photography

A New Career Path- #ExpressU

Hello everyone! I’m Cameron Kira Thomas, a senior Advertising major in the Art Direction track, and I’m a student brand ambassador for Express. Express is an American fashion retailer with over 600 national stores focusing on high-quality professional and casual apparel. The ambassador program titled #ExpressU gives students the opportunity to host on-campus events, create social media content promoting the brand, and give promotional presentations to fashion related organizations on campus. During my time in this program, I have gained a significant amount of clarity and connections that have helped me determine my path post-grad.

First Photoshoot Experience

Hello fellow advertising bloggers!

I am an intern at our very own Fox School of Business / School of Tourism Hospitality. I am working in the PR department, helping with general creative production. I help with editing/designing posters, designing/editing e-blasts, editing down photos to be sent out, photo archiving, and I even helped on a photo shoot! Since I am an advertising, creative track major, I am finding this internship extremely helpful.

Hidden Message in Ad for Children at Risk

A friend of mine posted a video on their Facebook about an ad that really caught my eye because of the deep thought and idea execution of the designers behind it. The ANAR Foundation is a Spanish child-advocacy organization that has an anonymous telephone line for teens and children who are under a risk situation. For the international day against child abuse, Grey Spain worked with ANAR to design an ad that would be able to target the teens and children, even while they are with the adults or parents that may be their aggressors. The ad was designed using lenticular printing to send different messages to children and adults. The children’s view is only visible to children under ten because of the level of their eye sight. The ad appears plain to the adult view, but in the child view reveals a bruised face. The ad features the hotline’s number as well as the copy, “If somebody hurts you, phone us, and we’ll help you.” I think its an incredibly difficult message to send out to children and teens who are constantly with their aggressor, so targeting them in a way that is so straightforward is risky, yet really needed to reach the children who need help and access to this hotline.

Evian’s “Baby & Me”

Evian strikes gold with another spot focusing on their “Live Young” branding and providing us with yet again a video featuring adorable babies, Evian’s signature. This time, instead of just showing the inner child that Evian’s water brings out in drinkers because of the pure quality, the brand decided to take the story a step further and have the adults actually meet their inner child. The casting for this campaign was spot on in both the commercial and print applications. Above you can see the dancing, youthful, children as they meet and below you can catch a glimpse of how the campaign is shown through print. Overall I think it’s a cheerful attitude that stick’s true to Evian’s previous advertising. And the use of cute adorable babies in ads is always a winner in my books.

Read more on Evian’s “Baby & Me”…

Word Press Launches Portfolio Builder Site

As we are all learning, an online portfolio is a must in this industry. And if your anything like me, the idea of building (or coding… AHH!) your own website is a terribly intimidating idea. Well Word Press just made this a little bit easier for us. If you have never worked with WP, it is essentially an easier website building platform that helps you to manage, create, and customize any website to cater to your needs.

Anja Verdugo: Photographer & designer

“Anja Verdugo lives and works in Portland, Oregon. As a photographer she creates film and digital images, working for local and international designers. Her personal work is often rooted in nature and feminine expression.”

Rebecca Cairns: Photographer

Rebecca Cairns is a photographer from Toronto, Canada but now lives and works in Berlin. Her work reminds me a lot of Francesca Woodman’s and I wouldn’t be surprised if she is a inspiration to her. She does a lot of self portraits which I can really respect because that is probably the hardest thing for me to do. She does it well, and creates an extremely emotional and slightly uncomfortable feeling. I also love her processes. To me, a lot of it looks like a mistake in the developing process but she embraces it and makes it her own.

Vivian Maier

As you may have read in my last post, I had the opportunity to view original Vivian Maier Photos at the AIPAD photography show. I learned about Vivan last year, and her story is one of a kind. Of course, she wasn’t famous when she was alive. Maier died in 2009, just before her thousands upon thousands of negatives were discovered. In fact, she never even saw many of her own photographs. She was a nanny/housekeeper by profession, and street photographer in her free time. It seems like every photo she took was a work of art, which is rare for a street photographer. She shot mostly black and white medium format film (which is what I mostly shoot) but if you take a look at her few color photos, they are stunning. I would have to say they are probably my favorite, but it’s hard to play favorites with her work.

