He's 18. And Boy Can He Shoot. Surreal Portraits By Photographer Alex Stoddard.

Alex Stoddard (and remember the name because I'm sure you'll be hearing it a lot more in the future) was born in 1993 in Jacksonville, Florida. He began taking self-portraits only two years ago at the age of sixteen in the woods behind his Georgian home.

Here's a look at some of his compelling work, many of which are self-portraits:














His work focuses on the human form and the process of infusing it with natural surroundings. His 'fine art' section of his site contains photographic images that are very surreal, unusual and more inventive than his 'portraits' section which contains shots that, while lovely, are more traditional and expected.

See more of his work here.
Alex is currently based in Orange, California.

Smart, Subtle and Simple Ad Campaign For Hot Wheels Vintage Collection.

A nice campaign for Hot Wheels Vintage Collection shot by Sean Eng for Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai. The simple photographic image in the following three print ads tells a narrative that we can all relate to. No product shot and no copy necessary. When's the last time you saw that?

Drawers:

Refrigerator:

Sofa:



Credits:
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai, India
National Creative Directors: Abhijit Avasthi, Rajiv Rao
Group Creative Director: Sukesh Kumar Nayak
Art Directors: Pratheeb Ravi, Vinit Sanghvi, Swaroop Sankar
Copywriter: Sukesh Kumar Nayak
Producer: Emily Ho, Eric Gan / Studio 31
Photographer: Sean Eng / Studio 31
Retoucher / Production: Studio 31

Hello Gorgeous. Renuzit's New Sexy Ad Campaign For Fresh Accents Air Fresheners.

Philadelphia ad agency Red Tettemer & Partners is reverting to the old 'sex sells' strategy (and taking pages from Old Spice and Charisma's playbooks) with their new campaign for Renuzit's Fresh Accents air fresheners. Pec-baring men are hawking the new designer air fresheners in 'After The Rain' and 'Rasberry' scents.

Ryan McGinley Shoots Edun's First Ad Campaign Using Six Species Of Butterfly.

Founded by Bono and Ali Hewson in Spring 2005, Edun was launched as a for-profit fashion brand to raise awareness of the possibilities in Africa and encourage the industry to do business there.



With the aim of creating a global fashion brand and making beautiful clothing, Edun is committed to developing trade with Africa and encouraging others to do the same. Based on a belief that style should have substance, Edun sources globally so that as its business grows so does its production and work in Africa.


above: One of the new dresses from Edun's Spring Summer 2012 Collection

Now, since the inception of the brand, they will be launching their fist ad campaign shot by photographer Ryan McGinley. The six images, shown below, feature six species of butterfly that are all indigenous to Africa.






“We really wanted to capture the essence of Edun, and of what inspires the brand, which is duality and transformation,” said Edun's Ali Hewson in a phone interview with WWD from Africa. She added that it was time to tell Edun’s story through a campaign, and to build on the momentum of the brand, which is posting double-digit growth each season.

WWD reports that the campaign will break in the March issues of titles including Italian, French and U.S. Vogue; Vanity Fair; Dazed & Confused; AnOther; T The New York Times Magazine, and the Sunday Times of London. Short “blink videos” will appear on Edun.com and via social media outlets. A launch event is set to take place during New York Fashion Week.

Edun’s chief executive officer, Janice Sullivan, said the brand is also expanding internationally: The company, which is 49 percent owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is negotiating a distribution agreement with Itochu in Japan, and planning to open a pop-up shop in Harvey Nichols on Wednesday. It will open a pop-up shop at Le Bon Marché in Paris at the end of March, and for spring it will begin being carried at Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus.

Currently Edun is sold globally in leading department and specialty stores and online.



Ad Photography Credits:
creative director: Sharon Wauchob
creative consultant: Jefferson Hack
photographer: Ryan McGinley

Drowning In Brands. Underwater Rosae Still Life Logo Series by Alexander James.

A series of identifiable and popular brand logos comprised of red roses and photographed underwater using the subtle light distortions of the water's own energy. From Louis Vuitton to Nike, the rose logos were captured 'in camera' without the use of post production, either traditional or digital.

