion.

[fashionbooksmilano]

Bert Stern Adventure

Text Robert A.Sobie Szek

Bulfinch, Boston 1997, 210 pages, 71 col.ill. 82 B&W ill.,ISBN 0-82 12-2273-2

euro 45,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

At the height of his career, Bert Stern operated a large studio, not unlike Andy Warhol's Factory, from which he created award-winning advertisements, editorial photographs, magazine covers, films and portraits. Firmly associated with the golden age of advertising, many of his images are classics. This book collects 150 examples of his work. His advertising images, like the Egyptian pyramid seen inverted in a glass for a 1960s' Smirnoff advertisement, are featured, as well as portraits of famous women, from Elizabeth Taylor and Drew Barrymore to Twiggy and Iman.

05/11/24

[193819ffgjh]

Hiromix (Toshikawa Hiromi) rose to fame after winning the 11th “New Cosmos of Photography” photography award at the age of 17. Nobuyoshi Araki, one of Japan’s most noted photographers, nominated Hiromix as the 1st place winner. Titled “Seventeen Girl Days,” her winning entry was a self-made, 36-page photobook consisting of copies of her photographs. The booklet was essentially a photo diary, containing snapshot images of flowers, friends, animals, and self-portraits.

Hiromix has been influential in Japan’s photographic industry for opening the door for women photographers. Prior to her launch to fame in the 1990s, photography remained a male-dominated industry in Japan.

Hiromix photographs are personal snapshots, random moments caught in the act of being, with the exception of “Japanese Beauty” (1997), where she shoots fashion models.

Interesting article:

[camaro-and-smokes]

WIP Wednesday Game

Thank you for the tag @kallisto-k 💜

Rules: List up to 5 WIP file names and include a snippet that you've written in the last 7 days. For each ask you receive, write and share 3 new sentences for that WIP. If you can't share the WIP, write an additional 3 sentences for a WIP that you can share.

File names:

Uber-possessive Steve

Tiny shorts

We don't kiss

Powdered snow

Shot for life

Snippet from 'Shot for Life' (modern au photographer Steve & model Billy with age gap)

Billy’s jaw dropped for the second time within the last fifteen minutes. Harrington was an award-winning, world-renowned photographer. A true artist with his camera, one of the great ones and not only in fashion. His portraits were legendary and his most recognized work. His use of light and talent to capture the essence of the person was immaculate. Working with him was a dream everyone in fashion industry had. Harrington didn’t work for money, he no longer had to, so he concentrated mostly on his portraits and art. But once in a while someone managed to convince him to do a shoot. And now Billy was given the rare opportunity to work with him on an actual campaign. Getting this job was clearly so much more than just another modeling gig. Billy couldn’t be more humbled by getting the opportunity. “Wow,” was the only word that he could muster.

No pressure tags: @disdaidal @romeren @medusapelagia @dragonflylady77 and anyone else who wants to play!

[alex-matus]

Artistic Portrait Photography - Alex Matus

Elevate your visual narrative with Alex Matus, a master of artistic portrait photography. Discover a unique blend of creativity and precision, capturing moments that transcend the ordinary. Alex Matus' lens transforms the essence of each subject into a captivating story. Explore the world of expressive portraiture and redefine your visual journey.

[simmie-stories]

Gen 3. Aurora #34 The Catacombs

The family headed to Tartosa to visit the White Legacy cemetery.

Sim Cemetary & Catacombs by EA ID sambamsims. I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the spring decor :(

"This is where everyone in our legacy is laid to rest."

"These are your grandparents. They died when I was young, but they gave me the happiest childhood memories."

Ella took Aurora to visit their memorial. "Your grandmother Snow loved to cross-stitch. I guess I took after her a little, since I loved to knit." "Oh yes, the knits! I played with Claire the Bear and Yarny all my life, but about that sweater...." "Did you like it? It was my masterpiece." "..."

"These were my grandparents on my father's side... your great-grandparents and Uncle Soren, who was the King of Tartosa before he passed."

