The Beauty of Breaking Down. Stranded Motorists Photographed By Amy Stein.

above: Amy Stein captures a broken down vehicle and passenger on Route 84, Texas.

Thanks to the New York Times' Wheels section, I have learned about photographer Amy Stein's collection of broken down vehicles and their passengers.

Stranded is a visual documentation of drivers in distress- accompanied by a Google map which documents the images and their whereabouts. Cars with their hoods up, passengers waiting for tow trucks, vehicles abandoned at the side of the road.

Peri, Route 64, Kentucky:

Steven, Route 10, Louisiana:

Walter, Route 90, Louisiana:

Route 14, New Mexico:

Clarence, Route 71, Ohio:

Man Under Overpass, New Jersey Turnpike, New Jersey:

Beth, Outside Tallahassee, Florida:

Car, Route 79, Pennsylvania:

Interstate 15, Cajon Pass, California and Truck Driver, Interstate 10, Florida:

Third Street, Memphis, Tennessee:

Family, New Jersey Turnpike, New Jersey:


“I’m interested in the idea of a breakdown as a sort of existential failing,” she said in a recent e-mail to the New York Times.

Inspired by the government's failed response to the flooding of New Orleans in 2005, she has spent the past 5 plus years driving across American photographing stranded motorists.

Cheerleaders, New Orleans, Louisiana:

Phil, Route 93, Idaho:

Car on Fire, Route 17, New York:

Route 10, Texas:

Courvassi, Interstate 95, Georgia:

Six Flags Park, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana:

Freddy, Outskirts of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania:


Her Interactive Google Map


These and more photographs from this series can be found on this Google Map that Amy created which documents her travels across the US.



Amy has several other fabulous series of photographs that are most certainly worth checking out at her website.

Inked Magazine Profiles Kat Von D with Stunning Photos by James Dimmock.

Tatted siren Katherine Von Drachenberg, aka Kat Von D, graced the cover of Inked Magazine accompanied by an interview and these stunning photos by celebrity photographer James Dimmock.





Read the article, I Am Not Kat Von D, written by Rebecca Swanner for Inked Magazine.

The Swatch Fashion Challenge. "True Colors" As Seen By Editors and Bloggers

above image is a crop of part of VISION Magazine's entry

above image is a crop of part of All Magazine's entry

The Swatch New Gents Collection True Colors Competition



Swatch challenged fashion editors, bloggers and trend setters to style the Swatch New Gent Collection, shown above, and discover their “True Colours." Editorial magazine layouts and video presentations were submitted by well known magazines like Wallpaper, Interview, and i-D, fashion and style related sites like Style.com and bloggers like BryanBoy and Diane Pernet.



Swatch is now asking readers to vote on the submissions. By voting, you are entered into a drawing in which you could win one of the colorful New Gent watches.



Below are the competing magazines and a sample spread from each of them, in no particular order:

Kinki:

Hooligan:

Cleo:

Neo2:

Open:

All Magazine:

Interview:

Wallpaper:

Elle Greece:

Faces:

Gustav:

Milk:

Vice:

1626:

Pulp:


Yoho!:

Tom:

VISION:

L'Officiel:

WAD:

i-D Magazine:

style.com:

Sleek:


The accompanying videos seem to be a combination of "making of videos" of the editorial spreads and on camera explanations and pitches from those who received the Open Brief from Swatch. Some seem to be music videos or motion graphics.

It seemed unclear as to whether or not the submissions upon which you are asked to vote will actually appear as editorial spreads in the magazine or not, but a reader tells me they are.

To see the accompanying videos (and to vote), go to the Swatch YouTube channel, The Swatch Facebook group site or The Official Swatch site.



At the time of this post, the submissions from ALL Magazine, Kinki and Neo2 have garnered the majority of the votes.