SILVER AND LIGHT | IAN RUHTER

This really makes me miss the process of analog photography. I've never done this elaborate style of large scale printing but respect the devotion to the craft. Beyond the nostalgia of the process this video is really beautifully shot and tells a really compelling story. 

SILVER & LIGHT from Ian Ruhter on Vimeo.

GOTYE | EASY WAY OUT

If Michael Gondry and Tim Burton had their brains infused into a nihilist's journal entry and set to music, it may look a little like this. Worth mentioning none the less.

Found at booooooom.com

BRIEF ENCOUNTERS TRAILER | GREGORY CREWDSON

As a long time fan of Gregory Crewdson I'm really stoked to see a documentary made about his process. His work is absolutely breath taking to see in person and makes his movie production style of creating stills justified. I doubt I'll make it to SXSW this year for the premier. If it screens in San Francisco, I'll be there.

Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters Trailer from Benjamin Shapiro on Vimeo.
For more on Crewdson visit aperture.org/crewdson/ or find his work in a gallery close to you and experience it first hand.

BARNABY WARD | SOMEFIELD

The Black Harbor had a great post about Barnaby Ward, aka Somefield, last week. I was unfamiliar with the work but was instantly drawn to the solid color backgrounds, bright simple pallete, pen and ink style illustrations and most importantly pairing of fantastic monsters with unimpressed girls. It reminded me of Zak Smith's work focused through Ritalin (only offered as an observation, not a judgement on either artist's work). After further exploration of the work I had to share. He has a great comic on his site, Sixteen Miles to Merrick, that I am excited to return to shortly. For more from SOMEFIELD visit here and RSS Black Harbor when you get a chance.

SOMEFIELD ON BLACK HARBOR

SEED | STOP MOTION ANIMATION

This short animated film by Ben Richardson and Daniel Bird was the highlight of my morning. Their 11 minute piece is an exploration of evolution fueled by competition and won Best Animated Short at Slamdance 2010.

"An egg and an apple build competing broadcast towers that vie for the attention of a transistor radio. With its complex characterization and narrative of animal evolution, competition and reproduction, SEED is a beautiful and sinister stop-motion story about the struggle to survive." - Seed Movie Vimeo Channel.

Found on FUBIZ.net

JIM SANBORN | PHOTOGRAPHY

I ran across the work of Jim Sanborn last night right before turning in for bed. The images remained heavy in my memory as I drifted off to sleep before I arose a few hours later to look at them again. These images are from his work titled The Topographic Projections and Implied Geometries Series.  According to the description on his website the images are shot on moonless nights with a large projection almost a 1/2 mile away from the subject/landscape. I can only speculate on the intricacies of his process from location selection, exposure length and camera selection.

The flatted distortion from the projected light on the landscape reminds me of cast light from the headlights of a car on a empty road. The geometric patterns counter act the flattened distortion by bringing depth back into the images instilling a surreal dream quality to these night photographs.

For more on Sandorn visit his website jimsanborn.net

Found on TODAYandTOMORROW.NET

KEVIN COOLEY | PHOTOGRAPHY

Kevin Cooley's works are beautiful and surreal with an isolated transcendentalism feeling to them. His landscapes are calm observations of nature with and without the influence of man. I love the combination of long exposures and the introduction of light. His work featuring the human element is also quite compelling. The vastness of our environment when put to scale by a single human form is a reminder of how small we truly are. For more of his work please visit his website and take the time to watch the videos he has there of the pink raft and the flights out of JFK Airport.

http://www.kevincooley.net/

TNF LOOK BOOK | JAPAN

In September I started working for The North Face. [I'm the Photo and Video Coordinator and my role is to create product photography and videos for our website, TheNorthFace.com, and for internal and external marketing use. The role has been beyond rewarding and I'm very happy with the work I'm doing and the teams I'm collaborating with.] While discussing brand design and direction with a coworker recently the TNFlook.com site came up. TNFlook is a Japanese version of The North Face. It is run separately and independently from the brand I work with daily. I like the styling, aesthetic and functionality of the TNFlook site. Below are screen captures from the sites animations showing the products layering story. These styles of animations have gained a bit of notoriety and hipster acclaim lately. I too have dabbled in these animations in both my IandI series and Press-X series. I really enjoy the bold difference in the brand interpretation and the site experience.

