This month we are giving away a print from our recent Spotlight Series Photographer – Matthias Heiderich. Matthias has graciously agreed to giveaway a 20in X 20in print to one lucky winner from our facebook or twitter fan pages.

To Enter:

1. Simply join our Facebook or Twitter page to be eligible, existing members are already entered.

2. To double your chances, comment on or share this post with others thru facebook or twitter. Every original shout out you give us we will put your name in the hat again.

Winners will be selected at random from our Facebook and Twitter fan pages…and the winner will be announced on March 26th. Tell your friends about this Photo Giveaway! Remember to comment and post away for more chances to win!

*Fineprint – This prize can only be sent to locations within the Continental US or the EU countries. Limit 25 entries per person. Photo quality will vary based on photo lab equipment. Only one winner will be selected.

Spotlight is a series highlighting talented artists and designers in brief interviews and displays of their work. In this article we look at the work of Matthias Heiderich [ www.matthias-heiderich.de ], currently residing in Berlin, Germany. Matthias is self-taught photographer who’s imagery reads uniquely architectural with a minimalist graphic style. Here’s what he had to say-

(Zeitgeist Studios) – You have stated that you’re not a professional photographer, so what do you do for a living?

(Matthais Heiderich) – Yes, true, I am not a professional photographer. But I will try to make it my living this year. There will be more exhibitions, in and outside Germany, and more places to buy prints. I will also try to work on more commissioned projects. So far I have spent my time studying computational linguistics and phonetics. I have a university degree but realized that this is not what I want to do in the coming years.

[+] Image via Matthias Heiderich

[+] Image via Matthias Heiderich

(ZS) – Your subjects seem to be primarily landscapes. Asta, a portrait series, is a stark departure from this. What was the motivation for this subject change?

(MH) – Asta is a friend of mine and I took many photos of her in the last two years, so I decided to upload a small selection, too. If you look at my Flickr site, you can see that my photography is pretty diverse. I just like to take pictures of whatever I think is beautiful – landscapes, industry, cityscapes, nature, people.

[+] Image via Matthias Heiderich

[+] Image via Matthias Heiderich

(ZS) – What challenges did you face shifting to a live subject?

(MH) – Whenever I take pictures of people, I realize that I am not a good portrait-photographer. I am not good at giving directions and making people feel comfortable. Also I prefer to be alone when being creative, alone with music and whatever is going on inside my brain.

[+] Image via Matthias Heiderich

[+] Image via Matthias Heiderich

The August/September issue of Picture This is out, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I must say it’s another quality publication worth checking out. I am a big fan of this magazine. Picture This is a collection of photographers found in the social network called onesmallseed based out of South Africa. The curation of this magazine features cutting edge, controversial and very contemporary work.

[+] Image from Onesmallseed.com

[+] Image from Onesmallseed.com

Photographer Iwan Baan has taken these amazing shots of the architecture office of Selgas Cano in Spain. I am a big fan of this type of architecture for many reasons. The simplicity along with the richness of the experience come off as the strongest factors for me on this project. It reminds me of Thorncrown Chapel designed by E. Fay Jones in Arkansas, the way it sits within the natural beauty of the site. One cannot help but be inspired in an environment such as this. Check out Iwan Baan’s website here [www]

[+] Images via Iwan Baan

[+] found via archdaily

Lindsay’s work can be found in the latest online edition of Requited Journal [www]. Created by a highly talented group based in Chicago,IL, Requited Journal pushes boundaries between the written word and the experimental avenues of the art world.

“Lindsay Page is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist working primarily in photography and video installation. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006. Her work has been exhibited internationally and has appeared in publications including the New Yorker (2009), Emergence: Contemporary Photography in Canada (2009) Flash Forward (2008) and Camera Austria (Spring 2007). She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a 2010 Canada Council for the Arts Visual Artist grant. She lives and works in Toronto.” ~ via Requited Journal

[+] Image via Requited Journal

[+] Image via Requited Journal

[+] Image via Requited Journal

[+] Image via Requited Journal

[+] Image via Requited Journal

[+] Image via Requited Journal

The June/July issue of Picture This is out, and once again, it’s worthy of its ink. If you didn’t catch my last post on this magazine, Picture This is a collection of photographers found in the social network called onesmallseed based out of South Africa. The curation of this magazine features cutting edge, controversial and very contemporary work. It’s worth a look for sure. Job well done once again guys!

