carolineventura – Ann Street Studio

Calliope

April 20, 2016April 22, 2016Posted in LifestyleTagged boutique, calliope, Caroline Ventura, carolineventura, darryl the dog, darrylthedog, lifestyle, michael and caroline ventura, michael ventura, michaelventura, shop, shopping, store, west village, westvillage3 Comments

10 Questions with Calliope store co-owner and creator Caroline Ventura

What’s in the name Calliope?

CV: She was a Greek muse of eloquence and poetry. Supposedly she was the muse Homer looked to when he wrote The Iliad. It’s also a weird ass looking pipe organ on wheels, so that’s fun.

What was the concept behind the space?

CV: We have a multi-use building in which both our studios (Michael’s design practice Sub Rosa, and Caroline’s gold smithing project BRVTVS) reside, as well as a gallery space next to Calliope, and also our home. We wanted to create a welcoming space where people could come and shop without the “seriousness” of other stores. We sell home goods, it shouldn’t be some stuffy place that you’re afraid to walk into and are scared to touch things.

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Natural Sculptures

April 21, 2015Posted in BeautyTagged ann street studio, annstreetstudio, bess wyrick, besswyrick, brvtvs, Caroline, Caroline Ventura, carolineventura, flower sculpture, flowers, natural, natural beauty, nature, nude, nude photography6 Comments

A few years back I met Bess Wyrick. She was doing a floral instillation in Gramercy Park’s Rose Bar — a giant hanging skeleton made from white flowers. I had always thought about flowers in the sense of arrangements but never really in the form of a live sculpture. There is something I really love about the idea of creating art that can only last and be appreciated for a short amount of time before its organic nature recycles back into the earth. An amazing example of that is in the whimsical work of Patrick Dougherty which blows me away.

Whenever Bess is in New York we try to collaborate . Most recently I asked Caroline to come by the studio and pose for me, something we have been doing together for years now. Bess, being the sculptor she is, created this spring garden nymph moment around Caroline’s delicate body which, to me, is reminiscent of the fleeting weeks when we get to dance under the pink shade of the cherry blooms before nature moves on to the green gardens of summer.

This May I’m going to be heading out to L.A. to spend a weekend retreat at Rose Story Farm (remember how we had roses shipped from them for this beautiful shoot?!) with Bess doing a workshop on flower arranging and creative expression. It’s going to be a lovely group of women, so think about joining us if you out in L.A.! More info on the workshop can be found here.

Happy Spring!

The Romantic world of Michelle Hébert

March 2, 2015March 6, 2015Posted in Fashion EditorialTagged ann street studio, annstreetstudio, avant-garde, bess wyrick, besswyrick, brvtvs, Caroline, Caroline Ventura, carolineventura, celadon & celery, celadon and celery, eddie herendez, eddieherendez, fashion, fashion editorial, gown, gowns, Michelle Hébert, MichelleHébert8 Comments

Recently I was at an Everlane dinner with my friend Caroline {pictured here} to launch their new very cute boatneck shirts. Caroline and I were talking about our next shoot together and that we should do something totally different from the Everlane campaign photos she’s all over the web in.

I’ve been photographing her for years now, there is just something about her face I love. Plus she is an amazing jewelry designer, an all around great human being, and a really fun time. At that same time my friend Bess, who is an incredible floral designer {she does the Vanity Fair Oscar Party!} was coming in from L.A. and wanted to collaborate on something like our previous shoots. She recently met this L.A. based fashion designer Michelle Hébert and sent me some images of her dresses which I found insanely dark and romantic. So Bess brought the gowns and flowers, Caroline brought her beautiful face, makeup artist Eddie Hernandez used all rose scented Chantecaille products and together we brought the gowns to life.

Once the pieces were on the body we could really see the creativity of the designs. What’s crazy is that this designer is 24 and self taught! Obviously one day she will be winning Oscars for costume design or working for one of her favorite fashion houses such as Alexander McQueen. I had to know more about this girl out in L.A. hand sewing fantasies in her parents garage so I interviewed her to see what is in her mind that makes these moments.

Describe the idea behind this flower, lace and tulle designed dress:

Michelle Hébert: One of my early pieces and a design created to pay homage to the late Alexander McQueen. It almost felt collaborative as I set out to use symbols we both admired such as flowers, but to take that and design something that was my own. Materials: Lace, Flower Appliqués, Chiffon, Beads, and Tulle.

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Caroline Ventura

March 28, 2014November 18, 2014Posted in BeautyTagged 4x5, ann street studio, annstreetstudio, B&W, beauty, black and white, blackandwhite, brvtvs, Caroline Ventura, carolineventura, film, film photography, filmphotography, jamie beck, jamiebeck, kelly framel, kellyframel, large format photography, pentax, pentax 67, pentax6718 Comments

As an artist there are some people who I LOVE photographing. I could photograph them everyday. There is something about their beauty, bone structure, and spirit I love to capture, that my eye finds fascinating and wants to study them over and over. This is the case for jewelry designer Caroline Ventura who is one of (along with Heather) my muses. I first met Caroline on a shoot for Cup of Jo three years ago and we have been friends ever since. Did you know she was the first cinemagraph we ever shot? We just never tired editing it until AFTER our first public one. She was the first person I photographed at our old studio and this shoot is our first together at our new one.

We are both artists and we have known each other as photographer + subject for sometime now. I’ve shot Caroline beautifully, I’ve shot her COOL, but as we have been getting older we are looking to find more depth in our work. I’ve been wanting to focus less on the clothing in my personal shoots these days and more on the beauty of the female form. Caroline and I were going to meet up for dinner and I said, hey, let’s do a shoot before we head out, which eventually turned into a night of film photographs, margaritas, girl talk, and these moments below.

… and just for fun I asked Caroline a series of fill in the blank questions just for a new take on an old friend.

I am most inspired by…

My friends. I’m so lucky to have an incredible circle of talented friends who all support each other and push one another to do/create beautiful things.

An ideal day for me is…

When I can see blue skies. As long as the sun is shining, anything can be thrown my way.

My favorite artist is…

Lia Chavez, who is doing really beautiful things in the art world right now. I am so fortunate to call her a friend. Her solo show, Carceri, just opened at Two Rams on the LES. She is one of the gentlest and most humble humans and a huge inspiration to me.

The best way I express myself is…

With my mouth. I talk a lot.

New York City is…

Home. No matter where I go in my life it always pulls me back.

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