Flesh Love. 80 Vacuum-Sealed Couples Photographed by Haruhiko Kawaguchi.

Haruhiko Kawaguchi, who goes by the name Photographer Hal, is a Tokyo photographer and artist whose project FLESH LOVE literally vacuum packs couples of all types in 100x150x74 cm plastic bags. The idea is to keep love fresh forever. Once the air is sucked out of the bag by a vacuum cleaner, Kawaguchi only has about 10-20 seconds to take his pictures. Any longer and he would risk causing harm to his subjects.



Thus far 80 couples, many of whom Kawaguchi met at nightclubs in Tokyo, have participated in the project.

"When you embrace your lover, sometimes you wish to melt right into them.
To realize this wish, I've been photographing couples in small, or even cramped spaces like motels and bathtubs.
As my work has become more and more intense, I've noticed that communication is indispensable.
This time, I reached the point of photographing couples in vacuum-sealed packs, on a set that I've constructed in my own kitchen. The lights are in the ceiling, so I just flip one switch and have everything ready.
I have a few different colored paper backgrounds, which I can leave rolled up in the corner until there's none left. This gives me 10 seconds to take the shot.
In this extremely limited time I can't release the shutter more than twice." -- (Excerpts from the author's postscript)

Kawaguchi says that his female subjects have reacted much better to the bizarre vacuum-packing process than his male subjects. Women have remained calm while the men have been prone to struggle for air and feel claustrophobic. In one case, a male even wet himself. The women's most common concern is they they look good. Vanity and incontinence aside, here's a look at 42 of the photos from FLESH LOVE:























"FLESH LOVE" is one of the most unique photograph projects in the world and received the 1st place award in The Art of Photography Show 2011 held in San Diego, USA. France's Photo and art magazine "AZART" featured it inside and on the cover of their March 2011 issue.

FLESH LOVE PRINTS :
You can purchase individual prints from this series here

FLRSH LOVE GALLERY BOOK:
Or a softcover photobook of the show with 72 images here

FLESH LOVE ITUNES APP
An application for iPad of "FLESH LOVE" is available on itunes as well.

Haruhiko Kawaguchi aka Photographer Hal

A special thanks to Jaci Lerner for bringing this to my attention!

Lindsay Lohan Channels Marilyn Monroe for Playboy Magazine. All the images. (NSFW)

above: Lindsay Lohan (detail), photographed by Yu Tsai for Playboy Magazine, 2011


above left: Lindsay Lohan, 2011; above right: Marilyn Monroe, 1953

Lindsay Lohan channels Marilyn Monroe once again on the cover and inside editorial for the January/February 2012 issue of Playboy magazine. I say "once again' because I previously compared the Bert Stern shots of Ms. Lohan for new York Magazine with the original Bert Stern shoot of Marilyn years ago (see those pictures here) and now, she once again emulates the legendary actress in the pin-up like poses originally struck by Marilyn for the 1953 issue of Playboy.


above left: Lindsay Lohan in 2008, and above right: Marilyn Monroe in 1962, both shot by photographer Bert Stern

Shot by photographer Yu Tsai, Lilo replicates some of Marilyn's 1953 poses for the magazine and adds a few more. An interesting note: Lindsay is 25 in these photos and Marilyn was 27 in hers.


above left: Lindsay Lohan in Playboy, 2012 and above right, Marilyn Monroe in Playboy, 1953

Say what you will about Lindsay but she looks uncannily like Marilyn and oozes the same sort of sexuality as society's beloved Norma Jean Baker once did. You can see that both Marilyn's original shots and the new ones of Lindsay are heavily retouched for Playboy, but I love that we can see Lindsay's freckles.

Here are all the photos from the not yet released issue (NSFW):












Images of Marilyn Monroe from the 1953 Playboy editorial:


And the centerfold of Monroe:


The 2012 January /February issue of Playboy (cover shown below) will be on the stands soon.


images courtesy of Playboy and WorldMags.

Tattoos and Tentacles. Julian Murray Captures Inked People with Things That Squirt Ink.

Tattoos and Tentacles is a new coffee table book featuring a collection of photographs of inked people, wearing very little except their body art, and draped in cephalopods that squirt ink (that's a fancy way of saying octopus and squid).

The slimy but sexy photos were taken by Minneapolis based Julian Murray with the art direction, digital retouching and layout by Lacey Haire.



Below is a selection of 20 images from the book, some of which have been cropped for this post.



















Shopping for props:

Shooting the book:


The 9"x12" 144 page book in hardcover format has full color photographs throughout.




In addition to the book, 11 of the photos are available as posters:


Buy the book and/or posters here.


About Julian Murray Photography and Design:
Minneapolis based Photography and Graphic Design team specializing in the music, fashion and advertising industries. From creative concept photography, marketing campaigns and family portraits to website design, company branding, and print collateral + everything in between.