Blink Optical: The Place to Shop for Eyewear

 

Tony_Ward_Studio_Marc_Jacobs_eyewear_Mercedes_shift_panel_vintage_car_500sl
Marc Jacobs Eyewear
 

Photography and Text by Tony Ward, Copyright 2018

.

PHILADELPHIA-

The best place in Philly to shop for eyewear is Blink Optical, located at 415 South Street.  I say this without hesitation mainly because of the incredible inventory they carry, upwards of 3000 frames to examine on a wall of eyewear that is almost overwhelming to take in at first glance.  On a recent visit in search of a new pair of sunglasses  I was greeted by a very polite salesperson who asked if there was a specific lens that I was looking for.  My answer was no but if I can’t find anything in this place – with all these choices – something is wrong with me. I proceeded to take the next 15 to 20 minutes carefully studying each frame by working my way up and down the aisle, from one end of the store to the other. It was a process where I really had to concentrate by looking at each individual frame, making sure not to miss the one in three thousand that I liked the best.

By the time I painstakingly got to the very end of the display I noticed a frame that reminded me of a designer I was presently wearing.  I pointed to the frame that seemed to stand alone in the crowd reminiscent of the contours of the glasses that I  currently use for reading. Out of the 3000 frames I selected Marc Jacobs eyewear. Now I have a complimentary pair of MJ, one for reading and the other for cruising.

.

Tony_Ward_portrait_by_Dwight_Ward_2018
Portrait of Tony Ward wearing Marc Jacobs eyewear. Photo: Dwight Ward, Copyright 2018.

.

About The Author: Tony Ward is a fine art photographer, author, blogger, publisher and Adjunct Professor of Photography at the University of Pennsylvania. To access additional articles by Tony Ward,  click herehttp://tonyward.com/2018/03/22/diary-portrait-of-a-jersey-girl/

 

Fangyi “Frank” Fan: Colors of Bottles

.

 

 

Photography, Text and Video by Fangyi “Frank” Fan, Copyright 2018

.

Colors of Bottles

.

In college, alcohol has a big presence in many students’ life. Just as the variety of alcohol, liquor bottles usually are made available in different colors, shapes and styles, which do not get equal recognition compared to the liquid inside. For me, they seem like the perfect still objects for this series of still lifes.

I found these bottles in my friend’s apartment. They were put on the top of a shelf , covered by dust. My friend told me that they have been there for quite a long time and if I wanted I could just take them with me. He apparently felt that those bottles became useless once the drinking is done. However, after I stared at the bottles, the different forms of liquor bottles fascinated me.  The transparent nature of the colorful glass as well as the creative labels all make these bottles like art pieces. All eight pictures could be broken down into two categories: full bottles and details on a bottle. For the category of full bottles, I tried different lighting techniques to display the full beauty of the objects. In four of them, I put an Iphone underneath the bottle and used the flashlight app to light up the bottle from underneath. This extra addition of light source, though inducing some noise at some parts, added some flavor to the picture. In the second category of the shooting, I focused on the labels of the liquor bottles. By adjusting f stops, I achieved the desired depth of field in shooting those micro details with excellent clarity.

The more I worked with those empty bottles, the more I pondered what alcohol brought to students at Penn. A way to alleviate stress? A tool to escape reality? Or is it just a social norm that most people tend to conform to? The answer lies in the emptiness of those bottles.

.

.

About The Author: Fangyi “Frank” Fan is a Senior enrolled in the School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2018. To access additional articles by Fangyi “Frank” Fan, click herehttps://tonywardstudio.com/blog/fangyi-frank-fan-meaning-of-makeup/