by Rebecca Cornwell | Sep 16, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
Rebecca: This week when Izzy and I looked through the #sundaybluesedit tag together, I began to realize what an amazing evolution we have made. I worried about giving up some ownership of the tag but she has seamlessly integrated and breathed new life into the blues with the freshest of ideas and brand new eyes. We both feel incredibly honored that our bluesers bring their most personal moments and emotions to the tag. Choosing features is still every bit as difficult with two as it was with one but being able to bounce ideas and thoughts off each other helps bring focus to the goal of the #sundaybluesedit. We mutually love this image of Helen’s for reasons we most likely share. We are all three mothers to small children. There are times when you view your children in an incredibly clear light. You see them moving away from you to independence. It’s a bittersweet emotion that fills a parent with both pride and sadness. This image of Helen’s perfectly illustrates that feeling. If you have children, take a moment and look at them clearly today. Feel the pride of what you have accomplished as they take their baby steps away from you. Happy Sunday.
Helen: The picture is of my daughter and firstborn, Roisin. Emotions have been running high in our home of late, as she has just hit the monumental milestone of starting nursery at our local primary school. I took this photo on a windy walk at a local beauty spot on the day before her first full school session. Seeing her stood at the edge of the valley staring out at the landscape seemed to capture perfectly the mood of the moment – my little girl about to embark on a new adventure on her own.
Throughout my life I have always needed a creative outlet. Be it sketching, writing, music or crafting, I cannot remember a time when I didn’t have a little project on the go. When I became a mother 3 years ago I found, like every other parent, that my ‘me’ time was significantly reduced, even more so when we added to our brood last year. The discovery of Instagram and mobile photography was a wonderful revelation for me. A fulfilling creative outlet, which fits perfectly around family life: I snap away during the day and edit when my babes are in bed. I joined Instagram in February this year- before this I had always admired photography but never knew a thing about it. Mobile photography got under my skin from the word ‘go’ – I photograph and edit every day without fail, as well as finding inspiration and learning from the amazing talent on IG. I am starting to find my style now. People often describe my photos as ‘vintage’ or ‘dreamlike’ – I simply try to color them with the emotion that I feel in those moments. I have had such a steep and wonderful learning curve – long may it continue.
Take some time and view Helen’s wonderful evolution on Instagram at user name @littlerose81.
by Rebecca Cornwell | Sep 9, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
met-a-mor-pho-sis
This sunday I want to introduce you an amazing artist @_giorgopoliti_ . George , Like me is and artist of self introspection who lays it all out in his work. If you look chronologically through is feed, you can follow his life and feel but ups and downs. On top of his brilliance and an emotional thinker, he is a master of the edit. His skills are beyond those most of us editors dream of having.
This week I’ve made another giant leap in my ever growing tag. I’ve added a real partner to the group to help share the amazing growth of the tag and aid in giving it the attention it deserves. Her name is Izzy and she goes by the profile name @elvisandme. Like George and me, Izzy doesn’t shy from real life emotion. Maybe thats how we chose this incredible image together?
I encourage you to take a long stroll through George’s stream. You will come away with a different understanding of what it means to be human. Happy Sunday and please help me welcome Izzy to the team. So far she has been the best of lifesavers.
George:
met·a·mor·pho·sis
n. pl. met·a·mor·pho·ses
A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.
I find it hard to explain what I do… I am my own worst critic… My work is random and deeply personal. I sometimes feel that it is way too revealing but it is also a means of showing my fears and pushing my boundaries. It is a self exploratory exercise in creating little instances of time, within a small frame, which express how I’m feeling – a form of mindscape therapy. It is this internal struggle that defines my work and is part of the overall creative process.
By accident I stumbled into mobile photography while discovering the capabilities of the camera. I found the possibilities to twist reality endless. That was roughly a year and a half ago.
For me, mobile photography is a form of expression – an extension of identity. I work with layers to instill a mood, a feeling, a sense of mystery, a dark narrative. If it connects with others, it is completely unintentional and a bonus. Each piece is an unanswered question – a stepping stone of exploration.
