Winter Magic. Spellbinding Photographs by Per Breiehagen For Italian Children's Brand Chicco.

I came across these stunning winter landscapes by photographer Per Breiehagen and discovered that they began as a personal project and blossomed into an international ad campaign.




In 2007 Breiehagen photographed his three year old daughter Anja, styled by his wife Lori Evert, as a traditional Nordic elf near his home in Minnesota. The images expertly and magically captured the holiday spirit for his personal Christmas cards.




Encouraged by the feedback, Breiehagen embarked on a much larger project. Born and raised in Norway, his childhood had centered around the fairytales and lore that are rich in Norwegian culture. Stories of elves, trolls and other creatures have inspired his narratives, instilling a sense of magic and mystery in his imagery. “Growing up in a storytelling tradition, these mental images would always be there and certainly influenced my creativity,” he says.





The first round of images went to Getty Images to be used as stock photography. Within a year, the elf girl series had been picked up by agencies in South America, Northern Europe and Asia for a variety of advertising and editorial campaigns, including AT&T. In 2010 ad agency McCann Erickson used the images for Italian baby brand Chicco's holiday campaign.




This year, Breiehagen has worked again with McCann Erickson to shoot his daughter Anja in an exclusive set of images for the 2011 Chicco brand holiday campaign, making the sweet little elf in the red cap the icon for the brand.


above: One of the images as used on Chicco's website.

The images can be seen on billboards, on television, in print and on their web site throughout this holiday season.














Breiehagen and wife Evert are now actively on the hunt for a publisher to create a Christmas book featuring these images. Anja is getting older but Breiehagen hopes her legacy as the little elf girl will continue to represent a timeless holiday spirit.

I have chosen my favorites from his Winter Magic Series to place in this post, to see all the shots, visit Per Breiehagen's site.

To learn more about the props, styling and digital compositing for these beautiful images, read Jacqui Palumbo's detailed article on this project for PDN, here.

all images courtesy of Per Breiehagen

Fine Art Prints Of Stanley Kubrick Photos Available For The First Time. 25 Fabulous Images.

I've always been a huge fan of the directorial and writing work of Stanley Kubrick, as witnessed by this comprehensive post I wrote on an exposition of his work earlier this year.

So you can imagine my joy when I discovered that the photographs he took as a photojournalist for Look Magazine early in his career which were previously only available for viewing in museum archives or in books about Kubrick, are now being offered as art prints (complete with certificates of authenticity) from the Museum of the City of New York and VandM.



The selection of fine art prints of the photographic works by the legendary film director exemplify his eye for both content and composition. Shot during the years of 1946-1949, each of the 25 hand-selected photos is printed on museum quality acid-free fibre paper using archival pigment inks and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, numbered and signed by the Museum of the City of New York’s Curator of Prints and Photographs.



Available in limited editions and four different sizes, the unframed prints have a minimum half inch border so you can frame them without obscuring the image.



Stanley Kubrick—who wrote and directed Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining—was one of America’s most influential filmmakers. Directors ranging from the Coen Brothers to Tim Burton paid visual homage to his works in their own films, and no less than Steven Spielberg said: “Nobody could shoot a picture better in history.”



In fact Kubrick’s special skill behind the camera and his ability to create visual intrigue were evident long before he was a Hollywood icon. Even at the age of 17, Kubrick was an immense talent. In 1945, for $25, he sold a photograph to Look magazine of a broken-hearted newsvendor reacting to the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A few months later Kubrick joined Look’s staff to become the youngest staff photographer in the magazine’s history. He continued to work for Look until 1950 when he left to pursue filmmaking.



It was during this period that Kubrick’s respected—and often-imitated—style first became apparent. His photographs are vintage Kubrick: a complex blend of composition, drama, light and mystery.




Now, for the first time, fine art prints of Kubrick’s work as a photojournalist are available for sale. Previously only available for viewing in museum archives or in books about Kubrick, curators at the Museum of the City of New York and art advisors at VandM examined over 10,000 negatives of Kubrick’s photos to hand select 25 for this limited edition sale on VandM.




All photos are printed on museum quality acid-free fibre paper using archival pigment inks and are accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, numbered and signed by the Museum of the City of New York’s Curator of Prints and Photographs.

Edition of 50
11x14 = $250
16x20 = $450
20x24 = $600

Edition of 10
36x36 = $2500

The majority of the proceeds go to the Museum of the City of New York.

See all 25 stunning photographs and purchase them here

Tattoos and Tentacles. Julian Murray Captures Inked People with Things That Squirt Ink.

Tattoos and Tentacles is a new coffee table book featuring a collection of photographs of inked people, wearing very little except their body art, and draped in cephalopods that squirt ink (that's a fancy way of saying octopus and squid).

The slimy but sexy photos were taken by Minneapolis based Julian Murray with the art direction, digital retouching and layout by Lacey Haire.



Below is a selection of 20 images from the book, some of which have been cropped for this post.



















Shopping for props:

Shooting the book:


The 9"x12" 144 page book in hardcover format has full color photographs throughout.




In addition to the book, 11 of the photos are available as posters:


Buy the book and/or posters here.


About Julian Murray Photography and Design:
Minneapolis based Photography and Graphic Design team specializing in the music, fashion and advertising industries. From creative concept photography, marketing campaigns and family portraits to website design, company branding, and print collateral + everything in between.