photography
Things I Fancy: August 10
- A few years back I heard Steve Martin play music at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Ever since then I’ve been impressed by his range of talent. I didn’t have much time to read for fun while studying for the bar exam, but I did manage to read Steve Martin’s new novel, Object of Beauty. It was a delightful book made even better by the full-color reproductions of the artwork discussed in the book.
- The week of the bar exam I wanted to read a book that was light and hopefully that would make me laugh out loud. Luckily, after being on the waiting list for months, the library informed me that it was my turn to check out Tina Fey’s new book, Bossypants. It was the perfect antidote to the stressful week and easily satisfied my goal of making me laugh out loud.
- This week I whipped up a batch of sour cherry bam and slathered it over this easy bread. Delish!
- I saw these photographs today and they made me giggle. What can be better than a juxtaposition of vintage, jello, and deadly weapons?
Did anything strike your fancy this week? Please share in the comments below, I’m always looking for new sources of inspiration.
Things I Fancy: February 21
For much of this week San Francisco finally had to confront “winter.” Here are a couple of items that struck my fancy this week and kept me happy during the past week of rain:
- I recently was introduced to The Jealous Curator and this introduction has lead to another lady blog crush. Her blog is a collection of work, that in her words makes you think “Damn, I wish I thought of that.” This week she featured Tara Donovan whose installations made of common objects like buttons, styrofoam cups, and paper plates makes me jealous.
- The last few months I’ve been collecting a little bit of handmade jewelry but I’ve not attempted to make anything. I think these little string and paperclip earrings might be the perfect first attempt. (via Craft).
- Another blog that I regularly visit for art inspiration is my love for you. This week, Meighan featured Uri Korn’s new website. I got lost in the images on the site.
- Of course, my week would not be complete without coveting some sweet treat. This weekend I whipped up a batch of whole wheat chocolate chip skillet cookies and they were fantastic. The skillet cookie is perfect for those days when you crave a cookie, but don’t want to deal with shaping individual cookies (i.e. really lazy days). I ate these all weekend while finishing up a lovely little novel, The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova.
Have you discovered anything this week that jumped out at you? Let me know below. I’m always looking for new sources of inspiration!
Joni Sternbach
©Joni Sternbach
This week my inspiration post features Joni Sternbach. I first learned of Joni’s work via the 500 Photographers project. What makes Joni’s work unique to me, is the fact that she focuses on methods less commonly used in the digital age. All of the photographs I’ve chosen to feature with this post are part of her SurfLand series and are one-of-a-kind tintypes (thus the reverse lettering). All of the tintypes are made on location with a portable darkroom. To me these methods have a textural component that is impossible to create in the digital darkroom and creates an added layer of interest.
©Joni Sternbach
Joni currently lives in Brooklyn, NY and primarily photographs in areas close to her home. In addition to being a photographer Joni has been an Adjunct Instructor in Photography for more than 20 years and currently teaches wet collodion photography workshops with ICP and the Center for Alternative Photography in New York City.
Joni entered art school as a fine art major, but after dabbling in photography for a year and a half decided to change her major and has been working in the field of photography ever since. After art school she worked as a professional black and white printer and was able to print for Mary Ellen Mark, Dennis Stock, and Danny Lyon.
Joni’s work has evolved over the years. The past ten years Joni has been making landscape-based photographs, capturing landscapes, seascapes, and the human imprint on these areas. She uses both large format film and wet collodion, either as a tintype, ambrotype, or glass negative. Joni works in an intituve way, and doesn’t aim for a specific style. She has found that her more successful photographs have a minimal amount of information, with plenty of space for the eye to travel through the photograph.
The ocean is a huge inspiration for Joni. She has returned regularly to the same locations which has lead her to examine the land and sea juncture, a subject matter in a constant state of transition, with surfers playing a pivotal role. Joni is facinated by both the physical and poetic way that they reside on the seascape. She is inspired by the people that she meets on the beach and photographs and the lifestyle that they choose to live. As a city dweller, the idea of coming to the beach several times a day, sometimes just to look, seems impossible to Joni.
©Joni Sternbach
©Joni Sternbach
I hope that you are also inspired by Joni’s work. Please scoot over to her website to see all of her amazing photographs.