This series is taken from a larger body of work in Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea.
Although not commonly thought of as a holiday destination all these photographs have been taken at tourist sites throughout the city.
It took over a year to get permission to go in with my camera and nothing quite prepares you for what awaits. I was not allowed to take my mobile phone past customs and was met by two guides who were to accompany me at all times throughout my trip.
It’s a fascinating glimpse into a place unknown to much of the world, and the series makes for an interesting counterpart to the previous post on North Korean propaganda posters.
Steven Taylor is a celebrity and music photographer based out of Los Angeles. He grew up in Florida and lived in Nashville, Tennessee prior to making his way to Los Angeles. From there he found connections through his past music endeavors and began shooting for strong names such as Snoop Dogg, Bruno Mars, Edward Sharpe, Incubus, John Mayer and more.
After catching up with Steven and talking about his process he mentioned that even if an assignment requires shooting in digital, he’ll still bring film. That way he can shoot at least one roll to his personal liking. More often than not the film images are the photos that get used anyhow.
Perhaps one of the best parts about his portfolio is that he compiles behind the scenes videos for a select few of his shoots. These type of videos are great; it’s a shame we don’t see them nearly as often and as great as these are. While they aren’t gearhead type of videos, they do really show short and to the point idea of what it would be to work with the photographer.
Most of these were taken on Annenstraße and Keplerstraße as I made my way to and from the Schloßerg, an incredible former medieval fortress perched atop a huge dolomite outcropping right in the center of the city. I took a lot of shots around there too but I’ll spare you the overtly touristic stuff and stick to the more design-y offerings.
I’m not sure how best to describe this city to someone who’s never been here. If I had to compare it to other great cities in Europe I would say it’s a nice mixture of the high points of Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Prague (although I guess that’s so broad it could be applied to a lot of places). While it has that “400-year-old-buildings” vibe of Amsterdam, it doesn’t feel anywhere near as commercialized or overrun by tourism. It’s so much warmer than I expected; I’ve got an entire bag full of jackets and scarves that I haven’t even opened. It’s downright muggy here. I checked the weather before I came out here but I guess this is what I get coming from San Francisco (where I was in full winter clothing the day before I left, this spring has been a joke) and not knowing how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit off the top of my head. The crazy part is that I was walking around the Schloßerg thinking to myself how I wish I’d brought shorts and then I see a postcard depicting the exact spot I’m standing in covered in snow. It looked even more beautiful in winter.
This city has so much visual beauty, I really wish I had the time to dig in further. Hopefully I can make it back someday soon.
I was looking for texture inspiration for a new project when I came across the Flickr set of barbera*. I love the flat colors and geometric shapes of her photos; they remind me of Matthias Heiderich’sColor Berlin series.
One of these days I’d like to visit Sweden, and when I do I’m staying at the Treehotel.
Captured here by Mauro Puccini, the hotel has six rooms accessible through wooden ladders and ropes, and each features a unique name like the Blue Cone, UFO, Bird’s Nest, and their most famous room, the Mirrorcube.
Check out more beautiful images of the hotel here. Also see previous post on Linda Aldredge’s home for more treehouse goodness.
Loving the geometric patterns created by these crop fields from around the world. Also see Benny Chan’sTraffic series for more great aerial photography.
