Dominique James, The Photographer

This is a sweeping view of lower Manhattan's skyline.

This photo that I took shows the grand and sweeping view of a major portion of the Lower Manhattan in New York City. It also shows a little bit of Jersey City in New Jersey, the Hudson River, and at a distance, a tiny view of the iconic Statue of Liberty and the historic Ellis Island.

Download now for free (from this link) the high-resolution JPEG image file (11.41 MB) of the Lower Manhattan Skyline of New York City. You have full, non-exclusive, and perpetual license to the use of this image. The usage license is unrestricted and unlimited in any way for educational, commercial, personal and all other purposes. Please feel free to use, modify, crop, edit, alter, resize, and/or combine this image with graphic designs, objects, materials, other photos, and all other elements. There is no restrictions, limitations or conditions on the download and use of this image. Get this image now and tell others about it.

[Photographed by Dominique James. To get and collect fine art photo prints, visit  the Dominique James Zatista Store. For more information, send email to dominiquejames@mac.com.]

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

On Facebook, my friend Danny recently asked me a couple of interesting questions that I believe needs to be answered.

Here are Danny’s two questions: “Dominique, what in heaven’s name are Hipstmatic Prints? Where in the moon do you get them?”

For sure, these are interesting questions that I cannot ignore. These must be answered properly. And so, I aimed to answer in full and with clarity here.

This is my response to those two questions:

Danny, “Hipstamatic Prints” is the title of my digital photo albums here and here where I post daily all sorts of mostly artistically-inspired B&W photos on my Facebook. (By the way, I also have a similar online photo album on Facebook called “Pixelpipe Photos” here.)

Anyway, of course the matter of “artistic merit” is largely subjective, depending on each of the picture and also on who’s looking, among other things, but hopefully you’ll find a few that will prick your fancy.

Anyway, these photos have all been shot using the camera of my iPhone 4 (I’ve gone through all of the iPhone models since it became available) with an app (or application) called Hipstamatic.

The album’s name is not my own choosing. It is the album name automatically created by Hipstamatic when I linked (and authorized) this app to post to my Facebook all photos that I deem worthy or interesting of sharing. By linking, these pictures that I share are automatically and directly posted from the Hipstamatic app in the iPhone 4 to Facebook (either through WiFi if available or through the regular AT&T cellular network).

Hipstamatic, as you can imagine, is one of the most popular iPhone photography apps where images that has been shot are processed using different types of “films,” “lenses,” and even “flashes.” The combination of these films, lenses, and flashes creates enchanting, almost sometimes, otherworldly or unreal images that looks quite different but still familiar and the same from actual real objects or scenes we see that has been photographed. My objective is to show these objects or scenes or even people in a different but still familiar way. I thought it’s an interesting thing to do and a lot of my Facebook friends seem to “Like” it very much

I’ve been shooting all sorts of iPhone photos for more than 2 years now, and I’m happy to share them day after day here on Facebook with appreciative friends like you. If you like the photos, please press “Like.” And also feel free to comment. I read, and sometimes reply, to comments posted. In fact, I’ve had a great many thought-provoking, funny, interesting, serious, joking conversations with friends from all over the world on Facebook through these photos.

If you are interested, there are many fantastic resources available online about Hipstamatic, and also on iPhone photography in general.

For starters, more information about the Hipstamatic app, can be found here -http://hipstamatic.com/the_app.html.

Or, you can also check this out – http://hipstamatic.com/.

And then there’s this that you might find interesting – http://community.hipstamatic.com/.

Wikipedia, of course, has something on it too – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipstamatic.

Then there’s a whole, thriving group about it on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/hipstamatic.

And not to be outdone, on Flickr as well – http://www.flickr.com/groups/hipstamatic/.

Then, there’s this controversial thing about a seasoned war photographer who recently won a major international award with nothing more than a Hipstamatic to create the pictures – http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/finding-the-right-tool-to-tell-a-war-story/.

And this is how and why he did it – http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/through-my-eye-not-hipstamatics/.

So that, Danny, in heaven’s name, is what my album “Hipstamatic Prints” and the Hipstamatic app is all about.

And where in the moon did you ask to actually get them? That’s a very good questions because, well, you can actually buy online a real limited edition, signed and numbered fine art photographer’s photographic print (that comes with a certificate of authenticity) from here – http://www.zatista.com/store/index/Dominique-James.

