DMJM Design

Los Angeles will soon be getting a new photography museum, courtesy of the Annenberg Foundation (legacy of the early media mogul Walter Annenberg, who began as the founder of Seventeen Magazine).  Although the J. Paul Getty Museum has one of the most renowned photography collections in the world, as far as I know this will be the only museum in Los Angeles dedicated solely to photography.  That is, unless you count Riverside as being part of L.A., which I guess you could if you’re the sort of local who thinks “L.A.” is any place you don’t have to board an airplane to get to.

I don’t know if it’s because of Britney Spear’s sister or Bristol Palin or what, but lately I have been thinking about the space females enter when they are evolving from girls into women. While young mothers are certainly a hot tabloid topic right now, I am more interested in less extreme examples of this threshold crossing. It can be argued that childhood and adulthood are biological categories, but they are also social constructs that change depending upon their historical context.

During the Industrial Revolution (pre-child labor laws), US children worked in factories, whereas today, a large percentage of college graduates move back home to live with their parents. When does a person become an adult? When does a girl become a woman? I don’t have a definite answer, but no photographer explores this idea better than Kanako Sasaki.

Kanako Sasaki/Getty Images

When I look at her photographs, I am taken to a place where innocence and experience co-exist. In this world, the subject’s age is ambiguous: she is at once child-like and emotionally nuanced, unselfconscious yet provocative:

Kanako Sasaki/Getty Images

They bring to mind Balthus’s infamous paintings of Therese.

Kanako Sasaki/Getty Images

And of course, they are beautiful to behold.

BEIJING - AUGUST 24: Fireworks go off during the Closing Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 24, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

“The world has learned about China, and China has learned about the world, and I believe this is something that will have positive effects for the long term.” - Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympics Committee.

This quote reminded me of a beautiful photo essay that I have kept on my desk for several weeks now - “The Human Face of China.” It was shot by Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer and published in the German magazine Stern.

Getty Images is up for a panel spot at the next South by Southwest festival. However, we can only share our brightest ideas if we are invited by popular demand. So cast your vote today!

Photo by Philip Toledano

Something to share with you today, a beautiful, more funny than sad journal by photographer Philip Toledano about his 98 year old father: http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/

Currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is an exhibition titled “Super Heroes Fashion and Fantasy.” It is a look at comic book fashion trends that illustrate technological extensions or advancements of the human body from the mid 20th century to today. Even in the light of the current trend toward authenticity in the creative marketplace, there will always be a place for the idealized human form. From Greek to Roman times to Spiderman, Superman and Wonder Woman, we see archetypes for strength, courage, speed, sexuality, fortitude and good.

Dara Torres models the new LZR RACER along side a hologram of Michael Phelps during the new Speedo Swimsuit Launch at Espace on February 12, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

For example, the D.C. comic book character “The Flash” was an inspiration for current Olympian Michael Phelp’s aqua suit made by Speedo as he is smashing world-records and becoming the most decorated Olympic athlete in history. Comic books and superheroes give children a way to dream and channel their imaginations into fantastical realms. Even after adolescence, superheroes remain part of our collective cultural history as they are passed down from generation to generation as evidenced in the fashion on display here.

Our very own Denise Waggoner is consulted in this nice article in Slate about the Creative Research department she helms here at Getty Images that helps us and photographers peek into the future so we’ll have what clients want right when they want it.

Leland Bobbe/Getty Images

(Or at least the Getty Images website?)

If you’re reading this, you probably use the Getty Images website. Read on to find out how you can shape it (and get paid for your thoughts).

We’re talking about customer research. We conduct all sorts: online surveys, usability studies at our offices and visits to your workplace. Nothing we do is too demanding on you and it leads directly to improvements that our customers (you) want.

What do I need to do? Sign up for our customer research panel. Tell us you’re interested by filling out this brief form as accurately as possible.

What will happen? In general, we run 1-2 usability studies a month and we’re always looking for participants. We’ll get in touch when we’re running research with people who match your profile.

What about the money? Participants we schedule can expect a generous gift certificate in return for their time.

On a hot day in June at a dog park in Los Angeles, 21 dogs, 13 owners, 2 photographers and the Getty Images Los Angeles creative team came together for one cause - The Compassionate Eye Foundation.

Every year Getty Images photographers donate their time to do a one day photo shoot to benefit the CEF. The imagery created on the shoots is uploaded to www.gettyimages.com and the royalties generated by the imagery are used to help women and children in third world countries.

It was such a great day, I thought I would share some of the “behind the scenes” pictures and some of our finals. Enjoy!

Art director Andrew Delaney is about to drench a St. Bernard with water to get him to do this…

Photographer Amanda Edwards and art director Karen Strauss working with a Great Dane.

Here are a few of the images created from the shoot:

Siri Stafford/Getty Images

Siri Stafford/Getty Images

Siri Stafford/Getty Images

Images can be tremendously powerful. Images, empowered appropriately, can challenge, convince, delight and inspire. At Flickr, we think one of our most important missions is to enabe images to be all that they can be. And as such, we are incredibly proud and excited to launch a new partnership with Getty Images, the unrivaled leader in digital media licensing, to offer a new Flickr branded collection on www.gettyimages.com.

The creative and editorial teams at Getty Images have a deep understanding of what makes images truly extraordinary as well as what their clients (on a global scale) are seeking. Marrying this expertise to the talent and breadth of the photography on Flickr is truly an incredible opportunity, for our members, for Getty Images clients, and for those who love imagery in all of its forms.

So how does it all work?

Getty Images has the best editors globally taking the pulse of the market. In the next several months, they will be exploring Flickr’s collection of public photos and inviting some of these photographers to be part of the Flickr collection on Getty Images.

Both companies are committed to providing our users with more choices. Flickr members have an unprecedented opportunity to establish even more value for their creativity and work directly with a global leader to license their images commercially. Getty Images customers will have access to even more diverse, regionally relevant imagery.

So make sure to check out the Flickr collection on www.gettyimages.com in the coming months to see what the editors at Getty Images have selected.

-Kakul Srivastav, General Manager, Flickr