While coming to terms with my grief and trying to make sense of my father’s passing 6 months ago, I stopped creating. Time stood still. I did not have the energy nor the inclination. I turned to visual documentation and chasing light, focussing on the moment rather than the process.
The fog has lifted a little and I’ve started twisting reality again. I used the #sundaybluesedit to push me back into creating those little instances of time, to challenge my fears and play with them again.
“Metamorphoses” comes from the Greek word “transformations”. It pretty much sums up my current situation and encapsulates the overall theme of my work.
“The demons are innumerable, arrive at the most inappropriate times, and create panic and terror… but I have learned that if I can master the negative forces and harness them to my chariot, then they can work to my advantage….” Ingmar Bergman
Many thanks Rebecca and Juxt
You can see more of George’s perfect work at;
iphoneart – http://www.iphoneart.com/_giorgopoliti_
flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/politigrafix/
eyem – _giorgopoliti_
by Rebecca Cornwell | Sep 2, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
Ernestine
Last Sunday I was so busy. It seemed as if there were more blue images than ever before. I stumbled on this image of Ernestine and I thought there was a familiarity in her face. Do I know her? I don’t, but like me David has recently spent a lot of time with images from the past. There is a way that I look into the eyes of the person in an old photograph that helps me understand myself. The universality of humanity. David is a very creative and open experimenter. You will find something in his stream that helps you understand yourself. Happy Sunday!
David: First of all, many thanks to Rebecca for shining this spotlight on my work. I feel honored, especially since her weekly Instagram gathering of photos, the Sunday Blues Edit, has been an inspiration for me, as have her own photos.
I’ve taught writing & literature at Ripon College in Wisconsin for 25 years. I am also a poet, with six collections of my poems published. Photography as an art form has been a lifelong interest of mine, but up until about five years ago it was mostly as viewer, not as creator of anything besides snapshots. I didn’t get serious until acquiring my first digital camera in 2007, which was an entirely unimpressive 3 megapixel point-and-shoot. But soon enough I was hooked, moving on to a slightly better point-and-shoot, and finally my iPhone4.
I’ve also been married for 37 years to a wonderful visual artist–who paints and draws, does printmaking, and sometimes makes photos. Though I’m serious about my photography, I’m happy to call myself an amateur; my wife remains the real artist in the family. Still, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say the iPhone changed my life. I discovered Chase Jarvis’s book The Best Camera Is the One That’s With You at a local library, and that was that: I’ve been more or less obsessed ever since, spending part of most days shooting or editing photos on my phone. I’ve been active on Instagram for about a year now.
Slowly but steadily I’ve been learning about apps and editing, reading blogs on mobile photography, visiting photo web sites, and, of course, exploring the Instagram community (where I am @doctorjazz). Honestly, I’ve been having a blast moving into this very different creative realm. As many have said, mobile photography is addictive, and can help you see the world in new ways. It certainly makes moving through each day more interesting, I find.
In all the arts I tend to love theme-and-variation. As my collection of editing apps has grown along with my skills, I’ve explored a number of different themes repeatedly. My photo “Ernestine Took Her Greatest Secret to the Grave” comes from a recent series I did based on public domain 19th Century portraits, mostly from the Library of Congress: tintypes and daguerreotypes and so on. It’s the first time I’ve tried creating my own images using photos I didn’t shoot myself; so it was exciting to see if I could make them my own. It’s not for me to judge the quality of the results (12 pics posted last week on Instagram), but I will say a couple things about this image, with the usual disclaimer that I work fairly improvisationally, and often only figure out what I want a photo to “say” in the process of fooling around with various apps and approaches.
The haunting thing about portrait photography in particular is that there is always a mystery involved. Often, even when viewing of snapshot of myself at a younger age, I find myself wondering “who was that person?” The past is past, and much remains unknown and irretrievable. In the case of the 19th century portraits I was looking at, even when we have a name for the person photographed, we often have no story. Yet the faces have such presence, such vitality. The woman I am arbitrarily calling Ernestine is vivid and beautiful to me, but if I want to know anything more, I will have to supply her story myself. Part of me wants to, while part of me wants to respect her privacy and whatever mysteries she took–as we all do, I suppose–with her to the grave. I imagine the repeated partial faces behind her (achieved with Decim8 and a number of other apps) all have different versions of the story to tell. Rising from this welter of broken selves Ernestine emerges whole, in the center of it all, with no comment on anything. Here and gone, as we all will be in time, gone into the wild blue yonder.
