Bil Donovan

"The age of elegance is gone, there was a time when a woman wouldn't dare leave the house without makeup and the right gloves."

Now I hope I am not implying that I am some kind of glamarama. I don't have the time nor the energy nor the means to dress to the nines everyday but I do enjoy fashion and those who are well dressed and DO have the time and energy to do so. Bil Donovan work simply tugs at my heartstrings:

"Travel for site"

"P Picnic 4 site Ant"

"Set Glam Grlbending"

"Garden Party for site"

"Dog show for site"

"Audrey layout B"

You can find the rest of his works here.

The Small Stakes

The Small Stakes is the love child of music and great design. Jason Munn, the artist, combined his two loves and created these adorably pithy posters. Each poster showcases each artist perfectly, and beautifully at that. 

Here are some of my favorites (and some of my favorite bands and artists as well):

On the left: Sufjan Stevens,  two color silkscreen 18" by 24"

On the right: The Dodos (San Francisco), two color silkscreen 18" by 24"

On the left: Andrew Bird,  three color silkscreen 18" by 24"

On the right: Norah Jones,  two color silkscreen 18" by 24"

On the left: Neko Case, two color silkscreen 19" by 25"

On the right:  Beirut (Insound 20),  three color silkscreen 18" by 24"

On the left: The National (Insound 20),  two color silkscreen 18" by 24"

On the right: Stars (San Francisco),  two color silkscreen 18" by 24"

On the left: Grizzly Bear (Insound 20),  two color silkscreen 18" by 24" 

On the right: Yo La Tengo, three color silkscreen 18" by 24"

You can meander his website and purchase his posters here.

The Fashionable Cupcake.

These are just about the cutest things to happen since I don't even know what! Fashion and cupcakes make an unbelievable match and I'm seriously wondering why I hadn't thought of this before... 

Louis Vuitton

Chanel

Betsey Johnson

All images from Highsnobiety, which can be found here.

The LACMA

Instead of my regular FFF (Friday Flickr Favorites),

pictures from my recent trip to the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art from their Southeast Asian Art exhibit:

18 Years and an Endless Amount of Photos

I'd like to introduce you to Jamie Livingston. 

When Jamie was a senior in college he became attached to his SX-70 Polaroid camera. He started to notice that oddly, he was only taking one picture a day. He decided to continue this for the rest of his life. These polaroids give us a narrative of his story, commemorate the friendships he forged along the way, and depict the evolution of the city around him. His story is told from the first picture all the way to the last picture; a self-portrait on his deathbed. He called this project, 'Photo of the Day' and it is immensely inspiring, to say the least.

You can browse through his every day here.

Here is a photo I chose from each year Jamie lugged his camera around:

1979 - The first photographed Christmas of his collection.

1980 - An early, already growing collection of his polaroids.

1981 - Strong ties to great friends that will last a lifetime. 
1982 - Daily rituals being immortalized.

1983 - Oops! Seems like he made mistakes too and missed a day in his collection.

1984 - A music lover, just like me.
1986 - I want one of these! Also seen in the Elephant Gun music video.

1987 - A fun day in the sun!

1988 - The year that I was born, his now ginormous collection, continually growing.
1989 - His collection has even included famous rock stars.

1990 - Family is the best medicine around!

1991 - A great, great portrait of a funny little kid.
1992 - Finding fun in the little things of everyday life.

1993 - An improv photo shoot!

1994 - Pills, pills, pills (one of many photographs he has taken of these).
1995 - A snowman on a snowy day.

1996 - Even in his last years he surrounded himself with his loving friends & family.

1997 - A self portrait on his death bed, the day he finally succumbed to cancer. 

What's in your breakfast?

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or so they say. To be honest, I often skip it. Either I wake up to late or am too flustered with getting ready to consider stopping to take a break to fuel myself. I always thought that breakfast was just too darn close to lunch and that eating large meals consecutively after one another was just kind of odd, to say the least. 

John Huck, an L.A. based artist makes me wonder... should I reconsider my line of thought? In his "Breakfast" project, he juxtaposes headshots of people and their breakfast of the day. The result is nothing less than purely fascinating. It's always interesting to observe people in their natural habitat, but what's truly mind-blowing is how a simple snapshot can reveal so much character in a person you've barely known and just seconds ago, first set your eyes upon. 

And what do I eat for breakfast? I'll let you guess which one is mine, and which one is B's:

On the left is Fried Eggs with Chinese sausage and seven grain toast.

On the right is fresh kiwi and mango.

It's as predictable as predictable can be, the girl eats the fruit, while the man stuffs his face with meat. My kitchen has been filled with delectable fruit lately. Kiwis, mangos, oranges, grapes galore and all of them have been so perfectly ripe and fresh! Since I'm not used to eating breakfast in the morning, I try to keep it light. What do you like to eat for breakfast?

Just One Plate

The concept is simple, the photography beautiful. Visionaries Neil Kohan, Max Wanger, and Margaux Elliot aim to express the joy of food, cooking, and photography as simply as possible.

From the website:

A single plate celebrates cooking as an art.

     The blink of a shutter preserves the dish.

     Ten questions uncover the vision of the chef who created the dish.

     One inspired recipe allows you to become an artist in your own kitchen.

You can find the list of restaurants and recipes here.

Murano: Burrata Salad with fresh Burrata cheese, Prosciutto de parma, poached pear, baby arugula and candied pecans

Saddle Peak Lodge: Duo of Prairie farm pork tenderloin and braised shoulder

Il Grano: Fantasia di crudo

Mako: Crispy Oysters with Black Olive Tapenade

Nine Thirty: Grilled Sturgeon with goat cheese black lentils, caramelized brussels sprouts, chanterelle ragout, pomegranate molasses and chive oil

Abby Try Again

I think these photos from Abby Powell Thompson are just amazing! 

So simple and colorfully rich. 

You can find and purchase all of these prints here.

Here are some of my favorites:

Cinematic Photography

Noah Kalina beautifully captures a mood in these photographs.

It's like a snapshot of an intense moment in a film.

The intensity of Sean Penn's glance,

and that still stare in Kate Winslet's eyes just torture me.

All photos by Noah Kalina

Jason Nocito Photography

One photographer I really enjoy is Jason Nocito. His photography is unique and extremely refreshing. He photographs a wide array of subjects that vary from fashion to people to lots of random things (which I love the most). You can find his portfolio here. Or you can buy his newly released book, Loads, here. Here are some of his portraits:

Mary Kate Olsen

Cat Power

Emile Hirsch

Bat for Lashes

My favorite images of his come from his other website, The Ego Has Landed. On this website, he takes his photographs and juxtaposes them in order to suggest new, and often very playful meanings, as quirkily demonstrated by their titles. He takes something so banal out of our ordinary, everyday lives and makes it seem absurd, interesting, and contemplative. 

L.A., Lay.

Plastic Tree.

5:55

Elevate me later.

And my personal favorite (that I also used as my header), FLowerRock.