These frameable fine art photographic prints are available from as low as $49 each to as high as $10,000 each (shipping and handling not included). As you can see, whatever your budget, there’s one that’s suitable for you. And, you can choose from almost a hundred available fine art photographs. And the collection is growing.

You can frame and decorate your homes and offices with these awesome (if I may say so myself) fine art photographic prints.

These fine art prints, like any other fine art such as paintings and sculptures in museums and art galleries, are not only a beauty to behold, cherish and covet, but they do appreciate in value over time which makes them a very good and stable financial investment.

Anyway, Danny, thanks for asking. And feel free to ask more questions any time. It’s good to keep “conversations” like this going.

"Red Marks The Spot," a fine art photograph by Dominique James featured on Zatista

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

I am guessing that for most people, Monday is not a favorite day. It is possible that one’s favorite day could be any other day of the week—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, but rarely if at all, is it a Monday. If only to avoid the stress, tension and anxiety that accompanies jumping right into the first a pressure-filled week, a whole lot of people would probably want to skip Monday and move right ahead into Tuesday.

Of course week after week, Monday has to happen. There’s absolutely no escaping it, and different people do all sorts of things to make the most and the best out of it with the hope that the week starts out at least smoothly, if not right.

Sometimes though, Mondays can turn out to be more than just smoothly or right. It can actually turn out great. My Monday this week, for instance, turned out to be surprisingly awesome. Early in the morning, I got a very uplifting email from Christine Clark of Zatista. In her brief message, she wrote:

Periodically Zatista has a guest curator who picks their favorites from the site, and we pull them together in a nice feature. Our next guest curator is Robert Verdi, and he has chosen one of your pieces for his collection. Congratulations on being chosen.

It’s a very simple and straightforward message. But it’s one of those messages that Zatista artists don’t receive every day. Since I just woke up when I read it, I had to read it several times to make sure that I really understand what it meant. When I finally and fully absorbed the good news, I know that my week will be all right.

I joined Zatista, an online store, in December of 2009. To date, I have about a hundred fine art photographs available for sale. I have managed, so far, to attract a number of buyers and has made good sales.

Every once in a while, some of my works will be prominently featured in Zatista’s website. I always think it’s a big deal whenever any of my pictures are featured. This means that more potential buyers will be able to notice what I have to offer. But this is the first time that a guest curator has proclaimed one of my fine art photographs as a “favorite.”

Eleven industry insiders have so far been invited as Zatista’s guest curators. This includes prominent names such as: Michelle Adams, Sasha Adler, Laura Kirar, Abby Larson, Amy Preiser, John Robshaw, Kim Seybert, Jason Oliver Nixon, Elizabeth Bauer, Ryan Korban, and Anthony Cochran.

Robert Verdi, this week, is the twelfth to be invited. Verdi is the head of the very exciting Luxe Laboratory in New York.

According to Zatista, Robert Verdi “is a leading lifestyle expert, celebrity stylist and television personality. Verdi stands alone as the sole expert to bridge all-three major style categories: fashion, entertaining and home design. He is the go-to style guru for celebrities like Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, Bethenny Frankel, Kathy Griffin and Hugh Jackman. Famous for his wit and wisdom, Verdi has become one of the most highly recognizable faces in the world of fashion and design today.”

As a guest curator, he selected 6 favorite pieces from the roster of Zatista artists. Other than selecting my work, Verdi also chose the works of Nina Fuller, David Page, Chris Horner, and Justin Wheeler. And in an interview, he talked about his selections while sharing his bright ideas about art, design, photography, among other things.

Looking at Verdi’s choices and looking at the choices made by the previous guest curators, I cannot help but wonder how a work of art is chosen from among thousands and thousands. Zatista artists are never really told when, how and what goes on in a curatorial process such as this. I’m inclined to think that a whole lot of factors are involved, including pure luck. In any case, I’m very thankful that someone such as Robert Verdi decided to pluck out one of my pictures as one of his top picks.

For an artist such as myself, I am deeply humbled when someone of great esteem, impeccable taste and exquisite aesthetic perception such as Robert Verdi bestow approving appraisal of one of my works. In all humility, can only view such affirmation as an honor.

[Note: To view Robert Verdi’s selection, please click here. To read the entire Zatista interview with Verdi, go here. To check out Verdi’s website, Luxe Laboratory, visit here. For free professional advise and consultation on advertising and commercial photography and visual media design, contact Dominique James at dominiquejames@mac.com. Also, you can view and purchase the fine art photographs of Dominique James online at Zatista’s website. Thank you.]