Please take some time and visit this incredible artist at @doctorjazz on Instagram
by Rebecca Cornwell | Aug 26, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
I’ve followed Lynne, @playtime11, on Instagram almost for as long I can remember. Her photos of a far away land intrigued me. Tasmania seemed as exotic as a place as I could imagine. I loved seeing pictures of where she was and her family and the increasingly her edits. Experiments maybe, but beautifully conceived edits with a true artist’s eye. Last week as I looked through the tag, I felt completely jumbled. I don’t think it was the images but where I felt myself. At some point my eyes rested upon this image of Lynne’s and I was transported. Transported away from chaos and into the cool misty land where she lives. It was quiet and calm and I chose to rest there for a long time. Take some time with this image and rest. I promise you will leave it with a greater peace. Happy Sunday.
Lynne: Tasmanian aboriginal friend of mine once told me that in aboriginal ‘folklore’ Tasmania holds a similar place in the imagination of Australian Aboriginals as did ‘Avalon’ to the Celts. To this day I am not sure of the validity of this story as my friend has a mischievous glint in her eye and is a wonderful teller of stories. But I retell it, as this image was taken on a magical misty day in the Tasmanian highlands at a place called Dove Lake, a place where my friend spent much of her childhood with her grandfather, and this is her country.
I used Hipstamatic #blankofreedom13 film and #loftus lens as this combination I believe produces the closest to the ‘true’ colours of all the Hipstamatic combinations. The Loftus lens withs its blurry edge helped to accentuate the magic of the mist. All I did was point and shoot, the edit was just a matter of cropping the small colour strip from the bottom right, such was the mood of the day.
Photography has always been an interest, but I had never really spent much time ‘doing’ it until I discovered IG and Hipstamatic.
I am a biologist / ecologist by trade and prior to owning an iPhone most of my photographs were landscapes or wildlife shots taken on slide and print film, I realised getting a good shot wasn’t easy. I wanted to know how ‘good’ photographers capture light and how they produced high contrast black and white, because I definitely couldn’t do it. I didn’t ever get round to learning.
Skip forward many years till about a year ago, I was home with a baby, and I bought an iPhone. I would take it with me when walking, snap shots and was instantly addicted. For me the iPhone is a fantastic creative toy. It’s beauty is you have it with you all the time, and there are all those apps to play with. My favourite for shooting is Hipstamatic the combinations are myriad, but the trick is to choose the right one for the conditions. I think this appeals to the scientist in me. I am not a ‘photographer’ just someone having fun, I look at all the great work on IG and other platforms and am so inspired. It’s like having your own private art gallery that you can carry around. I am easily distracted by the technology, and find it difficult to stick to any artistic style.
I am a beginner and am just learning photographic and editing skills, so the content or subject of my images is secondary, whereas with many of the iPhone artists whose work I have grown to love I believe they have mastered the skills to allow the content and subject to be the most important factor and that is what makes their work so fascinating.
You can see more of Lynne’s incredible images both edited and not at @playtime11 on Instagram
by Rebecca Cornwell | Aug 19, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
Some artists have a style, a signature to their work that is undeniable their own. When I see Skip’s images grouped in with other artists, I always know that it is one of his. Beautifully complex, they command you to look deeply to figure out how these works came from a photograph. Where is the tree? Or the Building? Or something I can recognize? I know it’s in there. I am fascinated by the Decim8 app. There are a handful of artists whose use of the app is completely unique. Skip @skip_jones is one of those. Using photographic images from his surroundings, Skip weaves each into a completely transformed abstraction. Always a thing of complete beauty, with rich colors and complex pattern, his photographs become works of art. I chose this image from last weeks tag because I couldn’t not choose it. Look deeply, maybe you will see the original puddle with algae.
Skip:
As a painter, I would use photos as source material.
I studied artists like David Salle and Gerhard Richter. People who were using classic technique, juxtaposed with modern narratives in their large-scale painting.
