Ryan Phillips Blog

I found this great little story over on Apartment Therapy about a couple who lives above an Art Gallery that they run. The article likens them to Herb and Dorothy Vogel. If you are unfamiliar with Herb and Dorothy you should check them out. Herb worked in a post office and Dorothy was a librarian. Together over 40 years they amassed a collection of 4,700 pieces of art from some of the most famous artists in the world…before they were famous! They had paintings strung from the roofs, stuffed under the bed and packed in boxes. They donated the enitre collection to the National Gallery of Art but it could only accept 1000 of the pieces as it had no room for a collection of this size…which fit into the Vogels tiny NYC apartment. They gave the rest away to other musueums and then started filling their tiny apartment again.

Herb and Dorothy a film by Megumi Sasaki was just released to critical acclaim but it almost didn’t happen. Here is what the artist had to say about the film:

“They didn’t articulate why they like this particular artwork, why did they collect a certain artist,” Sasaki says. “The only thing they said was, ‘It’s beautiful. I like it.’ How can I make a film about art collectors who don’t talk about art?”

Sasaki had resigned herself to making a 20-minute short film until an interview with Italian artist Lucio Pozzi convinced her that part of the beauty of the Vogels is that they aren’t so academic about what they like. They act on intuition.

That intuition made them one of the largest and most astute collectors in the New York art scene. Collecting the likes of Christo, Schnabel, Koons, Lichtenstein and hundreds of other world class artists. Those who watched said Herb would just walk up to something and point like a hound. He just new what he liked…and what he liked turned out to be some of the most renowned contemporary art in the world.

Watch the Trailer…

YouTube video

We just got a new feature in one of California’s premier wedding magazines, Your Wedding Day Magazine Check it out.

Here are a few shots that I took a while back – I will post more from this series as I have time. It is rare when  I shoot anything personal due to my crazy schedule. It was nice to just let my brain go and have no pressure to deliver. As always, you can find these and any other personal work of mine at PurePhotoCollections.com

This is such a great quote and check out this shoot. Simply amazing! This was shot one year before I started assisting him. I didn’t know him that well but this seems so out of character for him. A great departure! He was one of the nicest photographers I ever worked for. One more thing…this was all shot Large Format with zero effects! The degree of difficulty to shoot this with only styling and lighting on an 8×10 Film Camera is insane. In addition, if I remember correctly, everything was Speedotron…not the most consistent light source…especially back in 95′!

“And if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.”

Richard Avedon – 1970

Click Here to see the whole shoot:

Yuri began his career as an editorial photographer shooting feature portraits for magazine clients including GQ, HG, Vogue, and Rolling Stone. Exhibitions include solo shows at the Henry Street Settlement, Notre Dame University, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery, NYC Arts for Transit, Grand Central Station, and Georgia State University. Awards include New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, the Art Matters Grant, the NEA Travel Grants Pilot, and residencies at Light Work, Jamaica Arts Center and the MacDowell Colony. While he still shoots some commercial work he has found his true calling in the art world and spends the majority of his time pouring his soul into these works. He is currently working on an amazing new series which we will share with you shortly. These works are one of a kind and printed with a special process on the pages of books and documents hundreds of years old. Stay tuned…

Ellis Island Selected Works : Artists Statement

Objects of dreams and desires, I had long hoped to photograph there. When the chance came, the crumbling ruin was more daunting than I imagined, an endless maze of dank and decay, dead birds, musty smells, and asbestos dust. Yet it is beautiful, filled with strange objects, ghosts flickering in windows and on the walls. A museum of dust.

My photographic work explores issues of race, exile, and American identity. The child of European refugees, I was inspired by my family tragedies to search for universal meaning in stories that often divide more than they unite. Language and self-knowledge, patriotism and shame, timelessness and mortality; all are concurrent themes that run through my work.

PurePhoto Notes:
If it isn’t obvious what instantly drew us into the work of famed New York Artist Yuri Marder, spend a few minutes staring into the depth of these images and it should become abundantly clear. His groundbreaking work on Ellis Island earned him some of the top grants available to artists in the US. His work is the history of millions of american families, their roots, their legacy. This country was founded on the backs of those immigrant families who passed through these very same walls more than a century ago. We are honored to add Yuri to our collection and hope that this important artists will find a place in yours.

