TINSEL TOWN HEROES
Ellen Von Unwerth
Ellen Von Unwerth’s thirty-year storied career defined the aesthetic of the 90’s and 2000’s and has made her a staple of fashion photography. Crafting cinematic scenarios for her shoots, Von Unwerth’s flashy, kinky, and humorous photographs invite viewers to come along on a boisterous escapade. By furnishing each of her subjects with a new persona to inhabit, she allows their inhibitions to melt away. The story telling aspect in her creative process has allowed her to create images that are never static and begs the question, “what is really going on here?” The inherent sexuality in her images is never without fun, and the subjects within her works are always powerful - positioned in control of their sex appeal.
Quantum Lens
Visit Photography HomeThe world's best curated Photography
Ellen Von Unwerth’s thirty-year storied career defined the aesthetic of the 90’s and 2000’s and has made her a staple of fashion photography. Crafting cinematic scenarios for her shoots, Von Unwerth’s flashy, kinky, and humorous photographs invite viewers to come along on a boisterous escapade. By furnishing each of her subjects with a new persona to inhabit, she allows their inhibitions to melt away. The story telling aspect in her creative process has allowed her to create images that are never static and begs the question, “what is really going on here?” The inherent sexuality in her images is never without fun, and the subjects within her works are always powerful - positioned in control of their sex appeal.
Fugue State Revisited, is an on-going exploration of the future legacies of photography, with a focus on the life span of digital files. After the loss of a hard drive that held 20 years of analog scans, I received only half the files back in recovery. The rest of the files were corrupted, each totally unique in how the machine damages and reinterprets the pixels. This alarming result made me begin to consider ever-shifting digital platforms and file formats, and I realized that much of the data we produce today could eventually fall into a black hole of inaccessibility. The Getty Research Institute states, “While you are still able to view family photographs printed over 100 years ago, a CD with digital files on it from only 10 years ago might be unreadable because of rapid changes to software and the devices we use to access digital content.” As an analog photographer, rather than let the machine have the last word, I have cyanotyped over my damaged digital scans. I use silhouettes of portraits from my archives as a way to conceal and reveal the corruption. By using historical processes to create a physical object, I guarantee that this image will not be lost in the current clash between the digital file and the materiality of a photographic print. Fugue State Revisited calls attention to the fact that today’s digital files may not retain their original state, or even exist, in the next century. As we are reliant on technology to keep our images intact for future generations, it begs the question, who will maintain our hard drives after we are gone? Will we be able to conserve photographs that speak to family histories? These are important considerations for our visual futures, as we may be leaving behind photographs that will be reimagined by machines.
Growing up as a Catholic Latina, I was very aware of the desirable attributes prescribed to women of my faith, including chastity. At the time, I did not dare to question them out loud. I adhered to them innocently, thinking that this was the way the world operated. In my practice, I photograph women in order to free myself from that conditioning. In Let It Go, I explore femininity collaboratively, working with close friends and acquaintances in a full, frank, and free way. In moody, narrative-driven compositions, we explore desire and desirability, and question the myriad expectations of women and how we are portrayed.
Back to Light expands upon the potato battery, a classic grade school science project. By inserting a galvanized nail into one side of a potato and a copper wire in the other side, a small electrical current is generated. Many people fondly remember drawing power from potatoes or fruit in the classroom. This work speaks to the gift of human curiosity, and a concern for the future of earth’s energy sources. The cycle that begins with light from our nearest star that is photosynthesized by organic materials to produce energy is re-routed in these images, Back to Light, illuminating earth once again.
Her Wave reflects Joni Sternbach's travel to worldwide surf spots over the past fourteen years. Facing weather and tide, Sternbach and her subject intersect at the periphery of two powerful elements: land and sea. Sternbach allows the format's rawness and immediacy to shape each composition's distinctive appearance, echoing important traditions of nineteenth-century anthropological photography.
In their essence, dolls are simultaneously fascinating and controversial. Dolls are known to influence the construction of identities and exploration of various narratives, and are associated with racist and misogynistic stereotypes. In his 1913 essay Dolls, poet Rainer Maria Rilke posits: “We found our orientation through the doll. We could gradually flow down into her and collect ourselves and recognize, although somewhat dimly, our new surrounding world”. We definitely do, and this continues throughout our life: dolls are interwoven into the fabric of our fantasy worlds. And in these worlds, why would dolls be limited to our projections and expectations of them and not be capable of even more than us, humans? The dolls are here. They observe without affirming good or bad, offering themselves as objects for attachment of all kinds of fantasies. Your invitation to the afternoon doll play has arrived.
