Thoughts on Romance from the Road Victoria Crayhon

This work is an ongoing project that uses photography to document text interventions on roadside marquee signs. I place phrases on movie and motel marquee signs, many of which I find through research but also in the course of my frequent long distance travel by car. I use my own sign letters and then leave the scene with the words left intact upon the sign. Before I depart, I make a photograph from the sidewalk or roadside. I then make large-scale color prints as documents of the sign in its environment. The photograph becomes the sole remnant of the project as the letters inevitably disappear or are taken down. The work addresses the effect of media and technology upon human memory and desire.

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Meet FKA twigs’ New Collaborator

Matthew Stone is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He also happens to be an amazing and talented artist. I recently spent a few days with him in the Shoreditch district of London, where he is based. He showed me his new studio as well as his latest work. He was also in the middle of finishing a new project with FKA twigs. Stone’s art uses advanced Photoshop layering and ultimately becomes figurative depictions of abstract images that are then printed on linen canvases. They are simply beautiful. He only had a few left in his studio, as most the pieces had already been sold to private collectors.

Justin Bieber's Ad Campaign Gained Calvin Klein Millions of Followers

Following the highly shared, already mocked and perhaps photoshopped Justin Bieber for Calvin Klein Underwear ad campaign, the label has reported that they gained over 3.6 million followers across its social media platforms. Undoubtedly generating a huge amount of talk and exposure, no one is benefiting more than Calvin Klein. In the mere 48 hours following the release of the campaign, the #mycalvins hashtag generated a staggering 1.6 million Twitter mentions. The brand is set to gain more exposure with Bieber scheduled for his own Comedy Central roast. This report undeniably affirms the effectiveness of web advertising and the power of social media for brands. Love him or hate him, scantily-clad Bieber has done exactly what he was hired to do.

Asger Carlsen’s New Book Is a Girl

We’ve been anticipating the release of Asger Carlsen’s new book, a collection of freaky body blobs and sculptures molded out of human flesh called Hester, ever since we ran a preview from it in our 2011 Photo Issue. More than a year later, it’s finally out. We already interviewed Asger about Hester back in 2011, so this time around our excuse for publishing more pictures from his eye-boggling series is the following chat with Asger and his publisher, Aron from Mörel Books—the man who’s enriched our bookshelves with both Wrong and Hester—about the making of the latter.

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Certainly not...

Asger Carlsen

Coco Rocha Is Mad That Elle Brazil Made Her Look Sort of Topless

It goes without saying that one of the perils of a photo shoot is that even the model doesn't know how it will turn out. Coco Rocha, for example, was none-too-pleased with her recent ElleBrazil cover, writing on her Tumblr, "I have long had a policy of no nudity or partial nudity," explaining that she was digitally made to appear nude underneath her outfit.

I wore a body suit under a sheer dress which I now find was photoshopped out to give the impression of me showing much more skin than I was, or am comfortable with. This was specifically against my expressed verbal and written direction to the entire team that they not do so.

She concludes, "I strongly believe every model has a right to set rules for how she is portrayed," saying Elle Brazil sidestepped hers.

Sally Singer On Unsexy Photo Retouching, What Kind of People She Hires, and the ‘Circus’ That Is Street Style

Sally Singer, the former Vogue features and fashion news editor, is celebrating her one year anniversary as the editor-in-chief of the New York Times‘ T Magazine. New York Magazine sat down with the editor for a pretty enlightening interview in which she talks about her thoughts on photo retouching, the nuttiness that is street style now, and what it was like to work at Vogue. Here are the best nuggets from the interview:

On the original portraiture in T:

I don’t want to do the kind of portraiture that involves references to Old Hollywood, or taking people who are glamorous and making them more glamorous in obvious or iconic ways. I feel that that works better in other publications where you have to up the stakes on everything in creative fantasy. I don’t think people come to the Times for fantasy. I think they come to the Times because the world is really interesting to them and they want to see the world looking beautiful but interesting.

  On photo retouching and the overtly sexy fashion photography now: 

I don’t think [retouching's] sexing it; I think it’s the opposite. How do you make a picture that conveys life and drama when the photographer, instead of interacting with a subject on a shoot, is interacting with a computer screen? And if you have that much control over what you’re shooting as a photographer or a stylist, how do you get a surprise? How do you move beyond what you thought you were going to get? Because every time you look at the screen, you know what you got and you’re out.

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Vogue Amputates Amber Valletta’s Leg

Notice something….amiss in the above photo? As in literally missing? Yep, Vogue seems to have lost Amber Valletta’s leg in their latest editorial, lensed by Steven Klein.

Valletta and Shalom Harlow star in the shoot, which features the two iconic models romping around a sprawling mansion, dressed by New York designers. Though Photoshop Disasters noticed that Valletta’s character must have undergone a strange leg amputation halfway through the shoot. And we wonder if retouching has gone too far…

The U.S. Takes Steps Towards Restricting The ‘Misleading’ Use of Photoshop in Cosmetic Ads

  It’s not exactly a secret that cosmetic companies use photoshop to produce ads which show their product performing feats of transformation far glossier, prettier–and unattainable–than they would be able to achieve in real life. However while the practice is widespread, it turns out that it’s also sort of misleading to customers. We know: Shocker, right?

Thankfully, the U.S. is finally taking steps to tackle the problem, reports Business Insider. In a landmark ruling by the National Advertising Division, the U.S. industry watchdog decided to ban an ad by Covergirl for their NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara. The ad in question promised the mascara could deliver “2X more volume” on women’s lashes, but in the fine print disclosed that the models lashes had been enhanced post-production. The ruling said, “NAD was particularly troubled by the photograph of the model – which serves clearly to demonstrate (i.e., let consumers see for themselves) the length and volume they can achieve when they apply the advertised mascara to their eyelashes.” Except, of course, that they can’t. At least not without the help of photoshop anyway.

About the decision, NAD director Andrea Levine told the paper, “You can’t use a photograph to demonstrate how a cosmetic will look after it is applied to a woman’s face and then – in the mice type – have a disclosure that says ‘okay, not really.’” You can’t really argue with her logic there. Which is probably why Procter & Gamble, Covergirl’s parent company, has agreed to never again run the ad.

While Covergirl‘s was the only ad to be singled out, NAD’s ruling sets a precedent that, according to Business Insider, most advertisers will follow because of the organization’s close relationship the Federal Trade Commission, which has the ability to fine, sue or bring injunctions against companies found to be in violation of their rules. In the UK, restrictions regarding the use of photoshop in cosmetics ads have already been put into place and resulted in the ban of Julia Roberts’ Lancome ad and Christy Turlington’s Maybelline ad