"On Golden Pond," a fine art photograph by Dominique James featured in Zatista.

DOMINIQUE JAMES

Every now and then, as I sometimes foray aimlessly into the endless wilderness that is the Internet, I stumble upon gems that serves to enrich my experience as a photographer and as a visual artist. I’m sure my experience is not unique.

What with the incredible wealth of information all around, it is hard to imagine anyone in today’s world living a sustained creative life in a vacuum. However, I can still say that the way I go through the morass of materials, the meandering path that I take, the serendipitous nature of my discoveries, the mental coagulation that takes place and whenever things fall into place, are all uniquely mine.

Creativity, like most everything in life, must be nourished and nurtured in order to grow. And what with the Internet’s big pipes, among other things, we are mercilessly subjected by the strong currents of great swirling forces of creative influences all around us—all the time. There’s almost no way of turning it off.

About the only reasonable thing we can do with the deluge of information is to allow ourselves to open up to the countless bits that scurry along and pluck upon those which we feel matters the most. It’s almost like picking the pieces of huge puzzles floating aimlessly all around in a huge vat of information pool.

So, we build our lives today by bits and bytes, actually just like for the most of our past, but in a more intensely interesting way than ever before.

[Note: To view some interesting results of the visual, and sometimes philosophical, mish-mash of such “influences,” visit the Dominique James online gallery of fine art photographs over at Zatista. Thank you.]

Chopsuey, one of the fabulous signature dishes from the new Side Grill Restaurant in Jersey City, New Jersey, photographed by Dominique James and Dennis Altobar.

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

“When we no longer have good cooking in the world, we will have no literature, nor high and sharp intelligence, nor friendly gatherings, nor social harmony.” – Marie-Antoine Caréme, Chef (1784-1833)

The population of the Filipino community in Jersey City, New Jersey, has steadily grown through the years. The latest count estimates more than half-a-million who now takes up both permanent and long-term residence there. And from all indications, the population is expected to rise in the years to come.

A very good (and quite visible) indication of this growth can be seen in the steady increase of Filipino-owned establishments in the area. Stores, groceries, restaurants, among others, run mostly by enterprising Filipinos, pop up alongside all other small businesses serving the community.

One such new and exciting venture is Side Grill.

Side Grill, located at West Side Avenue and which opened just three months ago, is a contemporary Filipino restaurant serving many of the most popular and well-loved dishes from almost all major regions of their homeland, The Philippines. There are already a number of well-established Filipino and Asian-themed restaurants lining up West Side Avenue. But Side Grill, as the newest addition, is yet another visible Filipino “food culture” stamp on the area.

While Side Grill is decidedly and authentically Filipino, serving an amazing breadth and depth of selections featuring mostly all-time favorite dishes and catering primarily to the Filipino palette (a taste of home, so to speak), this is not to say that they are exclusively serving the Filipino clientele. As a matter of fact, since Side Grill threw its doors open, the restaurant has enjoyed very supportive patronage from Americans and a curious mix of people hailing from various nationalities. At any time, it is not unusual to see Americans and people of different nationalities share and partake meals with Filipinos. This is quite an unexpected but very welcome development since the Filipino cuisine, which is mostly an exotic fusion of Western and Oriental influences, has yet to enjoy as much popularity as other Asian cuisines, particularly that of the Thai, Japanese and Chinese cuisines.

So, what draws all sorts of people to Side Grill? The delicious food prepared by chef Herman Villadolid and his all-Filipino kitchen staff? The beautiful and colorful ambience of the dining area? The trademark and almost-patented happy and warm welcoming smiles of the Filipinos?

Most likely, it’s a magical combination of all of the above.

[Note: I’ve had the delightful pleasure of photographing Side Grill’s delicious food for their first major promotional campaign. This photo shoot project was done with Dennis Altobar. Together, we’ve photographed almost 50 mouth-watering dishes within the span of a week all on location. We’ve also photographed Side Grill’s restaurant interior and exterior during the day, and at night time. Many of the pictures are now featured in Side Grill’s beautiful and elegant website, serving as a counterpoint to the fantastic logo designed by Mark Gonzales. Some of the food photographs are individually featured as the main visual element of full-color posters and all other collateral promo materials designed by the creative artists of The Studio. These posters and promo materials has been professionally printed by Marisse Panlilio of MPGrafx.]

