Photography : shadows & colors

Photography : shadows & colors

 

My #hair is a #mess !

from Instagram: https://ift.tt/2qt0fXX

Georges Dambier, Vintage Fashion awwweee French photographer

Georges Dambier (1925-2011), photographed fashion and worked for ELLE in the 1950s, he also made some records sleeves : http://www.encyclopedisque.fr/artiste/9853.html

Ahhhh this era, when the models names were Dorian Leigh, C or Simone d’Aillencourt!

Their way to strike the pose (“I fake a natural feeling”) is so adorable that I awwwwe all the day long, since.

Bonne journée!

Color Selection Charts & Questions

There’s a Wikipedia page for reference : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_chart

I’m fascinated by the number of books about color palettes (for artists, for web design, fashion).

They all seem to be very sure about the mood given by a set of colors (dynamism, vintage, girly, serious business, etc)!

There are applications and websites to help you find a “mood”. Just Google “Color Harmony”.

I just read a good page about advertising and colors : https://en.99designs.fr/blog/tips/colors-marketing-advertising/

 

It leads to questions for thinkers, and this article therefore :

• It seems so accurate, thus how do you “invent”?
• Do you need dark green for serious organic beauty business?
• How did and does it change through the years?
• And places, cultures?
• Is the sensibility to these palettes the same in Norway and in Texas?
• Are there differences for movies, branding, websites or books covers?
• Are there stars, inventors, in this field?
• Can the choice of a palette be risky, and a failure?
• Sunny for funerals? Deep blue for teen romances?
• What could be a game of invention?
• Palette : “Couple Failure”, “Orson Welles in 2145”, or “Gothic bees”?
• Color chart for a city? A job? Poetry?
• How do you change a color palette?
• Or kill it (Apple logo was colorful at the beginning)?
• What else?

 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Fashion & Women : Photos from the past, for no reason

James Tissot, French painter and illustrator.

Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836 – 1902), Anglicized as James Tissot, was a French painter and illustrator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tissot
https://www.jamestissot.org/

A “genre painter”, as they say : a painter of “elegantly dressed women shown in scenes of fashionable life”. He lived in England for years, and became pretty rich.

Therefore it’s easy to put him in the “conservative” box. All you see is beautiful and rich people and well done art, and though he’s been friends with impressionists, we could say he kept painting “interesting records of social life at the time”. Beautiful dresses, gorgeous art skills and colors, almost photographs!

Today we see other things, and Tissot is said to be “rediscovered”. Because we know now he painted about the “nouveau riche” world : there’s show-off everywhere (what we call in France un “m’as-tu vu”. This didyouseemeness is putting a smile on my face. These dresses must have been a real mess, right?

More : Tissot manages to make us think about the slices or boredom and loneliness and worry. It’s been a harsh world, and I thought about this marvellous Scorcese’s movie : The Age of Innocence – read the book, or The House of Mirth, also by Edith Wharton, which is worse!

Have a nice day!

Frank Horvat, French Photographer

“photography is the art of not pushing the button”

Frank Horvat (1928) is well known for fashion photography, but he did many other things…

Here are 12 pictures. You’ll find plenty on Pinterest! (mine is https://www.pinterest.fr/jrobocatwaldgan/ )

 

Have a nice day!

 

Clothes & Idiocy : Undering yourself to watch around

“Undering yourself to watch around” – Yep, clearly that’s not English. Sorry.

The whole society play makes us wear masks. This theater needs us to “operate” fluidly, so we hide our mess, our worries, our anger and the rest.

We all have many masks in our basket, and we often need several at the same time. Use “Competent”, “Quiet” and “Focused” (when we have no idea what’s going on, boiling inside in front of so much stupidity).

Some days, we need to be an idiot.

It’s very hard when you’re young, because young people are terrified to be judged and to “look ridiculous”. But well, you know, at one moment you really don’t care, because you know what you’re worth (is this even English?), where you’re good or not, and you just do your thing.

Therefore : in some circumstances, I wear quirky clothes. No, not quirky, but something a little ugly, or unfitting, or colors who shouldn’t be together. I want the other ones to judge me as an innocent moron. They smile inside. That’s good : exactly what I need!

In a way, it’s not “dress to impress”, but “dress to unimpress”.

Then you mix it with the way you talk. Chose your weapon : lose confidence, hide expertise, bury volubility, etc. It’s like a Sun Tzu strategy : let the enemy deploy its talent. They are so proud to be above, oui?

Of course, you have to waltz this your way.

