Episode Eleven: Aubrey Beardsley

One of the most controversial and stunning artists of the Art Nouveau movement, illustrator Beardsley’s work was preoccupied with erotica & legend, and he was a significant figure in the movement. He produced images which were dark, perverse and grotesque – much of which was circulated privately amongst his group of friends, London’s infamous ‘sexual deviant’ crew, of which his mentor was Oscar Wilde ♥ Although he was published extensively, rumour has it that many of his images weren’t.

Aubrey Beardsley’s work was of the Aesthetic movement, the British counterpart to Decadence and Symbolism (both predominantly French) and he used black ink to create his highly recognisable Japanese Woodcuts – Inspired illustrations. We love the Nouveau movement at Ballad, Ballad Of Mary Maud was “the Nouveau issue” intricate and highly stylised we cannot get enough.

Beardsley died at 25…25! such an influential and extensive body of work to die so young. As with his entire set, controversy and scandal surrounded him during his life and after his death. The question of his sexuality, or lack thereof, and incestuous rumours still surround this fascinating figure…

“I have one aim – the grotesque. If I am not grotescque I am nothing” – Aubs

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Episode Nine: Emma Summerton – Witnessing an Old School Modern Classic

One of the most beautiful and influential photographers to have emerged in recent years, get your peepers round a bit of Emma Summerton.

Years ago, her personal website had a whole array of inspiring personal polaroids, ‘Visual Love Letters’ between her and her long – distant boyfriend, but they are no longer on line, sob.

She has shot, in my opinion the most iconic series of Kate Moss for the cover of iD and I don’t think we have even seen the best, she continues to produce images that move you beyond words. It’s dead sad that her work is so limited online, but it makes her feel so exclusive and modern – retro that I kind of love it. Its rare these days to have to buy a magazine to see someone’s most inspiring work… and I like that. Take notice, we are witnessing an old school modern classic! Don’t miss out, keep buying magazines!!

My first job when I moved to London was for Emma’s agency; MFA… working in this atmosphere and being part of it; around such beautiful photography was an experience that I am so lucky to have had. Every day working amongst genius.

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I don’t really want to say too much, as Sarah Moon’s photography is the sort you don’t need to do anything with but get lost in the beauty…

She started out as a model, photographing her model friends and moved into advertising. The effortless and magical way she photographs laydeeees is like no one else. She was photographing blurred, fantasy images of frocks when everyone else was doing humongous glossy productions. Her images are timeless and we will never tire of looking.

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Appreciate the simple things…

Episode Eight: Erik Kessels and the beauty that is Ammeter Photography

As far as we can see, if you can’t have fun with it, what’s the point? That seems to be Erik Kessels point of view, and he produces some of the most fascinating exhibitions and with Kessels Kramer Publishing, some of the most beautiful books around. In Almost Every Picture is a series where Kessels has found sets of homeless photographs, and in almost every picture there is a Dalmatian, the photographers wife, a set of twins… the list goes on. These books are humorous, familiar, exciting, and sad as we see the stunning, beloved Dalmatian age, or one Twin appear alone, slightly off center at the end of the book.

Breathing new life into would – be forgotten photographs is a subject close to our hearts, and we know by now I’m a sucker for all projects that question authenticity and ownership…My personal favorite – Wonder celebrates the beauty of film photography, and mourns the passing of photographic ‘errors’.

This is only a small part of what Erik Kessels does, we continue to be fascinated by what he produces and he often addresses issues we have wondered about, and know you have too (Strangers In My Photo-album, how many items can you balance on a rabbits head) We can’t wait to see what is next!

If you do one thing today, buy Wonder. I would go as far as to say it is the most beautiful & inspiring photography book we own. I know, bold!

In Almost Every Picture 5

In Almost Every Picture 4

Strangers In My Photo Album

In Almost Every Picture 8

KesselsKramer on our recent trip to The Dam

Arles once again!! We may move away from that subject next week…

All images excluding our shots from Arles and Amsterdam are from kesselskramerpublishing.com

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Lets hang out with The Sunflower Painter for a bit…

Episode Seven: Van Gogh does Arles

We’re all Arles – obsessed at the moment…probably as its the 1st in 5 years that we aren’t going to the sunny Southern France town. Sigh.

Arles’ rich and famously vibrant light attracted many (if not all) of the Post Impressionist painters of note at some point around the 1880s and the town is particularly pleased with its Van Gogh connections. The image below, Yellow House is where Ol Vincent rented four rooms of the house, and where he was living when he famously waved his razor blade at Gauguin, sliced off his own ear and gave it to a prostitute. 

Most of the beautiful paintings of fame that Van Gogh did while he was in Arles, and in fact ever, were intended as decoration for the empty walls of the Yellow House. After living here, fou roux as he was known to locals, was swiftly moved to the infamous Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.

Should we go to Arles? Should we..? In the name of art…? 

Yellow House, 1888

Garden of the Asylum, Arles, 1888

View of Arles with Irises, 1888

La Nuit Etoilee Arles, 1888

The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles at Night,1888

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Have another look, its good for you

Episode Six: Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin has always been a favorite of ours here at Ballad Of… We know you know her, but you should take another look, it feels good. Self explination is such that following her sisters suicide, she photographed people excessively in order top keep hold of them forever.

