Celine’s Weblog

I took these pictures when I was on a trip to Rome.

The first picture is the remaining of an ancient castle, taken from a tourist bus.

The second picture is the arc of Constantine taken from an opening, inside the coliseum.

I love these pictures mainly because they remind me of good memories and because of the black and white contrast. I’ve always been fascinated by black and white pictures and the existing levels between the two. I think it’s a minimal technique that gives an artsy and old feeling to the pictures.

Roger Moukarzel began his career when he was very young; he worked as a photojournalist for several years, such as the correspondent of Sygma (French agency). And then with an adventurous spirit he worked with Reuter where he gathered pain, sorrow, hatred, caring, all the elements of life and history, light and darkness. As an East Beirut Bureau Chief, he photographed artists, actors and celebrities.

His work has been published in international magazines such as ‘ELLE magazine’, and for the 40th anniversary of ‘Paris Match’, his picture was on the cover where he was selected as one of the 4 best photographers.

Throughout his career as a professional photographer, he has focused on people and what they do, no matter who they are. Whether he is photographing the greats of our time from presidents to prima ballerinas or ordinary people at work in factories and on the streets, his goal is to show their dignity. Working with a celebrity ego or a camera-shy unknown, Roger treats them all with the same great respect and professional approach.

Roger can quickly spot the area of visual interest in any subject and bring it to life with expert lighting. And even when the location has nothing to offer, he can build a picture out of whatever pertinent items can be gathered and placed together to tell the story.

Being a professional photographer for more than 20 years, he worked in fields as diverse as portraits, fashion, advertising, architecture and interior design and has received numerous awards in advertising. He has traveled and worked extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East.

His work :

David LaChapelle is a photographer and video/commercial/film director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique and often humorous style.

LaChapelle attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and the School of Visual Arts in New York City . His first photograph was of his mother, Helga LaChapelle, on a family vacation in Puerto Rico. Andy Warhol offered him his first professional job as a photographer for Interview after meeting him at Studio 54 where LaChapelle was working as a scantily-clad busboy. He has also worked for Rolling Stone, Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair throughout the years.

His work:

Death by a Hamburger

Amanda As Andy Warhol’s Marilyn

Alexander McQueen & Isabella Blow.

Christina Aguilera

Alicia Keys

Disaster

Collapse in a Garden

What i specially like about David LaChapelle’s work is the way he focuses on creating an ambiance and scenery in order to have a beautiful picture. His work is very particular and quite original, I think it’s very fun and creative.

German-lebanese photographer Nagib Khazaka began his career as an economist in Germany. All during his education and professional work, he followed his passion for photography. From that time forward, a camera was never far from his hand. Nagibdeveloped a strong interest in photographing architecture and interiors during his extensive traveling. a self’taught photographer, he made the transition to his professional photographic career in 2000. Today, he specializes in photographing both residential and commercial projects for many international clients and magazines. Recognizing the importance of technology in his work, he uses mainly large format technical view cameras together with the highest end digital backs. additionally to his commercial work, Nagib also shows his artwork in international galleries and exhibitions.

What impressed me most about Mr. khazaka was his motivation, ambition and the way he followed his passion in order to make out of it a very successful career. A very few people take major initiative of the sort in life and It takes a lot of courage to follow a dream when we are engaged in something else.

The lecture mr khazaka gave at LAU was very interesting, he talked about the equipments, the aspects, the market, lighting, storage system and others concerning digital photography and even made a small demonstration of his work and the software he uses.

I’ve always been passionate about photography but never experimented in that field and I think Mr. khazaka transmitted me a little bit of his passion and the joy photography brings to him.

What amazed me most was his portfolio and how each image was bought to life through the touch of simplicity, angles, lighting… He made me see how new media contributes in taking digital photography to a higher level.

The lecture was of higher inspiration to me and I will hopefully be participating to one of Nagib Khazaka’s workshops soon.

Antiquarium, Residenz in Munich

International Forum in Tokyo

Chateau Massaya in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon

Residential Villa in Rabieh, Beirut Lebanon

La Defense in Paris

Jeanne Verdoux is a french designer living in New York City. Her designs are mainly line drawings on paper of random people and common objects, her work explores the magic and humour underlying everyday life. Because reality has multiple faces, she use various media : ink, wire, video, sound. Her images are created to provoke a smile or a tear, to share an emotion. 

Her work:

• Drawing in space and time :

Living room – day time/ night time

• Typeface design:

At the beach :

Each letter is based on different professional characters encountered on the Montauk beach.

• Drawings and illustrations:

Post-it drawing

Today’s Specials drawing

We are Lost drawing

Illustration for “Mom School” by Chris Smith

New media is a term meant to encompass the emergence of digital, computerized or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century.

Most technologies described as “new media” are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulable, networkable, dense, compressible and impartial. 

New media has a huge impact on my day to day life and on my proffessional life as a designer. 

When it comes to my everyday life new media is vital for communication. Microsoft Messenger, Facebook or Skype are facilities i can’t seem to live without. They allow me to keep in touch with friends and acquaintances,having updates on their lives, latest achievements, activities…

On the professional level, New media is adequate for all types of research, it helps me go faster and find a variety of info which makes it at the same efficient quantitatively (less time) and qualitatively (better results). It is also very helpful when it comes to the storage of big amounts of data (ex: digital photography).