The Statue Of Liberty

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

The Statue of Liberty is a universal symbol of freedom. It is a beacon of hope to countless people from all over the world—including myself. When I moved to New York three years ago, it was one of the first things I wanted to see. But as I went about my new life, I would only be afforded, from time to time, a very distant glimpse of her. It wasn’t until recently that I finally got the chance to see her up close. She is every bit as magnificent and as inspiring as I thought her to be.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Lady Liberty:

“The Statue of Liberty (French: Statue de la Liberté), officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World (French: la Liberté éclairant le monde), dedicated on October 28, 1886, is a monument commemorating the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, given to the United States by the people of France to represent the friendship between the two countries established during the American Revolution. It represents a woman wearing a stola, a radiant crown and sandals, trampling a broken chain, carrying a torch in her raised right hand and a tabula ansata, where the date of the Declaration of Independence JULY IV MDCCLXXVI is inscribed, in her left arm. Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi sculpted the statue and obtained a U.S. patent for its structure. Maurice Koechlin—chief engineer of Gustave Eiffel’s engineering company and designer of the Eiffel Tower—engineered the internal structure. The pedestal was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was responsible for the choice of copper in the statue’s construction, and for the adoption of the repoussé technique, where a malleable metal is hammered on the reverse side. The statue is made of a sheathing of pure copper, hung on a framework of steel (originally puddled iron) with the exception of the flame of the torch, which is coated in gold leaf (originally made of copper and later altered to hold glass panes). It stands atop a rectangular stonework pedestal with a foundation in the shape of an irregular eleven-pointed star. The statue is 151 ft (46 m) tall, but with the pedestal and foundation, it is 305 ft (93 m) tall. The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world, and of the United States. For many years it was one of the first glimpses of the United States for millions of immigrants and visitors after ocean voyages from around the world.”

On my visit to Liberty Island, I took many pictures of Lady Liberty. I didn’t really know what to do with all the pictures I shot, until I thought it makes perfect sense to just give one away for free.

So, as a way of saying thank you to the readers and followers of this blog, I’m giving away a free high-quality, high-resolution, full-color image of the Statue of Liberty. This is the first time that I am giving away a professionally-created photograph. You can download this high quality, un-watermarked picture in full 7. 57 MB JPEG image file right now from my Flickr gallery. Just click here and download the largest file size available. You can do whatever you want to do with this photo. I impose no restriction whatsoever. As they say, you can get it with “no strings attached.” You can use this picture for whatever purpose—personal, educational, and even commercial. It’s nice if you can credit me as the photographer, and if you can provide a link, but that’s something I’m not requiring you to do. This is the first of many more free images I’m planning to give away. To find out when I’ll be giving the next free photo image, follow me on Facebook or Twitter. And, if you want to check out what other kind of free images I might be giving away, visit my fine art photo print collection over at Zatista.

Thanks, and do tell all your friends to come over and download this professional quality Statue of Liberty photo image file for free!