Goldin documented her friends throughout the 70s 80s and wanted to be a fashion photographer; to put drag queens on the cover of Vogue, but her photographic career was to take a much more important turn, and remaining as a documentary photographer, she has produced one of the most important, personal and gritty bodies of work we know of. Her images are seeped with sadness, love and tragic death as many of her friends developed HIV. The way the story pans out gives a real melancholic feel to the earlier, breezy images. She is a real living classic.

Nan Goldin’s books of note; I’ll Be Your Mirror and Ballad Of Sexual Dependancy (which isn’t where we got inspiration for our Ballad Of… Unfortunately our reference is a lot less credible ..!) are beautifully moving chronicles, a real roller coaster of emotions and need to be seen and held to be truly appreciated.

09 I’ll Be Your Mirror by BalladOf

2009′s Les Rencontres d’Arles was curated by Goldin, and her exhibition of the photographs she owns was one of the most powerful exhibitions we have ever been to. It was very Goldin – esque, but in an entirely different and almost warped and twisted way. Nan (below 3rd from the left…SORRY!! we did get front row seats, and do have a degree in photography…don’t really know what went wrong!!) was not how we expected. To be honest, if we’d thought about it she was probably exactly as we should of expected, but it was one of those occasions when you shouldn’t meet an idol…hmmm.

(…that talk has a lot of good (Non Nan related) memories for us…that’s Mary Maude in the Morrisons bag… we had just recieved the call to say she’d got into Tate Modern and RD Franks! Oh the memories!!)

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Were have all the Cowboys gone?

Episode Five: Richard Prince

We love someone who rocks the boat. Artist Richard Prince is so frikking intelligent with his work, and his ‘Girlfriends‘ and ‘Cowboy‘ series get me every time. I’m also a sucker for comments on consumerism and mass culture and ownership (expect future episodes to include Sherman, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Kruger, Levine & the Don of the lot Kessels…) Prince raised (or re addressed) questions of ownership of public images, the location of the author and at what point the artist becomes the artist…

In ‘Girlfriends‘ from 1992, Prince re photographs self portrait ads placed by women in biker magazines and addresses issues of gender and desire. Does the image change once it has been re photographed, selected, edited and manipulated by a man…questions questions…

‘Cowboys‘ also from 1992 is a series of re photographed and cropped Marlboro adverts, with the text removed. Prince began re photographing them after the company hit the headlines and became the target of an antismoking campaign. They were forced to stop using the famous  Marlboro Man. The images, stripped down become an even stronger comment on American culture and idealism. America as the Consumer Nation, and the Cowboy as the American Hero, the leading man, the American Dream…just after advertising went mental in the 1980s, what has this John Wanyne man’s man become? hmm. 

A different kind of inspiration…

Episode Four: Nico

This week’s instalment is a bit of a Ballad muse. We love Nico, her child like presence and effortless beauty enchants us. ‘Discovered’ by Andy Warhol, he basically forced Velvet Underground to work with her. Her voice is haunting and majestic and cannot be replicated…probably due to her partial deafness, it is nothing like you will ever hear again. Model, Singer, Composer and Actress she steals the show in La Dolce Vita with her impish innocence and we can’t get enough.

 And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow’s parties?

06 All Tomorrow’s Parties by BalladOf

The B Side of All Tomorrow’s Parties is I’ll Be Your Mirror, inspiration for the title of Nan Goldin’s fantasticlly moving book…I think we will swing by that in a couple of episodes time…

Hope you enjoyed!

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Our weekly fix of culture, Ballad Style.

Episode Three: Terry Richardson

It isn’t really up for debate; Terry Richardson is one of our genorations most challenging, influential and successful photographers.

His Dad, Bob Richardson, is widely credited for introducing sex, drugs and all its associations into fashion photography, and was shunned for a long time by the industry giants, who didn’t feel that the world was ready to see such sights, or didn’t want to be associated with this world, and he was a regular feature on Vogue’s cutting room floor. Like great artists of the past, truly not appreciated in his time.

Without Bob, Terry’s work, along with many of today’s industry leaders, wouldn’t  be what it is today.

Terry Richardson’s photography is seductive, seedy and provocative. There is something of the every day about all his images, something sensitive and heart felt, yet they are some how uncomfortable to look at. Their raw beauty and eroticism is similar to dark tourism, we don’t know why, but we cannot tear our eyes away. 

His images are addictive, and if you too can’t get enough, this is more than your heart could possibly desire. Enjoy my loves x

Time for another dose of what we like to look at…

Episode Two: Ziegfeld Follies

Ziegfeld Follies was a series of Broadway productions conceived by Florenz Ziegfeld, The Glorifier of the American Girl on the suggestion of his wife, the fascinating Anna Held.

Ziegfeld took his inspired from the Folies Bergere of Paris (we all know A Bar at the Folies Bergere by Manet, 1882) and Ziegfeld Follies ran from 1907 to 1931. Beautiful and elaborate, it’s the classically stunning, scandalous and so of-the-era Ziegfeld Girls that we love. Ziegfeld Follies produced silent film stars such as Billie Dove, Anita Travis, the already famous (and wonderful) Josephine Baker who preformed both at the Folies Bergere and in the Ziegfeld Follies. The most famous of the Ziegfeld Girls, however was vamp and stereotypical bad girl Louise Brooks. We can’t take our eyes off that girl.

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