ARGENTINA. Buenos Aires. 2001. Rainbow and duck. © Alessandra Sanguinetti/Magnum Photos.

"Alessandra Sanguinetti’s vivid photographs depicting the coexistence of people and animals might at first sight seem brutal, images to be viewed quickly and erased from the memory. But that would be not only impossible but also a great loss, for here is an arrestingly honest portrayal of the relationship between man and beast as the one raises the other for the ultimate sacrifice. These are not animals endowed with human qualities; they are someone’s livelihood, their means of survival. Sanguinetti took these pictures in a province of Buenos Aires. Here, by roadsides, in fields and in woods, she observed the rituals and traditions of the local farmers whose lives interweave with a host of animals – rabbits, horses, pigs, geese, lambs, cows, chickens – caught in the cycle that is life and death."

I must say, Vanity Fair has really been stepping their game up with the versatility in their photoshoots. First, last month's issue featured up and coming comedy greats as icons--Seth Rogen as Freida Kahlo, and now Jennifer Lopez as Anita in West Side Story. I loved West Side Story when I was younger, and always will. What can I say? Once a hopeless romantic, always a hopeless romantic. It was the dancing. It was the clashing of cultures, and of course, there was the style---LOVED! With the return of West Side Story to Broadway, photographer Mark Seliger captures the spirit of this classic love story in a photoshoot for Vanity Fair.


Jennifer Lopez channels the role of feisty, and I might I add, stylish "Anita."





Actors Brandon T. Jackson in brown slacks (Roll Bounce, Tropic Thunder), Jay Hernandez in tan pants in middle (Crazy Beautiful, Ladder 49) and Chris Evans in yellow shirt (Fantastic Four). The actors, along with others recreate the infamous West Side Story gang, "The Jets."




Actress Camilla Belle (Push) plays love-lost "Maria."




More at Vanity Fair

Kanye West and girlfriend, Amber Rose get elegant for the Metropolitan Opera’s 125th anniversary gala held in New York this past Sunday. Check how Amber covers up just a bit, for the event.

I don't own any of her Cds and I may not, ever. But I will say, is that Britney Spears has been through a lot these last few years and I am rooting for her journey back to the top. Besides, the girl can move and I can appreciate that. Looks like she's been putting in work, too. Check her out on the first night of her "Circus" tour (Mar. 3)

GB. ENGLAND. Newcastle. 'Newcastle is famous for its hen nights.' Guardian Cities Project. 2008. © Martin Parr/Magnum Photos

GB. USA. New York City. 1970. Four planes "flying heart" over the town. © Rene Burri/Magnum Photos

Celebrated every 14th of February, St Valentine's Day was originally known by the Romans as the festival of Lupercalia, a celebration of Juno, the Goddess of love. Cards would be drawn randomly to partner men and women together for the feast and the sexual games which were an integral part of it.
With the ascendance of Christianity, pagan festival days were replaced with rather more austere Christian versions, and in recent years the festival has become more commercialised. It has been estimated that over a billion Valentine cards are sent every year, the biggest card sending occasion apart from Christmas.

USA. Boston, Massachusetts. 1974. Firefighter resting after blaze, Symphony Road. © Constantine Manos/ Magnum Photos

"For the photographer," Constantine Manos reflects, "neighborhoods and institutions and public events are only abstractions until the camera captures the individual people who breathe life into them. Going out into the city with a small camera and making hundreds of pictures of people doing hundreds of things is a dizzying odyssey. It's like gathering the bits of an intimate mosaic: even in thousands of photographs, it is impossible to fit all the bits together. They are fragments, suggestions of the myriad human moments in the daily life of a great city."

Upcoming Event: The Costa Manos Masterclass
17 May - 27 May 2009, Chania, Greece

Just thought this was random, but very cute. It just shows you how small the "Big Apple" really is, if America Ferrara and Jay-Z are taking in a Knicks Game (Feb. 3) together.




Spotted at OK!

VENEZUELA. Caracas. 2007. New squatter settlements on a hillside in north Caracas. © Jonas Bendiksen /Magnum Photos


The year 2008 has witnessed a major shift in the way people across the world live: for the first time in human history more people live in cities than in rural areas. This triumph of the urban, however, does not entirely represent progress, as the number of people living in urban slums—often in abject conditions—will soon exceed one billion. From 2005 to 2007 Jonas Bendiksen documented life in the slums of four different cities: Nairobi, Kenya; Mumbai, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Caracas, Venezuela. His lyrical images capture the diversity of personal histories and outlooks found in these dense neighborhoods that, despite commonly held assumptions, are not simply places of poverty and misery. Yet, slum residents continuously face enormous challenges, such as the lack of health care, sanitation, and electricity.

Current Exhibition: The Places We Live
6 June 2008 - 15 Feb 2009, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway

USA. Brooklyn, New York. 1993. Sunset Park, the third Chinatown in New York City. A martial arts group performing the Lion Dance during Chinese New Year. © Chien-Chi Chang/Magnum Photos


On Jan. 26, millions of Asians will celebrate the year 4707, the Year of the Ox. This event continues their nearly 5,000 year tradition of naming lunar new years after animals. The ox is second in the rotating 12−year cycle. The Ox is known for its patient, modest and hardworking virtue.
Culturally, the lunar new year is important. The religious aspect of the holiday emphasizes the clearing away of bad luck in the old year and obtaining a fresh start in the next. It is also believed godlike spirits report what occurred in people’s lives during the past year and pass this information on to the ruler of heaven, the Jade Emperor.