Wi ART?

Yesterday, people around the world were deeply affected by the image of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old who tragically lost his life trying to reach safety in Europe after fleeing the war in Syria.

Portraits by Erika iri5

“Over the years, many artists have interpreted Star Wars in ways that extend well beyond anything we saw in the films. One of the most unique and intriguing interpretations that I have seen is in the work of Cedric Delsaux, who has cleverly integrated Star Wars characters and vehicles into stark urban, industrial - but unmistakably earthbound - environments. As novel and disruptive as his images are, they are also completely plausible."

“And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”

Fun fact

This actually isn’t a quote from the Bible. Tarantino confirmed that the quote was taken from the film The Bodyguard (1976).

Katsuhiro Noguchi won the Grand Prize at the Nikon Photo Contest 2014-2015 with his Flowers of Fukushima photographs.

Teamwork for survival :

Brandon Stanton - creator of HONY (Humans of New York)

Three years ago when you lost your job, what made you decide to move to New York and do this instead of putting together a resume and job hunting like most people would?

Honestly, I feel like finance was a hiccup in my life. I'd always felt like an artist, though I didn't really have any technical skills like drawing or painting. I enjoyed beauty, ruminating about life, etc. All these things made me feel like an artist. I sort of "fell" into my bond trading job after college. So when I lost my job, I said-- I'm just gonna try to be an artist. I just got this new camera. I feel like I have an eye. I love it. I'm just gonna do it.

How did you originally envision HONY?

I was going to take 10,000 portraits, and plot them on an interactive map of the city. Which I still think is a GREAT idea. But things changed. When my social media started taking off so fast, I changed my vision. Instead of a close-ended project about New York. It became an open-ended blog about individuals. The path of HONY has been a constant process of ditching what's not working, and doubling down on what's working.

Prime example: I noticed that social media was where my growth was. So I removed my "free-standing" website, and began hosting 100% of my content on social media.

Another example: I noticed that the stories and quotes were becoming as important, or more important, than the photos. HONY was evolving from photography to mixed medium. So I really started focusing on getting better with my interviews.

What was the picture that blew up HONY? Or did it just snowball over time?

What blew up HONY was the captions, I think. It's when I really started telling the stories of these random people. For the first several months, HONY was pure photography. I really believe that mixing in the stories was the tipping point.

How do you manage to get people you take photos of to open up and share such personal information?

It constantly amazes me how brave these people are, and how much they choose to disclose. AND that they don't write me and beg me to take down the post. (Only happened two or three times.) When I first started, I was amazed that anyone would let a stranger take their picture! Now, I've found that there's very little a person won't disclose. You know why I think that is? Because so much of our life revolves around small talk. Weather, finances, things like that. And here comes somebody on the street really digging at the marrow of your life, and your experience. I think it's validating in a deep sort of way.

How often do you make quotes up?

Haha! Do I get every single word right? Surely not. But I will say this. Out of 5,000 posts, only two people have ever followed up with me to say they'd been misquoted. One was pretty bad--- I said that "dad's girlfriend" had cancer instead of "mom's boyfriend." The other was a tattoo explanation--which I swear the girl decided to change after she spoke to me. :)

Why not use a voice recorder? You can even just use a phone app.

HONY is about conversations. I use the word "interview," but it's really inaccurate. Tape recorders, notebooks... these things create a formal atmosphere that I want to avoid. I just want to talk to people as if I'm talking with my friends. That's when you get the belly laughs and spontaneity.

Somebody recently followed me and said: "You just interact with people. It seems like the photo is actually pretty secondary to the process." I loved that observation. It really articulated what I'm trying to accomplish with these interactions.

How many times do you get turned down for photos a day?

I'm up to about a 65% success rate, and honestly, I think I've gotten about as good as I'm gonna get. Some people are just absolutely not going to let a stranger take their picture. How's it done? Sincerity. A quiet voice. A smile. Sincerity. Sincerity. Sincerity. I don't put on an act. I've seen so many people talk to homeless people like a child. I really don't talk to anyone with a tone of pity. I think it's condescending. I try to approach everyone the exact same way.

Where do you see HONY in a year? In five years? Do you plan on taking yourself to other worldly cities?

