I’m loving these latest shots for Ikea by photographer Carl Kleiner.  Similar to the images he created for Ikea’s first cookbook, Hembakat är Bäst (Homemade is Best) Kleiner forgoes the usual backdrop and takes a bird’s eye view that allows us to completely focus in on the actual products.  Aside from the photography, I love how each shot is so perfectly composed and balanced.  Big props to the stylist (and Kleiner’s wife) Evelina Kleiner.

*via TRENDLAND

James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor at the Pardeau home in Marfa, Texas during a weekend break filming “Giant.”

Photo by Richard C. Miller

*via Escape Style

*all photos by Hedi Slimane

GOOD Magazine recently featured some of Dan’s photos from a project he did during the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing that were part of a larger multimedia piece he did for PBS.  The project focused on the hutongs, traditional courtyard residences, that are currently being demolished to make way for new roads and buildings.  Dan is passionate about China and its intricacies and I think these photos exemplify that.  I love the way he has captured every day people doing every day activities yet their surroundings are far from what we would consider normal.

You can see the multimedia piece here and the GOOD Picture Show here.

A few photos from our most recent trip to Italy taken with my iPhone and spiced up with one of my favorite apps, ShakeItPhoto

Some of you may remember this post I did a while back with the amazing photos that The Selby took as part of the advertising campaign for Cole, Rodd and Haan. Well folks, he has gone and done it again.  This time, The Selby takes us on a beautiful tour of one of my all time favorite chocolate houses, Mast Brothers Chocolate.  Rick and Michael Mast are the handsome duo behind these delicious chocolates that are handmade in Brooklyn .   These boys are true artisans and are one of the few “bean-to-bar” chocolatiers, which means they own the entire process of making their chocolate from sourcing the cocoa beans from Venezuela, Ecuador and Madagascar to roasting, grinding, molding and eventually packaging it all up.  The Selby does a wonderful job of illustrating the whole process from start to finish, so please check out the whole series here.

Not only is this some seriously delicious chocolate (my favorite is the Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt), but every bar comes beautifully packaged in Italian wrapping paper; it’s like unwrapping a gift each time.

You can find their chocolate at any of these amazing little shops:

A Little of What You Fancy 19 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, NY 11937
Bedford Cheese Shop 229 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Bierkraft 191 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Branford Green Grocer 1036 Main Street, Branford, CT 06405
Brooklyn Larder 228 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Dean & Deluca 560 Broadway, Manhattan, NY 10012
France 44 4351 France Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55410
Grab 438 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Marlow & Sons 81 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Miette Confiserie 449 Octavia Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94102
Murray’s Cheese 254 Bleecker Street, Manhattan, NY 10014
Park Slope Food Coop 782 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Provisions 150 Beekman Street, Manhattan, NY 10038
Rubiner’s Cheesemongers    264 Main Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230
Spuyten Duyvil Grocery 218 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Stinky Bklyn 261 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Stone Barns 630 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, NY 10591
Urban Rustic 236 North 12th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211

This month I was lucky enough to be one of the contributing art editors for Guernica Magazine.  I selected the photography of Scott Peterman whose work I came across and fell in love with back in 2002 when i first moved to NYC.  The series I selected for Guernica is of his ice fishing shacks, which he spent several years photographing in the lakes region of Maine and New Hampshire.   As Scott addresses in his statement, the “bobhouses” illustrate a narrative that is the essence of survival in the freezing temperatures of the region.  They are entirely utilitarian in their purpose using lightweight windproof materials providing warmth and shelter against the elements.  See more of the series here.

Seriously, Leica?   Does it get anymore gorgeous than this?   This classic M7 35mm gets the special treatment with a silver chrome finish and thanks to Hermes, a choice of either orange or tan calfskin leather.   Orange please!  This beauty can be delivered to your doorstep in a linen-covered, silk-lined box for a mere £8,550 (about $14,250).

*via engadget