Photos provide perfect records of light over forms and the shadows that described depth. Basing an under-painting on photos improved my draftsmanship and lent physicality to my work.
Then, after using Hipstamatic for the first time, seeing the dirty saturation, I realized paintings seemed contrived.
I wanted to create the source.
Now, I crave the immediacy of editing while sitting in the shadows of a building I’ve just photographed.
I appreciate the authenticity of mobile photography, the photo journalistic element in capturing your world and posting the evidence.
You can see all of Skip’s magic on Instagram @skip_jones
by Rebecca Cornwell | Aug 12, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
Praise For Sick Women
Women’s strength and marginalization is a theme I consider all the time in my own work. As a single mother to three girls, thoughts of the female world always seem to come to the forefront. Sometimes its battlefield, when you think you’ve won there is a mountain of history sitting behind you that still keeps antiquated ideas rooted in the culture. Looking at the tag last Sunday, an image by a longtime IG friend, Heather @poppybay spoke to me about these ever-swirling thoughts. The image of the blindfolded/blinded woman is one I’ve used myself with frequency. She stares at us with all of her beauty, almost judging, but she’s hooded. She can’t see but she does. She knows all.
This beautiful piece will haunt you for a long time.
Heather: I was the kind of child who could lie in the grass for hours, talking to the trees, making up whole new worlds in my head. Having come from a family of artists, a sense of imagination wasn’t unusual, but I didn’t imagine myself as a visual artist. As I’ve gotten older, my desire to linger, let my mind wander, hasn’t gone away, but the responsibilities of the adult world don’t leave room for such things… until I found mobile photography.
Even after I discovered my passion for film and then digital photography, there was a technical coldness that I just couldn’t shake. The iPhone, along with tools like Snapseed and Image Blender, have opened up a new whole world of expressiveness and versatility. With these tools, I generate an altering of reality, manifesting of my dream-life, expanding and exercising of my creativity. The weight of my dslr has hung less and less around my neck as, through mobile photography, I can go out and create in my own space, wherever I find my inspiration.
I recently found myself alone in a small Chinese teahouse tucked away behind a garden in my neighborhood. The experience of solitude was unusual and precious. Being alone, I looked around for self-entertainment and found a nook of used books under the cash register. A beat up copy of Gary Snyder’s RipRap was in the mix. Flipping through the pages, I came across the poem Praise for Sick Women. It inspired an image that would pay homage to the mythology behind Gary Snyder’s poem, finding strength and glory even in history’s weakest assessment of women.
The female is fertile, and discipline
(contra naturam) only
confuses her
Who has, head held sideways
Arm out softly, touching,
A difficult dance to do, but not in mind
Excerpt from Praise for Sick Women
by Gary Snyder
You can see more of Heather’s very strong and thought -provoking work on Instagram @poppybay
by Rebecca Cornwell | Aug 5, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
Time Changes Memeories
Some months after I joined Instagram (just over a year ago), I was introduced electronically to Darryl (@darryls_world) by another fellow Texan. I do not know if there is something unique about Texans but something always seems to unites us. Weather its the landscape or the accents , we never seem to be strangers. Maybe it was this Texanism that caused me to feel an instant connection to Darryl’s imagery or maybe is was some thing else all together. Darryl’s images are both dark and beautiful. They are desolate and foggy in a way that is like dream that is not quite scary but not quite safe and cannot be remembered to its fullest. Although Darryl has only participated in SundayBlues a few times, this image from last week pulled me completely into his world.
Darryl: Memories from the past obscured in a strange way fascinates me. Time does strange surreal things to our memories the same way dreams do. These thoughts are what brought this image about.
I have had no formal teachings in art. Last spring I purchased a couple of apps to touch up some family pics and ended up really enjoying myself. I learned that I could change the entire mood of a image and make it feel the way I felt about it. So I started shooting and editing everything and joined instagram shortly after….
I really haven’t looked back since then. I still shoot mostly with my iPhone and they look excellent in large format on gallery walls. My work currently has a home in a gallery in downtown Denison, Tx. and I’m hoping this is just the beginning. I love to shoot, I love to edit and I love to create. It’s like a beast that has to get out on a daily basis.