Apple:


By taking the red roses, a symbol of unrelenting love, and juxtaposing against a deep dark void, London based photographer Alexander James is making a social commentary on how we ourselves are drowning in a society dominated by a reverence towards branding and celebrity.

Chanel:

McDonalds:

Louis Vuitton:

Mercedes Benz:

Gucci:

Nike:

Volkswagon:

Yves Saint-Laurent:

Fendi:

Givenchy:

images courtesy of the artist and Distil Ennui Studio

About Alexander's work practice in his own words:
"My photographs are always presented ‘as-shot’ without post production either traditional or digital. It is this dedication to ‘in camera’ purity that establishes a predominant focal point for my practice.

The quality of the work and the purity of the process is paramount, distilling elements out with the use of deep blacks; hoping to convey rich layers of meaning in what at first appear deceptively simple images.

Distil Ennui; def... to extract the essence and beauty of life to appease world weariness."

Alexander James is represented by Pertwee Anderson & Gold

Finger Lickin' Landscapes. Photos of Edible Environments by Carl Warner.

Photographer Carl Warner creates miniature worlds crafted entirely of food, textiles or other objects and then photographs them. Today I want to share with you his Foodscapes, as he calls them. Meat mountains, broccoli trees, cabbage seas, chocolate rivers and cereal leaves are just some of the fun elements in the dioramas. Made with most things edible, the landscapes and buildings have obvious commercial applications, but some are just as appetizing to gaze upon. He even sells photographic prints of them (links to purchase the prints, a book and the new wall calendar are at the end of this post).

About creating his Foodscapes, Carl says:
The ‘Foodscapes’ are created in Carl’s London studio where they are built on top of a large purpose built triangular table top. The scenes are photographed in layers from foreground to background and sky as the process is very time consuming and so the food quickly wilts under the lights. Each element is then put together in post production to achieve the final image.

“Although I’m very hands on with my work, I do use model makers and food stylists to help me create the sets. I tend to start with a drawing which I sketch out in order to get the composition worked out, this acts as a blue print for the team to work to.”

Once the drawing is agreed upon, Carl then works out what each part of the scene will be made from, and working with his food stylist they together determine the best ingredients to work with in order to achieve his aims.

“I tend to draw a very conventional landscape using classic compositional techniques as I need to fool the viewer into thinking it is a real scene at first glance, it is the realisation that the scene is in fact made of food that brings a smile that brings a smile to the viewer, and for me that’s the best part”

Having worked for many years as a photographer bringing ideas to life for advertising agencies Carl became very experienced in lighting, and especially the recreation of natural looking light using a combination of tungsten and flash lighting equipment.

“I’ve always enjoyed the discipline of working in the studio, and the spontaneity of working outdoors in natural light, as you never know what you’re going to get. With my ‘Foodscapes’ I can now put together the knowledge of natural light with the control of recreating it in the studio in order to bring out the colours and textures as well as the beauty of a scene”

These images can take up to two or three days to build and photograph and then a couple of days retouching and fine tuning the images to blend all the elements together. Carl spends a lot of time planning each image before shooting in order to choose the best ingredients to replicate larger scale shapes and forms within nature, so he spends a lot of time staring at vegetables in supermarkets which makes him seem a little odd! However, he is careful to point out that finding the right shaped broccoli to use as a tree is an all important task.

“Although there is a fair amount of waste, there is a lot of food left over which is always shared out with the team, though most of the food used in the sets have either been super glued or pinned and none of this makes for good eating!”

About Carl:

Born in Liverpool, 1963 Carl has spent most of his life drawing and taking pictures. He has worked mainly in the advertising industry for the past twenty years, based at his London studio, and now lives with his long suffering wife and four children in the Kent countryside.




A book of his Food Landscapes was published last year and shows 'behind the scenes' pictures of Carl at work as well as descriptions in his own words of how they were inspired and created. And a new 2012 Wall Calendar featuring his Foodscapes is also available.



You can buy prints of some of his amazing Foodscapes here.

See all of his various types of photography at his website