The Photographic Album of Joan Colom

Joan Colom was born in Barcelona in 1921. Following military service, he became an accountant in a firm where he stayed until his retirement in 1986. But at the age of 36 he also developed a passion for photography, joining the Photographic Association of Catalonia where he very quickly learnt the technical skills that helped him in his atypical career. Colom is considered one of the most important photographers of the 50s and 60s and one of the greatest documentalists of everyday life in Barcelona. With both passion and respect, his series gave expression to the spirit of Barcelona’s Raval district and became one of the most exceptional photography essays of the time. An exhibition at the Fundació Foto Colectania in Barcelona presents for the first time to the public an unedited album, which includes some of the author's favorite photographs, selected and arranged by him in a graphic sequence of great impact. On view until October 29 www.colectania.es

To Love the Glove....

Armor glove–a collaboration between jeweler Shaun Leane and Daphne Guinness–encrusted  with 18-carat hand cut diamonds.  Guinness: "The detail in its design is hugely symbolic. The birds with which it is embellished denote freedom from the material world. The gold from which it is molded was thought to have magical powers. Like the knights of my childhood daydreams, this beautiful glove is resilient and beautiful, strong despite its finery."

LIEKO SHIGA: CANARY

Galerie Priska Pasquer in Cologne, Germany presents the 'Canary' series by Japanese artist Lieko Shiga, for which she won the 'Infinity Award (Young Photographer)' from the International Center of Photography, New York, in 2009. In 'Canary', Lieko Shiga combines personal accounts of people and local myths with her own personal memories, feelings and experiences to create fantastic, often perplexing scenarios. The works interact to form a complex, dramatic tableau that vacillates between dreams and reality. On view until July 30. www.priskapasquer.de

TOMOKO SAWADA: Reflection

The Rose Gallery in Los Angeles presents the surreal self portraits of Japanese artist Tomoko Sawada. For her latest series, entitled Reflection, Sawada "....tackles the issue of identity by questioning the boundary between one’s own appearance and the self-image reflected in a mirror. The dual images in each photograph are presented like twins and while they bear a striking resemblance to one another, a closer inspection reveals how different they truly are." On view until September 17. www.rosegallery.net

Dear Fate: The Photography of Dana Lauren Goldstein

Dear Fate (Jame's Portrait) by Dana Lauren Goldstein
The Spark by Dana Lauren Goldstein

Louisville, Kentucky–birthplace of bourbon whiskey, the Kentucky Derby, and photographer Dana Lauren Goldstein. Her punk tinged photographs fall in a place between eternal youth and temporary amnesia. She states that her work is "highly influenced by theosophical and neo-plasticist principles,"–yeah, whatever, all I know is that her photographs are fucking awesome. www.danalaurengoldstein.com

text by Oliver Maxwell Kupper for Pas Un Autre

[BUZZ] Gotye

Wouter De Backer, otherwise known as his stage persona Gotye, is a Belgian multi-instrumentalist based in Melbourne.  Somebody That I Used To Know is the second single released off the upcoming album Making Mirrors due for release August 19. The song harkens back to the vocal stylings of a young Sting of The Police. The song features New Zealand singer/songwriter Kimbra. The above film for the song was directed by Natasha Pincus. The music video also features body art by Emma Hack - which took 23 hours to shoot the stop-motion animation. With the album launch Gotye will perform at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Graphic Festival–which will feature animators and a 10-piece orchestra as part of his performance. www.gotye.com

Magic for Beginners

Olaf Breuning, Emmanuelle 2009

Jesse McLean, Magic For Beginners 2010, 20 min video

Ten artists are a part of a group show entitled Magic For Beginners at P.P.O.W. Gallery in NYC–including Bas Jan Ader and Olaf Breuning. "Their works concern themselves with an intensely personal present tense, with lives lived and documented in real time. These works are inward, solipsistic, and in some instances, similar to an occult experience or an exercise in ritualized revelation." Magic for Beginners  is on view from July 28 to August 27. www.ppowgallery.com

[MUSIC VIDEOS] Pure X - Easy

...Video for Pure X's "Easy," the first in a series from Pleasure that visually explore the record's themes of pain/pleasure and agony/ecstasy. In collaboration with director Malcom Elijah the band works with images of numbness and the pleasure of control. These images, in the context of a traditional music video, reflect bleak lyrics in the context of a semi-traditional bright-sounding pop song. Director: Malcolm Elijah.

[IMAGE MAKERS] Michel Comte

Fashion house Miu Miu just held a bash at photographer Michel Comte's 1920s California jazz age mansion. Michel Comte was born 1954 in Zurich, Switzerland. The professionally trained art restorer approached photography autodidactically. 1979 Comte received his first international advertising assignment from Karl Lagerfeld for the fashion house of Chloe and moved to Paris. Work for the American Vogue lead him in 1981 to New York and later on he took residence in Los Angeles. "I have always lived on the edge", Comte states on his restless persona. "If I no longer have a sense of risk I immediately move on. I probably inherited that from my grandfather." (Swiss aviaton pioneer Alfred Comte.)

Go West Young Cowgirl: New Wildfox Swim Collection

Wildfox premiers their brilliant debut swimwear line for resort 2011. Wildfox’s Swim collection "draws inspiration from bombshells of the past including the unforgettable Brigitte Bardot, Marylin Monroe and Raquel Welch." See the full collection here. 

Photographs by Mark Hunter.