And he sailed off through night and day

and in and out of weeks

and almost over a year

to where the wild things are.

For this weeks Photo Phriday, we found it necessary to honor the genius that is Maurice Sendak. Saddened by the news of his passing earlier this week, much of the world spent time reflecting upon and recalling memories of reading his beautiful (sometimes considered controversial) storybooks. Most of us know him for Where the Wild Things Are but he had an extensive portfolio of work beyond that including a book published last year.

If you aren't familiar with his work, clicking through these slideshows which include portraits, illustrations and images representing Sendak's life will help you see the true visionary that he was. Slideshows (linked below) courtesy of The Guardian and Talking Points Memo.

Maurice Sendak: A Life In Pictures

Maurice Sendak: 1928-2012: Beloved Childrens Author Dies at Age 83

While it isn't the happiest Photo Phriday, we hope you have a great weekend and a very Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Friday!

Yesterday at a food shoot for one of our photographers, as soon as she got the last shot, the digital tech jumped up out of his seat and said, "those are awesome, I gotta get that on Instagram!"

There's no doubt that you've heard about the free app that allows one to alter images (coloring, borders, add filters) and share with various social networks at the tap of a finger! We've all heard about the astronomical amount of money Facebook paid to acquire Instagram, ($1 Billion) a company that has zero revenue. It's all the rage these days and I'm totally guilty of being an Instagram user (and lover...)

So what's all the hype about? How does the development of apps such as Instagram and Hipstamatic make "everyone is a photographer"? And most importantly, what does it mean for the photography industry? (more after jump)

You can find LOADS of information (and we mean loads... from essays to articles) on the "Instagram debate" but we came across one particular blog post that we found to outline the positives and negatives written by the chairman and co-founder of PhotoShelter, Allen Murabayashi. Take a look here: Why Instagram Is Terrible for Photographers, And Why You Should Use It

Where do you weigh in on the issue? Go ahead, when you're out tonight at happy hour or at the dinner party this weekend, ask people what they think and report back!

Enjoy the weekend!

Happy Friday to all!

This week we are simply thrilled to have stumbled upon (thank you twitter) this awesome tumblr: Humans of New York.

Brandon Staton, creator of Humans of New York captures precisely what it's title states. The project is an "effort to create a photographic census of the city of New York, with an eye toward creating artistic portraits of strangers on the street". He's already gathered over 4,000 street portraits and they are wildly interesting. Once he shoots the portrait, he adds a candid anecdote from the shoot or some one liner describing the image and setting the scene. To read more about the goals of the project, click here. Here are a selection of the ones that we like best. Warning: it was tough to only choose our top 3, with their captions.

"Colors are becoming to anyone. Even a little puppy, when it has a coat on, it's very nice. Now go get me a peice of pizza, I mean it. Go."

"Keeping the thrill alive."

"Seven words I love to hear, 'hold on, let me get my parrot'"

New York: The City That Never Sleeps.

We've all heard the catch phrase that really does accurately describe New York. Love or hate it, this fine city has a distict "hustle and bustle" which is recognized worldwide. Plopped between Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station, the JMI office is located in the heart of what is often considered "tourist central". While it is quite a convenient for a commute, this morning I found myself overwhelmed (more than usual...) with the amount of tourists! I observed that there were more tourists flooding the streets than usual for that time of the morning, making it nearly impossible to even walk on 7th Avenue!

Thinking about the nubmer of people all the way upstairs to the office, imagine my excitement when I arrived at my computer and looked at The New Yorker Photo Booth blog which featured a post from a few days back entitled "Beautiful Tourists"! 15 glorious images (and descriptions..) from a variety of projects and photographers all who had thoughts and observations on tourists! Be sure to look at the entire post here but I included one in particular which I thought was great taken by Lucian Perkins.

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

This week for Photo Phriday we decided instead of picking one particular image or photographer to feature we would highlight a blog that always promises an interesting read and features wonderful imagery and photographers. It's a well known publication. Maybe you've heard of it, The New Yorker?

Having an article published in The New Yorker can be one of the greatest honors as a writer/journalist. The articles, stories, features, exposes and...let's not forget the cartoons are all crafted with immense care and thought. Similarly, their "Photo Booth" blog takes the photography selections as seriously.

The "view from The New Yorker's Photo Department" as the blog describes itself is constantly being updated with the images from the magazine as well as ones that are not included in the magazine.

Amongst my favorite entries in the last few days features photographer Brian Finke's Atlantic Adventure. It chronicles the Talisker Whiskey Challenge, a 2,900 mile rowing race in the Atlantic.

When you have a free moment, head over to the Photo Booth site. In the blog world, a lot of people try to be on the forefront of finding the next great blog! Sometimes the great ones are sitting right in front of you...and it's important to remember that they are well known for a reason!

Argg matey! We came across this series on Wired's Raw File and thought it was so hysterical. Photographer Terry Border creates all different scenes bringing everyday objects to life. The scenes he creates, shoots and post on his blog entitled "Bent Objects" have recieved buzz all over the photography world. Anyone and everyone can relate to these scenes because they can be characterized as: cheeky, playful, meticulous, clever, complex and just plain old cool! Check out a few of them below and to see more head over to his blog.

Happy Friday! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Photo Credit: Alvin Ailey Dance Company

Not only did this week mark the beginning of the holiday season, it also was the opening week for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Some of you may recognize the image above from the advertisements for last years Ailey Dance Company season. In honor of a new dance season, we wanted to feature some of the amazing images that capture the beauty and talent of the company! The cool thing about dance photography is that there is so much art involved in each image! If you are anywhere in North America you should dance your way over to the theater! Below is another image we thought was amazing...

Happy Friday!

This week, Ashley and Jordan from JMI took a trip to Minneapolis to meet with various Ad Agencies and Art Buyers from great companies! Braving the cold front that came over Minneapolis as soon as they arrived, they were warmly recieved everywhere they went. Thus we decided to dedicate (the bit late) photo phriday to Minneapolis. We selected an image of the Minneapolis skyline at night for today! While quite different than the NY skyline we are used to, it is welcoming and beautiful just the same!

Shout out to all of the people we met in Minneapolis who made us feel right at home!

photo credit to twincityamericanbulldogs.com

Walking down 8th Avenue on a chilly November evening, we had a photographer star sighting! The pioneer of street fashion and style photography, Bill Cunningham! Now we have seen the documentary about him and have spent countless hours looking at his images in the Style Section of The New York Times...but it was quite something to see him in person. Amazing New York moment right there folks. Thus, this Photo Phriday is to pay homage to the amazing, inspiring, keen-eyed and still biking Bill Cunningham. Ride on!

A personal favorite "On The Street" shot by Bill Cunningham

The New York Times- Bill Cunningham

For this week's Photo Phriday we went to National Geographic's "Photo of the Day" section of their website for a little inspiration. They featured a beautiful image of a creature that is thought of by many to be QUITE hideous.

The American Alligator in this image is totally ready for a manicure. Can you imagine the size of that thing? If that's what it's claw looks like, I would not like to get anywhere near the rest of it. For more from National Geographic, check out their website. Happy Friday!