What are you up to this weekend? Want to see some good friends and eat great food? Then come out to the BLP BBQ!
This Saturday at Proper Fools Studio – 55 Chrystie Street between Canal and Hester.
2 PM.
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See you there!
Entries filed under Leo
Saturday BBQ!
Herman Miller – meet Jim Bastardo
In case you missed the Herman Miller sale that happened earlier this summer, you certainly can’t miss the stellar photography that Jim Bastardo always brings to the Design Within Reach table.
With a penchant for the modern and eye for great design, Jim’s sophisticated yet approachable point of view is a perfect match for the quality brands that DWR has to offer.
Check out the full page Herman Miller ad that ran in the Wall Street Journal! Great design mixed with the unmistakable aesthetic of Jim Bastardo’s work is the very essence of professional photography at its best.
More Fine Cooking by Carrie Purcell
For those of you who don’t know Big Leo food stylist Carrie Purcell – where on Earth have you been? Carrie’s recent work for the August/September 2010 issue of Fine Cooking Magazine, joins her with the talented food and lifestyle photographer John Kernick whose entertaining shoot entitled Bites for a Summer Night showcases “acepipes” or Portuguese small plates. Not to be confused with tapas, these dishes are far more interesting and substantial and beautifully styled, of course.
In the same issue, her coolly-crafted food illustration opens for 10 Ways to Eat Less Meat shot by staff photographer Scott Phillips. You’ll be seeing a lot more from Carrie in the coming months with her contributions to Health, Prevention, The Nest, as well as Bertolli and Palmolive and whole slew of personal projects! To keep up with her amazing skills, check out the Pictures and Pancakes blog she rocks out with her photographer husband, Andrew Purcell. Happy (almost) August!
Hector Sanchez goes Bridal!!!
For the July 2010 issue of BRIDES Magazine, Hector Sanchez shoots foodie-inspired wedding delicacies created by Danny Meyer’s Hudson Yards catering company (see story excerpt below). YUM!
Jim Bastardo – He’s the real thing.
Photographer Jim Bastardo’s new Design Within Reach image featuring The 111 Navy Chair made of recycled plastic Coke bottles leaves us with a very interesting question: How did he sleep after drinking all that Coca-Cola?! All for a good cause, this chair is helping to keep 3 million Coke bottles out of landfills. Check out 111NavyChair.com to find out more about the production of this eco-llaboration between EMECO and Coca-Cola.
Personally, the Southerners in this office are waiting for the PEPSI chair, but we won’t hold our breath.
Sweet Memories
Ever felt like a kid in a candy shop? You would if you were at our office today where we received a basket of vintage sweets reminiscent of the days of roller skates, skinned knees, and real arcade games like, Galaga, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and Super Ms. Pac Man.
Pop Rocks, Bazooka, Charleston Chew, Jolly Ranchers, Good n Plenty, Pixy Stix, Big League Chew, Sugar Daddies, Fun Dip and yes even candied necklaces. It’s in there!
The candy came to Big Leo courtesy of an awesome client who spent the day shooting with our very own Björn Wallander, whose work and stellar demeanor simply inspire this sort of sweetness.
A Summer Big Leo Trio
The onset of summer always brings with it thoughts of half-day fridays (if you’re lucky), vacations (also if you’re lucky), ocean breezes, flip flops, sweet iced tea, frozen fruity drinks and of course ICE CREAM (cue Mr. Softee jingle here)! It also happens to be our signature season over here at Big Leo. Inspired and armed with fresh blueberries, kiwi, peppermint, coffee beans, buttermilk, pistachios and more, food stylist Carrie Purcell made delicious ice cream treats that had us excitedly anticipating the very first 80+ degree day in the city. Photographed by Hector Sanchez, prop styled by Pamela Duncan Silver, and sampled of course by yours truly, the images are a perfect treat frozen in time. Just don’t look for too long or you might get brain freeze.
Since this story was shot there have been several 80+ degree days in the city – we look forward to what inspires the next Big Leo Trio!
That’s so CHEESY!
Recently, Big Leo photographer Andrew Purcell was commissioned to shoot images for a UK based international exporter of diary based products, ranging from cheeses, creams, to butters and créme fraîche. Here at Big Leo, we love cheese. And wine. And bacon! The list goes on…
As an inspiration for such delicious cheesy comestibles, we’ve composed a personal cheese montage straight from Andrew – and his food stylist wife – Carrie’s kitchen! The light and composition is sure to make anyone crave a little fermented curd!