• You can absolutely transform yourself into what you can (cursor down anything you are, including beauty) in a few seconds (when you enter a room, for example).
• You also can appear as an averagetard but sparkle some smart unforseen sentences, if you are fast (I’m not) : it’ll unsettle who needs to be.
• Slide & don’t bear down.

 

Voilà. I would like to add this :

You of course bien sûr have to do this rarely, only in front of dumb tyrants, dangerous idiots and proud braggarts. You’ll unbrag them one day or another, or not – who cares?

There’s a lukewarm version of this tool. Just being grey, a mouse, a watching silent brain.

Paradise is when someone gets you “as you are”. It becomes fast and easy to work and function with this person. Little by little, you don’t need masks anymore. Fluent relationships (in life, work, anywhere) are blissful bliss.

 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

René Gruau, fashion illustrator

Gruau’s tall women are impossible. This fashion illustrator knew something : the aristocracy of them. They are a mess, tall, a damn nuisance, and totally adorable. Hate them and love them, at the same time.

Have a great day!

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Gruau

 

“Love at first sight” wisdoms…

For “Love at first sight“, we French say “Un coup de foudre” (a lightning strike), a clear metaphor? Bzam!! Like it?

We’ve all been there, I suppose : you walk your life seriously, and in a second you are suddenly, completely amazed by a face, a smile, someone. Look at you, now!…

If a love story ensues, well, you know… it doesn’t work “that” often. And many grown adults are very cautious with this love-at-first-sight thing. “Beware!”, says the 40 to the 20…

In a way, that’s pretty logical. Love at first sight means – and implies – you fell in love with… graphic proportions. You fell in love with some eyes, a mouth, a face… right?

And, well, graphic proportions are NOT a person.

OK. Yes. Right. But…

First of all, you can’t do nothing against a loveatfirstsightcrush. Just shut up and notice how stupid you become, haha.

So…

There’s a place where you’re a grown adult. You’ve been hurt by failures and break ups, blah blah blah, and you tend to think :

“As it ought to be, love at first sight is bullshite, therefore I should choose my lover with a good dose of reason”.

A person you appreciate “reasonably“, right?

Good!

But you grow more up. You gain experience. You’ve known many more people. Your brain is, like, trained to guess who is a person you meet. Watch her/him walk, talk, smile…

Voilà.

My theory here is : I am pretty sure that “Love at first sight”, when you’re 40 or 50, is more… accurate. You don’t fall in love in a second because of a smile, a winking eye, a silver voice. You DO, but because you guessfelt – much more : the rest of the person, the way (s)he talks, the way (s)he walks, stands up, questions you, looks at you. Energy.

And yes, you’re a sapiosexual, right? Thus…

Whatever.

You silly poor little brother, sister, you can’t resist (you will never be able to resist) to this “BAM!” feeling. Your whole personality seems to be ready to fall on your ass because of. That’s how we’re built, probably. There’s maybe an agent in our mind, doing this, keeping an eye out for…

Crush. Let go. Try to be smart, though. Hold on your wheel. Be happy. And if you’re not, you know, you have these “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” quotes, etc…

After all, maybe a good part of REASON is now incrusted, embedded into your loveatfirstsightness? It would be a strange effective braid, right?

Maybe you’ve found your sidekick, I mean your REAL one. You’re good now! Marry her! Him! C’est la vie !

 

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!

 

 

 

Umberto Eco & the Open Work

Umberto Eco wrote an entire book about the idea of Open Work. I just present you here this idea, as a seed, that a “work” has an openness.

A work “appears” like this or like that, but has a number of ways of being read (seen, viewed, watched, decoded, interpreted, appreciated, contemplated, analyzed). This seems obvious for the sheet music, the score, or for a play, right?

1. There’s maybe an “obvious” openness, a prescribed way to read a work, but it can be a little more vague, like a set of possibilities – until complete crypticness : find what you can, if you dare to do it, then.
2. Some elements are often chosen by the artist to let the audience appropriate the work their way, but not “that” their way. Symbolic novels are obviously made for this purpose (Kafka is an example given by Eco).
3. Opened or not, some people do what they want with a piece of work. It’s a whole decision, it requires culture, or tools, or ways of finding things.
4. Some works, this way, can be enriched by a clever spectator, who would be delighted by elements, details, structures… the artist himself ignore!
5. In classical music or theater, there’s a place between the work (the score) and the audience. The players (or the actors) have a big role about “how they see it”. But after that level, the audience will also interpret things…
6. We probably want to find bonds between the work we study and our own searches, flaws, experiences…
7. Add yours in the comments, please?