To see more of Yuri’s work, click here

Simply amazing photography…Enjoy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/edwardolive/sets/72157607182092710/show/

Westlake Village, CA – June 8th, 2010 – PurePhoto, Inc. (“PurePhoto”) and PhotographyMentor.com, LLC (“PhotographyMentor”), today announced that PurePhoto has agreed to acquire all of the assets of PhotographyMentor, the Los Angeles, CA-based online photography education and social networking platform.

Founded in 2008 by celebrity photographer Robert Evans and award-winning film and television producer Curt Apanovich, PhotographyMentor was the first website to offer premium subscription-based educational content to aspiring professional photographers.

“Over the last two years, PhotographyMentor was instrumental in helping thousands of photographers improve their skills by learning from other pros in the industry,” said Robert Evans. “We look forward to taking our original vision even farther by joining forces with PurePhoto.”

“Great photography starts with a strong educational foundation and we’re excited to make all this rich content available to our Premium members,” said John Ellis, CEO of PurePhoto. “We are also looking forward to growing our team of amazing industry leaders who will further promote our services and help even more people perfect and publish their images.”

PhotographyMentor subscribers and content will be transitioned to the PurePhoto platform. All PhotographyMentor Playground accounts will receive enhanced Basic accounts on PurePhoto. School memberships set to expire this year will receive PurePhoto Premium memberships and an extension through the end of 2010. Robert Evans, Curt Apanovich and other key team members will continue to develop educational content and promote PurePhoto.

About PhotographyMentor

Founded in early 2008 by Robert Evans and Curt Apanovich, PhotographyMentor was the first online education and social networking site exclusively for photographers. It was a way to give back to other aspiring photographers and create a community where photographers could connect with one another. It offers two types of accounts: “Playground” accounts that are free networking accounts and premium “School” accounts that offer exclusive educational content.

About PurePhoto

Started in 2009, PurePhoto is the premier site for perfecting and publishing images. It helps consumers improve their photographic skills through educational content, organize their photos and videos via a proprietary web application, access professional lab services, and syndicate their portfolio to social and commercial distribution channels. PurePhoto offers Basic free accounts as well as Premium annual memberships with expanded services. Please visit www.purephoto.com for more information.

To all my friends, family and loyal blog readers…Today begins the launch of a product that I have been working on for the past year! I would first off like to thank my amazing team of partners, back end engineers, and front end web developers for working tirelessly to release a product that is the framework for what will become the premier online photography site for millions of users worldwide.

An even bigger thank you to my wife for being patient and understanding as I put in 18 hour days for the past year in order to develop this product. I can tell you it has not been easy to put up with me ;-) Thank you to my kids who lift me up when I am overworked and tired. This is your legacy too.

PurePhoto was built in response to the thousands of emails I have received from people asking me what camera they should buy, How can they learn more about it and where can they get quality prints and products. PurePhoto is my answer to all those questions and more. Yes switching is difficult but once you make the move you will be able to access all the things you have been missing. It will help you clearly edit and organize your images in a meaningful way. It will enable you to stop stockpiling thousands of images into your hard drive and doing nothing with them. It will help you learn. It will help you share easier. It will give you access to high end prints, albums and more.  You will now have a place to get things done. That’s is why you need to switch. It is an Evolution!

Organize: PurePhoto was designed with simplicity in mind. It’s an entirely web-based application that runs like a desktop program. Many things only take one click to accomplish, and you can even use drag-and-drop file management to organize your entire library. Never again will you get lost pages deep into a site with no way to get back out. Get in and Get it done quickly.

Learn: We have hundreds of High Definition videos from some of the best photographers in the world delivered directly to you in small easy to understand bits so you can get the most out of your new camera. We have another few hundred videos being filmed and edited right now…You will not find better content for beginners anywhere on the web!

Share: Share direct through email, or to over 300 Social Networks with a click of a button. Or create a shared gallery for a family member and as you update pictures they will be able to see any new images you upload to that gallery!

Print: Print is a loose term but in short, It gives you access to the top professional lab in the US! No other site offers the print quality of Pure Photo…period! But it doesn’t stop at prints, we will be rolling out canvas, cards, books and more …Stay tuned!

This is just the beginning, we are will be launching amazing new features every few weeks! So join now, start learning, Share and print and as you get up to speed with us we will deliver new features to you that are seamlessly integrated into the site.

PurePhoto has a free account and a premium account. I urge you to sign up for a premium account so you can really benefit from all that we have to offer. The premium account gets you access to all the videos we have as well as some special features that will be rolled out over the next few months.

Spread the word, join us on Facebook and follow us on twitter. We built this for you. I hope you enjoy it and spread the word! This is going to be an exciting journey!

-Ryan