Saturday 13 November 2010

Someone Give That Girl A Camera Already

Sydney-based photographer Cybele Malinowski creates stories, not just photographs. With her specialty being music photography, Cybele has an overwhelming show of photography meets pop-culture at its best. It's playful, it's creative and it's innovative. This is what makes her photography stand out from the abundance of aesthetically attractive art that so often looks pretty but ultimately lacks tale.


After making the top 3 in the SOYA awards (Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards) Cybele Malinowski was always a stand-out in the photography category and is the real winner in my eyes. Her creative vision is undeniable, thanks to her innate ability to think outside the sqaure yet keep a firm focus on the subject at hand. Cybele has the talent of someone who's been naturally blessed with artistic genes, as well as someone who is passionate and hard-working. The result: a photography powerhouse.


Her recent 'Pop Your Cherry' photographs demonstrate this to a tee. The modern mirage of vintage inspired photographs are playful and prolific, however the ultimate focus is still on the vintage-come-contemporary clothing and Studio 54-esque sunglasses. The photographs have been brought to life with an array of colours and layering techniques, and the story is somewhere along the lines of Andy Warhol reborn as a woman in the 21st century. 






Her recent photoshoot with musical legend 'Slash' is another example of Miss Malinowski's desire to tell a tale. "I wanted to shoot Slash with a couple of hot models, them yearning for his attention, he, completely disinterested, been there, done that." (Quote taken from Cybele's blog http://www.bangbangdot.com/.)

This simple story is so powerfully portrayed in these photographs it's literally hard to turn away. The basic white blank canvas juxtaposes powerfully to the very rugged rockstar and his wannabe groupie (the very sexy Alexandra Ford) all dressed in black. They are seducing to say the least.







Below are some more of Cybele's photographs taken from her blog, including earthy Aria winners Angus and Julia Stone, The Vines frontman Craig Nicholls, Brisbane band Yves Klein Blue (a personal favourite), sweet and quirky Sarah Blasko, Mischevious Jackass Bad Boy Bam with wife Missy (this shot was snuck in outside the Sydney MTV offices inbetween a promotion shoot-apparently the chair was heavy), psychodelic musical talents Tame Impala, and Australian legends Powerfinger. Head to her blog to check out more of her amazing stuff (http://www.bangbangdot.com/) including a recent short film which was also featured on Pedestrian. (http://www.pedestrian.tv/arts-and-culture/news/a-short-film-by-cybele-malinowski/27021.htm)