In honor of his new promo – coming soon from a mail carrier near you – we’d like to share our favorite Monty Python sketch “The Cheese Shop”. Venezuelan Beaver Cheese anyone?
Show us your ♥
This past Valentine’s Day, we asked a few of our artists to show us their hearts. More to the point, we asked them to share with us what about this industry makes their hearts beat faster – gets them moving, and inspires them.
Carrie Purcell wanted to share this polaroid from Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. “What gets my heart going is food! I guess that would be expected since I’m a food stylist, but not everyone in this world is lucky enough to do what they are passionate about for a living – not just food, but the experience of food and what it means to share a meal. Whether it’s a cheese plate & bottle of wine at home with my husband, a spread of comforting classics at a holiday meal with family or new flavors shared with friends in a cozy cafe – food brings us together and moves us”.
The house of Big Leo was full of new arrivals in 2009, so it’s no surprise that there is new inspiration in the lives of our many talented artists. For photographer Melissa Punch, her very own “sweet pea” will surely provide enough beats of the heart to last a lifetime. It’s nice to watch the circular motion of life continually influence the work of our artists.
Stylist Scott Horne literally gave us the key to his heart (he’ll take these, in no particular order, please):
- Timbuktu eau de toilette by L’Artisan Parfumeur
- Farrow salad at Al Di La, Park Slope (YUM!)
- Air Vail winter boot by Cole Haan
- Liam soft grey baby alpaca throw by Area
- Almondine baguette, by Almondine Bakery DUMBO
- Deep tissue massage, Great Jones Spa (this is the way to ANY Big Leo’s heart)
- All things White Forest, pottery
- Large Black Coffee from Ninth Street Espresso
- Ultra Lightweight Hiking Crew Socks by Patagonia
and the *bonus* skeleton key to his heart:
- Humanity! (ala The Red Cross)
What gets photographer Jim Bastardo’s heart going is the promise of possibilities. Captured in the aspirational lifestyle images he creates, moments like this do indeed convey the possibilities of what can happen today.
• possibilities- unspecified qualities of a promising nature; potential.
We asked Australian photographer Justin Bernhaut what gets his heart beating and this is what we got:
Who needs an answer with an image like this? We don’t know about you, but it makes our heart beat, too! “Rocker” sure does run in this family…
And, when we asked photographer Frank Heckers, the answer was pure and simple: “when my heart is moved I believe what I see”.
Finally, it’s impossible for anyone who has ever heard of Big Leo not to know what gets our hearts beating. There’s this little gimpy pitbull named Riley whom we’ve unofficially assigned to be our mascot:
But, more importantly, what gives us motivation to do what we do, what makes our hearts beat day in and out is the enormous sense of pride and satisfaction we feel when each and every one of our artists is appreciated for their incredible talents, then booked and re-booked. As Jim Bastardo puts it, “the promise of possibilities” is what drives us and keeps us looking forward in the direction of our dreams.
Don’t be afraid of the DARK…Spirits!
DARK SPIRITS, the sequel to the highly acclaimed GOOD SPIRITS cocktail book that we previously wrote about, penned once again by master mixologist AJ Rathbun and superbly photographed by our very own Melissa Punch, is sure to put a much-needed kick of creativity into your winter liquids.
“Dear Vodka, your days are numbered. You had a good run,” say The Ladies United For the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails. ”Make room for rum, whiskey, bourbon, and rye.” I don’t know what I love more, the fact that there is finally a book containing expressive ways to imbibe non-vodka beverages or that LUPEC is an actual organized group of women who, in their own words, are dismantling the patriarchy one drink at a time.
Paul Clarke, a contributing editor to IMBIBE writes, “In an era when countless glasses are burdened with mixtures that are light, bright, and bland, Rathbun fearlessly brings drinkers and their cocktail shakers over to the dark side”. With recipes this delicious, a certain Jack Daniels on the rocks drinker might just have to consider sprucing up her old favorite!
Also check out WINE Cocktails – a gathering of 50 incredibly luscious uses for your reds, whites and rosés – and Melissa’s photography once again transforms liquid pleasure into visual bliss.
With a name like Melissa PUNCH how could this collaboration possibly go wrong? Get your copy of these Harvard Common Press publications here!