The world's best curated Photography
Ellen Von Unwerth’s thirty-year storied career defined the aesthetic of the 90’s and 2000’s and has made her a staple of fashion photography. Crafting cinematic scenarios for her shoots, Von Unwerth’s flashy, kinky, and humorous photographs invite viewers to come along on a boisterous escapade. By furnishing each of her subjects with a new persona to inhabit, she allows their inhibitions to melt away. The story telling aspect in her creative process has allowed her to create images that are never static and begs the question, “what is really going on here?” The inherent sexuality in her images is never without fun, and the subjects within her works are always powerful - positioned in control of their sex appeal.
Fugue State Revisited, is an on-going exploration of the future legacies of photography, with a focus on the life span of digital files. After the loss of a hard drive that held 20 years of analog scans, I received only half the files back in recovery. The rest of the files were corrupted, each totally unique in how the machine damages and reinterprets the pixels. This alarming result made me begin to consider ever-shifting digital platforms and file formats, and I realized that much of the data we produce today could eventually fall into a black hole of inaccessibility. The Getty Research Institute states, “While you are still able to view family photographs printed over 100 years ago, a CD with digital files on it from only 10 years ago might be unreadable because of rapid changes to software and the devices we use to access digital content.” As an analog photographer, rather than let the machine have the last word, I have cyanotyped over my damaged digital scans. I use silhouettes of portraits from my archives as a way to conceal and reveal the corruption. By using historical processes to create a physical object, I guarantee that this image will not be lost in the current clash between the digital file and the materiality of a photographic print. Fugue State Revisited calls attention to the fact that today’s digital files may not retain their original state, or even exist, in the next century. As we are reliant on technology to keep our images intact for future generations, it begs the question, who will maintain our hard drives after we are gone? Will we be able to conserve photographs that speak to family histories? These are important considerations for our visual futures, as we may be leaving behind photographs that will be reimagined by machines.
Growing up as a Catholic Latina, I was very aware of the desirable attributes prescribed to women of my faith, including chastity. At the time, I did not dare to question them out loud. I adhered to them innocently, thinking that this was the way the world operated. In my practice, I photograph women in order to free myself from that conditioning. In Let It Go, I explore femininity collaboratively, working with close friends and acquaintances in a full, frank, and free way. In moody, narrative-driven compositions, we explore desire and desirability, and question the myriad expectations of women and how we are portrayed.
Back to Light expands upon the potato battery, a classic grade school science project. By inserting a galvanized nail into one side of a potato and a copper wire in the other side, a small electrical current is generated. Many people fondly remember drawing power from potatoes or fruit in the classroom. This work speaks to the gift of human curiosity, and a concern for the future of earth’s energy sources. The cycle that begins with light from our nearest star that is photosynthesized by organic materials to produce energy is re-routed in these images, Back to Light, illuminating earth once again.
Her Wave reflects Joni Sternbach's travel to worldwide surf spots over the past fourteen years. Facing weather and tide, Sternbach and her subject intersect at the periphery of two powerful elements: land and sea. Sternbach allows the format's rawness and immediacy to shape each composition's distinctive appearance, echoing important traditions of nineteenth-century anthropological photography.
In their essence, dolls are simultaneously fascinating and controversial. Dolls are known to influence the construction of identities and exploration of various narratives, and are associated with racist and misogynistic stereotypes. In his 1913 essay Dolls, poet Rainer Maria Rilke posits: “We found our orientation through the doll. We could gradually flow down into her and collect ourselves and recognize, although somewhat dimly, our new surrounding world”. We definitely do, and this continues throughout our life: dolls are interwoven into the fabric of our fantasy worlds. And in these worlds, why would dolls be limited to our projections and expectations of them and not be capable of even more than us, humans? The dolls are here. They observe without affirming good or bad, offering themselves as objects for attachment of all kinds of fantasies. Your invitation to the afternoon doll play has arrived.
Growing up as a Catholic Latina, I was very aware of the desirable attributes prescribed to women of my faith, including chastity. At the time, I did not dare to question them out loud. I adhered to them innocently, thinking that this was the way the world operated. In my practice, I photograph women in order to free myself from that conditioning. In Let It Go, I explore femininity collaboratively, working with close friends and acquaintances in a full, frank, and free way. In moody, narrative-driven compositions, we explore desire and desirability, and question the myriad expectations of women and how we are portrayed.