"And these are Grandma Snow's parents, the Queen and King of the Bramblewood. They loved to cross-stitch too."

"Your oldest uncle Doug and his wife both Ashley died of old age, but it was so tragic. Their eldest two daughters died in accidents. They have one living daughter, Krysta."

"My favorite sister Joy and her husband Taylor. Joy was electrocuted when their 4 kids were young. You'll meet them at your celebration."

Aurora's cousin Noe Bianchi happened to be at the catacombs visiting his parents, who had died of old age. Shylee had been the longest living of the 7 "dwarfs."

"N-nice to meet you."

"Uncle Hayden was quite accomplished. Both him and his wife died elderly, but Uncle Hayden's twin Raphael died by falling from a cliff when he was 50. Another tragic end. He hadn't ever gotten married."

"Uncle Dwight and Aunt Somna were the musical ones in the family. In fact, Aunt Somna was an award-winning violinist! Both died in their old age as well."

"I can't believe I had this many Uncles and Aunts, and I never got to meet them." *Pained silence* "We will meet some of your other cousins at your welcoming banquet."

I hope I can keep this up for the whole legacy... Love @ravasheencc Sims Portrait maker and Photographic Memory 2.0 mods; makes it so much easier to do this! L. was going around collecting urns every time we got a notice of death.

The family took an awkward family photo on their way out.

@theroyalsims Awesome Foursome pose

Main Back Next

[phanfictioncatalogue]

15k Words (2) Masterlist

part one

A-Lister (ao3) - tastefulcucumber

Summary: Phil’s Dad owns a small photography business. Daniel Howell, academy-award winning actor decides that Lester’s Portraits is the best place to get his head-shots for his portfolio. He expects to get his pictures taken, but what he doesn’t expect is the photographer’s son to be so captivating. No one else has treated Dan this normal since the beginning of his acting career. Maybe that’s just what Dan needs, a friend who is there for him, and not for his status.

A Little Bit Of Magic - dxnhowell

Summary: Dan is the new potions teacher at Hogwarts and is muggleborn, this is his first year teaching and whilst he’s excited, he has to get used to being in the castle with absolutely no muggle technology. Phil is the herbology teacher and is clumsy and likes puns and likes to help Hagrid with his magical creatures. Dan and Phil eventually meet and become rather close, some of the students realize this and try to get them together before the end up of the year.

Amaryllis (ao3) - bokeae

Summary: In which Dan has to wed Princess Alice when he would much rather marry her brother, Philip.

Ardour (There’s a World Outside These Walls) (ao3) - centroid

Summary: Dan’s facade crumbled. His breathing was the first to go, leaving his lungs with short gasps of air. He brought his hands up to press the heels of his palms into his eye sockets as tears trekked down his cheeks. Dan’s romantic life was always covered in a veil of sorrow, but never once had he cried over it. Never once did he let his walls down and just weep. Dan was relieved, so relieved but at the same time he was in despair. It was as if his fate had been set in stone, finalizing that he was and would forever be alone. In a world with its foundation dug heel toe into romance, he was someone who had to go without.

billet-doux (ao3) - Tarredion

Summary: Dan and Phil, gang leaders and rivals to the highest degree, harbor big secrets they want no one to see

Coffee and Calligraphy (ao3) - brookwrites

Summary: Dan’s a barista at the local cafe, where writer!Phil decides to sit with his journal. Dan likes Phil. A lot. But things change when Dan finds something out about Phil that breaks his heart.

Colour Me Blue (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: What if a boy, whose heart was so full of darkness, that he couldn’t believe in colours anymore, met someone so full of light who slowly painted his world bright again?

