Underwater Photography by Alix Malka

Underwater photography is actually not a new concept in the world of photography. William Thompson in 1856, based on the record, takes the first underwater photos using a camera mounted on a pole. In subsequent periods many names popping successfully introduced this kind of concept, from Louis Boutan, John Ernest Williamson, until Bruce Mozert, which emerged in the 1930s. Underwater photography can be done with a variety of purposes, such as science or conceptual, including fashion photography which began to enter the underwater world. 

Alix Malka, certainly is one of the few fashion photographers who should be at the forefront of ever doing underwater shots. Born in the south of France and got his fine art degree in Aix en Provence, Malka moved to New York in 2002 and started his fashion and beauty photography career in earnest. It was worth putting his work after a series of photographs "Fairy Tales Come Alive" by Zena Holloway. Some of the photos you see here have also been published in a Japanese magazine, Numero Tokyo. 

Seeing all of his final touch, let's go back to its roots: exposure to the beauty of the dresses used looks well executed. This is an advantage of the underwater shot, where the overall flow always seems more dramatic. The water naturally move existing elements in a more slow and smooth better than the wind. Flat expression of the model with closed eyes is very safely take, this would make our first focus will be on the dress, rather than the model's gaze. Firmness of body gestures, checked! Obviously this is the result of collaboration between the models with Malka who managed to capture the best moments.

His perfectionism took him to the top. He has quickly become involved with prestigious magazines such as Numéro, Harper’s Bazaar, Flair and numerous international editions of Vogue. His first exhibition was “In Fashion Photo / Art Basel 2009” followed by an exhibition in a Soho Gallery in New York 2010. Today he is one of the most in demand photographers by the international magazines, who draws inspiration from the like of Pedro Almodovar and John Water, and designers like Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.  

Cubism - Make-up Art by Alex Box

Make-up: Aquacolour Make-up 070 White, £7.99, Kryolan; Powder Blusher in Hussy, £16.50,Illamasqua; Illusions D’Ombres De Chanel in Emerveille, £22.50, Chanel; Crayon Intense Eyeliner White, £16.50, Dolce & Gabbana; Powder Eye Shadow in Feline, £15.50, Illamasqua; Purity Nail Varnish, £13.50, Illamasqua (Source: http://www.stylist.co.uk)

Art and make-up, its the same blur as art and fashion, or even art and architecture, the art is universal, interrelated to each other with a lot of aspects. The work that you see above is probably the proof of the universality of art. Created by make-up artist and Illamasqua's Creative Director Alex Box. This one work made ​​on human skin, taking Cubism as its theme, an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Geometric lines clearly revealed through color contrast which is dominated by red and white, with purple as an accent. Also can be seen a bit of glitter effect, bringing a dramatic and futuristic look. What makes this work more special, is a touch of Alex, which really makes it look like a painting, could outwit anyone who saw it for the first time. Aside from her "Picasso", this work somehow looks like a combination of two other famous painting, The Mona Lisa (La Gioconda or La Joconde), a half-length portrait of a woman by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci and the famous painting Girl with a Pearl Earring (Dutch: Het Meisje met de Parel) by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. This is not the only work of Alex, below are a few other works with a variety of themes, from top to bottom, here they are...

BAROQUE

 Make-up: Single Shadow in Etrusque, £16.50, NARS; Precision Ink in Alchemy, £17, and Pressed Powder in White, £19.50, Illamasqua; Bare Minerals Rose Radiance, £19, Bare Escentuals; PowderBlush in Smouldering Plum, £19, Clinique; Gloss d’Armani 502, £21, Giorgio Armani. (Source: http://www.stylist.co.uk)

DADAISM

 Make-up: Diorskin Nude Fluid Foundation in Ivory, £29.50, Dior; Sheer Finish Pressed Powder, £22, Bobbi Brown; New York Dream Touch Blush in Plum, £6.49, Maybelline; Artliner, £19.90,Lancôme; Lipstick in Box, £15.50, and Sealing Gel, £10.50, Illamasqua. 
(Source: http://www.stylist.co.uk)

POSTMODERNISM

 Make-up: Poudre Universelle Compacte, £28, Chanel; Gleam Cream, £23, Illamasqua; Pure Colour Eye Shadow in Sepia Sand Satin, £16, Estée Lauder; Eyeliner Cake in Mislead, £15.50, Illamasqua; Double Wear Stay-In-Place Gel Eyeliner, £15.50, Estée Lauder; Color Sensational The Shine in Cherry Candy, £7.19, Maybelline. (Source: http://www.stylist.co.uk)

   ROMANTICISM

Make-up: Poudre Universelle Compacte, £28, Chanel; Gleam Cream, £23, Illamasqua; Pure Colour Eye Shadow in Sepia Sand Satin, £16, Estée Lauder; Eyeliner Cake in Mislead, £15.50, Illamasqua; Double Wear Stay-In-Place Gel Eyeliner, £15.50, Estée Lauder; Color Sensational The Shine in Cherry Candy, £7.19, Maybelline. (Source: http://www.stylist.co.uk)

The Vyner Studio - Call for Artists / Exhibiting Opportunity

Submit before: 31st of May

Media/s: Painting, Drawing, Printing, Illustration, Graphic, Calligraphy

Exhibition Date: 6th of June - First Thursday June 2013

Max. number of works permitted: 8

Min. size: No minimum

Max. size: 200 x 200 cm.

Presentation: Preferably  framed. The Vyner Studio have aluminium black frames that can be rented for the exhibition. You can request the prices directly to them.

Delivery of works: 4th of June

Collection date: 8th of May (Saturday) 10-1 pm,

Fee per work exhibited: 10 GBP

Commission taken by the gallery: 30% on the artist’s price.