Back to Light expands upon the potato battery, a classic grade school science project. By inserting a galvanized nail into one side of a potato and a copper wire in the other side, a small electrical current is generated. Many people fondly remember drawing power from potatoes or fruit in the classroom. This work speaks to the gift of human curiosity, and a concern for the future of earth’s energy sources. The cycle that begins with light from our nearest star that is photosynthesized by organic materials to produce energy is re-routed in these images, Back to Light, illuminating earth once again.
Her Wave reflects Joni Sternbach's travel to worldwide surf spots over the past fourteen years. Facing weather and tide, Sternbach and her subject intersect at the periphery of two powerful elements: land and sea. Sternbach allows the format's rawness and immediacy to shape each composition's distinctive appearance, echoing important traditions of nineteenth-century anthropological photography.
In their essence, dolls are simultaneously fascinating and controversial. Dolls are known to influence the construction of identities and exploration of various narratives, and are associated with racist and misogynistic stereotypes. In his 1913 essay Dolls, poet Rainer Maria Rilke posits: “We found our orientation through the doll. We could gradually flow down into her and collect ourselves and recognize, although somewhat dimly, our new surrounding world”. We definitely do, and this continues throughout our life: dolls are interwoven into the fabric of our fantasy worlds. And in these worlds, why would dolls be limited to our projections and expectations of them and not be capable of even more than us, humans? The dolls are here. They observe without affirming good or bad, offering themselves as objects for attachment of all kinds of fantasies. Your invitation to the afternoon doll play has arrived.
Quantum Canvas
Visit Digital Art HomeThe finest Digital Art, carefully curated by our team of experts
Khuwab ki Tabeer ‘Interpretation of a dream’ is Maliha Abidi’s latest series. This collection of 4 NFTs follows a story of a South-Asian girl and all the things she dreams about because to her, there is no limit, restrictions or barriers that stand in her way of achieving any of it. Each of the unique art pieces celebrate Maliha’s heritage as a Pakistani-American artist through use of distinct elements native to Pakistan’s culture. The series reminds us of our younger self and takes us back to the times when we used to wonder during the nights about our dreams, what we want to be and how it’ll escape the challenges we faced as our young selves. A fifth part (not for sale) to this series is a piece which follows on from the story where the protagonist reflects and comes face to face with her inner fearlessness.
GAMUT-93 is a series of pixel-based video paintings informed by the Op art movement, primitive computer graphics, and contemporary graffiti. Gravitating between symbolism and abstraction, the artwork whispers in micro-narratives through the use of silent haiku charades, hypnotic visual ambience, and vivid graphic techno.
SANCTUARY is a collection of pixel paintings that investigate the proliferation and permeation of digitized memory in the post internet age. Its conceptually layered armature and visually poetic distillation process encourage us to experience the full bandwidth of a visceral nostalgia in locating the pulse of a lost paradise we refer to as “our youth”. Remixed source material are reduced to shimmering pixelated outlines dancing across a contrasting dark digital canvas co-inhabited by scrolling text (appropriated from 80’s and 90’s era song lyrics), functioning as internal dialogue and instinctive meta prose. These motifs operate on the subconscious level wherein the visible and symbolic merge to produce evocative allusions referred to as vignettes, which are divided into three categorical types: Moments, Objects, and Mementos. Combining these vignettes into diptychs and triptychs engenders the transmission of personal narratives and private myths. Such permutations symbolize the piecing together of fragmented memories, as if downloading one’s own recollective echo to ultimately reveal an intrinsic cerebral blueprint—inviting us to reflect and reconcile with the forces and events that have shaped our present selves.
In ancient Persian literature, ماه طلعت (Moon-faced) was a genderless adjective used to define beauty in both men and women. In contemporary Iran, it refers to the beauty of women only. In the world of images, something similar happened to the Qajar dynasty portrait paintings: the modernization of Iran, the influence of the European tradition of realistic painting, and the use of camera technology and therefore photography as a model, overshadowed and ended the queer representation of genders that historically characterized these paintings, largely known for their gender-undifferentiation. For her project, “ماه طلعت Moon-faced” Allahyari uses a carefully researched and chosen series of keywords with a multimodal AI model to generate a series of videos from the Qajar Dynasty painting archive (1786-1925). Through this collaboration, the machine program learns to paint new genderless portraits, in the effort to undo and repair a history of Westernization that ended the course of nonbinary gender representation in the Persian visual culture. The music in this video was composed by Mani Nilchiani.