Demons In My Head (ao3) - kae_karo

Summary: An unconscious demon mysteriously shows up on Dan's property, and Dan heals it, promising he'll send it back to where it came from as soon as he finds out why it's there. Finding the will to banish a charming demon is harder than he thought.

for you I’d wait (til kingdom come) (ao3) - blueshirt

Summary: The time that Dan misunderstands one little conversation—which he still maintains is PHIL’S FAULT, not his—and it leads to six years of unrequited pining.

going the wrong way home (ao3)- moonlightmusings

Summary: the almost-college au where dan and phil take a summer road trip.

I heard the March birds singing, and oh, what a beautiful sound. (ao3) - emonerd_io

Summary: Inspired by the anime 四月は君の嘘 (Your Lie in April)!

The piano initiated the opening chords, and she drew the melody out in simple, yet alluring and complex lines. It’s a tune Dan did not recognise, but fell in love with immediately. Deep, and filled with a certain longing, yet tragically beautiful. It’s the type of music that allows you to fathom why exactly some people practise for years and for decades, trying to master their craft, just to play something so modest and stark, yet so exquisite.

This is the story of two young musicians, Dan and Phil, and how their lives became entwined over the course of one year in high school.

In Faded Holograms They Speak (ao3) - artdeficient

Summary: They’re in japan and nothing seems to make sense, so they hide in hotel rooms and pretend they can’t see what’s right in front of them, and it works, for a while. (badlands au based off of halsey’s album)

no longer feel alone (ao3) - natigail

Summary: who'd have known that a random act of kindness from a stranger could lead to this.

refraction (ao3) - indistinct_echo

Summary: (To be read after completing Monochrome by intoapuddle.)

Dan doesn’t want to wait any longer: it’s time to share with Angie and PJ his Fall Whisperer identity. This really isn’t so scary… oh, who is he kidding, it’s terrifying.

Cue supportive-boyfriend Phil, amateur-therapist Dan, and a healthy dose of luck (+ bonus smut).

Teach Me to Fly (ao3) - thesleepdeprived

Summary: Soulmates!AU, Wings!AU. People had always told him that wings were the solution to everything, the key to your love life, your friend circle, who you are as a person, even. Yet somehow, Phil just can’t bring himself to see it that way. Who would want a soulmate that would never fly? (or, as my planning outline so eloquently puts it, kiss kiss fall in love you emotionally repressed motherfuckers) COMPLETE

These Violent Delights Of Love (ao3) - cyanica

Summary: Dan is hopelessly in love, Phil’s seemingly oblivious and they’re on a world tour just to make things more chaotic.

And yet, the Gods, or the Ruler of the Universe, or whoever the hell was in charge decided Dan needed to die in the end, too. Currently, leaning over the porcelain throne of shit and piss was the Gods’ human voodoo doll, throwing up the contents of his unfortunate Indian dinner – and significantly more alarming than that: black tulips. Fucking flowers. This wasn’t real life.

waiting to be found (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: Dan and Phil meet at a club.

(And then a coffee shop.)

Who’s Taking You Home Tonight? (ao3) - whatkindoffanfics (orphan_account)

Summary: October, 1944. While World War II rages on, Dan Howell finds himself thrown into the secretive world of Bletchley Park, a headquarters for intercepting and breaking the codes of encrypted German messages.

[chrissorensen]

Wrapping up 2024 with some of the images I've been honored to have win awards or be selected for gallery shows this past year.

1) my portrait of Natalie Turturro Mettouchi for BUArts was selected for the 2024 Communication Arts Photo Annual. It also won Bronze in the Editorial Portrait category of the PX3 Paris Photo Prize and was an Editor's Pick in the 2024 LensCulture Portrait Awards.

2) our Handmaid from Wife During Quarantine won 2nd prize in the Conceptual category of the 2024 APA Awards. It was also one of 45 images selected from 2600 entries for the 2024 International Juried Exhibition of the Center for Photographic Art curated by Elizabeth Avedon.

3,4,5,6) my Dobbs1 image as well as my portraits of dance icon Twyla Tharp and National Book Award winner Colum McCann were chosen by juror Michael Foley of Foley Gallery and Leica Gallery for the 3rd Annual APA-NY Juried Exhibition at Soho Photo Gallery. And our Spring image from Wife During Quarantine was a Board Choice for the show.