Even if you’re not from Texas, you will love Darryl’s images.
You can find him on Instagram at @darryls_world and @darryls_corner
by Rebecca Cornwell | Jul 29, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
Street Lapse part 2
Sometimes when I’m deciding on an image to highlight for the Sunday Selection I will look through the week’s past images one by one, sometimes as a grid seeing which one might scream out to me and sometimes there is an image I can’t get out of my head. I’ve selected this shot of Malcome’s because it is such an image. Upon first glance it seems like a street shot that maybe I’ve seen before or that I know from somewhere else but when I focused in, something else happened. It shook my brain. Not just with it’s visual reverberations but also with the sense that I had been there before, like a lost memory or even a dream. Take a close look at this amazing image by Malcome and wake up!
Malcome: Often at times, I’ll be scheduled to work in downtown Los Angeles and for the past couple of years there has been this particular man who has been hitch hiking the same freeway exit almost every time I have gone. Now, I’m not a street photographer by any means. I’m usually scared to death of getting caught, and my anxious behavior makes me easily noticeable, but something told me to shoot and so I did.
To me, the “time lapsed” feel depicted in the image kind of represents all of those days and hours spent waiting in that same area. Waiting for that little dose of help that he may never get.
Many thanks to all of the kind folks in Juxt for this opportunity.
You can view this image and all of Malcome’s other thought provoking work on Instagram :: @__malcome
by Rebecca Cornwell | Jul 22, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
“Wake up. Sleep. Dream. Repeat.”
This week I’ve chosen to feature a beautifully symmetrical work by the very talented @markgoblue. I’ve admired Mark’s symmetrical blue images for weeks and even months in the #sundaybluesedit tag. His incredible visions seemingly bend time and space, creating abstract patterns, while still maintaining the details of the real world. Under blue and white marbled skies, the tiny figures move effortlessly on the sandy beach dance floor. Happy Blue Sunday. Enjoy the dance!
Mark: My interest in photography started after taking a photography class in high school. This was in the 80’s so I learned shooting with film. The age of digital re-sparked my interest in photography. Mostly due to the convenience and flexibility it provides. After getting an iPhone 4 and discovering the Instagram app, I found myself shooting more with my iPhone because it was always with me. My Instagram feed is strictly iPhone shot and edited. I like the challenge of seeing what I can create.
I love the Hipstamatic app and shoot most of my iPhone shots with it. It has a film-like look and the lens/film combos can create great images that need no further processing. I also like editing and blending images to create dream-like, surrealist images and using symmetry effects. Apps I like to use for editing are Snapseed, Photo Wizard, Diptic, Blender and Decim8. My passion for music also occasionally shows up in my Instagram feed.
Sundays for me are usually lazy and a day I sleep in. It is a day to relax before the workweek starts. For my latest submission to the #sundaybluesedit tag, I wanted to create an image that creates a dreamy, relaxing mood. I like using symmetry effects because of the patterns and the alternate images they create. I have a large stockpile of cloud images on my iPhone camera roll that I like using for blending with other images. Several apps were used to create this image and it was blended with a symmetrical cloud image. The apps used were Hipstamatic, Decim8, Photo Wizard, Blender and Snapseed.
You can find Mark on Instagram as @markgoblue
Mark is also on Flickr where he has digital camera images, full resolution versions of some of his Instagram posts and some iPhone images not posted to Instagram.
http://flic.kr/ps/9KWAK
by Rebecca Cornwell | Jul 15, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
Ode To Phoenix III
This week I present to you a very special artist who speaks more to my soul than even to my heart and eyes. I first came across @kaliopy in the #sundaybluesedit tag where her dark images left me speechless. She is most often moving from darkness into light and examining the depths of a mysterious dream place. We stare deep into her eyes, as well as through her eyes, where even in the darkest corners we will find light. To top of her already amazing talent, she has a unique sparkle that glitters down on you with every comment she leaves and any interaction she shares. This weeks image is quintessential @kaliopy, within it’s very darkest darkness you will find reverberating light from which you cannot look away.
