Think Positive Designer Prints

Mselle Keita, 12th July 1969

Malick Sidibé is an African photographer, famous for his documentation of Bamako, Mali, his hometown, from the 1950s to the 1970s. Known as the Eye of Bamako, the story of how he came to be a photographer is one of chance; a series of events that in many ways seem to be the fulfilment of some predetermined destiny.

Sidibé (b.1936) grew up in a peasant village, 300 km outside of town, where his family were animal herders. At a young age Sidibé was chosen by the village chief to attend a white boys school. From there he caught the attention of the Major who sent him to the crafts school of Sudan. In 1957 a local French photographer requested from the school a student to decorate his studio. As the best painter in his class, Malick was chosen. Fascinated with the immediacy of photography, Malick was enthralled with the potential on this new medium. While many photographers would not let their assistants use the camera, Malick’s boss allowed him to take photographs at local African parties, while he would cover the European parties.

The 60s was an exciting time in Mali. Western music – rock, hula-hoop, swing – revolutionised the local social scene. Young African people would hold dances, which Malick was invited to photograph, where they would dance closely till the early hours of the morning. Sometimes there would be up to 4 parties a night, all of which Malick would attend, taking photos to be pinned up at his studio for party goers to purchase the following week.

In the 60s Malick began taking studio portraits, which were a popular social tradition. Many would come with their families and friends to have their portrait taken, often bringing along their most prized possessions–their girlfriends, their motorbike, sometimes even livestock. As one of the very few who had access to photographic technology, Malick recorded the local faces and characters of Mali, who would otherwise have been lost in history.

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Flying overland, an aerial view provides a thrilling, detached perspective of the world – patterns emerge; colours pop; lines shape; and the world feels smaller and looks more ordered than you may have already thought. Alex S. MacLean is trained as an architect and a pilot. He has covered large areas of terrain all over the world, documenting the relationship between natural and constructed environments. His porfolio covers patterns of land usage, titled ‘Going’, ‘Dwelling’, ‘Playing’, ‘Deserting’, ‘Growing’, and ‘Beaches’ (our favourite). Glittering oceans and colourful beach umbrellas against muted expanses of dry sand. Here is a selection from his ‘Beaches’ series… (more…)

LIFE magazine photo archives can always be trusted to turn up something sweet and special. 63 years ago photographer Gjon Mili visited his pal Picasso with a series of images of ice skaters with little lights attached to their skates. The artist was so taken with the images that he decided to appropriate the idea, posing over five sessions, vigorously drawing in the air with a small electric light in a dark room. The series was shown at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1950. (more…)

Working with colour it can be easy to forget how simple and effective black and white can be. Here is a series of East Asian line drawings, posted on BibioOdyssey, that we think could inspire some pretty nice prints. (more…)

Cut out 4 2011, vinyl on paper, 48 x 48 cm

Australian artist Kirra Jamison transforms the craft of cut and paste into a deceptively detailed art form. Alternating between states of harmony and discord, Kirra creates vignettes, patterns, pictures and noodle scrambles, working with gouache, acrylic and vinyl strips in pretty pop colours. If art is a reflection of the subconscious of its creator, the psyche of Kirra Jamison is a happy place.

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Terry Richardson

Recognise these faces? It is strange to think that peoples faces can be recognised in the formations of only a few lines. Craig & Karl are an Australian design duo, with one half living in New York and the other half living in Sydney. Last year they exhibited, in both New York and Milan, a series of portraits patched from bright contrasting patterns. Their latest project: reimagining a Sydney carpark.

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UK artist Pery Burge creates images of swirling paint, oil and glitter, allowing her ingredients to form and flow naturally as she documents them in motion. Straddling science and nature, each image is a macro shot of bigger picture capturing naturally-formed beauty unseen by the naked eye.

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'So Many Sub-Genres', 2009 Acrylic on Aluminium 125 x 120 cm

Super sweet still life paintings by Melbourne-based artist Dane Lovett, have a young, fun quality not unusually attributed to this style of painting. 2011 was a big year for Lovett, after being featured in RUSSH magazine’s art issue, the artist was invited to exhibit his first solo show, ‘Peach on Peach’, at Colette in Paris. He was also awarded the Australia Council Tokyo Studio residency. (more…)

Trippy collage art by Japanese New York-based artist Hisham Akira Bharoocha. (more…)

White-blonde hair, argent teeth and orange-sprayed flesh, plucked and stuffed, is the ideal of feminine beauty offered by the Playboy magazine of today. It seems hard to imagine that Playboy was once the chosen reading material of the debonair man of the 50s and 60s, and a publication that attracted the contribution of respected writers and artists – and the naked bodies of women of natural, individual beauty. (more…)