Today I wanted to feature the technically and conceptually stunning work of Heather Evans Smith. When asked about the series, Smith begins with how life is full of stories – some deeply personal and specific, others universally relatable. Her story, and all lives, are at once beautiful and complicated and bittersweet and hard. The genesis of the images comes from moments of life – movement and pain and the simple joys of being alive, all of which she freezes in time and explores in a world not quite our own.

Enjoy this beautiful work!

xx – G

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After 18 months of traveling the world, we are extremely honored and excited to debut the series at Gallery 169 in Santa Monica.

Sponsored by the Huffington Post Los Angeles, the opening is this Saturday from 5-8pm.

See the invite below we hope you can join us!

Cheers,

Gray

Also, we will be debuting the swim suits from my upcoming world-wide collaboration with the UK based resort wear company, Orlebar Brown!

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It’s been the most unbelievable past few days photographing in the salt flats. Each morning, we would drive out before the sunrise, and each night we would shoot until the last colors of the sunset disappeared on the horizon.

Shooting with the guidance of the famed Bolivian photographer, Gaston Ugalde, has been a dream in itself. He knows the Salt Flats like no one else, and his incredible creative eye and advice for each shot has been invaluable.

Below are highlights from the past three days. Hopefully these images will weave together a better picture of the whole experience.

Cannot wait to share this new body of work with you- we will be posting it soon!

Xx – G

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A new adventure begins…in Bolivia!

Last night, we flew from Miami to La Paz, Bolivia. This city is located 13,000 ft above sea level. As soon as you get off the plane, you feel the immediate effects of the lack of oxygen! To give ourselves time to adjust properly, we decided to spend our first day sightseeing in the city of La Paz.

On this trip, I am so lucky to be accompanied by my younger sister, Lizzy, and my best friend, Mary. Even though it’s work, it’s going to be so nice to get to spend time with them.

After checking in, we headed out with our guide, Juan, to grab some lunch at the local salteñas spot. Salteñas are like empanadas – but way way better. After our snack, we went just outside of town to photograph some of the amazing rock formations that surround the valley where La Paz is located. We met the locals – a mule, nicknamed Salar.

After our adventure, we headed to the outdoor markets in downtown and went shopping for props for the upcoming photo shoot in the Salt Flats. The local females who wear the incredible traditional Bolivian outfits and the rounded tall hats are called Cholitas. It was amazing to see them selling various foods and handmade goods.

We picked up a few bright rugs and a coupe of cool hats before heading home to get ready for dinner.

Three weeks ago a world class restaurant named Guincho opened in La Paz, and we were lucky to get a reservation! The ambiance was super lower west side and the cuisine was bold and different. We tried llama, and even alpaca, among many local vegetables and sauces. It was such a fun way to end our first day.

Tomorrow we head to the Uyuni Salt Flats with a 3:45am wake up call! Can’t wait to share more!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Xx G

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Tomorrow morning, I am headed off to Bolivia to start a new series in the world famous Uyuni Salt Flats. This is the largest salt flat in the world, totaling over 4,000 square miles. The surreal surroundings will be used as an incredible backdrop for the shoot.

My amazing team and I will be working with locals who will help us traverse this unique terrain.I am also incredibly fortunate to get to work with the famous Bolivian artist Gaston Ugalde – he will be joining us in the Salt Flats during our final day of shooting. Check out a couple examples of his own work below.

We will be posting pictures from our travels daily, so be sure to check the blog to be kept in the loop. I am sure you will be entertained…

Lots to come!

xx -G

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This morning I really wanted to share the very soulful work of Donna J. Wan. Originally from Taiwan and now based in San Francisco, Wan is heavily concerned with how people identify with the landscape.

At the start of the series, Wan had made pictures of the natural world that had been altered by man in one way or another, ranging from subtle incursions to near annihilation. While people were at times present, the work was more concerned with the evidence of their intervention, making them there in spirit, if not actuality. As her work has evolved, Wan has now made people the very focus of her photographs, investigating how they relate to, interact with, and experience the landscape. However, Wan notes that she has intentionally photographed people from behind, in shadow, or at a scale where it is difficult to obtain a clear read of their faces. These “anti-portraits” are not about individual identities, but about how people fit into the landscapes being captured.

Inspired by 19^th century romantic landscape painting, Wan works to experience the landscape vicariously, never staging her photographs or even interacting with the human subjects within her frame.

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This morning I wanted to bring you to the dark and dreamy world of photography duo extrordinaire, Jeff Charbonneau and Eliza French.

Charbonneau and French evoke an eighteenth-century aesthetic, collaborating on black and white photographs that achieve textures and tones through experimental dark room processes. These staged photographs use feminine symbols of domestic and fantasy life to create imagery that is caught between dreams and a gothic fairy tale. Somber and etherial, the painstaking and laborious use of medium- and large-format film and traditional printing techniques combine to stunning effect.

Combining surrealism and drama, their visions appear to come directly from childhood reminiscence. The artists say themselves that the path to a final image is “a mediation on memory, and how it functions through us, and between us.” The result is at once dark and dramatic and playful – an amazing partnership.

xx -G

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This morning I would like to explore with you the wonder of Wayne Levin’s Underworld. Levin is a photographer whose work exposes us to the ongoing movement that exists just beneath the surface of the Pacific Coast and Deep Ocean. When he journeys beneath the water, he uses contrast and shadow to capture single moments, resurfacing with them to offer spectators small glimpses of the fervent life we are often not privy to viewing.

It is Levin’s extensive attention to light that truly establishes a visionary insight of this Ocean World, filling us with a sense of awe at the elegant beauty that invigorates our curiosity of the unknown. His photographs display an admiration for this quiet world, framing with care both the creatures he encounters and the humans who dip down to interact with them. The result is breathtaking work that draws you in to its murky depths.

M.I.A. Gallery presents Wayne Levin’s solo exhibition Underworld from March 7th – April 13th, 2013.

xx – G

© Wayne Levin

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What would you like to see this printed on? (think Jonathan Adler)

xx

G

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