AIPAD photo show

This weekend I have the incredible opportunity to attend the AIPAD (The Association of International Art Dealers) Photo show in New York City. The show was held at the Park Ave. Armory and panel discussions were held throughout the day on Saturday. One of the panels I attended was “A Celebration of Franchesca Woodman”. I was extremely excited about this because her work is a big influence in mine. My work isn’t quite as eerie, but her use of space is similar to how I work. Before attending this panel, I didn’t know much about her except for the fact that she committed suicide when she was 22 years old. It is such a shame, because she was truly an amazing artist.

Alberto Seveso

To be honest, I am only intrigued by one of Alberto’s series of works. But hey, to each his own, right?

I’ve seen this done plenty of times, but these are just stunning. It’s amazing how something so simple can be so intriguing. Ink and water is all you need. Well that, and a fast lens of course.

Scout & Catalogue

I’m not entirely sure how I came across this, but I guess that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that that photography is just my type, and this is a little bit of a selfish post. Honestly, what attracted me to Scout & Catalog were the photos, but then I looked at the fashion and it made it 10x better!

Brooke Shaden, Photographer

I discovered Brooke Shaden on the evening news in my hometown of Lancaster, PA. Why did they feature her? Because she is a Lancaster native making it big time in the Los Angeles. That rarely happens, besides the taylor kinney/lady gaga rumors/truths. Oh, and she is a Temple Alum too!

Cass Bird, continued!

I recently wrote about Cass Bird, but wanted to share her most recent work (that i know of). Cass shot Urban Outfitters entire spring collection catalog, which personally I love. The photosgraphs make you feel like you are right there, having fun with these sunkissed models.

Edward Burtynsky, Photographer

Let’s talk some more photography, shall we?

You may have heard of him, but I think he is just too good to not feature here on AdLib if you haven’t. Thats what I’m all about, introducing great artists (photographers, mostly) to those who don’t know. The Fox is Black reminded me how much I love this man’s work, so here it is!

Ye Rin Mok

I don’t know much about Ye Rin Mok other than she was born in Seoul and now lives and works in Los Angeles. Oh, and she makes some beautiful images.

Her work has been featured in Spin, Nylon, W, among many others.

Baubauhous

Baubauhaus is a little bit like pinterest but for serious artists that just want to inspire each other. It’s a simple idea, full of great art. I found this site through a friend of mine, whom I will feature here on AdLib soon! Get ready for that one.

Franziska Ebert: Photographer, Designer & Illustrator

Franziska Ebert is a photographer/designer/illustrator out of Hamburg Germany, and I believe is friends with Sarah Bernhard (whom I wrote about a few weeks ago).

Looking through her website honestly freaks me out a little because her photographs remind me so much of my own. Except she is making a living out of it. (I’m hopeful)

770 Behind the Line: The (unofficial) J.Crew blog

One blog I love to get a well rounded insight and inspiration from is the 770 Behind the line: (un)official Jcrew blog. Fashion, design, and photography all in one place. Yes, you can probably find that anywhere these days, but I am loving the color palates in particular. They also often talk to in house designers and other various employees, which is great because I will take any advice I can get! I try to make a point to pay attention to what the people that have my (hopeful) future job say. I’m probably not the first to tell you this, but always keep an eye out for inspiration anywhere, and take in any advice you can get (even if its bad, you can still learn from it!)

Elizabeth Weinberg, Photographer

Recently discover yet another photographer that makes me insanely jealous.

Elizabeth Weinberg is a photographer based in Brooklyn, NY but travels to Los Angeles often.

Some of her clients include: NYLON, New York Magazine, Pac Sun, Rolling Stone, Starbucks, Target, and many many more. She creates images that really make you feel like you are right there with the subject. They feel like snapshots from any point in time of anyone’s life. I love when photographers are able to create a career out of shooting what they love. Most of her photos used in ad’s dont look like advertisements per say, take the copy out and it is just a piece of art you can hang on your wall.

Lauren Dukoff

There is no doubt in my mind that you all have seen Lauren Dukoff’s work. My goal on this blog is to give the artists behind the scenes the credit they deserve. I’ve been guilty not knowing/caring about the artist behind the masterpiece. But that is over for me, if I see something I like, the first thing I do is research who was behind it.

Tiny Anchors

Tiny Anchors is a creative inspiration blog started by Brooke Mousitis of Brooke Courtney Photography in my hometown of Lancaster, PA.