7,8) our Chair and Braid images from Wife During Quarantine were chosen for the APA-LA Off the Clock competition and exhibition recognizing personal work by curator George Kocis, Director and Partner at Staley-Wise Gallery.

9,10) my portraits of voice actor Gail Shalan for BU and celebrity chef Kwame Onwuachi for WaPo won Bronzes in the Editorial Portrait category of the PX3 Paris Photo prize.

Thanks to all the curators, jurors, directors, editors, assistants and wonderful subjects who made these images possible. And of course to the lovely redhead. Happy new year all!

.

#portraitoftheday #portraitperfection #makeportraits #makeportraitsnotwar #fineartportrait #fineartportraits #editorialportrait #editorialportraits #myfujifilm #fuji #fujifilm #fujifeed #fujifilm_us #portraitmood #gfx100s #mediumformat #mediumformatdigital #portraitvision #portraitmood #portrait_vision #portrait_mood #portrait_planet #portrait_mf #godox

[denimbex1986]

'All of Us Strangers may have missed out on awards earlier in the year (no Bafta wins, no Oscar nominations) but it has won the prize that matters: the Guardian’s best film of 2024. It is the second time that director Andrew Haigh has received this accolade – 45 Years, his searing study of a marriage plunged into crisis, was the Guardian’s choice as best film for 2015.

On the face of it, the two films are sharply contrasting expressions of Haigh’s craft. 45 Years is resolutely realist in its portrait of a retired couple living in Norfolk, investing its middle-class milieu with an understated arthouse aesthetic. All of Us Strangers, meanwhile, returns to the gay themes that marked Haigh’s breakthrough Weekend, but in a shift from his past work operates in an unstable, dreamlike atmosphere that ultimately calls into question whether anything we are watching is supposed to be real.

But the two films share a powerful theme in common: the past’s hold over the present and the unnerving realisation that while we can never revisit our past, it has ways of finding us, sometimes shocking us into a new sense of ourselves.

Working in both cases from source material by other writers, Haigh alights on two brilliant conceits to explore this idea in each film.

In 45 Years, adapted from a short story by David Constantine, Geoff (Tom Courtenay) learns that the body of his old girlfriend Katya has been found more than 50 years after she fell into a crevasse in the Alps. This discovery disinters memories and passions that have lain deep inside Geoff, while his wife, Kate (Charlotte Rampling), scrambles to prevent the disintegration of a long and apparently happy marriage.

We never find out if Geoff makes the journey to see Katya, and we never see the body – but it looms large in our minds. As in Greek tragedy, the horrors of death are kept off stage, all the more to set our thoughts racing. In its ice-preserved youthfulness, Katya’s imagined body somehow rebukes the old age into which Geoff and Kate have sunk.

Kate is twice confronted with the image of the young Katya: in a photograph Geoff shows her (there is a resemblance between the two women) and then, in an unforgettable, Hitchcockian scene, through the primitive magic of a slideshow, which reveals Katya was pregnant.

Haigh finds an equally unsettling way to dramatise the collision between the past and the present in All of Us Strangers (which was inspired by a novel by Japanese author Taichi Yamada). Adam (Andrew Scott) has a series of encounters with his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) as they were when he last knew them, before they died in a car crash when he was 11. They have not aged in appearance and behave as if it is still 1987, yet recognise that Adam has got older – perhaps a little older than they are. They are unchanged artefacts from the past, just like Katya in 45 Years, unattached to the present and yet acting upon it.

Readings of All of Us Strangers vary, but it seems that these eerie meetings in Adam’s old childhood home may be visions from his subconscious as he wrestles with the devastating effects of losing his parents so young – as well, perhaps, as scenes from the script we see him starting. Haigh presents us with two intriguing thought experiments: what if you could meet people from your past and have the conversations you were never able to have? And what if you could talk to your parents now as they were when they were bringing you up, meeting as equals? These scenes are so carefully scripted and impeccably acted that what is inherently unreal feels intensely authentic.

