PHOTOS | TWO WEEKS OF DETAILS

At the Tommy Hilfiger S/S 2012 show

Two weeks ago I bought my first real camera in about a decade. It's a Pentax K20D, sold to me by one Mr. Liam Gaws. I am thrilled to have it.  I had been feeling ill equipped for too long - every day seeing things I wanted to capture for this very space, and with no means to do so. Since it arrived, the camera has barely left my face. I'm just getting warmed up again after a five year photo hiatus (I did some artsy fartsy stuff in college) but my life has already benefitted and hopefully this blog will too. Here are some of the menswear focused shots thus far. And you can see all the rest on Flickr. Many thanks to the aforementioned Liam Gaws, the wonderful Justin Chung and the patient Johnny Ridley for their continuing mentorship on this front.  - M

Beer Money

Noah

Julio

Dating bikes

Jess' shirt

Tattoo picnic

Grandpa ties

Porkslap

Hats. Fan.

Gabe

James

Tecateeeeee

Graeme's Tretorns

Jian

Danger.

Allan, designer at Svpply.

INSPIRATION | HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON

 Richard Avedon, 1951, (print insitu at SFMOMA exhibit)

While in San Francisco last week, I woke up on Saturday to a coldish, rainy morning. So I investigated my indoor options and decided on the San Francisco Modern Art Museum, satellite to the mothership, MOMA in NYC.  I trekked over, (under a ridiculously beautiful umbrella courtesy of the Huntington Hotel), and upon arriving knew I had been led there for a reason: a Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit was happily situated on the third floor, ready for me to indulge.

Bresson is one of my favorite photographers; renowned as the father of all photo journalists.  Born in 1908, he was one of the first to experiment with the mobile camera and his career is attributed to shaping how that technology is used and what we now know as photo reporting. If is work looks familiar, it should, he was the photographer responsible for a majority of LIFE magazine's success in the 50's and 60's.

Personally, I've considered his work to have paved the way for today's style and even street photography.  He's not known for it but I've admired Bresson, especially in his portraits of artists, for his incredible ability to capture men's style in a completely unpretentious way; spanning cultures, eras and settings. Perhaps the first to do so?

In any case, certainly worthy of a little post love, I thought. Below are some of my sartorially relevant favorites and see the rest here, on MOMA's interactive site.  - M

J.M.G Le Clezio, Paris, 1965

Albert Camus, Paris, 1947

Truman Capote (no, seriously), 1947

Saul Steinberg, Vermont, 1947

Julien Gracq, France, 1984

Alfred Stieglitz, New York, 1946

From The Bankers Trust Co. Commission, 1960

From The Bankers Trust Co. Commission, 1960

Cherry Pickers, France, 1957

Curragh Racecourse, Ireland, 1952

At Le Mans Auto Race, France, 1966

Richard Avedon (as above), New York, 1951

The Coronation of King George VI, London, 1937

The well appointed photographer himself, Cartier-Bresson, photographed by fellow photographer Arnold Newman, New York, 1946

COLLECTION | FREEMANS SPORTING CLUB F/W 2010

Yes, this outerwear centered collection promises to be quality –for when has Freemans ever done us wrong?– but it's the look book that has left be at a loss for words.  Photographed by Tim Barber, of Urban Outfitters and Nike fame, it's all satire meets stereotype and I love it. What better way to ring in the holiday than an Abraham Lincoln butcher apron? I'm not gonna lie, I kind of want a poster. Of every single one of these. More below with items for purchase at Freemanssportingclub.com. - M

 

 

 

PHOTOS | POP-UP SHOTS

A just-so presentation
by Tanner Goods

I could not have had a better time last weekend at the Pop Up Flea, which inspired a few posts (which are still in the works). In the mean time, here are just a few drive-by shots I snapped while perusing the goods.  They're adjusted using the Instagram app for iPhone. (If you're on it, give me a holler, my user name is marisazupan.) - M

Getting schooled
Alexander Olch

One Brother Bray
 of Billy Kirk

Pebble Boot
Oak Street Bootmakers

Billy Kirk x Sebago boot

Alexander Olch booth

Vintage  Toggle

Weekend Bag
J.W Hulme Co.

Leather Head Sports

EVENT | LEVI'S PHOTO WORKSHOP

Photo via The Selvedge Yard

Last Thursday I had the great pleasure of attending the debut event for the Levi's Photo Workshop at 10 Wooster St. in NYC (yep, that's the old Deitch space). It is the second Levi's endavor of its kind, the first one being a print shop located in San Francisco. These 'workshops' are a bit like an evolved version of a pop-up and, to be fair, far more sophisticated than your average concept store. In Levi's words: 

The Levi's Photo Workshop is here as a resource for the photographers of New York City. Whether it's to take classes, rent cameras, stock up on film, make stupid faces in our photo booth with your best guy or gal or just to pop in and see what's being shot in our studio space, the Workshop will be all things to all photographers, be they point-and-shooters or professionals.

Photo via The Selvedge Yard

The opening event was the place to be and the crowd it drew was a sight to be seen. Packed, undulating and sweaty as it was, the place was bright and buzzing with plenty of points of interest and activities for everyone.  I spent most of my time lingering round the T-shirt printing station run by the great folks at Zazzle, which I'm pretty sure stole the show, for who wouldn't want a T-shirt of themselves shirtlessly wielding a chainsaw? (Yes, that happened.)

Both the NYC and San Fran workshops were orchestrated with great finesse by Swiss-army-knife Michael Ventura and his no-job-too-big shop, Sub Rosa.  With Levi's they've made some pretty awesome magic and there are plenty of events and exhibitions coming up so I strongly, vehemently recommend stopping by for one of them.  - M

Photo via The Selvedge Yard

Photo via The Selvedge Yard

Photo via Tokyohana