A SONG FOR TODAY

The piano bit is very beautiful and sad indeed.

ANNA BLODA: TALK, TALK, TALK

Gritty interiors, pop symbolism and female nudes are just a few things inspiring Anna Bloda. The Polish photographer has exhibited in galleries across Berlin and Warsaw, and her graphic, colourful portraiture draws comparisons to the work of Jan Saudek and Richard Kern. That is, if they lived in Eastern Europe circa 2010.

Do you remember the first picture you ever took? My first pictures were the ones I did while applying for college. The topic was light so I photographed my sister wearing a sheer cotton nightgown. She resembled a nymph enveloped with delicate sun rays cutting through her body. The camera I used was Smiena.



What inspires you? Life. I take pictures of everything I find inspiring day and night - a rat on railway tracks, plastic spoons, a used cup. Anything that creates an original whole. Sometimes even vomit on the pavement can be inspiring.

What makes you happy? Spontaneous moments that make me feel alive - working, creating, breathing.

What makes you sad? Knowing that one day my parents will die.

Do you believe in God? Yes.





What is it about female body that fascinates you so much? When it comes to my work, I love nudity. I'm fascinated with the concealed and forbidden. Sometimes when I take pictures of a model, I feel almost obsessed! The body is everything. You don't have to say anything and it exposes all your character traits and insecurities. It's also the place, where a new life is born and where truly magical things can happen. That's why the whole concept of shame is something I still cannot understand. What exactly are we ashamed of when it comes to our bodies? And more importantly: why?

Your favourite book? It would be a shame to pick one when there are so many! So perhaps I will go with the ones I liked at the beginning: CS Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", Dostoyevski's "Crime and Punishment" and "All the better to eat you with" by Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer.

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Who are your ultimate celebrity crushes? Madonna and Terry Richardson.

What's the best thing to have for breakfast? Eggs and bacon Mexican-style!

What's your favourite youtube video at the moment?

Roisin Murphy - Overpowered


Thank you Anna!

All photos by Anna Bloda

www.annabloda.com

POLAND BY CHRIS NIEDENTHAL

One of my favourite reportage photographers is Chris Niedenthal, who back in the 70s and 80s captured the unlikely beauty of Poland in the Communist times. Stores with empty shelves and tanks on the streets of Warsaw are only a few recurring themes in his pictures. Seen through Niedentahls's lens, they evoke humour and nostalgia - something which still inspires, no matter how gruesome they probably appeared back then.









All pictures by Chris Niedenthal

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

I'm back in Warsaw for Christmas, so had a chance to rummage through some of my old negatives. Most of those were taken in 2005-2006, somewhere between London, Warsaw and Paris. The last one is my little brother by the way.

















All pictures by me

POSTCARDS FROM ANTWERP

I found those in the newly opened AF Vandevorst guerrilla store in Antwerp. No idea who the artists are, but I love the idea of selling such images alongside all-black, pared-down Belgian clothing.

CORINNE STOLL'S PICZINE

... is an amazing b & w fanzine run by photographer Corinne Stoll in Paris. It really inspires me to start my own little thing one day. But before that happens, enjoy some of Stoll's beautiful photography here:




PICZINE is available from Colette in Paris and Printed Matter in NYC.

All photos via www.piczine.blogspot.com

I HAVE A PICTURE IN THE NEW POLISH ELLE

It's of mr. Krystof of course. They're saying his clothes will be the most snobbish thing to wear next year (but in a good way!). And it's a whole page. Yeayyy!

A SONG FOR TODAY

One of my favourite songs ever!

DANIEL SANNWALD: TALK, TALK, TALK

German photographer Daniel Sannwald has shot for the likes of V magazine, Qvest and Dazed & Confused among others. He's an avid cook, great fan of hip hop, and if that wasn't enough, he's got his first book coming out early next year. Browsing through his dark, humorous images, it's hard not to notice the influence of German Expressionism - a movement he cites along with the movies of F.W. Murnau and of course, Fritz Lang...

Do you remember the first picture you ever took? I was very young when my father committed suicide. After his death my mother and I lived a vagabondish life. We didn’t really have a place I would have called our home. We had all our possessions in her car and we would go around all her friends to stay over, sometimes for a night, sometimes for month or longer.
At a certain point my mother took me on a trip to Turkey in this car for some vacation. I can’t remember it so well anymore but I remember it was the first vacation I was allowed to take pictures with her camera. One of the first photos I ever took was when my mother was sleeping in the car. She looked so perfect to me… I remember that at that moment she symbolised every idealist feeling I had about a woman.



