Soon to be printed media.
on this week in Paris
on flowers
These have been selling quite well. There are still a couple left for sale over at Art Edition though.
on an unpublished image
on sleepless nights
Have been staying up late making collages lately. Need to figure out a way to keep doing that when I travel. The need to work in an analog way is growing equally fast as the speed at which we do productions these days. Never though I would miss the darkroom this much. Not necessarily the results, but the process. And the calm. That said, I love shooting digitally. Its great for the team to be able to see results instantly. And its great for the clients of course. I guess I want both words.
on a room of one’s own
on a skyline
My last stay at the Maritime hotel in NY was somewhat colored by the fact that I was reading Bill Cleggs memoir Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man at the same time. It was great, scary, compelling and totally freaked me out. I guess what really got to me is the fact that a lot of the things that happened in his book, happened at places that are very familiar and safe for me.
on those days
on an old room
on t
Did a shoot with The New York Times magazine T in New York a while ago.
Photographer: Martin Vallin / CameraLink
Prop Stylist: Noemi Bonazzi / Brydges Mackinney
NY Times Style Director / Kate Lanphear
Models: Julia Joseph / Next Models
Christina Ambers / Parts Models
Hair/Makeup: Miriam Robstad / Bryan Bantry
Manicure: Roseann Singleton / Art Department
NY Times Creative Director: Patrick Li
NY Times Senior Art Director: Aurelie Pellissier
NY Times Senior Photo Editor: Jamie Sims
on narcisse
Did a shoot for the new beauty magazine Narcisse with darling make up artist Ludovic Engrange in Paris last year. It was one of those shoots where everything just came together really naturally. Ended up doing a ton of pictures. Here is a couple of them.
Photographer Martin Vallin c/o Mily Kadz.Make-up Artist Ludovic Engrand c/o Shu Uemura Paris.
Model Jenna Earle c/o Next Models Paris.
Creative Direction Azadeh Zoraghi
Fashion Direction René Gloor
Hair Stylist Takayuki Nukui.
Calligraphist Sachiko Kano.
Make-up Assistant Margaux Jalouzot.
Production Assistant Adélaïde Goetz.
Post-Production B’pong.
All make-up by SHU UEMURA
on weekday collections
on a link
Thanks to the nice people at Trendland!
on old school processes
on stills
on unmoving images
on september
on a view
on shoes and faces
on some watches
on leather
on the man and the ocean
A beautiful film about Daniel who is an amazing surf photographer and a great guy in general. His images always reminds me of the Villagers acoustic spotify sessions, which is a truly great thing.
on Perfect Magazine
on work in progress
on Weekday
on arrangements
on moral blame
I can’t really decide if Johannes Cabal is evil or not.
on quantum physics and altered states
on inspiration
on the mountains
We try to go hiking at least a couple of times a year up in the swedish mountains. At the top of one of them there is this big rock in the middle of nothing (or everything, depending on your philosophical view of things). And every time I see that piece of stone it has the same effect on me. I get really worked up, and focused, and inspired, and filled with stamina. The first couple of times I went and re-read books like Walden by Thoreau to sort of explain it to myself. Nature. Then I went on to the old philosophy books from the university. Not for an explanation per se. More to define things for myself. Now I just kind of embrace it without trying to explain it.
Growing up there was a couple of older guys who went out into the woods two times a year to get absolutely hammered and dance around a fire. To reload on energy I guess. Even though I suspect they had some other, more esoterically grounded, reasons for doing so. It seemed absurd at the time. And a bit dangerous as there could be as cold as -30° C when they went in the winter. However they always came back.
on ink, Nike and children of war
I can’t stop painting. I mean, I have always painted and made collages, thats how I got in to photography in the first place. As a way of remembering, and sketching I guess. Lately I can’t stop it. I mean I still shoot as much as always Its just that when I get home at night or if I have an hour unplanned in my studio, I paint. And its funny because photography for me is a bit detached. Even if I compose everything and direct all the models and all of that its still feels like the photographs will come out the way it has to come out (no, that doesn’t always go for advertising of course). Its the logical sum of research, mood, experience and the team you choose to work with.
The funny thing with painting is that even though the compositions feel that way, the subject matters doesn’t at all have that clarity to it. I keep researching and reading books and sketching and it still leaves me a little bit… undecided? Its a funny feeling. I have found myself going back to the political and philosophical literature I studied at the university. And often just to double-check things.
Anyway. On thursday one of my recent paintings (Ink on paper) goes on sale in Amsterdam. Its an auction made by NIKE where all the profit goes to Warchild.
I suggest you go bid on something you like there, or simply donate some money anyway. The fact that there are children suffering from armed conflicts should be enough to leave every person alive ashamed for humanity until the day they die.
“The stipulation in (b) is lexically prior to that in (a). Fair equality of opportunity”
Martin Vallin
2013
Ink on paper
on being back
on Paris
on being bored in a Paris hotelroom.
on NK
on old school still life
on being proud
Erikas new book is finally out! Its the second part in the trilogy about the mirrors. Its so very impressive that she is an author, an editor at Elle, an amazing mother and a student of physics at the same time! Get your copy (in swedish) here. I cant wait for the final book to be done…
An old portrait of Erika (and me) from when we were both assistants.
on a remix
on an old scan
Old picture of Ellinore Erichsen. I do miss my old Hasselblad 500 CM that was stolen a while ago. I will get a new one very soon. Its kind of funny what happens when you lose all your gear. At first I thought it would make working kind of hard. Turns out its the opposite. I was never as dependent as I thought on the right cameras and flashes. Instead it opened up ideas in a new way.
on beauty
Amazing Linda & Johanna taking a break.
on work
on Little Liffner
Helped Paulina with some new images. Those bags are amazing.
on a polaroid
on a visit
on death and meaning
Could it be that the idea, and even fear of, meaninglessness and death are both necessary for creative processes. And that meaning historically speaking has been to be seen by (a) god and that in the modern world that has been reduced to just seen, by anybody. And could that mean that the possible death of identity is a modern memento mori? Could explain things I guess.