Diary 030212

Posted on 03/02/2012 by W&V

WARMENHOVEN & VENDERBOS | Diary photo (snapshots) entry 030212

David Bailey | We’ll take Manhattan

Posted on 30/01/2012 by W&V

Recently filmmaker John McKay revisited David Bailey’s legendary 1962 trip to New York in the BBC film We’ll take Manhattan. During this trip Bailey had to shoot the photo’s for an editorial which was published in the April 1962 edition of British Vogue. He agreed to do the shoot only if the, at that time still unknown, Jean Shrimpton was his model. Bailey and Shrimpton where instructed to shoot mid-priced British fashions against the elegant landmarks and modern architectonic cityscape of Upper Manhattan. Instead of doing this David Bailey and his model Jean Shrimpton travelled with no hair or makeup artist and just his camera and an old teddy bear as prop through the more unpolished side of Manhattan. The shots he made melted raw and realistic street photography with fashion and high art and resulted in a legendary iconic series which captured the new liberated spirit of the decade.The photo’s of this shoot are later published in David Bailey: NYJSDB62 (Steidl, 2007). The film by John McKay explores the hedonistic love affair between the iconic photographer and the Sixties supermodel during this British Vogue fashion shoot.

Read more about David Bailey in this W&V blog post.

Photos by: David Bailey | David Bailey website | Photo 2 and 6 by: BBC | John McKay website

Luc Braquet | Backstage

Posted on 25/11/2011 by W&V

Backstage is a recently shot series by the French photographer Luc Braquet with a strong and interesting documentary quality. Read more about him in an earlier posted article on the Warmenhoven & Venderbos blog and see for the full series his portfolio website.

Photos by Luc Braquet | Luc Braquet portfolio website |

Diary 051011

Posted on 05/10/2011 by W&V

WARMENHOVEN & VENDERBOS | Diary photo (snapshots) entry 051011

Hiroshi Sugimoto | Colors of Shadow

Posted on 28/09/2011 by W&V

Colors of Shadow is the first conceptual photo series which artist Hiroshi Sugimoto photographed in color and it shows his continuous interrogation of photography’s intrinsic nature; of light entering into a darkened or “dimmed chamber”, however, the light source remains out of view. The work is minimalist in nature. The photographic field is emptied of any superfluous detail, allowing stillness for meditation.
Colors of Shadow seems also to mirror the white cube, the gallery space, in its perpetual rhythm to lay bare its white walls to receive the work of art. Here the works reflect its surroundings; the detail is focused on what the viewer’s eye does not generally pay attention to. Brought into focus are the corners of the space, its ceiling and walls with different hues of whites due to the slightest alteration in lighting, and their cast shadows.

Subtle play of light and shadow as well as spatial composition are central in this work by artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. He explains it as following:

”I’ve learned many things from using my hands. While I’m still not sure about the nature of light—whether it’s waves or particles—I’ve learned something about shadows. Trying to devise a way of observing shadows, this project escalated into a major undertaking, requiring an entire hilltop penthouse in a Tokyo apartment. When surfaces receive light, the light effects vary according to the angle of exposure. Selecting three distinct angles—90°, 55°, and 35°—I had the walls surfaced using traditional Japanese shikkui (plaster finishing), which absorbs and reflects light most evenly. In the morning light, the shadows play freely over the surfaces, now appearing, now vanishing. On rainy days, they take on a deeper, more evocative cast. I’ve only just begun my observations, but already I’ve discovered a sublime variety in shadow hues.”