Featured Artist: Emilie79

As is typical with me, when faced with evaluating the work of an artist that leaves me speechless and enchanted, I am full of visual cues and abstract descriptions but fail to come up with a crystal clear way of articulating how the artist's work makes me feel. And so it goes with a photographer that I discovered while absently clicking around on Flickr; her dreamy, surreal, grainy Polaroid images are like long forgotten memories that somehow come alive again via glimpsing a random everyday object or facial expression...there is a feeling of familiarity and nostalgia in her photos, although I have never seen the people or visited the places that are in them. And juxtaposing some of the images with the most appropriate of song lyrics creates a visual experience that is just...pure...magic.

Here is a bit about Emilie in her own words:
I was an 80's kid. I grew up with a classic 1000 Polaroid camera that my parents used to have, like all 80's parents. It was so much fun. But then it broke, and I never heard of Polaroid again. The name was but a vague reminiscence of childhood to me.
It wasn't until November 2006 that I rediscovered Polaroid, through Flickr - more or less randomly, as I'd never really been into photography before that. It was love at first sight. Didn't even take me a week before I ordered my first SX-70 off e-bay.
I've been quite simply addicted since then. It's been 2 years and I'm not tired yet. I will keep shooting my film with the same passion until the last pack.

There are far too many of her photos with which I am enamored to feature in one blog post; fortunately her Flickr page will give you the full gamut of ethereal beauty she captures with her beloved Polaroid cameras. Please click here to see more.

And thank you Emilie, for letting me share.

(Untitled)

340 and I, a love story

Washing Machine

Will you ever return?

Hard Days

Holga

Ghost

I will fight time and bring you back

Je pense, donc je suis...

Once

Poor Ophelia

Rue Dômat

The Earth is

Violently Happy

This is how our story ends.

Frida, Part Deux

As referenced in last Monday's blog post, the inspiration behind my recent Frida-centric state of mind is an incredibly captivating photo tribute to the great artist undertaken by my talented photographer friend Dee, and as promised here are the pics to back up that inspiration. I must admit, I'm at a bit of a loss for words to describe how these images move me. Perhaps it's the fact that the real Frida lived a life with much heartache, physical pain and emotional upheaval (as channeled through her artwork) yet for all her corporal and emotional suffering she cut a stunning, curious and spellbinding beauty. I see that mysterious and transfixing beauty in these photos, via the lovely Christina Ariz (who I would argue even "out-Fridas" Salma Hayek), and feel an inspiration one step beyond the real Frida. Enjoy, and thank you Dee for letting me share. For more pics, click here.

My very favorite (above)...

...or perhaps this one. I can't decide!

Gigantically Excited

I love finding out about great new bands, artists and designers that, while they may already be successful in their own right, are new to me, and it seems like the very best discoveries are ones that come to me in the most unexpected of circumstances. And I'm here to talk about a band that I just found out about from Brooklyn (sigh) that is just...incredible. I "discovered" them via reconnecting with a very dear friend that I haven't been in touch with since high school (rest assured it was quite some time ago) who is 1/5 of the group. So awesome to reconnect with this friend who I remember from one of the coolest periods of my life, even cooler to see him still doing something that he loves to do and kicking ass at it.

I'm terrible at describing music in terms of genres; I'm not even about to attempt that here. Just roll with me and take a listen for yourself here to (what I would describe as) the introspective, anthemic, soundtrack-to-the-indie-movie-that-is-your-life-esque sounds of Gigantic Hand and their album Permanent Skin. And thank me after.

Eddie - my old high school bud and guitarist for Gigantic Hand

Can't wait to check these guys out live in Brooklyn when the time comes. For info on the band related to shows, music and the latest news, click here to visit their MySpace page.

Ode-to-Dee

Sounds like a lovely melody, but the title of this post actually refers to Dee - friend and photographer extraordinaire (and also the genius hair stylist behind my signature choppy blond locks), and one of the most delightfully enchanting people I know. I love Dee because she is one of those types of people that has this creative zen about them, just by being around them you feel like you are absorbing this electric current of positive energy and it in turn makes you feel like going out and doing something wildly imaginative and adventurous. I aspire to see the world in the same whimsically curious way that she does, and love that I get a first-hand account of this view through her stunning photography. Oh, and she's also a fellow Pisces - an astrological "soul sister," if you will.

Like many, I'm the type of person that often struggles to express what I'm thinking and feeling in words, because words seem trivial and incapable of truly conveying my thoughts authentically. I can describe my feelings in terms of pictures though - images, activities, metaphors that physically demonstrate what's on my mind. And that is what I see when I look at Dee's work - these perfectly captured feelings of elation, conflict, beauty, introspection, romance, peace...all so perfectly disclosed with her unexpected unveiling of everyday happenings that we usually just let slip by as we get on with our routines.

Two Saturdays ago was my much anticipated Deep Ellum photo shoot for Lolafalk, and with Dee behind the camera of course it was pure zen magic. Here are some images from the shoot, as well as some of my favorite images from Dee's ongoing archive of magical Piscean adventures. To check out more of Dee's extraordinary work please click here.