Note how great one can look with a tie and a jacket from The North Face. [A reference only one who knows how much I miss wearing a tie daily will understand]

The site has a travel gallery feature that includes images taken from around the world. I love images like this from the casual observer or amateur photographer. I used to work in a printing lab in Lawrence, Kansas and always enjoyed seeing vacation photos from places I've never been.

MICROWHAT | PHOTOGRAPHY

I just started following a great tumblr called Microwhat. It's a simple equation. object + microwave X time = microwhat.
Visit microwhat.tumblr.com for more.

SIENNA FREEMAN | COLLAGES

I ran across Sienna Freeman's work in a post from Hi Fructose Magazine earlier this year. Freeman combines her own photography and drawings with found imagery and materials in resin. Her works remind me of Terry Gilliam's animations yet where Gilliam's work uses non sequitur campy humor Freeman's work juxtaposes surreal sexual imagery with implied psychological tones. Her work is featured currently at "Spirit Board," A Ouija themed group show at Loved To Death's Articulated Gallery in the Upper Haight. I'm looking forward to heading there this week to see the work first hand.

For more of her work visit her website or on her Flickr gallery.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC | AURORA BOREALIS

I'm grown a bit obsessed with the aurora borealis. I partially blame Neil Young's Pocahontas and my hope that I'll bump into him one day in Half Moon Bay now that I've been spending more time down there with my in-laws. Regardless of where the strange attraction comes from I really love this video from National Geographic. This time lapse of the Northern Lights in Norway is like nothing I've seen before. I hope one day to see this natural phenomenon in person, maybe while listening to Neil Young.

AS A FOLLOW UP: I found this video from a flight over the Earth from August to October 2011 on the International Space Station. Credits below pasted and reposted from the Michael König's Vimeo page.

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

Music: Jan Jelinek | Do Dekor, faitiche back2001
w+p by Jan Jelinek, published by scape Publishing / Universal
janjelinek.com | faitiche.de

Image Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory,
NASA Johnson Space Center, The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
eol.jsc.nasa.gov

Editing: Michael König | koenigm.com

Shooting locations in order of appearance:

1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East
10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

MATHIAS LACHAL | ANIMATIONS

No idea the back story on this artist. However, I really like his animations and the visuals speak for themselves. I found Range Ton Bazar on FUBIZ and the rest of his videos on Mathais Lachal's Vimeo page.

Range Ton Bazar from Mathias Lachal on Vimeo.

Cuisine (Kitchen) from Mathias Lachal on Vimeo.

View more of Lachal's work here

ANDREW HEM | PAINTINGS

Andrew Hem is a Cambodian painter living in Los Angeles. According to his website he fled Cambodia with his parents after the Khmer Rouge Genocide. I love the color palette, the hues of blue are really comforting and I like the minor distortions in his figure work. His layering of elements between foreground and background add a dreamlike collage that I've been drawn to lately. For more work from Hem check out his website and RSS his blog.

EXPERIENCE ZERO GRAVITY | BETTY WANTS IN

It's either the amount of outdoor adventure videos I've been working with my new job with The North Face or the slow motion of these base jumpers floating in the sky that really draws me into this piece. From INFINITYLIST.COM comes a very intense exhibition of free falling caught from cameras on the jumpers themselves. If you're prone to vertigo, sit down for this one.

NATHAN SEABROOK | YUBA DIAMOND VIDEO

I wanted to share a video by Nathan Seabrook that I've found inspiring. Seabrook is an artist, photographer and budding director here in San Francisco. I've known and worked with him for over a year or so now and his passion is really compelling. His vision in his newest piece, a music video for Yuba Diamond, is told through old fashioned film techniques including stop motion animation and projecting backgrounds. I only saw this piece in the making for a couple of hours one afternoon which was a fraction of the time he invested. For more of Seabrook's work visit his Vimeo page.