The Sartorialist

I'm a big fan of the blog.  This documentary is fascinating; you can watch him as he works.  He really stops and observes people; I think I would be to nervous to stare at someone like that.  He seems to view the world around him as having arrived for his photoshoot; really cool.



I think this little video also really shows how graceful New Yorkers are.  They ignore him and his camera until approached directly, they are distrustful until he shows who he is, and they are stylish, effortless, authentic and gorgeous when photographed.  They are glad to be selected to be photographed, but every single person took it as matter-of-course: no one squealed with delight, no one shyed away.  Not even the construction worker.  You want to take my picture?  But of course you do. Man I love New York.

Hostee Manifesto

Download the PDF from Holstee here.

More fall inspiration

 

See images in their original context here and here.

Women with no makeup (oh the horror)

This image has been making the rounds in the blogosphere (not to mention getting comments on Reddit, which Jezebel then picked up).  If you  have a daughter, show her these pictures.  These are famous, gorgeous models, with Laetitia Casta leading off the line up on top left.

The geeks on Reddit, of course, abused every single one  of  these pictures, calling the girls unattractive or worse.  Jezebel declared every single one of these pictures beautiful and every single one of the Reddit commenters a shauvinist. 

But the reality is just that these women are not ugly and not beautiful, they are just real un-airbrushed women with no makeup, taking a mugshot.  These are your driver license photos.  Your snapshots in a dimly lit room taken with a bad camera by a person who doesn't care.  We have all taken pictures like this.

When I was younger, I had professional photographs done for my birthday or some other occasion.  I can't remember the occasion, but it was an eye-opening experience.  The amount of makeup, lighting, setup, hair prep and direction was astounding.  (I got to the set wearing what I thought was a lot of makeup, only to have it taken off, be told that I should have worn some makeup, and then have about 5 pounds of it piled on).  Those pictures of me were gorgeous. The girl in them was stunning.  Except that I have never looked like that girl in real life, and I never will.  The girl in those pictures does not really exist.

Neither do the girls in photos you see in Vicky's Secret, or makeup and perfume ads.  Models are not very beautiful women.  Models are women who have bodies like hangers (tall and slim), making the clothes hang well, and who have faces that serve as good blanks for makeup (your features can't be too prominent; the face must be somewhat plain because then you can easily change it by changing the shadowing).  Really, that's all.  With the right makeup, the right lighting and the right angle, you can draw anything you want on that face.  You can make it look amazingly gorgeous.  You can then retouch that picture to make the beauty otherwordly.  And, published in every magazine across the land, it will tell every girl that she is ugly because she will never look like that.  Believe me, the model who took that very picture will never look like that either.

If you have kids, please talk to them.  Take your daughter to a modeling shoot when she is old enough, and watch her initial excitement draw down after hours and hours of hair, makeup and prep.  Have her see the drastic difference between the final product and her own reflection.  Explain to her that pictures lie.  Have your children play with Photoshop.  Get your son to know that girls in glossy pictures are no more real than Lara Croft.  It's ok to stare at those pictures for their beauty - as long as you keep in mind that they are nothing more than a Photoshop file.

Colors of Fall

I love these pictures, from this Creature Comforts post.  In some very subtle way, they really capture the magic of fall and its mood. 

New York versus Paris

I love this illustrated guide to differences between two spectacular cities.  All the illustrations are from the new Paris versus New York blog, run by Vahram Muratyan — cofounder of ViiiZ art direction + graphic design studio.  It's really cool how the pictures highlight how similar the two cities are, as well as how different.  When we were in Paris, I remember feeling strangely at home there until I realized it's a lot like New York.  I felt like I knew the people, understood the city, and it fit a familiar old glove.

The physics of parenting

Newtonian physics explained (as experienced by parents) by Christoph Niemann on his awesome NYT Blog, Abstract City.

Fall Leaf Art

Wow.  I cannot believe anyone can actually do this.  It's absolutely amazing. 

Owl Calendar

My Owl Barn is giving away free owl calendars for 2011, and the artwork is amazing. Not only do you get a free calendar, you get to pick which artwork to include for each month! There are more than 12 images, so you can really select the ones that you love most. I think this is my favorite one: