mankind//magMAY 2009

the ‘p

retty’

issue

featuring work from humanoid, roberta ridolfi and pesqueira

PLUS! confessions of a pretty picture...designformankind.com

things are pretty, rich, elegant, handsome, but until they speak to the imagination, not yet beautiful.

-ralph waldo emerson

image credit: bemjjg

MANKIND MANIFESTO

We like all people, but we love creative people most.If youʼre creative AND nice? Even better.

We think design is super cool. But not that normal design-ness. Nope.

Pure, cool, mankind design.

You wonʼt find celebrities here.They donʼt belong.

And you wonʼt find trendy restaurants.They donʼt belong either.

In fact, theyʼre where the celebrities are.

Weʼd rather be eating Ramen and reading books. Yeah, weʼre smart, too.

And art? Yes, art you will find here.After all, Design is inevitable.

Celebrated.Design for Mankind.

image credit: ta

table of contents//meet our cover girl [10-11], in the news [14-15], achingly beautiful [18-25], hope floats [26-35]an english rose [38-43], a fanciful vision [46-53], patterns [54-55], pretty good [58-67], almost human [68-75]confessions of a pretty picture [76-77], pretty is as pretty does [78-81]iʼm a show-off [84-85]

image credit: bitterlemons

image credit: via snella

hereʼs a great Priscilla Ahn song that is one of the more beautiful tunes Iʼve heard in a long time. [Priscilla Ahn “A Good Day (Morning Song)... download it asap.]

This song has been the soundtrack of my life the past few weeks. Iʼm actually very embarrassed to say Iʼve listened to it on repeat for a full eight hours while editing these articles. I know. Itʼs that good.

Anyway, Iʼm getting somewhere with this. There is so much beauty in this world. There really is. It is my hope that we can see the pretty things around us amidst the ugly. I feel so blessed to live in a land of opportunity. Of spirit. Of courage, hope and integrity.

I can only wish that you feel the same.

And although this may be a tiny independent art/design magazine, I speak from my heart when I write that it is my wish to open our eyes. I want to focus on the beauty that our world has to offer.

“I can tell itʼs gonna be a good day.”-Priscilla Ahn

Love always,

Your editor,Erin E. Loechner

note

from

your e

ditorT

image credit: adam krause

Full name: Francesca StephensonOccupation: Model and Milliner, at the moment.Fave food: Nothing beats a good bacon egg and cheese.

STATS:

Q: How did the shoot go?A: The shoot went well! Adam brought his equipment over to my house and we spent a few hours shooting and talking about Raymond Carver, Morrisey and our mutual love of old two-tone and ska. I even got a glimpse of a hidden Smiths tattoo! Even though I model, it was still a ittle weird to be shot in my house and in my own clothes, but Adam helped me get comfortable. We had some laughs, he's a really nice guy.

Q: What did you wear?A: I was wearing a black t-shirt, black cut off levi's shorts, blacktights, black boots, and this little cross necklace that i wear allthe time. Im a big fan of wearing all black. It's just easy...throw iton and you're ready to go. I also wore a blue and white striped buttonup, for another shot, because Adam said I didn't look springy enough.

Q: Any tunes playing in the background?A: While we shot we listened to some Felt and Stereolab.

Q: What do you love about MANKIND MAG?A: I love that Mankind isn't pretentious. The layout is fun, it's easy toread,and broadening-I really like that it throws a spotlight onemerging artists from around the world. It makes me excited about work that's being done.

meet

our co

ver g

irl...

in the news// compiled by: kathryn blazeIf you were to meander through Kibera, Kenya, one of the largest slums in Africa, you might feel like youʼre being watched. 2,000 square meters of rooftops have been covered with the eyes and faces of Kiberaʼs women in an effort to share their painful stories and testify to their desire to survive. Undercover photographer JR works to create public space galleries, and also manages to squeeze in some environmental work on the side – the material used for the posters is water resistant, so that the photo itself will protect the fragile houses in the heavy rain season. [jr-art.net]

Itʼs easy to say “itʼs the little things that count,” but Brooklyn-based Tara Donovan proves that the beauty is in the details. Donovan relies on mundane household objects like buttons, pencils and paper plates to create impres-sive large-scale organic forms. Who knew that gluing together a couple thousand plastic drinking straws could result in such a significant visual masterpiece. [acegallery.net]

We all deserve a gift now and then, and TAFʼs Soft Parcel furniture collection makes it feel like every day is Christmas. By simply wrapping blocks of foam in brown and white fabric, TAF has created a means of instant uphol-stery. The parcels can be arranged to build a variety of comfortable seating arrangements to suit your every whim. Just donʼt get too tempted to rip off the gift wrap – in this case, itʼs part of the present(ation) itself. [tafarkitektkontor.se]

image credit: TAF

image credit: tara donovan

image credit: tea shafie

put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. sit

with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. thatʼs relativity.

-albert einstein

image credit: polgaroidwritten by: hannah stephenson

“PATTERNS”Buffalo plaid: thick bricks of red and black stacked, ordered,

bordered farmerʼs fields seen from a departing plane.

Herringbone: tiny chevrons lined up vertically, alternatingin direction, long lines of birds in far-off flight passing,

one lane heading East and the other West.

Houndstooth: jagged edges of black and white clash,the outline of an iceberg against dark sky,

a ninja star hurled into a snow storm.

Tattersall: a thin grid of pale blue and black,exact and still, a backdrop for sketches of buildings or Cartesian planes.

image credit: ana laura perez

PAUSE. pretty is as pretty does.go outside and watch something pretty.

come on. do it.

hotographer Roberta Ridolfiʼs innovates and electrifies with a vision thatʼs nonconformist—but still pretty as a picture. [continued on page 60]

P

58 59

pretty

good

... image credit: roberta ridolfiwritten by: kelly roberson

60 61

image credit: roberta ridolfi

Disarming and raw, without a hint of pretension, Roberta Ridolfiʼs photographs embody an unapologetic vision of beauty. In between shoots on both sides of the Atlantic, Ridolfi disabused both the common notions of pretty and the sup-posedly glamorous lifestyle of a photographer.

Q: Photographers are a peripatetic lot, but you lived in some of the worldʼs great cities before you even started shooting, right?A: I was born and grew up in Rome and moved to London in 1999 to study phi-losophy at the university. But while I was there I realized it wasn't what I wanted to do so I went to study photography at the London College of Printing.

Q: Were you one of those kids who always knew youʼd be a photographer?A: Not at all. I hadnʼt had any childhood dreams of becoming a photographer. It just sort of happened. In fact, I got an old camera as a present from my uncle and I started messing around with it. That's how I realized I really loved taking photos.

Q: It seems so accidental, but now you have these beautiful images in every thing from Rolling Stone to Nylon and The Guardian. How did your career de-velop?A: After college, I started doing some tests and building a portfolio, then I emailed lots of magazines and was lucky enough that some replied and gave me my first commissions.

Q: Most of us think that photographers spend their days jetting from one spot to the next, surrounded by all thatʼs lovely. Whatʼs it really like?A: A typical day for me involves sending a lot emails, looking for ideas for new shoots, trying to find cool locations, and spending a lot of time on my laptop, unfortunately.

Q: In your line of work, thereʼs no shortage of beautiful people, places, and things. Whatʼs your view of whatʼs pretty?A: I actually donʼt like the word pretty! I think my idea of pretty hasn't changed so much with the years. I always had a strong sense of style and knew what I liked. I donʼt know why but I always seem to like the unconventionally pretty.

Q: Your images are exquisite, but thereʼs an edginess to them, a hint at the grind behind the story youʼre telling. The best clients probably relish that. Whatʼs it like working for them?A: My favorite clients are the ones that let you be creative and leave you the freedom to do what you want to do without making you change your style for the job.

62 63

image credit: roberta ridolfi

She may be the lens behind the photos we love in so many magazines, but Roberta Ri-dolfi would never profess to be a style maven. “I don't think its up to me to tell people what to like; taste is a very per-sonal thing,” she says. That being said, Ridolfi’s inspira-tions reflect an eclectic group— “nature, traveling, music, movies, family snap-shots, childhood pictures, road trips, beautiful places, interiors....I can go on forever!” Naturally, her free spirit lends it-self to favorites in the literary world, where she shared some of her treasured print reads:• She’s a bit of a magazine junkie, count-ing Kidswear and babybabybaby among her favorites. But, “my absolute favorite magazine is Purple —not the new Purple Fashion, but how it used to be years ago.”• The new Mark Borthwick book “Not in Fashion:” “I can't stop looking at it.”• Takashi Homma's and Valerie Phillips's books• “Teenage” by Joseph Szabo• The Virgin Suicides photo book, which is a limited edition book of photographs from the movie• Any book by Nan Goldin.

ROBERTA LOVES...

64 65

image credit: roberta ridolfi

66 67

image credit: roberta ridolfi

“I don't think its up to me to tell people what to like; taste is a very personal

thing.”