Dreamvisions : Oddly romantic

Award-winning, Brooklyn-based photographer Gary Heller captures beauty in the strangest ways. He makes sad and abandoned scenes look oddly romantic and beautiful subjects look fragile and a little gloomy. Either way, I think it creates more depth, a bigger story. If these were in a gallery I'd stop and ponder a while. Here's Gary...


What's your favourite subject to photograph?
Some of my fave things to shoot are things that portray abandonment, isolation and mystery. The specific subjects can vary.

When did you first pick up a camera?
I first picked up the camera seriously at end of 2003.

Who inspires you?
I am inspired by many and cannot name anyone specifically. I loved album art and comic/fantasy book art as a kid growing up. I get inspired by things and visions in my dreams as well.


Favourite blogs/books?
I don't get to read nearly as often as I would like but I love mystery, science fiction and thrillers. There are so many great bloggers out there and so many talented artists and photographers that it's hard to keep up with it all. It can get overwhelming.

More (including toilets, barns and bridges): garyhellerphotograph.etsy.com
Pics from top down: The little things in life, Broken promises and Bonsai.

Inspired : Seeing new things

I'm a little excited about featuring these magical pics by Dave, aka ©Komatoes. I've started to imagine what I'd do with them if they were mine. I think I'd put Less than perfect, above, on a massive canvas on the wall in my study and Perrrple, below, in a black frame in the living room. Pyramidal Orchid (third) would look dreamy in a limewash/white frame above the bed and Blue grass (bottom) could go on an eco tote I'd take shopping. Deevine. Here's Dave on his talent... (and a couple of my fave quotes to kick off your week).

What do you love about photography?
I love photography because it makes me notice the world around me in a way that makes me appreciate it more. You start to see things that you just wouldn't have seen before.


If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a month, get married. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.
Chinese Proverb


When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life.
Greg Anderson


Yes, I understand, you need more more more Komatoes. Here you go... flickr.com/photos/dsambells

Snapshot : Desolate beauties

Soon, dear readers, Gemini season starts. Next Thursday in fact. How do I know? Because I was born right on the Taurus-Gemini cusp. What does that make me? Weird.

Geminis like opposites. We're twins after all (though some of us have waaaay more than two personalities to deal with). We like dark and light, pink and brown, marshmallow and toffee, bert and ernie... We're a bit childish, but lively and smart. A little inconsistent, but completely versatile and the best laugh ever. And we're sensitive. Which means yes, we can get cranky easily, but we also notice subtleties like no-one else.

Flowers bloom in desolate places (Mandalay's words, not mine), and I think flowers that bloom in between cracks of cement look the prettiest. Sure, fields of tulips are amazing, but one flower amongst a sea of grey adds a fragility to an already tiny life. How did I get onto all of this? Check out the orange playground horse above. It's the most fun a four year old could have without chocolate chips, but look how sad it looks. It has no friends, it's stuck there and it doesn't even have anything pretty to look at.

I love these pics by Ze (aka zenog). They're beautiful and sad and a little tragic. Here's a bit about him...

Where is your favourite place to take photos? I take most of my photos in the Botanical Gardens of Rio de Janeiro. I walk almost every day, finding treasures as I go...

What gets you in a creative mood? I'm excited when I see a special light or I find something very interesting on the ground of the garden.

flickr.com/zenog

Cheers y'all. Thanks Ze. And happy Friday.

Snapshot : Stories in mono

Simple can be perfect. Sad can be beautiful. I love how black and white tells a story. It tells a whole lot more than colour sometimes, because magical details come to life that would otherwise be shadowed by a sea of distracting brights. Isn't that what life is about? Some days the colour fades a little, or a lot, and our perspective shifts with it, bringing in a whole new outlook we'd never tried before.


Meet Ken, a Boston-based photographer I discovered in the interwebs last week (an amateur believe it or not)...

I like photography because I can obtain visual and spiritual satisfaction through pictures. The black and white, as well as the coloured photos can provide dissimilar images and memories unable to be seen with the naked eye. Also, I and many other photographic amateurs are the same, we enjoy using the camera and the process of turning films into hard copies of images.

I mostly photograph at home and around my neighbourhood. I frequently browse through outstanding photos in bookstores and on the internet, whatever that captures my eyes will give me inspiration and imagination.


flickr.com/kentoku

Pics clockwise from top left: *, Running in Raining, * and Bicycle.
(That may have been more confusing than informative, however that's how it is peeps. You'll just have to check out Kentoku's pics at flickr to see the other cute titles he gives pics.)

Snapshot : Moody frames

My outlook has taken on a slight shade of grey this morning. It's raining, cold, I have the flu and I just found out a friend's dog had to be put down last night. As the mum of a divine staffie X myself, this brings me too close to tears. So I've put Alicia Keys on, wrapped up a big scarf and decided to go the moody route with my choice of pics.

Christie Lyon is an artist who works with all sorts of materials to create the perfect piece. But it's her photos I'm drawn to. The shots above somehow look mysterious, cheeky and thought provoking at the same time. Love 'em. Here's a bit more about Christie...

What gets you in a creative mood? It's inexplicable! I'll see something, maybe just a combination of two colours, and it inspires me. I never know when it's going to occur, but I know that I am happiest when it is happening!

What's been your biggest highlight so far? The highlights are any time a customer tells me that my art touched them in some way. Customers have told me stories of childhood memories, love, children, friendships and more. I think I remember every single one of those stories. I like knowing that my art has meaning for them.

Who is your favourite artist? Giuseppe Arcimboldo. His portraits are beyond amazing!

What are you reading? I enjoy reading about various sciences and philosophy. I'm currently reading a wonderful book written by a friend of mine: "Peace: A World History" by Antony Adolf.

Clockwise from top left: Sunset Palm, The Guardian, Powerful and Pining Away.

studiolyon.etsy.com
flickr.com/photos/studiolyon/