Love In NYC

Hi All! Hope you are having a good week. 

Yesterday I decided to work on the The Museum of Messages.  As a creative I am inspired by expressions that are written all over the city. Since I am a photographer I feel that it is my duty to document these words because they have a very short life span. 

The Museum of Messages has its very own website. Yesterday I posted a few photos about love in NYC. 

Additionally their is a section on my studio website in which you can see some of the photos in a different format. 

I hope you enjoy!

In 10 days, Saturday September 24, 2011, my Photo and Design Exhibition will end at Miwa Alex, 24 E. 22nd Street between Park Avenue South and Broadway.

It started July 18, 2011 and has had a positive response. See designs and photography created in the studio. Also see photos from The Museum of Messages.

It is a lovely time of year to walk around the city. If you are in the Flatiron District, don't forget to go check the show out.

Opinions are welcome. Have a nice day!

Technological Waste in Ghana - Photo Opening at Yossi Milo Gallery Tonight 9/8/11 6-8 pm

 Pieter Hugo

Permanent Error

September 8–October 29, 2011

Artist’s Reception & Book Signing- http://bit.ly/pJ4KoW

Thursday, September 8, 6:00–8:00 pm

Yossi Milo Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of color photographs by Pieter Hugo, entitled Permanent Error. The exhibition will open on Thursday, September 8, and close on Saturday, October 29, with an opening reception for the artist and book signing on Thursday, September 8, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. This is the artist’s third solo exhibition at the gallery.

Pieter Hugo’s new series, Permanent Error, depicts Agbogbloshie, a massive dump site for technological waste on the outskirts of Ghana’s capital city, and the locals who burn down the components to extract bits of copper, brass, aluminum and zinc for resale. Tons of outdated and broken computers, computer games, mobile phones and other e-waste are shipped to the area as “donations” from the West, under the guise of providing technology to developing countries. Rather than helping to bridge the digital divide, the equipment is transformed into noxious trash threatening the health of the area’s inhabitants and contaminating the water and soil.

Gray plumes of smoke rise from smoldering piles of disassembled monitors, motherboards and wiring, providing an apocalyptic backdrop for Hugo’s portraits of the workers. The subjects, many of whom are young men sent by their families from impoverished outlying villages, are photographed full-figure and directly engaged with Hugo’s medium-format camera. With each portrait, Hugo draws the viewer into the conditions imposed on this slum community and their effects on individuals. Collectively, the photographs expose consequences of the West’s consumption of ever-new technology and its disposal of outmoded products in poor countries ill-equipped to recycle them.

Pieter Hugo’s work was recently on view at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia; and the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland. A mid-career retrospective exhibition curated by Wim van Sinderen will open in February 2012 at The Hague Museum of Photography, The Netherlands, and will travel through 2014. Mr. Hugo received the 2008 Discovery Award at the Rencontres d'Arles Festival and the 2008 KLM Paul Hauf Award. His work is held in the permanent collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne; Huis Marseille, Amsterdam; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, among others. The artist’s previous books, The Hyena & Other Men (2007) and Nollywood (2009) were published by Prestel, which released Permanent Error in March 2011. Pieter Hugo was born in South Africa in 1976 and currently lives and works near Cape Town.

Shake It Up - New Photo Design By Helena V. Studio

This week I visited the http://www.pylones-usa.com/ store in Grand Central Station in NYC and was drawn to Mrs. Salt + Mr. Pepper. I photographed them in my studio a few days ago and created an ad, attached above, that I plan on submitting to Pylones for review.

I thought to share a little about my production process because some of you may be wondering "how did she create that?". If you are curioius, read on, if not, I hope you like the composition.

In brief, I printed out "You Can't Eat Money", one of my photos from The Museum of Messages, at 16"x20" and then created a set with my Hasselblad camera, Broncolor lights, reflectors, diffusers and lastly I tethered my camera to my Apple MacBook Pro. After shooting several compositions I chose the sharpest, best lit option and then, in post production, I created the ad above in Adobe Photoshop.

You may see it at a larger scale at http://www.helenavstudio.com/.

If you'd like to share your opinion, shoot me an email at helena@helenavstudio.com, as I would very much like to hear your thoughts.

Discover Great Photography At Oneeyeland.com

If you haven't heard of http://oneeyeland.com/, I'd like to introduce you.

Following is a little info about this photo hub:

Geography:

One Eyeland is a place you won't find on Google Map. It is an island in the virtual world, inhabited by people who shoot for a living.

History:

Founded by award winning lensman Sharad Haksar in AD 2008, out of a whim to create a dark room large enough to fit photographers of every hue.

Climate:

Known to be very warm. Especially to those who revel in talking with pictures. 

People:

Citizens of One Eyeland have a penchant for saying cheese. They are known to splurge unusual amounts of time and money flirting with large format cameras, digital backs, tripods, lights and lenses.

One Eyeland is for the photographers, by the photographers and of the photographers. It is a place where every soul has one birthright: right to visual delight.

Helena V. Studio - New Logo - Do you like it?

Hi All -

Happy Friday! I designed a new logo for my studio. You can see it at my website or at the top of my blog.

http://www.helenavstudio.com/

Do you like it? Your opinion is very much appreciated.  I look forward to hearing from you.

-Helena V.