ETC Creative represents visionaries in photography, live action, motion animation and music. With offices in New York & Chicago, their artists collaborate with Ad Agencies, Design Firms and Corporations to create solid branding for their clients. Their resources are un-paralleled, their projects are accomplished on-target, within budget and their success is measured on creativity, high-level performance and trust.
Recently, we have been using our Instagram to take a step back and look at the industries that drive our creative
community.
In January, we looked at the travel industry and how the image makers are visually maneuvering through it. Game changers such as Tiny Atlas Quarterly and Ford, are using travel photographers to give their consumers a sense of experience. After all, it’s really all about how the consumer is made to feel!
Now, in February, we are stepping into the Fashion world. We are prepping with questions like: Where is this going to take us and which industry leaders are making waves?
So, go ahead and give us a follow! See who and what we will be featuring each month. In March we will dive head first into Sports!
Wanting to photograph something truly unique, Massachusetts-based photographer Heather McGrath got together with her friend Silas Finch, a sculptor out of New Haven, to create a very non-traditional art piece.
Although clothing as art is not a new concept, Silas pitched the idea of using an enormous World War II era parachute as a sort of moveable sculpture. Heather’s photographic eye immediately knew that this was the art piece she had been looking to shoot. “I love putting beauty in nature,” says Heather, “so I was immediately excited when I heard Silas’ idea!”
The shoot took place on a treacherous, weather-beaten cliffside just north of Boston where Heather is based. Having shot at this location before, Heather knew that the backdrop would lend the exact dramatic feel that she wanted to convey with these photographs.
Recruiting stylist Joji Goto to make sure the dress and model looked perfect, and Manda Carco of Anchor Artists to do hair and makeup, Heather and her small team got to work. The conditions were dangerous, and Silas risked life and limb to “sculpt” the dress between shots in order to maintain the artful, flowing look. “Silas even had to carry the model down from the rocks at one point because she couldn’t walk in the dress,” Heather recalled.
Although it may seem like the photos are highly produced, the whole shoot was very organic, utilizing only natural lighting and wind. At the end of three hours Heather was happy with what she had captured, and she wrapped the shoot before the sharp and craggy rocks could claim a victim.
The photographs turned out beautifully, and were on display in a well-received exhibition along with the dress last summer in Boston. Excited to take their concept to the next level, Heather and Silas are already brainstorming their next artful collaboration.
For more of Heather’s beautiful work, visit her FoundFolios portfolio.
We all know about the trend of locally sourced food that has been sweeping the nation. What gets less attention, however, is locally sourced clothing and jewelry designs. In the progressive Bay Area, fashion photographer Liz Caruana has assembled a book featuring portraits of the top local designers wearing their own designs. For Liz, this local independent spirit is vital to the culture of her beloved city: “Locals create the style of the area. It’s mirrored in everything that the Bay Area represents.”
Liz began her project by evaluating a detailed spreadsheet she keeps of all local clothing, jewelry, and accessory designers. She wanted to feature the best and brightest of the San Francisco scene - people she thought were really making a difference, as well as some bright up and comers she felt deserved recognition.
The goal of the project was to expose the creator of the styles which people see around the city and subconsciously adapt. “Everyone sees the work, but no one sees the creator behind the work,” says Liz. “I wanted to promote this independent spirit and spread the idea of small market, sustainable design. These designers are simply trying to improve their community, and are not trying to become the next Versace.”
The 138-page The Bay: Creators of Style was released this year to critical acclaim. Liz put on an art show concurrent with the release of the book which was packed wall-to-wall. “There were even people overflowing into the street outside the art exhibit,” Liz recalled. The book was covered in most major print publications in San Francisco, as well as being featured on the front cover of the fashion section of the San Francisco Chronicle.
To see more of Liz Caruana’s catalog and fashion work, head to her FoundFolios portfolio.
You’d expect a fashion photographer like Irene Pena to be creative, and she is. What makes her unique, though, is her eye – and her ability to inject equal parts motion and emotion into her work.
Irene – who counts fashion and yoga photography among her top genres, right alongside lifestyle – put this skill to good use in a recent project combining fashion and fine art, titled “Desbordamiento” (The Spanish word for “overflowing”). Working in Costa Rica with a Holga camera, Irene teamed with local fashion designer Angela Hurtado Pimentel on a concept designed specifically to break fashion’s sometimes strict parameters.
“The concept behind the design of these dresses was the idea of ‘overflowing,’” notes Irene, who is herself a native of Costa Rica. “Fashion can become a rigid mold that sets boundaries for behavior, but people cannot be contained entirely in any of these molds. They simply spill out.”
While she often uses cutting-edge techniques and clever creativity to give her subjects a sense of motion, Irene found that Hurtado’s designs did that by themselves. “The restrictive silhouettes in these dresses are won over by this overflowing of textures and volume,” she says.
In a way, Irene adds, Hurtado’s dresses are “a representation of our inability to conform.”
“These dresses aim to discover that the fashion system can be subverted to create meaningful and carefully handcrafted pieces,” she says, “as unique as the people who may wear them.”
Click here to see more of Irene’s dynamic imagery.