The Photography of Danielle Nicol

the photography of Danielle Nicol

Danielle Nicol’s (fb, Instagram) photography, when I first saw it, made me immediately recognize how real she is. Perhaps it’s because a lot of her work is self portraits, but there’s no denying that it’s human and exposed. She has a beautiful balance of catered perfection and half hazard causality. The very essence that makes cool I guess. I think this speaks a little bit for the fact that it’s mostly in black and white, which always eliminates any distractions and gets right to the point.

the photography of Danielle Nicol

photo courtesy of the artist // Danielle Nicol // model Rose Chantal

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Public Nudes of Ruslan Lobanov

You come across artists sometimes who you just can’t get enough of. Who you find you have to share with as many friends as you can… of course to those that will appreciate it.

Ruslan Lobanov (500px) from Kyiv, Ukraine is one of those artists.

Ruslan takes photos of women, nude, usually in public situations, in black and white. What I like most about the work is how passive the models seem to be of their nudity. Some of his photos speak more to me than others in this way.

Ruslan Lobanov - 8 Continue Reading →

Photographer Mecuro B Cotto

Mecuro B Cotto creates incredibly moody photographs. He plays with high contrast: little spots from the sun that cast mischievous glances at the shade of midday. And if it’s not this weather, the scene is gloomy, like a fall in rural England gloomy.  His models are often casting their eyes down, in deep introspective moments of serenity. His models are also often wearing beautifully elegant and simple floor length dresses, evening gowns, or in either a state of half nude or fully nude.

What strikes me with these images, aside from what I’ve mentioned, is that the scenes rarely look contrived. They are always, it seems, on location. A quick glance of the images below show many scenes inside of homes or along natures tender edges. They are always the perfect balance of calm. Even amongst the rubble of an abandoned building there is serenity. I notice walls are bare, or there is blur in the foreground of the image adding to the calmness of the images. I also feel that this effect adds to the impression that in-spite the external calmness, there is much inner turmoil, at least in some of the images.

The biggest thing I take from Mecuro B Cotto’s work is that it’s not the clarity of the image that is the most important, it’s the mood of the image.

What do you think?

© Mecuro B Cotto

© Mecuro B Cotto

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Photographer Lee Jeffries

Lee Jeffries has found a way to capture some of the most emotional and spiritual iconographic images I have ever seen. Yes, he does it well. Mostly in black and white, he focuses on homeless; people with skin so textured, with fingernails permanently stained, with scars and wild eyes… Lee Jeffries takes photographs of people who have so much character and definition that stories instantly flow forth from the photographs he takes.

Make no bones about it, the photographs are portraits. They’re close cropped, shallow depth, superbly lit, mostly black background, slightly vignetted images that talk about history in one single shutter release.

lee jeffries - 3

Photo source: Lee Jeffries | leejeffries.500px.com

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Ellen von Unwerth

Ellen von Unwerth has a style that makes you want to get down and tighten the oil plug on an old ’54 Mercury while wearing 6 inch stilettos and pinstripe skirt with a corset and matching hair piece. She’s dirty but classy. She’s epic in her scenes, and she’s filled with passion.

Ellen was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1954. She started her career as a fashion model herself for 10 years before she decided it was time to get on the other side of the camera. Now she produces her own variety of… well… erotic fashion oozing with femininity.

I first became fascinated with Ellen when I had a peak at the book Revenge she published in 2003, an epic battle between heirs, playgirls, and playboys entirely in black and white.

(Women) are not just there to be admired, they are there to be enjoyed. – Ellen Von Unwerth

Photographer: Ellen von Unwerth

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Artist Januz Miralles

Searching through Curioos artist Januz Miralles, who also goes by Nuestra was found.

His work is jaw dropping. It’s mostly done in black and white, with scenes of persons mixed with the smears of distortion or destruction. It really reminds us of our other friend Jaybo Monk’s work we’ve profiled a few times.

Blakbird | Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

unyo | Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

His work touches on life and death. On inanimate and animated beings. It explores the imaginable, as well as the fantasy. Mixing this with wrinkles and drips, and thick brush strokes, this art becomes real, really quick.

Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

increpe | Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

increpe_ | Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

From the best of what we can tell, Miralles uses a combination of acrylic painting on paper or canvas which he then scans and combines with photo manipulation to get some of the images he’s looking for. Something like this would be very beautiful to see a live example of, hoping it wasn’t just a print.

Non-return | Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

Pet | Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

Q | Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

Untitled 012 | Photo source: nuestra.tumblr.com

 

We look forward to any future work by this artist, and you can bet we’ll be keeping a close eye on it. Sometimes you see an artist’s work and you realize how solid an image they have made for themselves, and you really wonder where they will go from there. That’s what we see here.

For more information on Januz Miralles head to:

The Portraits of Carlo Calope

Portrait photography has been around since the beginning of photography. Photographers like Arnold Newman, Robert Mapplethorp, Robert Frank, Art Kane, etc. have been legendary and ground breaking photographers that have altered what was perceived a portrait, escaping from the norm.

To become unique in the art of the portrait photograph is indeed something that is as defining as ones own face, an art that has changes with such subtle nuances that help solidify it’s uniqueness.

Carlo Calope‘s photography explores this precious line of portrait photography with his delicate touch he puts on each and every image. The colors used in each series’ seems to match perfectly with the model used and the location chosen, but that’s aside from his portrait work. His portrait work seems to reach into the depths of a soul, pulling out character and features in such a way that allows for the viewer to understand.

The following photographs are taken from Calope’s series Portraits Section I and Le Mannequin, simply to show more of his work.

Photo credit: Carlo Calope | www.carlocalope.com

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Please, Just a Black And White Night

This started off as a search for a black and white dress, an elegant dress, one that is fit for beauty queens shimmering through the night with long black silk gloves on sipping from champagne glasses with perfect lipstick impressions planted confidently along the edge of the nights caress.

Then I found Kendra Spears photographed by Claudia Knoepfel and Stefan Indlekofer for Vogue Paris, May 2012 and I had to look no further; immediately enchanted I was and whisked off to a romance I had only to don my black rimmed Ray-Bans and pilot my Rolls Royce and precious cargo to the evenings gala.

I love the stockings, not to mention the hair..

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Book Review: Weegee’s New York

Weegee’s New York is a collection of photographs from 1935-1960 that should not be casually browsed on a Sunday afternoon. It is a serious and raw outlook on a city from the after dark like scenes and core fundamentalist photojournalism that one would expect from a tabloid and press photographer. Continue Reading →