Category: video

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Max Stolzenberg – The Polaroids Part I

In 1972 American physicist and industrial Edwin Herbert Land (1909-1991) introduced the SX-70 camera to the world.
From 1951 to 1954 Land was also president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The SX-70 camera was the first one to use integral film and made it possible to shoot and develop pictures in literally no time without the hassle of separation film.

Polaroid film has always fascinated all kind of artists from Andy Warhol to Helmut Newton and last but not least the true master of light David Hamilton.
On one occasion David told Max an interesting story about his meeting with Edwin Land.
Edwin had sponsored David with all kind of camera equipment and films, especially SX-70 film and cameras.

David showed Edwin his pictures, but when it came to the nudes his face dropped and as David said with a smile “That was it with Edwin Land. I didn’t get any sponsoring any more.”
You have to know that Edwin was a strictly religious mormon!

Despite that little anecdote David went on to use SX-70 film for some of his beautiful photos until his death in 2016.

Max is a big fan of integral film too. He always carries his 1974 SX-70 Land camera with him. The subtle low fidelity feeling, the muted colors and the artistic potential of this film are just magic.

 From today we want to feature his Polaroids with a new series of clips on our YouTube channel.

 

All pictures can be purchased as personally autographed and dry stamped prints (limited to 300 worldwide) from us.

The prices for the different sizes can be seen in the shop.

Simply write to Bilitis to place your order. She will help you through the ordering process.

 

 

 

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Manouk and Bilitis

Jamais plus.

L’amour fut, l’amour est,
Au sein des arbres noirs,
Les tendres marronniers
Aux fleurs claires, le soir.
L’amour est, l’amour fou
Ce qui fuit, point ne fut.
Bleu, gris et blanc, le ciel
De pluie au grand soleil.
L’amour était, il fut,
Ne sera jamais plus.

Olivier Mathieu

From
“Les jeunes filles ont l’âge de mon exil” 
Editions des Petits Bonheurs (Nantes, France). First edition 2010; second edition 2016, third edition 2018. Page 146.

Not long ago beautiful Manouk visited Max for a session in his house.
Bilitis joined in and a set of stunning romantic photos emerged from this photo shooting.

We hope you enjoy this pictures and the associated video as much as we do.
From now on you are also able to subscribe to Max Stolzenberg’s site and his YouTube Channel.

 

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This pictures can be purchased as personally autographed and dry stamped prints (limited to 300 worldwide) from us.

The prices for the different sizes can be seen in the shop.

Simply write to Bilitis to place your order. She will help you through the ordering process.

 

Max uses only analog cameras and genuine film for his artwork.

We wish you a lot of pleasure with Max Stolzenberg’s amazing photography.

 

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Bilitis and Maria in the Azores

We asked Max to tell us about his journey to the Azores island of Terceira and here is his story.

 

It was a beautiful sunny December day when Bilitis and me landed on Lajes airfield.
I was totally surprised how warm it was. We had 21 and on one day even 24 degrees which I think is a bit unusual for winter in the Azores. I was very eager to see the island and especially the coast part where David Hamilton had shot some of his iconic pictures.

We first took a ride to our little house that I had rented for our stay and left the luggage there.
The view from the house was phenomenal. Green meadows with horses and stone walls up to the point where the horizon met the Atlantic ocean.
The style of the buildings look like a town in Portugal or even Mexico and the landscape is a perfect copy of south England. Very exciting!
We where overwhelmed by the beauty of the island and made a walk from the house to the cliffs before went to Angra do Heroismo, the capital of the island, to take a dinner at a restaurant.

Maria was still working with the horses and we met her later that night. She lived in a small house not far from us and we where so happy to see her again after more then 3 months. We decided to meet again at the farm the next day.
From then on it was all about making beautiful photos and you could hear the shutter of my camera all day long.

What I liked most about the island was the naturally and the slow and relaxed life the people lived. It is also a very tidy place with a beautiful fauna and flora.
All kind of birds where singing in the sky and the animals where very tame and friendly.

As always the time was much too short to see everything we wanted to see. Maybe this is a reason to go to Terceira again one day? We will see.

One of the most exciting moments occurred when Bilitis met some deer in a forest. The beautiful animals followed her to a glade at the top of a hill and I was able to take a photo of her lending a hand to one of the deers that had surrounded her. A truly magic moment!

