Author
Ellen Eberhardt
Photo by Jonah Smith
As we in the US near our one-year pandemic anniversary with vaccine roll-out bumping along, exploration continues to be largely relegated to daytime musings and the cruel mistress of the internet. Portraits De Villes, an escapist photo-book series that transports readers to unique locales throughout the world, may offer some more fodder for your "where to go when this is all over" itinerary.
Published by Paris & NYC-based branding and architecture studio Be-Poles, each issue features portraits, landscapes, moments, and more from a photographer’s city of choice. The brief leaves all subject matter and creativity up to the artist, ensuring a fully new experience with each new collaborator.
From Dina Goldstein’s Vancouver to India Mahdavi's Téhéran, the books display crisp prints of the photographers’ metropolitan wanderings and measure about 6” x 8”, for ideal coffee-table sight-seeing.
The latest to helm the pocketable series is Jonah Smith, photographer and founder of adventure apparel brand AETHER, who documents a bucolic Rocky Mountain summer for the series.
Inspired by the old Aspen adage, “come for the winter, stay for the summer,” the images within Aspen instantly conjure daydreams of a much-needed change of scenery. From a variety of outdoor activities to panoramic spreads of not-so-distant mountain landscapes, we see Aspen through the eyes of the producer-turned-clothing designer, captured in the off-season and bathed in the warm light of summer months—a welcome change to the oft-snapped winterscape of the famed resort town.
Proceeds from Aspen, which sells for $25, benefit the Aspen Youth Center, which provides free and safe after-school care for youth from grades 4-12. Improve your daydream fodder in the now and help ensure a safe future for local mountain kids, too. What’s not to love?
Published 01-25-2021
