Time Travel Tuesday: Helmar Lerski

It’s all about the light!

Whether artificial, natural or extremely controlled, the Swiss Photographer, Helmar Lerski (1871 – 1956) created some unbelievable portraits.

This soft and luminous portrait of a young woman is arrestingly captivating, while the image of the man, angular and distressed, conjurs up a bronze-like sculptor. It’s no surprise that Lerski worked on Fritz Lang’s Metropolis as, what else, cameraman and special effects expert! To be honest, I’m a little creeped out by a few of his images, but viewed as a full collection, it’s an amazing perspective on portrait photography.

If you are lucky enough to live in NYC, get over to Ubu gallery and check out Lerski’s seminal project, Transformations through Light. Whether you like the photographs or not, it’s a body of work that shouldn’t be ignored. Hurry, it closes in ten days!

The joys of a slower commute.

After commuting for 10+ years on an old Yamaha scooter, I decided to trade in my gas guzzler ($2.00 a week!) for a quieter ride. And I bought a beautiful new bike!

After the shock of how out of shape I am wore off, I’ve been delighted by the joys of a slower, quieter commute. I’m energized every morning by the sights and sounds of my neighborhood.

The scent of peonies wafts through the early morning air, mixed with the lingering scent of late blooming lilacs. And by the time I get down by Theodore Wirth Lake, the frogs have begun their daily cacophony, literally demanding that I pay attention to this new day. I am charged up by the time I get to the office!

I am hoping that by mid-summer, I’ll be rewarded with a healthier self. And a daily bouquet of flowers from my neighborhood gardens, at least in my mind’s eye!

What? You expect me to eat that?

OK, I’ll admit it – I get a little freaked out when I go into an Asian Market. First of all, I don’t speak the language, but seriously, the food is beyond foreign to this Irish-Catholic Midwesterner.

Oh, there’s a few things I can easily incorporate into a stir fry — if it’s something fresh and in the produce section –– but 95% of the items are either freeze dried or unrecognizable. And I am at a loss.

At least I was at a loss! But now, I worry no more! Dried octopus! Found it! White fungus! I’ll try it! Hearts of Palm! Yes, I’m putting it in my next salad!

I have a new found appreciation for wonton skins, rice noodles and enoki. And it’s all because of a project that took a few turns to the left of frustration. Our good friend, Wendy Lewis and her photographer protegé, Jeff Cords have collaborated on an amazing project –– Edible: Collaborative Images.

Under lighting a collection of Asian Market oddities, they have succeeded in showing us the beauty, chaos and pure symmetry of dried and fresh market items, previously unseen by most people. At least most people in the Midwest.

The collection is opening tonight at The Armatage Room in South Minneapolis. In addition to their photographs, look for Coco Connolly’s watercolors of the garden in winter and various items found in her kitchen.

Now, go on, roll up a few sheets of bean curd! We’ll see you at the show!

Welcome YHL Readers! Love the Space You’re In, and get 20% off!

Raise your hand if you like a great love story! Not just the boy-meets-girl variety, but how about boy + girl + new house variety. Yeah, a love story and a Young House Love story.

John and Sherry are all about doings things to improve your space – with taste, with great design sensibility, with doing things the ‘right way’ and best of all affordably. Don’t get me wrong, buying and renovating a house is not cheap, but you can do it right without going broke. 

Viewville shares YHL’s affordability sensibility –– our archival prints are gallery quality and come matted and ready to pop into a standard sized frame. And did I already mention how affordable they are? 

A great piece of art can finish a room, it can redefine a room and it can just plain make you happy every time you look at it. If you’re redoing your house or just one room, take some advice from YHL on how to do it. Then browse around Viewville to adorn those fresh new walls.

To quote Sherry, “I just love a good frog-turned-prince home improvement fairytale, don’t you?” And the answer, Sherry, is, “yes, indeed I do!”

And, when you get ready to purchase those perfect prints, just enter YHL at checkout and we’ll give you a 20% discount off right off the top!

International Center for Photography – Czech it!

Miroslav Tichý's Camera No.1, © Roman Buxbaum

I was so curious when I saw a photograph of this make-shift camera –– thinking it was built by a team of sixth graders in the 1950s I was blown away when I found out the story of the creator, Miroslav Tichy.