Math Art is the first NFT drop by Herbert W. Franke, forefather of media art. This 100 piece-collection is drawn from his iconic 80s series Math Art where mathematical investigation is translated into visual art, with a stunning variety of forms that is strikingly reminiscent of Pop Art. License: https://quantum.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmUnSepLccUajd2kJi3hX7bFvzUuFHr39UUP1TTk9yHaaq
How does one convey a sense of space and materiality through digital abstraction? For fifteen years, Nicolas Sassoon pursued this question through his artistic practice, using the visual language of early computer graphics. Each animation from SLABS is created using a moiré pattern technique and are rendered with streaks of hard-edged pixels and limited color palettes. The pixelated textures and colors are composed to divide the screen in horizontal and vertical arrangements, like slices of digital matter stacked against each other. The resulting animations appear as high-contrast, kinetic works that evoke natural features, geological formations, imaginary structures, or abstract compositions. At large, these compositions relate to many histories of abstraction in painting, op art, moving image, and computer graphics: from the optical paintings of Bridget Riley to the moiré sculptures of Jesús Rafael-Soto, from the experimental video works of the Vasulka’s to the pixelated maps of The Legend of Zelda. SLABS can be viewed both horizontally and vertically. SLABS can be displayed as “wallpapers” in both metaverse architectures and physical spaces.
The finest Digital Art, carefully curated by our team of experts
Khuwab ki Tabeer ‘Interpretation of a dream’ is Maliha Abidi’s latest series. This collection of 4 NFTs follows a story of a South-Asian girl and all the things she dreams about because to her, there is no limit, restrictions or barriers that stand in her way of achieving any of it. Each of the unique art pieces celebrate Maliha’s heritage as a Pakistani-American artist through use of distinct elements native to Pakistan’s culture. The series reminds us of our younger self and takes us back to the times when we used to wonder during the nights about our dreams, what we want to be and how it’ll escape the challenges we faced as our young selves. A fifth part (not for sale) to this series is a piece which follows on from the story where the protagonist reflects and comes face to face with her inner fearlessness.
GAMUT-93 is a series of pixel-based video paintings informed by the Op art movement, primitive computer graphics, and contemporary graffiti. Gravitating between symbolism and abstraction, the artwork whispers in micro-narratives through the use of silent haiku charades, hypnotic visual ambience, and vivid graphic techno.
SANCTUARY is a collection of pixel paintings that investigate the proliferation and permeation of digitized memory in the post internet age. Its conceptually layered armature and visually poetic distillation process encourage us to experience the full bandwidth of a visceral nostalgia in locating the pulse of a lost paradise we refer to as “our youth”. Remixed source material are reduced to shimmering pixelated outlines dancing across a contrasting dark digital canvas co-inhabited by scrolling text (appropriated from 80’s and 90’s era song lyrics), functioning as internal dialogue and instinctive meta prose. These motifs operate on the subconscious level wherein the visible and symbolic merge to produce evocative allusions referred to as vignettes, which are divided into three categorical types: Moments, Objects, and Mementos. Combining these vignettes into diptychs and triptychs engenders the transmission of personal narratives and private myths. Such permutations symbolize the piecing together of fragmented memories, as if downloading one’s own recollective echo to ultimately reveal an intrinsic cerebral blueprint—inviting us to reflect and reconcile with the forces and events that have shaped our present selves.
In ancient Persian literature, ماه طلعت (Moon-faced) was a genderless adjective used to define beauty in both men and women. In contemporary Iran, it refers to the beauty of women only. In the world of images, something similar happened to the Qajar dynasty portrait paintings: the modernization of Iran, the influence of the European tradition of realistic painting, and the use of camera technology and therefore photography as a model, overshadowed and ended the queer representation of genders that historically characterized these paintings, largely known for their gender-undifferentiation. For her project, “ماه طلعت Moon-faced” Allahyari uses a carefully researched and chosen series of keywords with a multimodal AI model to generate a series of videos from the Qajar Dynasty painting archive (1786-1925). Through this collaboration, the machine program learns to paint new genderless portraits, in the effort to undo and repair a history of Westernization that ended the course of nonbinary gender representation in the Persian visual culture. The music in this video was composed by Mani Nilchiani.
