Javier Vallhonrat

Photographer of the week/month/year? Madrid born Javier Vallhonrat's mystical photgraphy is so beautiful that you really just want to stare at it. I'm not sure whether it's the femininity and seduction, lighting, settings or something else but they all seem to be somewhat dream like. You know it's real, but it seems kind of fake too.

His clients include Christian Lacroix, Coca Cola, Moet et Chandon, John Galliano, Jil Sander and Lancome.

Stine Goya SS11

Fresh from Copenhagen Fashion Week, local label Stine Goya Spring/Summer 2011 presents a real fab collection. Full of colour, pattern, pastels, gold and floral head pieces, this collection is making me long for summer and high tea more than I thought I could.

"Stine Goya combines beauty and drama in edgy collections for the daring individual. Collections that don't adhere to current trends but seek authenticity and renewal, grounded in a continual identity with a distinct visual expression. This is an expression that appeals to the independent female, whose personal style is an articulation of self. A person who revels in beauty and intense surroundings, she self-assuredly combines clothing to express herself and her character." (Stine Goya website)

Images: Copenhagen Fashion Week®

Oh, and some treats from backstage...

Images: Stine Goya Studio Blog

Remarkably Cool

Booker T & the MG's - green onions - mod classic 60s

W Magazine August 2010

Sweet and Vicious is the name of this shoot in the August issue of W magazine. It is described as portraying fifties glamour and schoolgirl-meets-vixen charm and I guess it's nothing extrordinarily original - there are a lot of shoots depicting this era around at the moment.

But what makes this editorial unique is the way the school girl look sneaks into the predominatnly glamourous shoot creating a juxtaposition that illustrates those awkward teenage years of sexual exploration. The years when one first experiments with make-up and what it means to be female. I'm not sure to what extent (if at all) this shoot intended to highlight such a theme, however I feel it has and in a subtle way that reminds me of a more fierce Lux Lisbon, beautiful and troubled and deep in thought, gazing into the distance as she longs for her Trip Fontaine.

Shot by Alasdair McLellan and styled by Jane How.

Source: W Magazine

Creatures of the Wind

Chicago designers Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters are the geniuses behind the label Creatures of the Wind.

When I decided to do a little more research on this label, I came accross an article from W magazine that makes me like it even more...

Unlike many designers out there, “we’re not going for glamour,” Gabier, 35, remarks. Rather, their designs eschew slicked-up femme fatale gloss in favor of a mood more folksy and unassuming—homey frocks with a fringe overlay; a high-collar blouse that doubles as a shirtdress—with extra intrigue in the details, such as origami-esque folds. “There is,” says Peters, 25, “a kind of outsider quality we like.”

I've always enjoyed the idea of clothes pertaining some sense of uniqueness and I feel that when the designers too have this notion in mind, it really does show. High collars, baggy pants, pastels and a slightly baggy fit give the above Spring/Summer 2010 designs their sense of endearing awkwardness.

Creatures of the Wind is stocked in a shop in Chicago and also at Barneys New York and Chicago and I'm yet to find them online. So I'm not exactly sure how to get my hands on a piece just yet... (sad face)

Note: I realise these images are not from the most recent collection, but I like them most!

Sources: W Magazine Creatures of the Wind

Paul Kooiker

Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker is one of those people who takes photos of the things that no one really wants to look at. He states in Zoo Magazine (not the bogun Australian publication, the German one), that this is "inherent to the medium of photography" and that "when I photograph, I am looking through a keyhole, quite literally. The presence of the camera has the power to transform the situation at hand into a private scene. In this sense my photographs are always more than just images; they are devices to understand what I perceive to be the voyeuristic nature of photography itself. Peeping is the essence of photography."

This kind of photography appeals to me. I've always been interested in the smaller details of everyday life rather than the big obvious parts. I'd rather see a picture of someones bedside table than their wedding day. And I'm a lot more interested in looking at a picture that makes me question its purpose and meaning or the photographer's intentions over one that simply makes me go 'ahh' and flick the page.

Kooike has a number of books of his photography that I must try and get my hands on. Above are a few images from his book Hunting and Fishing. They are tame compared to some of his work of which the images are too extreme even for me.

You can see these images and more here.

I'm havin' a boogie to this..

Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours (feat. Irfane)

Graeme Mitchell

I stumbled across New York photographer Graeme Mitchell recently and have fallen in love with his work. It is so real which to me, is what makes it interesting. Check it out here.