julyaugpreview2015

COMMUNICATION ARTS PHOTOGRAPHY ANNUAL 56

muh-tay-zik | hof-fer Bruce Mau Design Elastic Wesley Allsbrook Exhibit

July/August 2015 Twenty-Four Dollars commarts.com

By Caitlin Dover

O

n a bitterly cold February afternoon, the light is waning along a desolate stretch of Northern Boulevard in Queens. Through a wall of windows in a former warehouse, a glow of warmth and activity reaches the darkening pavement outside. Round paper lanterns shine on a high-ceilinged room in which wide strips of newsprint are draped across every wall and floor. Painted across the strips in sweeping brush strokes is a still-developing scene: painted waves that climb from the floor up the side of a paperdraped table; a volcano and palm trees; lush jungle leaves and vines. Rising up the back wall is a pointed mountain range surrounded by frenetic sweeps of paint—the swirling mists and tempestuous clouds of a seductive tropical fantasyland. The illustrator responsible for this roomful of Bali Ha’i imagery, Wesley Allsbrook, is standing on the papered table, wearing white jeans, a white button-down shirt tied at the waist, and black-and-white striped socks without shoes. She briskly wields a large brush dipped in black acrylic, building a restless accumulation of lines.

For readers of the New York Times, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s and many other publications, those lines and their sense of pressing movement and vitality may be familiar. Whether she’s illustrating an article or creating an original comic, Allsbrook, 30, has an unmistakable and memorable style—immensely skilled brushwork combined with a saturated palette to communicate emotional power with intelligence. Since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2007, Allsbrook has been building a body of sharply conceived editorial work while making

comics with her constant collaborator, writer Barrie Potter.

The Polynesian-themed room just described is part of another personal project: a special, one-off dinner. She and Potter developed the “tiki in winter” event with chef Tessa Liebman, collaboratively bringing together a summer-tinged, multicourse meal with an illustrated menu and an atmosphere of tropical magic.

My first meeting with Allsbrook is in a wooden-seated booth in a comfortably worn bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a week before the tiki dinner. She’s nervous about getting all the preparations done in time, but excited by the project’s collaborative nature: “I like the idea of working with people who don’t do what I do,” she says. Allsbrook has short brown hair and glasses, and she projects a clear-eyed intelligence and self-awareness. Our meeting place was determined partly by its proximity to her shared studio space, in Greenpoint’s famed Pencil Factory building, and partly by the fact that said studio is currently full of boxes. The illustrator is preparing for an imminent move—one of many since her time at RISD. Her first New York apartment after graduation was, in fact, close to the Pencil Factory. “I used to look across the street at all the people who were working there, and it was like, ‘Oh, that’s who I want to be—they’re making their own careers, it’s really exciting.’” Subsequent moves took her to New Jersey and then to North Carolina, her home state, where she tried to save money while working on personal projects. When she eventually returned to New York, she finally took the longed-for studio in the Pencil Factory, but

Right: “This illustration concept for a magazine feature on retirement income was selected based upon a ship sketch made of exactly five lines. My sketches have become, in my opinion, much more descriptive of my finals this year. Perhaps this occurred as a result of changes in my process. But this one was classic minimalism-with-caption me. SooJin trusted me and then pushed me, which is classic her.” SooJin Buzelli, art director; PLANSPONSOR, Asset International, client.

62

Photography Annual 2015

Communication Arts | commarts.com

63

1

2

3

86

Photography Annual 2015

4

ADVERTISING 1 David Emmite, photographer Katy Kennedy, art director Travis Meidell, writer Michael Boychuk, executive creative director Sarah Gersbach, producer Amazon, ad agency/client This image was part of a national print campaign for the Amazon Kindle. Headline: Warning! Children exposed to reading may become curious, independent or even develop an imagination full of wonder.

In some cases children may get lost in a book, reading quietly for hours. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading.

2 Kerry Shaw, photographer/digital artist Vinay Parmar, writer Michel Lang, associate creative director Karen Howe, creative director Jillian Gora/Tara Hall/Aarin MacKay/Erin McManus, producers One Advertising, ad agency Plan Canada, client “How do you effect positive change in the world? It all starts with just one girl. This out-of-home, print and online campaign highlights gender inequality and encourages people to join the nonprofit’s movement to help girls in developing countries through sustainable projects.” Headline: One of them will have a bright future. The other is a girl.

5

3 Bil Zelman, photographer Joe Kayser, creative director Kayser & Co., ad agency 19 Crimes, client This image was created for a 19 Crimes’ wine campaign that touches on the 1788 banishment of poet John O’Reilly to a prison ship headed for Australia. Headline: To the Banished.

4 Simon Harsent, photographer John Lam, art director Simon Langley, creative director J. Walter Thompson, ad agency New South Wales Government, client “In reaction to a spate of violent incidents, this image was created for an anti-drinking and -violence campaign appearing on metro bus posters to encourage young people to quit drinking before they have too much.” Headline: Stop before it gets ugly.

5 Dean Alexander, photographer Pum Lefebure, creative director Mariela Hsu, designer Design Army, design firm The Washington Ballet, client Image used to promote the Washington Ballet’s world premiere of Sleepy Hollow in ads, bus shelter transit posters, brochures and editorial features.

Communication Arts | commarts.com

87

1

UNPUBLISHED 1 (series) Matthew Turley, photographer Personal aerial series, shot in Namibia. © Matthew Turley

2 Michael Hrizuk, photographer “Looking for a place to rest.” © Michael Hrizuk

190

Photography Annual 2015

2

Communication Arts | commarts.com

191

Photographers as Influencers Brands are discovering the power of images through photo-sharing sites like Instagram, Vine, tumblr and others. New breeds of agencies have sprung up to link influential photographers with brands, often not only supplying talent, but also creating complete social campaigns and more.

Amtrak invites riders to share their train enthusiasm with ongoing social campaigns like the hashtag #reasonstoride. They also select photographers to travel the rails and document the joys of train travel, like these images from @amy_merrick.

A favorite of mobile photographers, the VSCO Cam app offers advanced photoediting tools as well as an online community.

Art directors use VSCO Grid, a curated collection of community images, to search for talent.

500px.com, a photo community for discovering and sharing imagery, also offers photographers the ability to become their own stock agency. The site provides art directors with curated galleries and assisted searches.

Smithsonian magazine invited photographer Daniel Beltrá (@danielbeltraphoto) to take over its Instagram feed to share his project about the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the secondlargest ice sheet in the world.

CA QUERIES CREATIVES

How have you seen photographers become sought-after influencers?

Randy Olson, National Geographic Creative Agency, instagram.com/ randyolson, Sewickley, PA, and Portland, OR. “Photographers become influencers when they take on easily ignored subjects and become advocates for those whose stories they tell. I’m lucky to be affiliated with such a large audience through both National Geographic and the nonprofit I started called the Photo Society, reaching almost 19 million viewers combined. One story I’ve put out on those feeds is about the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, where a dam threatens to destroy indigenous cultures. I hope it helps.”

Adam Shaening-Pokrasso, 12FPS, 12fps .com, San Francisco, CA, and Santa Fe, NM. “Influence on social channels simply means reaching massive numbers of people, but a pro photographer with an engaging story is different from a celebrity, comedian or viral personality with more than a million followers. Photographers are seen as trusted sources with unique perspectives, so audiences respond more positively to their content. This means better conversion for brands and destinations seeking actual return on investment. At 12FPS, our work with influencers and brands is always motivated by this type of conversion, not simply by impressions or views.”