What inspires you? Life.

What makes you happy? Life.

What makes you sad? Life.



Your favourite book? I really like children books like stories by Michael Ende, Roald Dahl (with Quentin Blake's illustrations) and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's Alice in Wonderland. Honestly, I just read children books and poetry books.

I also love this poem by ee cummings:

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

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Name any person living or dead you would like to have dinner with... My father.

What did you dream of last night? Can't remember. The last thing I remember is the dream where I was Ariel and I had to fight against the evil sea-witch. Awful!

If I could live in another time it would be... In the time of the new kingdom of the Egyptian empire!



Who's your ultimate celebrity crush? Nelly.

What's your favourite youtube video at the moment? I dont really have a music collection on my laptop so I use youtube as my radio and I mostly play this song:

Tim Buckley - Song to Siren


Thank you Sanny!

All photos by Daniel Sannwald

www.danielsannwald.com

GAGA BY AROBAL

So I missed the Lady Gaga-themed party in Warsaw on Tuesday, but at least I can marvel at the beautiful illustration, which was made especially for the occasion by my friend Arobal. Check more of his wonderful drawings here. FYI he's currently working on a portrait of me, which will be making an appearance on the blog soon!



http://blebazgroly.blog.pl/

I'M OBSESSED WITH THE MESS THAT'S AMEEEERICAAA!

I did some behind-the-scenes pictures at the filming of Marina and the Diamonds "Hollywood" video, directed by the amazing Kinga Burza. Loved Marina, the set and the Americana-inspired styling by Celestine Cooney!























And here's the video:



All photos by me

A FEW THINGS THAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY NIGHT

Apologies for the lack of proper documentation, but it was all a bit manic. Nevertheless, the party was a lot of fun and I was really happy to see all my Warsaw friends!

Highlights of the night included a collective dance sequence to Bad Romance (seems to have a huge following in the Warsaw art circles), Krystof dancing all night with his earphones on (as he insisted he likes to hear his songs loud!) and finally, the CD player burning down at 4am for a non-identifiable reason (although playing old Haddaway could be the case). All in all, a great night and big thanks to everyone, who came down and the boys at Delikatesy TR, who helped us put it together.


me drinking and Krystof looking for the next track


some mad queues at the bar

photos by Sebastian Kustra & Wojtek Krzywkowski

TOMORROW

I'm in Warsaw and will be playing records with Krystof Strozyna tomorrow night at Delikatesy TR. Come down if you're around.

I will be playing a lot of stuff like that:

PIERRE DEBUSSCHERE: TALK, TALK, TALK

To put a bit of a break to this "me, me, me" action, I thought: why not start interviewing photographers, whose work I really like? Except, those won't be the questions you expect from a typical q&a.

So first comes a little chat with my friend Pierre Debusschere - an AMAZING photographer and video maker from Brussels, Belgium. Over the last year, Pierre has been shooting for the likes of Dazed & Confused, Metal and Vogue Hommes Japan, and his fashion videos were exhibited at Colette in Paris last February. Most recently, he art directed the new website for Raf Simons, which, just like Pierre's images, is sleek, futuristic and darkly, darkly beautiful...



Do you remember the first picture you ever took?
It must have been a picture of my mum in my garden lit by falling sunlight.

What inspires you? Music, art & light.

What makes you happy? Achieving something.

What makes you sad? People's complexity.

Your favourite film? Andrei Rublev by Andrei Tarkovsky.

What did you dream about last night? Someone...

What was your favourite fancy dress outfit when you were a child? The potato rafia bag!




Have you ever tried bungee jumping? Nope, but I once jumped from a 15m bridge into water.

What do you listen to in your car? My whole playlist, but mostly songs that I can sing along to until I run out of voice...

What's the most delicious thing in the world? Napolitains!

And the best music video you've ever seen?
Blonde Redhead -The Dress directed by Mike Mills



Thank you Pipi!

All photos by Pierre Debusschere

www.pierredebusschere.com

GUESS WHERE?

Haha, unfortunately I can't tell you just yet! Last week, I took some behind-the-scenes shots at the filming of a music video in London. I can't show anything before it comes out, except that it was directed by the lovely Kinga Burza and features one of the most promising music talents in the UK now... Jedward it's not.

AMAZING DRAWINGS BY GERALDINE GEORGES

www.geraldinegeorges.be

RIP DAUL KIM

You will be missed.