Who wore it better?

You buy a dress, it looks great, you wear it to a party. But wait, another bitch is wearing the same mo-tha- fuck-ing thing. That ain't right. But apparently, it happens to boys too. Hence the nearly coordinated arrival of Nick and Dave in the same spectacular J Crew shirt. Obvs, these guys got style.

But who wore it better? I guess Dave wins purely because he had the cutest little puppy in tow. But Nick's Met's hat put up a good fight.

Friday Night Lights

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. In between a new job, finals, and a photoshoot I had no time to function. But next week holds lots of riches so keep an eye out. In the meantime, enjoy my Friday Night Lights.



Last night, I had one of those amazing New York nights that turned into one of those amazing New York days. I had planned on going home and study but instead found myself on a rooftop in the shadow of the Empire State building dancing to techno music. My solo walk home turned out to be a blast when I spent a joyous half hour playing with bubbles provided by a union square busker. And the reggae singer covering Ace of Base's 'I saw the sign' on the L train platform pretty much just topped it off.

Big Rock Candy Mountain

Are Shelby Lee Adams images fine art or are they another example of white trash photography? 

Adams' photographs of Appalachia are simultaneously reminiscent of the WPA photographers and Diane Arbus. He studies a place were extreme poverty is rampant and strangeness is endemic. While all the photographs were taken between 1989 and 2008, there is the feeling that the depression never left this place and neither did the people. 

Adams devoted an entire book to the Napier family, residents of Beehive, Kentucky. The family live at the end of a holler, the local name for an Appalachian valley, giving rise to strong family ties and an even stronger Kentucky accent. So when the mama of the house talks about splitting firewood in the winter with bare feet, you know that she isn't lying or exaggerating. And best of all, I don't think the family could come up with a full set of teeth between them

But while the family is real, the photographs are debatable. They are not candid, but are in fact, staged productions. The extent of the production is really at heart of the question. That pig on a stick in the picture below, was bought by Adams but prepared by the Napiers. Did he coax them into performing or was he simply helping the documentary process along?

 

For a much better analysis on this question, check out the documentary on his work, The True Meaning of Pictures 

All photographys by Shelby Lee Adams
Thanks to LPV Magazine for some inspiration

----------------- More Appalachia after The Jump-------------

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Toddlers and Tiaras

This spread caused quite a stir when it was published in January of 2011. For a country still haunted by photographs of Jon Benet Ramsey, these images created a knee jerk reaction of revulsion. But this editorial has a self awareness not seen in Toddlers and Tiaras. It exaggerates what is already present in media and advertising to the point where one has to confront it head on. Its publication began a national conversation on age, beauty, and sex that more subversive advertising failed to ignite.

Cadeaux by Sharif Hamza for Vogue Paris