 

Tool : If you work out of the “artistic field”, in blogging, marketing, conversation, fashion, coaching, I’m sure you consider many parameters. You can make a list, right? Timeline, colours, variety, energy, waits, etc, there are many levers to pull. But have you considered the “openness” of what you propose?

 

Thanks for reading!

“Nommer un objet c’est supprimer les trois quarts de la jouissance du poème, qui est faite du bonheur de deviner peu a peu : le suggérer . . . voila le rêve”

“To name an object is to suppress three-fourths of the enjoyment of the poem, which is composed of the pleasure of guessing little by little: to suggest . . . there is the dream”

Mallarmé

Instagram : jacopo.rigotti

La Culture à réaction, or why “Luxury is Insular”…

Un beau jour (“One day”), you just realize that… you react.

The news. The movies. Novels. Blogs. FB. You are smart, and you are curious, good to you.

But the day you realise you’re only (mainly) reacting to what is prepared for you, it’s a shock ! Haha ! You are a flipper ball. Juste une petite boule de flipper…

Look at your wall. You like “this”. Or you don’t like “that”. But… you react ! Or you don’t care. Ça compte pas.

A new movie from Tim Burton ? Turn away. This time, turn away. Explore Bergman, listen to Pergolese. Or buy Elia Kazan’s autobiography : you’ll learn about immigrants, New York in the crisis, Hollywood, Theater, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Tennessee Williams, mccarthyism, betrayals and Arthur Miller…

Watching the bubbles at the surface of the sea ? One day you realise you could choose to go under the surface, watch the demons acting freely outside of “what the medias organize for you”, explore unknown paths and territories, etc, etc. Turning awayyyyy…

Dial to watch : Autonomie Culturelle.

Tool : Unhook yourself from reacting. Close the usual sources. Just fly away from this. If it’s tatoo time, write about oboes. If there’s a new pop group to listen, document about John Ford movies. If you wonder about the Apple watch, go try the South West of France Art of Cooking. Draw YOUR paths. And yes : you’ll be alone. Yes yes yes yes yes. So what ? Et alors ??

Luxury is Insular.

Breathe ! Stand up. Go away from reacting. Take your machete and dig your way into YOUR jungle. It’s DJ time ? Listen to King Crimson. Fashion Blogs ? Write on paper. To a unique penpal.

“Luxury is insular”. Jünger wrote it that way. I like it. Pensez-y : Le luxe est insulaire…

The “Two Many Ideas from a Beginner” Syndrome, ça n’est pas tellement grave…

OK I’m french. My english is a frenglish, it’s rusty and wobbly, et voilà. Try me, though. I’ll do my best. I promise. If sometimes it’s too bad, just laugh at me or roll you eyes.

Young and passionate, here you are.

You want to express yourself, prove something to the world. You’re an artist, an architect, a designer, une personne créative !

While you learn your art and its rules, your energy is growing and you feel powerful. You want and need to unfold into that. Your ideas and your way of organizing them are boiling into your brain. Projects…

Then, one day you discover the enthusiastic possibility of doing something “real”. You begin your new professional life ! Congratulations ! Bravo mon ami(e) ! Money is provided and you will prove your talents.

Disillusions will rain on you, c’est inévitable vous savez, but that’s a topic for another article. You’ll do your thing, nevertheless.

If you’re smart (and you ARE smart, aren’t you?) you can guess what the : “Two Many Ideas from a Beginner” Syndrome is. You want to do well, so you literally pour out everything that’s boiling in your head into your first project. Ça dépote !

Imagine : Your first park ! Your first house ! Your first fashion show ! Your first cooking TV broadcast show… all flooded with your concepts. OK. J’aurais fait pareil…

You know that “less is more” and that great artists are doing great things in simple form, at the same time, you are young and you WANT to express yourself. C’est compréhensible…

A matter of levers again, the “double bind” kind.

If you let go, the result will be great, BUT (and this “but” gets interesting here) you will get little smiles from connoisseurs. And you will hate it because :

1/ You know they’re right… too much all at once.

2/ You quickly realize that one day, in a few years, you’ll look at your work with that same funny smile. Effff !…

Too Many Ideas

Let go. You can’t do anything else and you can’t and mustn’t restrain the energy of youth. You go girl (or boy) ! Later on, you’ll learn how to put these ideas into wise and powerful furrows and choose keys on the keyboard (but not “all the keys” on your keyboard) to make your Art more effective… it will just happen at a later time.

Tool:

It’s an amusing tool and a subtle one. Just keep in mind the, “Two Many Ideas from a Beginner” Syndrome. It’s like a little wave, a mini-thread to keep some ideas for later.

Cut. Breathe.

You are great… and breathe again ! Et bon, coupez, que diable…