E-mail:  submissions@thevynerstudio.co.uk

Subject: “Painting, drawing and printing June 2013”

What The Vyner Studio need from you:

Name:

Website/Blog:

Media/s: (photo, painting, illustration, video, design, sculpture)

Twitter: (not a problem if you don't have one of course)

Note: If your artist statement and cv are not on your main site you can add them as a pdf on this e-mail.

*If you want to receive The Vyner Studio submissions for artists regularly subject: "I want to receive all submissions from The Vyner Studio"

When you e-mail The Vyner Studio, you will receive an automated answer. The Vyner Studio receive many applications and they will try to get back to you asap.

The Vyner Studio

1 Vyner Street

London E2 9DG
Website l Facebook l Twitter

"Musical Instruments" - Free Standing Bronze Sculptures by Armand Pierre Fernandez

Faced with this one sculpture collection, it seems I'm looking at paintings in the style of cubism which is quite brilliant, but in fact what I see is a series of sculptural works of a French-born American artist Armand Pierre Fernandez (1928-2005). In the series "Musical Instruments", he presented a wide variety of musical instrument sculptures shaped, mostly guitar, with the material used is bronze. In my view, he seemed to realize his imagination about the components that make up an object, in this case music instruments, which basically had been created with the physical form which is beautiful and artistic. Certainly not easy to sort out the beauty of the shape of the instrument to be restated as a distinct form which still has a beautiful appearance, but Armand did it. It's like looking at a split 3D puzzle with clear lines, moving in all directions, but still beautiful to behold.

I've visited his website, and found a lot of his amazing work, not all are in the style of "cubism" as I look at the three works below. Some of my other favorites from this series are Stelle Violin, Mother and Child, plus his Accord Final from the series of Arman's Orchestra.

ARMAN BIOGRAPHY (1928 – 2005)

“I specialize very much in… everything,” the French-born American artist Arman told an interviewer in 1968. “I have never been — how do you say it? A dilettante.” Regarded as one of the most prolific and inventive creators of the late 20th century, Arman’s vast artistic output ranges from drawings and prints to monumental public sculpture to his famous “accumulations” of found objects. His work—strongly influenced by Dada, and in turn a strong influence on Pop Art—is in the collections of such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

SEE MORE OF HIS WORK AND BIOGRAPHY via www.arman.com

Written by,

@prayudiutama

Photos Combined with Sketches

Combining sketch and photograph? If we talk about it 3 years ago may still be sound not familiar, but now with the emergence of modern artists who apply these concepts in their work, it seems not a new concept anymore. Ben Heine, an artist from Belgium who I interviewed last year (read again here) may be one of the pioneers who managed to bring this concept perfectly. It is undeniable, "Pencil vs. Camera" is a masterpiece, not only about the work itself, but the overall packaging that Ben gave to the whole series. Combination of real photos and pencil (which can also be done through the software such as Photoshop. How? find out here) is a result of the exploration of the imagination of the creator, so every artist can have different styles though using the same tool and technique. This kind of work is always able to lead the audience into the artist’s imagination. In 2013, we found two other artists, which I think do this well, they are Dan Lester, a young artist based in Leeds, England and Sébastien Del Grosso, a photographer based in Ecouen, France. Next we will look at both their works...

Dan Lester

Most of his work took a plain background with shades of warm beige.. not elaborate sketches, but somehow the whole combination made ​​by Dan could be seen to be so attractive, look soft and very pleasant in my eyes, though he drew his legs as the legs of the monster. Danny took his picture and some of his friends as the focus of this project, create an imagination about what might happen to them, which perhaps not possible in the real world. One of my favorites is the one where he made another version of himself who were strangling himself, ok confusing .. just look at the picture! looks very much alive. Apparently, not so much editing on the original image, making it look so natural, plus the proper placement and composition while sketches made with simple lines. Even one simple stroke seems to have been considered enough for him. For me personally, it makes it seem not so "popping up", but the end result makes it not so important anymore. Warm and fun, Well done! 

Get to know more about Dan, find him on Tumblr!

Sébastien Del Grosso

Now about "The sketch of a life" by Sébastien Del Grosso. Taking a gray background with light centered in the middle, making our view be focused to the displacement of the original photo to sketch. It seems he took a realistic theme, not about his ideas, but more to its application, it can be seen from the sketches that close to the actual shape, it's like being continued, except for one of his works which he drew another figure as a rabbit, one of my favorites! Scratches on his sketch looks bold, and it seems that he outsmarted by changing the contrast of the original photo. What a good idea, because in the end result, all can be seen together in harmony. However for Sébastien  I hope to see more versions, more "rabbits", perhaps?

"Catch & Sketch" - Behind the scene.

In this series "The sketch of a life", I wanted to illustrate my life, like my sketches gave birth to each of his actions or by intervension of someone I are close (for example in “sketch your mentor” with the intervention of my grandmother who taught me in the drawing), or events that have been important to me (like in “sketch the life” with the birth of my daughter “Cataleya”), but also with something a little more humorous (in “Catch & Sketch” for example with the intervention of my friend Cal Redback, or in “sketch and fight” with a battle of two artists with each his technique).

"Self sketch"

"The power of the sketch"

"Sketch your mentor"

"Catch & Sketch"

"Sketch your (x) dreams"

More about Sébastien's work, find him on: Facebook and 500px

Written by,

@prayudiutama

Todd Anthony Tyler for #VA3rdAnniversary

Todd Anthony Tyler is regarded by fashion insiders as a pre-eminent photographer and art director. He is also resident photographer and judge on Asia’s Next Top Model. For more information about his work, please visit www.toddanthonytyler.com