[+] Image from Onesmallseed.com

[+] Image from Onesmallseed.com

[+] Image from Onesmallseed.com

Taryn Simon’s work as a photographer has been displayed in the Getty Museum, LA and the Whitney Museum, NYC, to name a few. Her 2009 TED Talk recapped her work on her series entitled An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar [book link]. Her work dives into the issues that live much deeper than the photographs themselves. She finds and photographs the hidden landscapes in the everyday and exposes their simple secret through the beauty of her work. Each of her abstracted photographs is grounded by a short bio of what truths exist behind them, thus exposing their beauty into an often cruel reality.

Ted Talk – Taryn Simon Photographs Secret Sites

Simon’s 2002 work entitled The Innocents [book link], captured the portraits of wrongly accused Death Row inmates who were exonerated due to the advancement of DNA testing. Her work is constantly flirting with a role as investigative journalism. However she maintains her strong presences as an artist. Take a moment to watch here TED Talk or find one of the many museums displaying her work. I really appreciate her talent in uncovering the absurd in the everyday while also exposing some of the more secretive places all around us.

[+] Image via Taryn Simon

Playboy, Braille Edition
Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
New York, New York

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the U.S. Library of Congress, provides a free national library program of Braille and recorded materials for blind and physically handicapped persons. Magazines included in the NLS’s programs are selected on the basis of demonstrated reader interest. This includes the publishing and distribution of a Braille edition of Playboy. Approximately 10 million American adults read Playboy every month, with 3 million obtaining it through paid circulation. It has included articles by writers such as Norman Mailer, Vladimir Nabokov, Philip Roth, Joyce Carol Oates, and Kurt Vonnegut and conducted interviews with Salvador Dali, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Malcolm X.

© Taryn Simon

[+] Image via Taryn Simon

White Tiger (Kenny), Selective Inbreeding
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and Foundation
Eureka Springs, Arkansas

In the United States, all living white tigers are the result of selective inbreeding to artificially create the genetic conditions that lead to white fur, ice-blue eyes and a pink nose. Kenny was born to a breeder in Bentonville, Arkansas on February 3, 1999. As a result of inbreeding, Kenny is mentally retarded and has significant physical limitations. Due to his deep-set nose, he has difficulty breathing and closing his jaw, his teeth are severely malformed and he limps from abnormal bone structure in his forearms. The three other tigers in Kenny’s litter are not considered to be quality white tigers as they are yellow coated, cross-eyed, and knock-kneed.

© Taryn Simon

[+] Image via Taryn Simon

Nuclear Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility Cherenkov Radiation
Hanford Site, U.S. Department of Energy
Southeastern Washington State

Submerged in a pool of water at Hanford Site are 1,936 stainless-steel nuclear-waste capsules containing cesium and strontium. Combined, they contain over 120 million curies of radioactivity. It is estimated to be the most curies under one roof in the United States. The blue glow is created by the Cherenkov Effect which describes the electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle, giving off energy, moves faster than light through a transparent medium. The temperatures of the capsules are as high as 330 degrees Fahrenheit. The pool of water serves as a shield against radiation; a human standing one foot from an unshielded capsule would receive a lethal dose of radiation in less than 10 seconds. Hanford is among the most contaminated sites in the United States.

© Taryn Simon

The South African magazine and online network, One Small Seed [www], has released a magazine entitled ‘Picture This‘, a purely photography driven magazine. One Small Seed’s original magazine is one of South Africa’s favorite journals. Now their sister publication, Picture This, highlights a collection of photographs uploaded from within the onesmallseed.net network. The work from this publication has always been daring, progressive and, most of all, visually stunning. All of One Small Seed’s editions dating back to May 2009 can be found here. Submissions are always welcome by joining their network.

