Portugal Beach Vacation at Home

Portugal is on my vacation list. I’ve got to get there. It a land of beautiful beaches, wineries, historic cities and a laid-back lifestyle. Sounds perfect. But until I visit I’ll have to live vicariously through this photo. In general I can’t get enough of aerial beach photography. I just wrote about one recently of Coney Island by a Brooklyn photographer. But this beach offers a bit more to work with. And I love the colorful umbrellas.

It was taken by Christian Chaize, a French photographer who’s become obsessed with a small stretch of the southern Portugease coast. I can see why. He’s taken a whole series of just this very composition but on different days and times of day. Check it out here.

The print’s available through 20 x 200, a great site for affordable art. A 14 x 11 will run you $50.

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Thom Filicia’s 10 Favorite Photos

I’m always looking for great prints — whether I have the wall space or not. The archives of Condé Nast and The New York Times always seem like great resources, but daunting! I don’t have the patience to go through all those photos. So I was excited to see The Times has asked five interior designers to pick their favorite 10 photos. Here are two of my favorites from Thom Filicia’s picks. Love him!

The top photo was taken in Central Park and the above photo was taken over Bryant Park.

Want to see the rest of Thom Filicia’s picks?

Weekend Beach Getaway … On Your Wall

This print has been following me around. Good thing I love it. We first spotted the print by Brooklyn artist Mina Georgescu at Brooklyn Collective, a gallery in Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. Then it’s been arriving in my inbox ever since. Most recently from the cool print shop Society 6, where it can be had for just $20. Only thing is, it’s a bit derivative, but, hey, what isn’t?

If you have $20k to spare you can go with an originator in the genre of blurry, aerial beach photography: Massimo Vitali photograph. His work is on my when-I-get-rich list. And they’re huuuuge and dreamy. They’d fill up a wall in the most amazing way.

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Falling for it?

Two years ago I walked into the Irvine Contemporary gallery in Washington, D.C. to see this startling photograph by Brooklyn artist Kerry Skarbakka. I was transfixed and it stayed with me.

Recently I was reminded of Skarbakka’s work when I came across Elijah Gowin’s “Of Falling & Floating” series while researching a previous post on his recent exhibit at Richmond’s Page Bond Gallery. Both photographers explore a loss of control and those slow-motion, mid-air moments of terror or joy. Take a look…

ABOVE: Skarbakka’s “Studio,” 2002

LEFT: Gowin’s “Falling in Trees 2,” 2006

Gowin collects images from the internet and layers them together. He’s interested in questions of doubt and faith. Who are these people and what is happening to them? We know less information; their clothes are ambiguous and the locations a mystery.