In a time such as now, when nothing seems to be no longer new, it is getting harder and harder to capture and hold the attention of the viewing public. The idioms of photographic imaging, it seems, have grown stale. Photography today is so ubiquitous that people are hardly surprised anymore with whatever pictures they see. Is the public eye now jaded? Or, is there just a need to exercise more daring and creativity when it comes to image-making? The question of attracting and holding public attention is one that marketing professionals and advertising executives are constantly grappling with. One question is always being asked: What visual idea can be created to make an image stand out from the countless photographs that constantly vie for the public’s fickle attention? In other words, what will make a photograph “sell”? Of course, there is no single right answer to this kind of question, and is there certainly no fail-proof formula to the process of creating a compelling image designed to grab the viewers’ attention, and then hold it long enough to make it memorable. There is, however, one thing that always seems to work. And that is by injecting a photograph with an element of surprise. While there is no guarantee that this will always work, one way to keep the public interested, and hopefully consistently excited, is to come up with images that feeds upon their unexpected expectations. When the public is used to seeing one thing, designing a photograph that is different from any other that has been done in the past, by the sheer force of juxtaposing seemingly unrelated ideas and concepts, often seems to be the thing that works best. It is the antidote to the tragic same-ness of visual expression that characterize many advertising campaigns. By playing it safe all the time, products which the photographs purport to promote, can easily be ignored. With this in mind, and as a perfect example, I photographed Rica Peralejo for Posh Nails in a way that is different from any of her previous pictorials. Together with a dedicated and talented team of creative professionals, and in keeping with the client’s vision and direction, I decided it’s time for a Posh Nails campaign to move away from its previous imaging and to try out something quite different. While there is really nothing new to the “new image” I was trying to achieve, it cameout as something that is unexpected. What I did, was to focus on the element of playfulness that is portayed in the surprised facial expression, the in-your-face pose, and the bursts of bright and happy colors. Putting together three new elements changed the imaging so much. And so far, it is working. People are noticing “Posh Nails.” The gamble to try “something else” has paid off. Personally, it is commercial photography projects like this that makes for a lot of excitement not only in my studio during the photo shoots, but, also for our clients and their target viewing public. While I do a lot of perfected catalog shots, I always take on the opportunity to stretch out in all directions, and to cross boundaries. As they say, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Knowing the market is a very good thing. It means, you as the owner or the manager of the business, can make decisions and take actions that will address the market conditions. When you know your market, you can focus your attention only on what needs to be done. Based on a bunch of market information that can range from a wide variety of official and unofficial metrics to something as simple as a gut feel, the right business strategies and decisions, everything that makes sense, can be reached. This includes the right choice of product endorser. Whether a celebrity or not, a star or a model, or even just a virtual “nobody” from the street, any person depicted in a fashion and lifestyle advertisement should naturally reflect the market. Like a mirror, the market should see themselves in the persona of the one depicted in the picture. Bizarre is a brand name for a mainly unisex casual and rugged line of mix-and-match clothing. Through the years, they have worked with young pop stars photographed by the best fashion photographers. For their latest campaign, they selected two of show business personalities, a male and a female, to serve as its new image models. The female modeling assignment went to Yasmin Kurdi. During our studio session, and working with some of the most creative hair-and-makeup artists and fashion stylists, I photographed Yasmin as the focus of the image instead of the clothing. I created a mood that is a bit more sophisticated and romatic than the usual all-bright and happy and clean image that is typical of catalog-type casual clothing imaging. I wanted to set the image apart from the usual. I therefore decided to approach the photographic styling in a somewhat dramatic but spot-lighted style. As a poster and print ad, splashed with the “Bizarre” brand name, I think this image will effectively catch the attention of the market because it is somewhat different. Of course, Yasmin’s inviting beauty will eventually be the one that will hold the viewer’s attention. Hopefully, the idea behind this campaign is not only to update the looks, but also to update and reinvigorate the fashion line’s branding to continue appealing to its diverse youth market. The photograph’s appeal is certainly there, and for sure, young girls, whether a Yasmin Kurdi fan or not, will be able to associate themselves to the picture. In the final analysis, the goal of all this is to sell the brand, and many, many pieces of clothing.

It helps to have a very popular and famous personality for an endorser, but to begin with, it also definitely helps if the product being advertised is just as great. When a very established retail company, Executive Optical, recently wanted to launch its line of lifestyle eyewear combined with a pair of headphones, they decided to get Sam Milby. Sam Milby is one of the sensational stars to emerge out of the phenomenal TV hit series, Big Brother. Although he was embroiled in a somewhat scandalous controversy, and though he didn’t stay that long inside Big Brother’s house, he has captured the attention of so many people that his stardom was almost assured. The moment he stepped out of TV-land’s most famous house, he was immediately packaged and treated like as if he was already a big star. Largely because of his good looks and charms, and because he’s a nice guy, his popularity propped him up to fame. Sam Milby has been photographed a number of times since. But familiarity, they say, breeds contempt. Which is why, despite the fact that he is the most ideal candidate when it come to promoting mass produced lifestyle items such as an eyewear doubling as a headphone (an accessory which has a great sales potential largely due to the popularity of portable music devices such as the iPod), Sam Milby must be photographed and portrayed in a never-before-seen way. His pictures for the campaign must make him look a bit different from any of the pictures of him which has been previously released. Creating a “new” and “unique” image, therefore, of a celebrity endorsing a product, is the challenge of this pictorial. The image of Sam Milby has been carefully cultivated to project “a good guy” which, in truth, he is. In this photograph, however, we aimed to introduce an element of “danger” in his persona to promote an all-black eyewear. The photograph I created for him, together with one of the best hair-and-makeup artist and fashion stylist today, Lala Flores, successfully projects a new look for Sam Milby that is dangerous, but at the same time, one that we know is playful. There’s a thin line there somewhere, and with this picture, we’ve successfully kept ourselves within the line–doing it, but without overdoing it.