Lost in Decoration

Margaret Bourke-White

NBC Radio Microphone, 1935

Margaret Bourke-White is a role model for any American woman.  Not only was she the first female war correspondent covering World War II and the first to be allowed in combat zones, she was the first truly recognized American female photographer and the first female photographer for Life magazine (where her photograph graced the cover of issue #1).  She spent time in India and Pakistan at the start of the partition of the two countries, capturing iconic images of Ghandi that we are all familiar with today.  From everything I’ve read about her, I’ve deducted that she was incredibly brave and independent, and I do believe that comes through in her work.

Diversion Tunnels, Fort Peck Dam, 1936

Gandhi, India, 1946

Seminova, Premiere Ballerina, Russia, 1943

American Woolen Company, Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1935

The Indianapolis 500, 1935

But being a New York girl, I have a special place in my heart for the way she captured this great city.  I would kill to have these prints hanging on my wall.  In the mean time, I’ll be sure to visit her collections at the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA.  Some of my favorites are below.  

The Statue of Liberty, NYC, 1930

Chrysler Building, NYC, 1931

Displaying Personal Photos

Photos of family and friends are essential.  We all have them, and if our mother’s knew they were stashed away in closets and drawers we’d be in big trouble.  So every time we get a new one we trek to the nearest Target to pick up a bunch of cheap frames that end up on an end table or nightstand somewhere.  Before we know it, our apartments look like a cluttered mess.  So how do you artfully display these photos and make everyone jealous of your fabulous life?  Here are a few great ideas.

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A Nonagenarian’s Apartment on Central Park South

Jamie Beck is an amazing photographer, and I love her blog From Me To You.  This article comes from her “At Home With” series.

fromme-toyou:

In 1948 Madelaine Felkay came to America from Hungary to escape the communists that were taking over and the past devastation of WWII where so many of her family members had found themselves in concentration camps. Once married to the owner of Tip Top Brush Co. she used this stylish apartment for bridge games and hosting social parties with a Hungarian pianist friend filling the room with music overlooking a million dollar view of Central Park South.

Welcome to what I call “Betty Draper’s home” in Manhattan- 

Special thanks to her Granddaughter Emily Horton for letting me capture this glamorous woman’s home. I’m totally obsessed with hot pink now.

See more from my At Home With series as we go behind the doors of real people in New York City! 

Bernd and Hilla Becher

Today Mike and I headed up to the Guggenheim to check out this great photography exhibit called “Haunted.”  Mike is a very talented photographer (check out his photo blog here) and has been trying to get me up there for weeks.  The idea behind the exhibit is that much of contemporary photography is haunted by the past, and each artist captured this theme in their own unique way through photography, sound, video, or performance.  Some of my favorite pieces included Andy Warhol’s Orange Disaster #5, and Bernd and Hilla Becher’s Water Towers (above).

Bernd and Hilla Becher were most known for their collection of industrial building images, examining the similarities and differences in structure and appearance. It was in 1959 when Bernd first collaborated with Hilla on a project aiming to document the disappearing German industrial architecture.  Bernd himself was raised in an industrial town, which perhaps explains his attraction to the subject.  I greatly admire their work and appreciate the passion underneath their coolly conceptual approach to architecture and landscape.  Each image really does have an erie quality.

This last photo I have had in my collection for some time.  I love the relaxed, comfortable feeling of the home, neutral woods and a woven basket, with the modern photography.  I was really happy to learn more about the Becher’s today because of this photograph, and hope to see their influence in my own collection of art.