I think there are two obvious answers:

Take HONY Deeper: Longer form writing, and spending days with subjects instead of minutes. Really drawing out the total arch of their life story. If anyone was following HONY from the early days, they know that I wrote about 40 long form stories in the first year. The photography took off so fast that I got away from my writing. I'd like to get back to writing in a big way.

Take HONY Wider: After the book comes out in October, I plan to start travelling much more. Both for a selfish yearning to explore the world, and to apply the artform to different cities and cultures.

What's the closest you've ever come to giving up on the blog, and what made you decide to stick with it?

The early days were very tough. Six months in-- I was broke, I'd taken thousands of portraits, I didn't know anyone in New York, nobody was paying attention. Every time I talk about it in a speech I start crying. I'd been working on HONY everyday, non-stop, for a year before it got any traction at all.

The early days of HONY were lonely as hell. Why'd I stick with it? I was obsessed. I just thought HONY was such a cool idea and I just knew there had to be a way to make it work. The only time I was happy was when I was photographing. It's when I stopped that I got sad. My first Christmas season in New York was the saddest time in my life. I couldn't afford to go home. I just photographed my way through it to keep from being so lonely. I photographed all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Where is your favorite place in all of NYC?

Central Park. Might be my favorite place in the world.

What is the best kid interaction you've had?

I love that question. Let me think. Recently, a young kid told me he wanted to be an artist because he wanted to make different versions of himself. I thought that was profound as hell.

What is your favorite photograph you've taken?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=119788024761973&set=a.102099983197444.4412.102099916530784&type=1&theater

Why? Not because of anything specific, but because of the "point in time" that it represents for me. I was in New York, chasing this crazy idea, and figuring out my photography style as I went along. This is one of the first photos where I REALLY involved the subjects in the portrait. I used to just walk up to people on the sidewalk, and snap them where they stood. Now, I hardly ever do that. The approach just begins the process. Every photo now is a collaboration between me and the subject, where I try to have fun and get the most creative shot using our surroundings. This photo represents a moment where I really figured out the photos that I enjoy taking.

Who are some of your favorite photographers?

I relate most to Vivian Maier's photos, I think. I also love David LaChapelle, although I think our work couldn't be more different.

What influence has this experience had on you?

People talk about travelling the world to find wisdom, but I can imagine with the melting pot of people in the city that you've had your fair share of insight.

Jim Darling’s paintings use tromp-l’oeil airplane windows to frame picturesque though abstracted landscapes. The windows create a consistent context for the imagery, which otherwise might not be as recognizable. I’d hazard to say many of the people reading this article have had the compulsion when on a plane to take a photo of the view below, but rarely if ever does it turn out as what you see. Darling’s paintings manage to maintain the feeling of what you’re seeing out your window. They are abstracted views of farmland divided into squares and circles by roads, or blocks of suburban houses with pools and green yards of grass.

Mathieu Mirano

Lake Effect

Photograph by Ben Leshchinsky

Canoers paddle the opaque surface of Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada’s Banff National Park. Ben Leshchinsky captured the “disorienting” photo from a cliff overlooking the lake. “Even boulders the size of large cars seemed like pebbles from a high vantage point,” he writes.

Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo's artwork is cool ... literally!

Since 2005, Azevedo has been setting up her Melting Men in various countries around the world. Although originally intended as a critic of the role of monuments in cities, environmentalists around the world are adopting her work as climate change art.

When asked if she was a climate activist, Azevedo told greenmuze.com: 'No. I'm an artist, master of visual arts from the University of Sao Paolo.

'This work was conceived as a critical view of the official historical monuments. As the reading and interpretation of an art piece is open, I'm glad it can also speak of urgent matters that threaten our existence on this planet.'

“Water,vinegar,oil and a feather in a blue cup placed over the source of light (my living room lamp ).”

“I noticed a decomposed leaf in a pond .I picked it up and noticed that water was trapped in between the veins of the leaf! I positioned the leaf on top of the other leaf to add some color and took this photo.”

“The opening in the leaf reminds me of a pony or a dog,I submerged it under water ,lifted it and took this photo!”

Movie posters by Matt Needle.