[+] Images via onesmallseed.net

In this occasional series, we will highlight a brief view of our attempts at urban drifting, or the act of the dérive. This week my friend, and zeitgeistudios’ author, Kevin and I went for a short dérive in the Ukrainian Village area of Chicago, Il. I have included some of my photographs captured along our journey, as well as a google map link [here]. We hope you enjoy the visuals and we highly encourage you to participate in your own dérive. To help you get started we suggest reading an essay from Guy Debord entitled – Theory of the Dérive [www]

“Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psycho-geographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll.” – Guy Debord

[+] click photo for slideshow - Photos via Tyler Barnard and Kevin Kilroy. For use or reproduction please email info[at]zeitgeistudios.com

Spotlight is a series highlighting talented artists and designers in brief interviews and displays of their work. In this article we look at the work of Jonathan May [ www.jonathanmayphotography.com ], currently residing in Sydney, Australia. Jonathan is an award-winning professional photographer known for his interesting subjects and unconventional locations. Here’s what he had to say-

Zeitgeist Studios: Hot Ink. Could you give us an inside perspective of how you came to this project and what is going on behind the scenes for you with these powerful shots?

Jonathan May: I was selected to cover this year’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras events. Through this I met Geoff Ostling who has a complete tattoo bodysuit and is donating his skin to a museum when he dies. Geoff is passionate about ink, and was hosting a competition night where people could display the artwork on their bodies and receive prizes. I realized the significance of the event and had to cover it; so I set-up a portable studio inside the venue.

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

ZS: The unusual characters you have introduced us to in your photos seem to be laden with interesting stories. Is there one that you recall as particularly unusual for you?

JM: Margaret from the south coast of NSW has to be by far the most interesting character. Margaret has been expressing her creativity through themed front gardens in her home for over 35 years. Her eccentric and passionate personality shines through her elaborate gardens and the dedication over this long time frame is to be admired. Margaret does her gardens to enrich the local community, and I wanted to assist her is showing her work to a much larger audience.To see more of his work and the full interview con’t here (Read More)

ZS: As a photographer, what are you looking to capture in/about society? Particularly in your personal work?

JM: I am always trying to tell a story through my photography, so I actively seek out interesting people who look like they have something to tell and work with their natural environments to evoke emotion and engage the viewer’s imagination.

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

ZS: Your series about the Caravan. This idea of mobile, transient community and architecture. What are you observations thus far?

JM: I find it fascinating that people manage to transform a simple, almost primitive piece of machinery into a home. So my aim with the Caravan project was not only to capture the feeling of community within a mobile environment but the individuals within that community and how they express their own identity through their caravans. Hopefully I’ve succeeded in showing how a small space of 4 metal walls can tell a huge amount about a person who occupies it.

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

ZS: Your process for inspiration? Can you give us a glimpse of how you find your next great shot?

JM: The most important thing for me is to always keep an open eye and an open mind. I am constantly on the hunt for interesting locations and characters, and I usually find that they are interrelated.

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

ZS: Your work compels the viewer to desire more from the single image, making them true pieces of art. Have you ever considered extending the narrative of one of your photos into a film? What would that narrative be?

JM: I have indeed. I have been documenting some of my shoots, especially the ones with the caravan inhabitants. This helps me to learn more about the people I photograph and how they ended up inside the caravans. I have been experimenting with documentary film-making as well as stop-motion animation. This is definitely an area that I will explore further. But for now I am focusing on the art of capturing a moment out of a life story in one frame.

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

ZS: You have obviously followed your dreams, having started out in advertisement and going back to school to be a photographer. What advice do you have for our readers with similar hopes of doing what they enjoy?

JM: The only person stopping you from doing what you want to do is yourself. Through hard work, passion and patience nothing is impossible.

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

© Jonathan May 2010, All Rights Reserved

Click Image for larger preview

Spotlight is our new series highlighting talented artists and designers in brief interviews and displays of their work. In this article we look at Liao Yusheng’s photo index called Figure/Ground. His website is an amazing catalog of architectural works from all over the world. Its an impressive body of work that dates back to 2000. The site is simple, elegant, and best of all, you can sort the list by date taken, place or by architect. The photos themselves give you the overview of the forms and zoom in on the important details of the building. Take a look through the site or just bookmark it for a rainy day when you need to look up an architect’s work. I commend Yusheng’s efforts in a fine display of perfectionism.

Ciutat de les Arts i de les Ciències/CAC Architect: Richard Meier Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

Zeitgeist Studios: What is your background and interest in Architecture and Photography?