Kaily: ‘Ode to a Phoenix III’ is the protagonist within this operatic tale… with its smoky symbolism of rebirth, immortality and renewal, to a score of symphonic arias of course! If this transition is to happen, it must be epic and spectacular! (put on your 3D glasses, this may be a bumpy ride, cue in the harp solo and throw in some bass!)
I like a story or two – and my love for photography stems from my love of epic tales that continue beyond their frame. I have worked within television production both behind the scenes and in front of the camera as well as stage… and well, four years ago a significant turning point changed the trajectory of my career and outlook. I was struck with bi-facial palsy; bells palsy in stereo… temporary paralysis of the facial nerves, it was the case of the 7th cranial nerve! Yes, the nerve of that!! Basically I looked like a walking decm8 app! (she grins) This kind of hindered my acting career at the time… and thus my confidence spiraled down… the art of hibernation became the easiest alternative to cure my ailment. Alas, during this time my Grandmother, my muse, had also passed away… so basically, I felt that creatively, I had no stories to tell… Fortunately, I was reminded by a friend that with every Greek tragedy (serendipitously I am of Greek heritage) there is always the role of a heroine. So, instead of remaining in splendid isolation, I chose to trust, see and listen to the characters in front of me who were waiting patiently to have their story told. When I heard about Instagram, I decided to begin firstly by exploring self portraits and using this ‘canvas’ to create narratives. Please note, indeed, I have recovered. I can wink and smile again with a hint of fabulous asymmetry. There are days of woe begones-ville, yet it wouldn’t be a Greek drama if there weren’t.
Amidst the interludes, I came across the #sundaybluesedit created by the High Priestess of Wonder Azzure, Rebecca. I love the platform to showcase the many facets of blue-isms in all its shades of highs and lows.
Through the accessibility of mobile photography, chasing the light seemed the greatest outlet (albeit, mostly whilst in transit and caught in traffic) and I am once again curious by the day-to-day happenings and the monologues taking place within the busy streets of Sydney. So with viewfinder ready, I await for the shadows emerging towards the light and occasionally tango with the endless possibilities within the frame… at times pleasantly surprised with it’s twist and turns, engaged with the tension in the unspoken dialogue, distracted by the chaos, clarity and blur, yet I aim to provide a spotlight as I listen to their tale.
“When the characters are really alive before their author, the latter does nothing but follow them in their action, in their words, in the situations which they suggest to him.”
Luigi Pirandello (Author, Playwright)
I encourage you to find Kaily on:
Instagram: @kaliopy
Iphoneart: Kaliopy
by Rebecca Cornwell | Jul 8, 2012 | Showcases, Sunday Blues Edit
Rebecca: Every Sunday I see a variety of interpretations of “blue” in my #sundayblueedit tag on Instagram, which averages about 300 images. Almost since the birth of the tag I’ve had the pleasure of viewing the work of Glenda @butterflyblue. Through Glenda, I’ve been able to see another side of the world that I may never have the opportunity to see any other way. She brings the beaches near her home in Australia every day to my tiny phone. Her incredible, unending, vision of this place always thrills me. Each image brings a new mood and a new vision. I chose this image from last Sunday for its cool blue tones and the chill it seems to carry in the air.
Glenda: I have always taken photos, although not as many as I do now. I live in a very beautiful place on the east coast of Australia called Byron Bay and teach visual arts and photography to high school students 12 – 18 years old. I walk my dog every day along the beaches where I live. With iPhone in hand, everyday beach life takes on a new realm of creativity for me. I also use my cameras occasionally as well but I am more interested in different creative aspects of image enhancement. Images that conjure the beautiful and mysterious qualities of the imagination that can come from using a variety of apps and techniques.
I have been involved in posting images to share for a year now and it has become an enjoyable creative outlet. I have met (virtually) many people who share the passion of photography. Instagram is learning and supportive environment and it is wonderful to experience the many facets of this social phenomenon.
This image is showing a more complex view of my environment. We had very big seas and stormy weather, which eroded most of the beach. The overlaying of images increases the mood and gives the viewer more to interpret, unlock a story or perhaps a dream.
Please visit @butterflyblue on Instagram and EyeEm as well as at the following links:
http://followgram.me/butterflyblue
http://www.facebook.com/glenda.hubbard.39
http://instacanv.as/butterflyblue