Math Art is the first NFT drop by Herbert W. Franke, forefather of media art. This 100 piece-collection is drawn from his iconic 80s series Math Art where mathematical investigation is translated into visual art, with a stunning variety of forms that is strikingly reminiscent of Pop Art. License: https://quantum.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmUnSepLccUajd2kJi3hX7bFvzUuFHr39UUP1TTk9yHaaq
How does one convey a sense of space and materiality through digital abstraction? For fifteen years, Nicolas Sassoon pursued this question through his artistic practice, using the visual language of early computer graphics. Each animation from SLABS is created using a moiré pattern technique and are rendered with streaks of hard-edged pixels and limited color palettes. The pixelated textures and colors are composed to divide the screen in horizontal and vertical arrangements, like slices of digital matter stacked against each other. The resulting animations appear as high-contrast, kinetic works that evoke natural features, geological formations, imaginary structures, or abstract compositions. At large, these compositions relate to many histories of abstraction in painting, op art, moving image, and computer graphics: from the optical paintings of Bridget Riley to the moiré sculptures of Jesús Rafael-Soto, from the experimental video works of the Vasulka’s to the pixelated maps of The Legend of Zelda. SLABS can be viewed both horizontally and vertically. SLABS can be displayed as “wallpapers” in both metaverse architectures and physical spaces.
SANCTUARY is a collection of pixel paintings that investigate the proliferation and permeation of digitized memory in the post internet age. Its conceptually layered armature and visually poetic distillation process encourage us to experience the full bandwidth of a visceral nostalgia in locating the pulse of a lost paradise we refer to as “our youth”. Remixed source material are reduced to shimmering pixelated outlines dancing across a contrasting dark digital canvas co-inhabited by scrolling text (appropriated from 80’s and 90’s era song lyrics), functioning as internal dialogue and instinctive meta prose. These motifs operate on the subconscious level wherein the visible and symbolic merge to produce evocative allusions referred to as vignettes, which are divided into three categorical types: Moments, Objects, and Mementos. Combining these vignettes into diptychs and triptychs engenders the transmission of personal narratives and private myths. Such permutations symbolize the piecing together of fragmented memories, as if downloading one’s own recollective echo to ultimately reveal an intrinsic cerebral blueprint—inviting us to reflect and reconcile with the forces and events that have shaped our present selves.
In ancient Persian literature, ماه طلعت (Moon-faced) was a genderless adjective used to define beauty in both men and women. In contemporary Iran, it refers to the beauty of women only. In the world of images, something similar happened to the Qajar dynasty portrait paintings: the modernization of Iran, the influence of the European tradition of realistic painting, and the use of camera technology and therefore photography as a model, overshadowed and ended the queer representation of genders that historically characterized these paintings, largely known for their gender-undifferentiation. For her project, “ماه طلعت Moon-faced” Allahyari uses a carefully researched and chosen series of keywords with a multimodal AI model to generate a series of videos from the Qajar Dynasty painting archive (1786-1925). Through this collaboration, the machine program learns to paint new genderless portraits, in the effort to undo and repair a history of Westernization that ended the course of nonbinary gender representation in the Persian visual culture. The music in this video was composed by Mani Nilchiani.
Math Art is the first NFT drop by Herbert W. Franke, forefather of media art. This 100 piece-collection is drawn from his iconic 80s series Math Art where mathematical investigation is translated into visual art, with a stunning variety of forms that is strikingly reminiscent of Pop Art. License: https://quantum.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmUnSepLccUajd2kJi3hX7bFvzUuFHr39UUP1TTk9yHaaq
How does one convey a sense of space and materiality through digital abstraction? For fifteen years, Nicolas Sassoon pursued this question through his artistic practice, using the visual language of early computer graphics. Each animation from SLABS is created using a moiré pattern technique and are rendered with streaks of hard-edged pixels and limited color palettes. The pixelated textures and colors are composed to divide the screen in horizontal and vertical arrangements, like slices of digital matter stacked against each other. The resulting animations appear as high-contrast, kinetic works that evoke natural features, geological formations, imaginary structures, or abstract compositions. At large, these compositions relate to many histories of abstraction in painting, op art, moving image, and computer graphics: from the optical paintings of Bridget Riley to the moiré sculptures of Jesús Rafael-Soto, from the experimental video works of the Vasulka’s to the pixelated maps of The Legend of Zelda. SLABS can be viewed both horizontally and vertically. SLABS can be displayed as “wallpapers” in both metaverse architectures and physical spaces.