I hope you enjoy the pictures and the short video with the wonderful music of Stelvio Cipriani as much as I enjoyed our stay and the time we spent with Maria.

 

 

Olivier Mathieu sent me one of his poems from his book “Les jeunes filles ont l’âge de mon exil” which he thinks goes well together with the pictures.

He dedicates it to Maria and Bilitis.

Les filles ont l’épaule lisse,
Blonde et douce, les filles ont.
Et j’aimai que leur peau frémisse
Et leurs cheveux fleurant très bon,
Quand leur parfum est comme un baume.
Jeux de Gentils, les Jeux des Paumes.
Aux seins leurs robes suspendues
Glissent, bon Maître,
Quand d’un doigt habile on décroche
L’agrafe qui les laisse nues.
C’est hier que l’on aurait pu,
Qui sait ce qu’il aurait fallu?
Innombrable est la clé des cages
En leurs serrures, d’âge en âge.
Les filles ont la chair polie
Comme à mes jeux d’enfant, les billes.
Ah! qu’il fut de filles jolies:
Et que Villon les déshabille!

Olivier Mathieu

From
“Les jeunes filles ont l’âge de mon exil” 
Editions des Petits Bonheurs (Nantes, France). First edition 2010; second edition 2016, third edition 2018. Pages 38 and 39.

 

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Winter Dreams

The days are short and sun is rare but despite all this adverse conditions Max did some beautiful photos with beautiful Bilitis and an astonishing and beautiful young girl called Valérie.

There was closeness between both girls from the very beginning and Max’s photography allows us to share some pictures with you that show moments full of sensitivity and tenderness.

This is your chance to get the very first photo edition of Valérie who has never been seen before. Get the #1 of 300 or choose a number yourself.
Each picture is available in sizes from 30×40 to 70×90 and on different papers. It is also possible to get the whole set or a choice of pictures.

The prices for the different sizes can be seen in the shop.

Simply write to Bilitis to place your order. She will help you through the ordering process.

 

As a thank you for all our customers of the last year and to celebrate the Winter solstice, which takes place today, we offer the pictures of this set with a let off of 10% for sizes up to 50×70 and 20% for sizes between 50×70 and 70×90.
This offer is available until end of February. We hope this pictures will ease the pain off the cold season a bit.

All photos of Max Stolzenberg are offered in a strictly limited edition of 300 prints worldwide.
Each picture is titled, numbered and autographed by the artist himself.
A dry stamp ensures the originality of the artwork.

 

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Beside this wonderful pictures we want to draw your attention to the blog of Olivier Mathieu which is the infinite source about David Hamilton and romantic photography in general.
Today we share two videos of his YouTube Channel with you.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbIA4PXx7m4

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTF8Zhxe5WI

 

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An Evening at the Paddocks


During our Summer in South France Max and the girls stayed at a beautiful house from the 1920’s. It was surrounded by meadows and one day Yuna discovered some horse stables that belonged to a stud farm not far away. As you can imagine the girls where instantly hooked and so they went to ask the owner if it was possible to visit the horses.

The owners where very nice and humble people and so they invited them to their paddocks.
Max and the models thank them for their hospitality. It was an unforgettable experience.

It was a beautiful sunny evening when they arrived. A mild breeze was rushing through the treetops and the light was just right for some splendid romantic photos. The girls took Lulu and Garfield, the owner’s dog and cat, straight to their hearts and especially Maria and Bilitis showed their talent in communicating with the animals. The horses had blind trust into them and everything was in total harmony.

Girls and horses are a beautiful motive and we think you will agree that Max has once again shown his talent for genuine film photography. We hope you enjoy this new set of photos and the video.

For the video Max chose “Promenade” a song from Francis Lai written for David Hamilton’s film Bilitis

 

 

 

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This pictures can be purchased as personally autographed and dry stamped prints (limited to 300 worldwide) from us.

The prices for the different sizes can be seen in the shop.

Simply write to Bilitis to place your order. She will help you through the ordering process.

 

Max uses only analog cameras and genuine film for his artwork.

We wish you a lot of pleasure with Max Stolzenberg’s amazing photography.

 

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