The Hipstography Awards 2014 – The Ceremony

Part 1: The Combos of the Year

Every time a HipstaPak is released, the number of combinations grows exponentially. Hipstography published well over a hundred new combos in 2014: here are the 4 that made it all the way to the top, in their respective 4 categories.

Combo #201 (Stavros Dimakopoulos)

Lens:  Adler 9009 

Film:  Blanko 1 

Flash:  Cadet Blue Gel 

"The linear waterfront of Thessaloniki, the most important public space of the city, offered the ideal scenography for playing with this combo. Under these specific weather conditions, this combo made everything look like snapshots from a dream. Adler 9009 offers a very soft focus, while the Blanko 1 film, with its very stylized texture, creates a 'distance' between the observer and the objects of the image. The Cadet Blue Gel flash enhances the blue tones, especially these of the water in the foreground. It is interesting to see how the slightly foggy sky creates the feeling of an impressionist painting. The horizon is almost always barely distinct, turning the sea and the sky into a unified, mystical background. The result, in most cases, is somehow hypnotic; there is nothing extremely vibrant and everything, even the intense warm orange and red colors of the sunset, filtered through this combo look soft, in cool pastel tones.  The most significant for me was that the overall essence of the subject was captured, rather than its specific details.
Stavros Dimakopoulos

Combo #282 (Matthew Wylie)

Lens:  Lowy 

Film:  AO BW 

Flash:  Jolly Rainbo 2X 

"When we do not know why the photographer has taken a picture and when we do not know why we are looking at it, all of a sudden we discover something that we start seeing. I like this confusion." - Saul Leiter

"One of my close friends recently visited Paris and had the chance of grabbing a 2 volume copy of Saul Leiter: Early Black and White for me from La Chambre Claire, a book that isn't yet available in North America. Leiter is certainly an influence on me, but he's also someone I am only beginning to study and understand. This collection of his inspired me to try to replicate the overall bnw aesthetic I found in these books and so, after playing around for a while with my primary camera (Hipstamatic), I realized this combo was probably as close as I could get. This was simply a study for me. My initial shots were too bright, and I think that's because of the film, which can bleach things out a bit too much. So, I committed a street no-no and used the Jolly Rainbo 2X flash to add the necessary darkening. With the border of AO BW, Jolly's vignette isn't as pronounced. I tried to shoot in all scenarios to truly experiment with the combo: rain, shine, morning, noon, evening, 3 a.m., indoors and outdoors, a concert, through glass, etc.. Here's what I got - always with the beautiful collection of Leiter's early black and whites on my mind."
Matthew Wylie

Combo #281 (Julia Nathanson)

Lens:  Madalena 

Film:  Blanko BL4 

Using:  Oggl 

"I love the way this lens/film combo mutes the darker elements, and highlights what's left behind. Objects seem to be floating; people take on an artificial appearance. These photos were taken in and around the neighborhood where I live in Toronto."
Julia Nathanson

Combo #224 (Sezgi Olgac)

Lens:  Lowy 

Film:  Blanko 1 

Flash: off

"I love this combo for many reasons. Recently, I started looking for minimalism in the pictures I see and create, and the clarity of the Lowy lens satisfied that urge. The depth of the Blanko 1 film only adds to Lowy’s pureness, making everything look wonderful to me. I use this combo in two different ways. Firstly, to take minimalist stills of objects I love, such as books or flowers. Secondly, to capture moments in Istanbul's streets, especially around the old, colorful buildings in places like Balat or Tarlabaşı. Both work very well. Thank you Hipstamatic for this lovely combo and inspiring me for the umpteenth time."
Sezgi Olgac

More Awards in this category:

This post is also available in: French

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