Picture Perfect

I've recently come across Philip Toledano, a photographer who's series entitled Hope and Fear makes very curious statements. Here's a selection from the series:










I find 'Hope and Fear' interesting because while the costumes are bizarre, infact bordering on silly, the facial expressions and lighting demand to be taken very seriously.


I also really enjoy his landscape and architectural shots from other series. As I browsed his multiple styles I was struck by the fact that I liked every one of them. I think it has alot to do with his use of cool color, but also with a kind of sophisticated tension in his lighting that is both dramatic, and calm or restrained. The following are from the set entitled Nightfall.





These are all best viewed within the context of their full series; visit Toledeno's site to get the bigger picture of his photographic brilliance.



And in a curatorial spirit, I invite you to view the following SPIKE JONZE short. I see it as a short, as opposed to, say, a new Adidas ad - but anyway... I think it works with Toledeno's photography. Not so much in subject matter, as in a kind of surreal, dreamy feeling. Also they use a similar range of cool colors, a pallette that makes me drool! (Notice how they match the steel grey of this page background. yup, basically my favorite color).

View the video here, but prepare for heartache over how sweet it is.