photoshop is not cheating.

 

Photo by Felicia Simion

"Every time someone asks "How did you do this?" and a random person comes in and replies "Oh, it's just Photoshop", I feel like it screws up the whole meaning of digital photography. Photoshop is this amazingly supercreative tool which allows us to go far beyond the limits which reality and explore the infinite space of our imagination. It is NOT a human being who goes to a place, observes the nature, spots a good moment and presses the button. No. We, as photographers, do that. And Photoshop is our little tap on the shoulder. Our personal superpower. The way we connect our vision to the world.
It is not "just" Photoshop. The photograph must breathe by itself first. And then you get to nurture it." Felicia Simion

 I agree with what she had to say, this speaks for me as a fellow photographer.. What are your thoughts? 

TRI▲NGLES

I started off with this theme on Instagram. The wonderful @memhasagun put me under the triangles challenge and I enjoyed every second of it! I used my wacom tablet in the first two designs and ended the challenge playing around with magazine cut-outs.
Triangles are pure love <3
______________________
Model used in #3 is a courtesy of  http://faestock.deviantart.com/

DIY | Collage your Moleskine notebook

Happy new year everyone!
So in an attempt to take the new year as a whole new opportunity, I wrote down some resolutions for this year.
One of them is to do more of what makes me happy.
I LOVE collages. So I decided to take the crafty route with it.
Here is a quick tutorial on how to make your own. 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
- A plain Moleskine notebook.
- A scissor.
- A glue stick.
- A magazine or two.
- Any other scraps you find interesting
[ In my case, I used Mcdonald's paper-bag]

P.S. you can find Moleskine notebooks [here]

STEPS:
- Lay down the materials for your project.
- Pick a theme for the cover you'll create and start cutting out images you like from the magazine & scraps to match your theme, or you can have something completely random!

- Start shaping up your cut-outs and play around with the placement until you come to a result you like.
- Before you start sticking it with the glue, take a picture of your collage just for reference if things go wrong while gluing.

- Once you've finalized and glued your design, don't throw away any leftover cut-outs. They might come in handy for your next notebook or any other artsy project. ;)

Voila! My own DIY customized notebook cover. :D

Enjoy! And please share your results if you collage your moleskine! 

محطة مهندية

Looking onto the impact of Turkish soap-operas in the region, particularly in KSA; I made this comic book to reflect people's obsession that came along with it, highlighting the most popular series and characters like Muhannad for example.
There were some really shocking yet funny incidents I came across while searching about the topic that I've included inside.

P.S. I know I previously posted about this but luckily for me, I was able to make few final amendments before the night of our graphic design exhibition. And so here I'm sharing my favourite spreads.

Get Ready for the New Year

So with the new year just around the corner, here it is!  A collaborative work by the famous Sara & the talented Mem who designed an incredible planner for 2013!


[front/back cover]





























 

 

[side]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you haven't got hold of one, you must! Place your order now, while the stocks last.
Contact: info@saralarif.com
P.S A huge thanks goes to Sara, for taking in-depth photos of the planner and Mem for her cooperation. xx

Fall.

Hala

First, sorry for the weeks silence. I've been out of the country for 3 months and hardly had time to post.

A couple of months ago I took some photos of the ever so amazing Hala!

We were going to college daily for summer courses. So one day I decided to use my long breaks to my benefit. 

We went to the backyard, took some snaps and soaked up as much sunshine as we could bare cuz it was insanely hot.

..بتضل في اشياء

Beirutful Memoir

Here are some things I stumbled upon during my last couple of visits to Beirut and thought were worth sharing. 

Let me start with Leila Restaurant

Laziz Cafe

Cafe Hamra

Stencil

And finally, this poster was placed among many others in Hamra st. but this got me wondering what it meant.. Apparently, it highlights the fact "how girls no longer carry meaningful names as their grandmothers did. Most of the names nowadays are Lara, Yara, Lana...etc." - said my Lebanese friend. 

 

Downtown with Noor

Last time I visited Beirut was about a month and a half ago.
I didn't stay for long and had only 2 more nights in Beirut.
So I took my friend for a one day photo shoot going around Solidiare and taking pictures.
I wanted to have different shots of her -as if they weren't taken in the same day- and
I believe I've managed to do so, hamdellah.
*For some reason the top left reminds me of Wardah aljza2riyah. 
Perhaps its the whole style..

أنت وش أنت؟

ant wish ant?
Inspired by:  حلقة مسامير - أنت وش أنت

Featured in Destination Jeddah

I was happy to see the pieces I participated with in The Courtyard being featured in Destination Jeddah (November issue). 
Click here for the online article.
Enjoy.

وهلّأ لوين؟

A week ago, while in Lebanon, I went in to watch this Lebanese movie for the famous Nadine Labaki.
The story is about Lebanese women who try to ease religious tensions between Muslim and Christians in their village
after the civil war took place in the main cities.
A beautiful movie with a great message depicted creatively. It made me cry and laugh at the same time. Must watch!
(On a side note, the soundtracks were very interesting too!)

My participation in The Courtyard: "Society"

 





 

About The Courtyard: It is art exhibition that aim to reflect the Saudi society, discuss its issues, and promotes ideals through art related to this concept. It’s a positive re-enforcement to the natural inclination to strive for a better, more meaningful existence, taking into consideration the fact that social, political and economical changes affect the psychology of people, and in turn affect the art created by those people, different styles emerge with happening change, and artists dig deep within their social existence for inspiration. This exhibition will include, paintings, sculptures, photography, typography, digital art and movies. The exhibition was held in 28 September. 

Me and my cousin Watfa, amongst many creatives were gladly a part of it.

And these were the photos I participated with

A shot of a video by Watfa that was displayed labeled  "المغازلات"  which you can check here
 


















Left to right: Salwa Zahid - Sarah AlAbdali - Basmah Felemban - Sarah AlAbdali

And finally, a look onto the amazing photos of Thamer Al-Hassan