Simon posing

Simon was posing yesterday for a new series of photographs by our talented Korean photographer friend Sejin Moon. I was involved as her subject in the very first shot in the series (I will let you know when images go on Sejin's website as it is her PhD project, so that you could have a look) and yesterday I was proudly helping with the styling and husband-instructing for Sejin's new photo.

I am full of admiration for Simon - the photoshoot was long, quite demanding as his pose was not the easiest one to hold and he directed the lighting setup so that it matched photographer's concept. I hope Sejin will be happy with the new image for her series!

Meanwhile between the shots...we've had some fun (this is NOT Sejin's photo idea! It is pure Simon when he is happy!):

Christmas on Instagram

These of you who follow also my other blog know now that I am posting now on Instagram as well, but as (still) not everyone has access to these feeds, some of the images will be available here as well. I am pretty much pulling Annie Leibovitz nowadays (as she famously said that she nowadays notoriously takes pictures with her iPhone) - either taking pictures with my phone (bad bad bad) or in the studio with my medium format film camera (love love love).

I am also starting to notice some patterns which suprise me but frighten me as well as  when I started this blog it's purpose was more to be a kind of a personal diary/archive rather than amassing thousands of followers! It is quite refreshing but also frightening to find myself in a community of 20-something aspiring photographers who tend to float the feeds that contain:

- pretty pictures of food (thousands of 'likes' when you post a picture of macaroons)
- cute dogs (preferably french bulldogs)
- anything by Chanel (preferably en masse)
- girls in geek glasses and bright red lipstick, preferably accompanied by a topknot hairstyle or at least a blunt fringe (I assume that the fact that not everybody can pull off a red lip makes these kind of pictures extremely aspirational. I certainly cannot pull anything bright on my lips, cannot put up a topknot due to the hair lenght issues and my glasses come out only in emergency as their lenses are so thick I look like a mole when wearing them - 3 x no!)
- overphotoshopped landscapes (especially when authors went overboard with HDR treatment)
- anything treated with a vintage yellow filter (cannot wait for this 'fashion' to blow over)
- ligth flooded interiors

That list could go on and on and I already need to make an escape.

Meanwhile some pictures that joined my feed during Christmas for you to see if you are not following.

1st image:
Top row: my scrimpy Christmass tree (I just hate when January comes people just chuck out their lovely christmas pine trees so I decided to get a miniature one this year and try to plant it somewhere after Christmas instead of throwing it into the skip!) and a faulty reindeer display. Bottom row: girls having fun at Claudine's Post-Christmas get-together (it must have been a picture of Simon in his Santa's little help headgear that made us laugh so much) and my friend Simon, who came appropriately cladded for our pre-Christmas drink at the National Galleries of Scotland cafe.

2nd image:
Top row features traditional Christmas cake (with a skidding robin) and Christmas pudding (with a brandy flame). Bottom row shows you a Christmas bubble at our friends in Haddington and an indecent snowman that Simon spotted at a farmer's market in Edinburh (well, he spotted the snowman and then quickly added the indecency from some potatoes laying around...):

Eternal Dilemma

Polish actor Lukasz Garlicki as a multi-type-incarnation of 'Warszawiak' as Poles call the inhabitants of their capital city. Usually in conflict with people from Krakow ('Krakowiak' as my ever vigilant reader Gosia told me in her message, the correct form of that noun would be 'Krakus', sorry!), a former capital city of Poland.

I think I am seeing the same division here, between people from Edinburgh ('all fur and no knickers') and Glasgow. Edinburgh might be the capital but Glasgow has the vibe and charisma. And the knife crime....

The Jonah's experience

I have found this image somewhere in the mess on my desktop and it perfectly depicts how we feel at the moment - like I was being sucked into the vortex!

Image for today's post comes from a beautiful installation by Pipilotti Rist (I luuuuuv this woman) shown at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh this summer, that I have sneakily taken on my old Olympus camera with Simon being lit just enough to be glimpsed in the botton of the frame!

December link love

About work of Taryn Simon which I am still not being fond of after seeing in the TM:

http://m.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/may/22/taryn-simon-tate-modern-interview?cat=artanddesign&type=article

What Makes British People Happy:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2011/12/what-makes-british-people-happy-sex-exercise-going-to-the-theatre.html

Great mistakes with 8x10 film:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/2011/11/great-mistakes-richard-mosse.html

A discovery at the V&A:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/6643

Gavin Evans officially opens the Institute

...and we were invited.

Gavin Evans, one of the top Scottish photographers decided to give up (at least for a moment) the photography rat race and venture into the calmer waters of artisan tea and cafe culture and he opened his cafe the Institute couple of months ago with an idea of creating a hub for all photographers and people interested in photography.

We have discovered the place just a moment after it was opened and soon we hailed it as one of our favourite places in Edinburgh to meet, chat and maybe even work a little (Simon loves working in the cafes while I prefer my home set up but I am not impartial to an odd cake and a coffee).

A lot depends on the space - there are just places which are full of light (always in demand in Scotland) and the Institute is a place like that with its huge windows and airy, calm and minimalistic interior .

However even more depends on the person behind the counter and Gavin is definitely a person who you would like to meet while having a free moment to sit in a cafe. He has loads of photographic experience and wisdom but also something that makes people to try be the better versions of themselves - in his company one relaxes, one cracks better jokes than usual (at least I do), one exchanges oppinions without dividing world into only black and white, one sees...a bigger picture (and supports The Big Issue vendor Kat).

It is a real honour to have this talented, welcoming and firendly man to put some optimism into you (and the photographers need a lot of that especially from their more successful, more experienced colleagues) and let him recommend some tea. I do not know what is the name of the tea that I am always having there but it really makes my brain ping a little brighter. I have to ask Gavin and promptly make a note in my iP.

Thank you Gavin for creating this space and long live the Institute. It has officially opened last Staurday with the exhibition of Gavin portraits of musicians ( called 'Silenced' with portraits of David Bowie, Dusty Springfield, Bjork, Tricky and...Wu-Tang Clan guys among lots of others) which will last until 18th January and then a programme of other photo exhibitions will follow.

And see you for coffee (or tea) and a good chat very soon!

Pictures courtesy of Sejin who came to see us (with John) at the opening in the most spectacular dress I have seen for a while. Go girl!  Others featured are Stripy Simon, Claudine (you know her from my 'renaissance style' portrait, she is another ubertalented photographer and my stepdaughter Liska, who we hope will venture into something more sensible than photography...).

Instagram or the world through a yellow filter

Like the world does not have enough images already: follow me @sylwiassta