“My goal is not to have the best blog out there, for there are tons of similar blogs, or to have a million followers. I just want to be able to look back at the end of every year and see what what projects I was working on and what was inspiring me at the time.” -Brooke

3191 Miles Apart, continued!

Just a little update on the previous 3191 miles apart post!

3191 Quarterly: issue no. 6 is now available for you to hold in your hands!

” [the issue] includes features on cocktails, hanging plants, chocolate cake, London & Stockholm, forging, our homes, chai tea and much more”

Cass Bird, Photographer

Cass Bird makes beautiful images.

You may have noticed that I post a lot about photographers. Get used to it, because I’m obsessed with finding photographers that create great images, but also make it in the advertising field.

Sarah Bernhard, Photographer/ Account Planner

I first found Sarah Bernhard on flickr, where I just admired her photographs. I did a little research and found a bunch of information about her that really inspired me. She is an account planner at an advertising agency full time in Hamburg, Germany. However her passion is photography. Honestly, she reminds me a lot of myself!

Grandchildren, Sean Pecknold

Sean Pecknold is an all around talented man in the world of video, animation, illustration, art direction, photography etc. He pretty much gets his hands on any part his creative visual processes.

Chris Sisarich, Photographer

I’d like to introduce you to a photographer that I would personally LOVE to meet or work for, but unfortunately (for me) is located in New Zealand. Chris Sisarich has a mix of art photography and advertising photography which I find both to be beautiful. I usually am not a fan of most advertising photography, but his is a work of art. His photographs are dreamlike and make you feel like you are in another world. He has worked on several accounts including Car manufacturers, Airlines, Tourism ads, Drink Companies, and much more. But his landscapes are my favorite!

Kinfolk Magazine

“Kinfolk is a growing community of artists with a shared interest in small gatherings. We’ve created Kinfolk as our collaborative way of advocating the natural approach to entertaining that we love” – Kinfolkmag.com

3191 Miles Apart

3191 Miles Apart is a blog started by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes. Both Photographers, Art Directors, Stylists, and Designers. The two creatives met back in 2005 and in 2007 started their first project of diptych photographs: “A year of mornings”, followed by “A year of evenings”. “A year in mornings: 3191 miles apart” eventually got published, and is now the only place we are able to view the photographs. In 2010, they decided to take their series to a quarterly magazine print format, and post weekly on the blog.

La Redoute’s Questionable, Yet Very Naked, Mistake

When creating good advertising, we are taught that it is of the upmost importance to consider our target audience’s feelings, and what their reaction may be to what we put out there. So, when French powerhouse fashion retail company La Redoute published a photo of four children in La Redoute swimwear on a beach with a completely naked man in the background, its no surprise the “mistake” caused quite a stir.

CRED Mag is looking for Creative Submissions!

CRED is a new arts and culture magazine focused on the youth of Philadelphia. By submitting your artwork, stories, and projects to the Magazine, will promote yourself and help you get noticed in the art scene of Philadelphia. The Magazine is released three times a year: December 2011, April 2012, and August 2012, so get your stuff in now!

Monday, Sept 26, 1pm, Tyler Auditorium: Valerie Spada, author of Gomorrah Girls

Valerio Spada: Scampia, Naples. Young actor, 16 years old, playing with his friend while his six year old sister is watching.

We have a wonderful opportunity to hear the Italian award winning photographer, Valerio Spada, on September 26 at 1 pm. in the Tyler auditorium.

Where Children Sleep Photo Project

James Mollison has developed an interesting project that really touches base with hearts across the world.

James Mollison was born in Kenya in 1973 and grew up in England. After studying Art and Design at Oxford Brookes University, and later film and photography at Newport School of Art and Design, he moved to Italy to work at Benetton’s creative lab, Fabrica. His work has been widely published throughout the world including by Colors, The New York Times Magazine, the Guardian magazine, The Paris Review, The New Yorker and Le Monde.

Nikon Pour L’homme?

This certainly isn’t a vintage ad, but it’s older than you may think. Personally, I can never get enough of those earth tones. Not to mention it’s a beautiful shot. It has an air of sophistication about it. I dig the subtlety of the type. I actually used a similar concept for my first art direction project. The Nuvis S looks like cologne. I made a bag that looked like perfume. I suppose that’s why this ad just jumped out at me.