Liao Yusheng: Even though I’ve wanted to become an architect as far back as I can remember, through some unfortunate career counseling I received in high school, I ended up studying engineering at the Cooper Union. It’s actually quite a cruel ironic twist, as Cooper happens to be one of the best architecture schools in the world. I did end up becoming friends with many architects, however, and they’ve helped shape my career over the years. Since engineering was never my interest, I settled on photography as a career and specializing in architecture was a natural choice. As far as photography, I picked it up back in high school when my parents owned a 1-hr photo store. I had an unlimited supply of film and free development and printing. This was before the days of digital photography, so the free film and development were great helps in letting me explore photography.

To continue reading this interview and view more pics go here: (Read More)

Jubileee Church Architect: Richard Meier Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

ZS: You have traveled quite extensively around the world, what has inspired you to travel and why the places you have chosen?

LY: Traveling is a passion, I almost feel like it need not be explained. I mean, who doesn’t like to travel? I love all aspects of traveling. The new food, people, places and things. I even enjoy the bad days of traveling, when I get lost, stranded, or even nearly mugged (that was in Milan, another story for another day). I just look at them as interesting entries in my life story.

Travel just so happens to also work well for my love of architecture as I get to see and photograph buildings all over the world. I’m known to travel far, far out of the way just to see a building. In fact, I plan all my trips around architecture.

Church of the Light - 1989 Architect: Tadao Ando Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

ZS: Your website Figure-Ground is an admirable feat of cataloging one’s travels. What inspired you to create this site and then manage to keep it up to date for over ten years?

LY: Figure-Ground was first set up back in 2000 as a way for me to share my photos and travelogue with my friends and family. That was back when there weren’t easy ways to share photos like there are now, with Flickr, Facebook, Picassa, etc. So I had to put on my engineering hat and code up the site to share photos. It evolved into a showcase for my work over the years.

I’m actually very bad at keeping it up to date, I’m ashamed to say. I have lots of buildings and travel destinations that I have not had time to edit and upload.

ZS: What is your favorite place/ building you’ve visited and/or photographed?

LY: My favorite building that I have photographed is a tough question to answer, I literally love so many of them. And the buildings I’ve captured are not just memories of the architecture, but the trip involved with getting to the location, the person I may have traveled with, and the food I’ve eaten along the way.

Off the top of my head, Carlo Scarpa’s Tomba Brion is standing out for some reason. It was part of a beautiful trip through Italy with someone I care deeply about.

My favorite building that I’ve seen is probably Corbu’s chapel at Ronchamp, not a very insider-y choice, I know. And I love nearly everything Tadao Ando does.

Tomba Brion - 1969-1978 Architect: Carlos Scarpa Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

ZS: You have obviously placed these pictures to capture a global audience. Do you have a goal in mind for your work? Where you want to take it in the future?

LY: As I mentioned earlier, I’m very bad at keeping the site up-to-date. I’ve struggled with the idea of maybe turning figure-ground.com into more of an architecture photoblog, or at least add that aspect onto the current site. Instead of updating it once or twice a year with a large update of hundreds of photos, which I doubt many people have the time to go through in one sitting, I could update it piecemeal throughout the year, one or two pictures at a time, but on a daily basis.

It’s also getting a little unwieldy to serve as my portfolio, so I probably need to set up a “best-of” selection on a separate portfolio website.

ZS: What is one valuable lesson learned in your years of experience that you would like to share with those just starting out in architectural/ travel photography?

LY: Isolate and identify an interesting detail for each of your shots. It could be anything, including abstract things like how the lines of a building might be converging when viewed from a certain angle or how the shadows are falling against a building, but photos work best when they have a center of interest (not literally in the center of the frame, of course) to draw the viewer in.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption 1971 Architect: Belluschi and Nervi Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

Salk Institute for Biological Studies - 1965 Architect: Louis Kahn Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels - 2002 Architect: Jose Rafael Moneo Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

La Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut Architect: Le Corbusier Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth - 2002 Architect: Tadao Ando Photographer: Liao Yusheng, All Rights Reserved

Liao Yusheng is an independent architecture photographer currently working out of Taipei after spending the majority of his life in NYC. Though he didn’t formally study photography or architecture, his years at The Cooper Union gave him many opportunities to immerse in the world of architecture. His photographs have been published in architecture books by teNeues and Taschen as well as in periodicals like Time Magazine, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among others. In his spare time, he travels the world looking for good eats, documented at liaoyusheng.com and in his Flickr account.