Archive for category Photography

Digital Days

Posted by Vicente in Photography, Projects on June 28, 2011

More and more magazines are only shooting digital these days, if not all magazines. As most of you know I shoot film, which took me about 7 years to master (due to my slow absorption process). Next week I am shooting a job for a magazine digitally.  It should be an interesting experience and will definitely push my boundaries. I will let you know how it goes….painful or not!

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WOW!

Posted by Vicente in In the news, Photography, Travels on May 4, 2011

I have been anxiously waiting for this to come out!  I am very pleased with how AD was able to take pieces from my travel journal and photos to create this great column. Reading it was like revisiting Mali all over again.  

Thank you Margaret Russell & team, it looks incredible!

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Parade

Posted by Vicente in Inspirations, Photography on December 7, 2010

I was lucky enough to be invited to sit in the VIP section directly in front Macy’s right across the street from where Matt Lauer was broadcasting to experience the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade.  All thanks to my good friend Chris Lipari and his connections.

We had to be there by 7:30am to be seated in the bleachers that thankfully had shelter from the weather. The morning was very cold and it got increasingly colder and colder as the day went on.  But it was nothing because we got the see the Rockets, hundreds of kids from all over country dancing and banging on their instruments ( sometimes huddled in groups to stay warm),  Broadway performances, and of course the floats and the balloons.  

The Rockettes

Keeping Warm

There is nothing like seeing Spiderman floating down the street with The Empire State Building in the background.   The day was a great send off to my trip to Florence.

Spiderman

Kermit

Hello Kitty

Kung Fu Panda

Confetti

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50 Photos

Posted by Vicente in Photography, Projects on November 22, 2010

Via Editor At Large

This weekend while reading The New York Times I stumbled upon the ad below. It reminded how much I enjoyed doing this project and everyone’s comments on my selection. The majority of the comments I have received either on the computer or in person have been about depth of the collection and how some of you could tell that it was curated by a photography collector. Which is a great compliment.  Thank you all for your support and thank you again New York Times for including me in this great project.

The New York Times

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50 Photographs with The New York Times

Posted by Vicente in Interior Design Business, Photography, Projects on November 1, 2010

In Good Company

 

When I was approached by The New York Times to curate ten photos from their archives for the 50 photos project, I was beyond elated. I have been collecting photo for the last 37 years and having the opportunity to go into the NY Times archives was an unbelievable thrill. I put together a grouping of images that represent a foundation for a photography collection.  I selected images from a collector’s point of view not from an interior designer’s point of view. This gave me a clear direction in how to approach this process which otherwise could be overwhelming. 

The grouping  gives you a range of photos from 1910’s- 40’s -50’s -60’s -70’s and up to 2008, it is important to me to have images in a collection that capture you each time you look at them and make you think about what you are looking at. I think these 10 images do that.

To go through the New York Times archives is looking at the history of this country and especially this city. The photos take you from Grand Central to Hollywood to Global events.  They capture very intimate moments to historical world events.  Only the New York Times could give you an overview of our global history in such a masterful way.

To look at the collections that have been put together by the 5 of us, gives you a clear impression of who the designers are.

Geisha, Tokyo

At the Funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

You can see the whole project here

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Ask Vicente: Photography & Light

Posted by Vicente in Ask Vicente, Photography on July 3, 2010

Name: Gary Nelling
Vicente – I’m curious what qualities and techniques of photography you think best suit the spaces featured in the design magazines. I looked more closely at some recent copies of AD and noticed that they have a lot of one point perspective shots and perfect 30-60 degree angle shots in their feature articles, taken at a distance with a what appears to be a wide angle lens, making grand spaces even appear grander. Also I think they set their exposures at the light beyond the windows and floodlight the interior so you can see both in great detail with equal brightness inside and out, which is something the eye doesn’t see. Is that correct? Something diminishes the soft effect of natural light and making the whole a bit cool and impersonal.
Elle Décor has some slightly overexposed interior shots, especially of white rooms, though the overall effect is more natural. Veranda is one magazine that seems to capture the subtlety of whites and soft colors and the character of light accurately. Any compositional or technical thoughts you or the other photographers out there have would be appreciated. – Gary

Photo: Grant Perigo

Vicente Responds:

Gary, thank you for all your comments on this blog – your view and opinion is always appreciated! Different magazines have different points of views and photography briefs. Elle Decor likes natural light with sun coming in and maintains an American freshness in its approach to photography. AD chosses a lot of room lighting, inside and out which sets a different mode. If you shoot your space, shoot it however you feel it looks best. As it pertains to the angle, it depends on the lens. Wide angle, 50mm, close up? Shooting a room is an arduous process of moving the furniture so nothing stands in front of another, eliminating clutter and you have to keep going back and forth to the camera to make sure it looks just right.

Regarding lighting – so many photographers now use digital which makes it a much easier process. I still shoot using film and a Pentax medium format camera – 75mm makes rooms look a little more intimate, 50mm gets more space out of it. I believe that sometimes its better to have the photographs more intimate as it allows you to truly explore the room.

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NY Times partnership

Posted by Vicente in Photography on June 30, 2010

You may know that I am an avid photography collector. My house is filled with pieces I’ve collected over the years. This new partnership is thus a very exciting one for me!

I just signed with the NY times to go through their photo archives and pick ten images that would work well as a collection. I think it’s such a wonderful way for people to start a photo collection of their own. There will be some pictures of New York, celebrities and of course some good old classics. I think for a good price, one will be able to get some great collectable pieces.

As soon as we are ready to launch, I will link this blog to their site. What a great project to work on!

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Frida Kahlo: Photographs of Myself and Others

Posted by Vicente in Books, Photography on April 24, 2010

After working with Pointed Leaf Press and Director Sam Shahid over the last year and a half, at last the book will be coming out in September this year! It will feature all of the photographs from Frida’s personal photography collection, which I won and each time I look at these photos, it makes me feel like Frida is right next to me. If you are an afficiando of her, you’ll love the collection as most of them are photographs that have never been seen before. As an art director, Sam really did an incredible layout which brings the collection to life.

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Firemen – a photography collection

Posted by Vicente in Photography on April 16, 2010

My friend, photographer Andrea Blanch is launching a new limited edition series featuring New York firefighters, completed in January this year. Her project was inspired by her presence at the seven-alarm fire that struck the Deutsche Bank in 2007, a fire that severely injured over 100 firefighters in one night.

Besides from having real social significance, I think these are quite great. Andrea is currently looking for some galleries to feature her work in – if you own a gallery, of know of someone who may be right for her, why not contact her at andrea@andreablanch.com?

The only way to receive help when we need it is to give it when we don’t, right?

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Art Show

Posted by Vicente in Art, Photography on March 13, 2010

Last week was a big art week in NY and on the weekend was the opening of The Armory show at The Pier with between 300 and 400 dealers from around the world showing contemporary and mid-century art up to ’94. The show in its entirety is a little overwhelming once you pass the 100th gallery and you’re still looking at art, but I saw some wonderful photographs by Philip Lorca di Corcia who does these wonderful set up scenes with random people on the street, including how much he paid the ‘model’ in the title of each shot. Part of his works that was on show were from his series called ’1000 Polaroids’ and it was really wonderful.

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