Photographer

Lillian Bassman passed away recently and I’ve been meaning to commemorate her influential and inspiring career. A giant among men in the fashion photography world, she lent mystery, dreaminess, and drama with her high contrast, geometric and experimental images.

Her photos are moody and intimate, seeming to capture impromptu moments with the models faces often obscured.

While Bassman may not be a name as widely recognized as Avedon or Himmel (both of whom she helped with their careers as an editor at Bazaar) her iconic images are instantly recognizable.

She was 93.

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Posted on February 25, 2012

Art Nouveau Designer

While it’s taken a hit with its association with college dorm rooms, I still adore the Art Nouveau movement, particularly when it comes to jewelry.

Rene Lalique was one of France’s most acclaimed masters and his gorgeous work speaks for itself.
I’d do just about anything to own his huge serpent brooch – which unfortunately means robbing a museum, which I’m not totally up for.

He was also a gifted glass maker and later became associated with Art Deco.

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Posted on December 15, 2011

Far Side Creator

Fellow getting older-ers, think of all the common daily occurrences from our not too distant pasts that have simply ceased to be:

We wrote physical hand written, intricately folded notes in class and none of us had cell phones.

We’d go to the video store, stare at the wall of horror movies and hope the slasher we wanted for our sleep over wasn’t checked out. (Otherwise it was to the new releases and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape because Dazed and Confused was out).

We not only listened to the radio, we recorded our favorite songs.. on cassette!

Phone calls on corded phones could last hours even if we had seen our friends moments ago.

Paper magazines were coveted weekly glimpses at fashion that simply couldn’t be found anywhere else..

And, if you can believe it, all people in America looked forward to getting the newspaper(!) even if it was just to read the latest Far Side.

I don’t know maybe it was a nostalgic wave of how things used to be that had me bizarrely waking up this morning with my first thoughts of Gary Larson.

I mean what happened to him? He was the one funny man everyone could agree on (before Seinfeld) but no one knew his face. And then he just retired. Not Jay-Z Tom Ford “retired” but for real.

I hope he’s living fat and happy off that one-a-day calendar money because he really made a lot of people’s days better.

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Posted on November 2, 2011

The Fifth Beatle

He’s known as the fifth Beatle and in lamer circles as the guy Stephen Dorff played but have you taken a good look and seen what a total doll Stu Sutcliffe was?

He was way more styling than his friends and looks decades ahead of his time.

Seriously, he could have taken over The Smiths and even Morrissey would be swooning.

While he gave up the life of Beatle fame for love and art, we never got a chance to see what would become of him. He collapsed and died at age 22 of a brain aneurysm.

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Posted on October 5, 2011

Painter

Facebook is not only for people to exclaim FML! or link to Quizzes that tell you which Family Guy character you are. Friend Craig used the social site to link to artist Philip Govedare, whose wild, beautiful yet eerie landscapes are phenomenal. They make me feel like I’ve been privy to secret images of new found worlds.

Thanks for the excellent find, Craig!

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Posted on September 3, 2011