In both films, the intrusion of ghosts from the past is highly disruptive. Kate and Geoff go through with their 45th wedding anniversary party, but we are left wondering if their marriage can survive. For Kate, the revelations about Katya have cast her life with Geoff into a disturbing new light, as if it were all built on a false premise. Kate seems to intuit that Geoff loved Katya more than her, and that this old relationship has shaped their marriage without her being aware of it.

Meanwhile, Adam’s meetings with his parents seem to have been part of a reckoning with long suppressed trauma on multiple fronts. In parallel with his home visits, he has embarked on a doomed relationship with Harry (Paul Mescal), which we come to interpret as another fantasy in which he plays out his apparently unfulfilled desire for a loving relationship with another man.

Both films threaten to bear out Oscar Wilde’s line that “one’s real life is so often the life that one does not lead”. Adam’s story is suffused with the sadness of bereavement and lost opportunities, but it could be regarded as more optimistic than Kate and Geoff’s in 45 Years. Adam seems to have undergone a kind of cathartic process, and – assuming he is still alive at the end of the film (as Scott says he is) – he has found, in the world he has conjured up in his mind, a potential path to happiness in the future. Kate and Geoff have much less time ahead of them to find an authentic way to live, whether together or – as seems more likely – apart.

But whatever future awaits his characters, Haigh seems to be reminding us that the past will always cast its shadow over us, whoever we are. You don’t have to have lost your parents in a car crash to mourn the passing of your childhood world; you don’t have to be haunted by a decades-old tragedy to be troubled by the way your life has turned out. Haigh’s innovative exploration of our vexed relationship with the past gives both these remarkable films their deep melancholy power.'

[newsfromsomewhere]

Ruth Orkin - NYC, early 1950s

Ruth Orkin was an American photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker.

Multiple award-winning Ruth Orkin began her career in 1943 In New York, where she worked as a nightclub photographer and shot baby pictures by day to buy her first professional camera. She worked for Life and other major magazines during the 1940s, taking portraits of the worlds’ greatest musicians, including Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Aaron Copland, Jascha Heifitz, Serge Koussevitzky and many others. In the 1950s she extended her remit to travel, photojournalism and film-making.

[scotianostra]

Born on December 8th 1826 on a farm in Crathie, John Brown, servant to Queen Victoria.

Brown was a servant at Balmoral at the time it was purchased by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He became Albert's personal ghillie and friend. After Albert's death in 1861, Brown was brought to court as a companion and personal servant to the grief-stricken Victoria, in hopes that his ties to her beloved Albert and Balmoral would help her emerge from her deepening gloom.

John Brown took his role as personal servant very seriously, and was devoted to Victoria and her well-being. Victoria was devoted to him in return, as he treated her unlike any of those surrounding her. Brown was honest and forthright, though this often wasn't welcomed by the queen's family and officials. Edward, Prince of Wales, was often at the receiving end of Brown's tongue. Much talk arose concerning the relationship between Brown and the Queen, and Victoria was often referred to as "Mrs. Brown". Victoria dismissed the talk as "ill-natured gossip". Stories exist even to this day that the two were secretly married, but it is most unlikely.

Brown saved the Victoria's life at least once, as during an assassination attempt in 1872. He was awarded two medals created especially for him by Victoria - the Faithful Servant Medal and the Devoted Service Medal. He wore them with the utmost pride.

Brown's devotion to the Queen would ultimately cost him his life. He contracted a severe chill, which he could have avoided had he taken to his sick bed, and died at Windsor Castle at the age of 56. Victoria kept his memory alive until her death in 1901 (a miniature portrait of Brown was buried with her), but Brown's enemies had their revenge. Edward VII destroyed any reminders of Brown, including busts, papers, and photographs. The relationship of John Brown and Queen Victoria was the subject of the award-winning 1996 film Mrs. Brown.