Now in his eighties, Tichy is a very mysterious and reclusive Czech artist and photographer. He studied painting in Prague just following WWII and eventually turned his back on the art world, withdrawing from “mainstream” society, primarily because of his political beliefs. The social repression of communism stifled this gifted artist –– and his world became smaller. He suffered greatly from mental illness and after long periods of confinement in institutions, he lost his studio and never really recovered. He still lives in near isolation in his hometown of Kyjov.

His equipment is all hand made, ” … save for the film, chemicals, and photographic paper he bought from a nearby drugstore, all his photographic equipment was self-made. Using cameras inventively constructed from found materials—shoeboxes, tin cans, clothing elastic, toilet paper rolls, even cigarette boxes…. “

And most of his images were taken in and around Kyjov. ” … he conceived a world of his own, populated by the women of his home town…”

Personally, his haunting and distorted images of women, many of them taken surreptitiously, kind of creep me out. But, turn the tables and be the voyeur! Check out the exhibit of his work at the International Center for Photography. I am sure you won’t be disappointed!

Welcome SFGIRL Readers! You get 20% off!

Victoria Smith of sfgirlbybay epitomizes the San Francisco sensibility – she describes it as “bohemian modern style.” Yikes! What’s that mean? For starters, it’s a gorgeous mash-up of the freshest interior designers, products and trends that you’ve ever seen in one lovely online place.

Polaroid photography is one of Victoria’s passions. She describes herself as a “hopeful photographer” but I’d say that “hopeful” describes the joy and emotions in her dreamy images. Her Sunday in the City series are particularly gorgeous.

Here at Viewville, we’re pretty nuts about photography, too.  Jill Sand’s dreamy Polaroid flower images would be right at home in San Francisco. Why not take a trip to Viewville and discover our curated collection. From ethereal florals to retro-50s style. From bohemian modern to mid-century modern and everything in between you’ll discover something perfect for your walls.

And, when you get ready to purchase those perfect prints, just enter “sfgirl” at checkout and we’ll give you a 20% discount off right off the top!

The Midwest meets the Desert West

I am continually amazed when I travel this country and witness the change from boreal forest to sweeping wheat plains to the high desert, especially moving from the midwest to the California.

And for a girl from the Midwest, it’s always the flora and fauna that captivate me! Madge and I were out in Palm Springs last month and toured the desert ––  yes, in the middle of winter! Probably not the best time to witness all the landscape has to offer, but so interesting, none-the-less.

I shot a few images during my travels –– here’s my personal picks of the week!

Madge’s Picks: A week of Mid-Century

Modernism Week is just winding down in Palm Springs and Viewville was there!

It was a week chock full of events that promoted the desert-modern aesthetic in and around Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.

Sometimes it’s called mid-century. Sometimes post-war. Sometimes 50s style. Whatever you call it, it’s a clean and simple style with an elegant informality. From sleek architecture to colorful Vegas style, Modernism covers a lot of ground.

Keep the style alive and swing by Viewville –– and check out our picks that will turn any space into “modern” in a heartbeat!

Modernism Week in Palm Springs. Hip is back in Town!

If you’re a fan of Modernism, you should be in Palm Springs this week! Or any week, for that matter –– because they wrote the book on Mid-Century Modern.

And right now, the city is buzzing, celebrating everything Modern! From tours of private homes designed by Albert Frey to an exhibit of Leland Y. Lee’s architectural photographs to Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms Estate Tour (sorry, sold out!) there is so much –– where do we start!

Well, personally, I’d start out at the Modernism Show Preview Cocktail party and move onto the Martini Party, with a stop over at the Vintage Airstream and Trailer Show at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club. And that’s just the itinerary for tonight!

And one of our friends is carousing around town for the week — we’re anxiously awaiting her daily check-ins and photographs! Since we can’t be there in person, we’ll live a little vicariously!

Viewville will be represented at the Modernism Show Silent Auction, where we’re featuring a few prints by Buck Holzemer. His Salton Sea Resort (below left) and Desert Cables (below right) are proof that he spent some time wandering through the desert in and around Palm Springs.

Love me two! Viewville goes BOGO (Buy one, get one).

We’ve been celebrating Valentine’s Day for a few weeks, and between you and me, we’ve gone a little gaga.

We’re in love with love! We’re smitten kittens! From love nests to love letters, we’re shouting it loud!

So, here’s the deal: buy that one print you’re secretly in love with and we’ll give you another print for free! Yes, that’s it! Two for one. And two for all!

It’s easy! Order your print. On the last page of checkout, tell us which print you want for FREE. And we’ll include it with your order!

We’re out to prove that two truly is better than one!

*Offer is good for two days only –– until February 11th!