this thursday, november 7/come see me in Tokyo!

Pinch me! I am heading to Tokyo for a show of my work at Play Mountain! If you are in Shibuya on Thursday, November 7 around 6pm (18:00) come on over and say hello. I'll be there, as will 25 beautiful framed prints from both Handcrafted Modern and my new book, Modern Originals.

Play Mountain

#105 3-52-5 Sendagaya Shibuya-ku Tokyo Japan

+81(0)3 5775 6747

Hope to see some of you there! xx

handcrafted modern/outtakes/blunk

Well...obviously I am having a JB Blunk moment. I had to go through the images I shot for Handcrafted Modern the other day and realized that all the digital images I shot I just never even looked at. Like this first image. I literally had never noticed it until the other day. I am in love with it now needless to say. Click on it to make it bigger. Take a little mental vacation.

handcrafted modern/outtakes/blunk

JB Blunk's work in his home. Damn.

handcrafted modern/outtakes/blunk

I guess it makes sense that all this work on my new book has led to reviewing my first one, Handcrafted Modern. There are so many images that have never been seen, including this one at JB Blunk's home. I have been posting some outtakes on Instagram as well so you can follow me there if you'd like. I'd love to have you. I'm lesliewilliamson on IG.

Tonight!/Slideshow at Eichler Speaker event in Lucas Valley!

I hope to see some of you tonight in the grove of Eichler's in Lucas Valley! I am doing a slideshow and talk with Regina Connell of Handful of Salt and will share images from my first book as well as two houses from my new book. This is gonna be fun!
Click here for event details!

And don't forget my Kickstarter! Time is running out to pledge your support of the European project and pre-buy your book or some gorgeous limited edition prints.

This Friday, March 1/Slideshow & Lecture/Eichler Speaker Event in Lucas Valley!

Have I mentioned I am doing a couple of lecture/slideshows? I probably haven't because things have been a bit busy with the Kickstarter and writing my new book. But it finally dawned on me the other day. The first talk is Friday in San Rafael!!! And all of a sudden I got so excited! I love sharing my work and talking about all these wonderful people and homes with all of you. So please come! I will be sharing a small sneak preview of my new book in support of the Kickstarter and Regina Connell, founder of Handful of Salt, with be asking me some questions. And apparently there are tacos! Here is all the info. I look forward to seeing you all.

evelyn ackerman/RIP

I got the sad news Wednesday evening that designer, Evelyn Ackerman had passed away. I had the pleasure of photographing Evelyn and Jerry Ackerman's home for my book Handcrafted Modern. To say it was a wonderful two day shoot is a bit of an understatement. At one point I was shooting in their hallway and peeked in their living room to see them sitting on the couch looking at the new Ikea catalog that had just arrived. They weren't shopping though, they were observing where design was going and discussing the products from a design standpoint. The looked at it for at least a 1/2 hour. It was great.
At the end of my two days, Evelyn and Jerry took me to their favorite noodle house on Sawtelle in LA. It was the perfect way to end the shoot.
Evelyn's tapestry designs are among my favorite from her catalog of work and probably what she is best known for. There is an optimism and lightheartedness to them that always makes me smile. I also love the wood "tiles" in these pics (a couple outtakes from my shoot at their home). The ones in their kitchen are signs of the zodiac. Wish I owned one for my sign (I'm a cancer).
Evelyn, you will be missed and lovingly remembered.

travel day/let the adventure begin

I met a dear friend at Trouble Coffee in San Francisco the other day and this sat before my eyes. Yep. That is what this whole adventure is going to be. I am not really one to use the word "epic" but this book and trip is probably the biggest thing I have ever done in my life. The word fits I daresay.
By the time you read this I will be on a plane to Paris. And then the adventure begins! I continue shooting the European book. Eleven countries in about 9 weeks.
For those of you that have asked, this book is a continuation of the project that turned into Handcrafted Modern. Mid twentieth century architects and designers homes and studios. My dream list and quite a few new ones. I will be tweeting ( @lwillphoto ) and keeping up with the blog as best I can from the road. A Kickstarter campaign will be up soon as well so get ready to pre-buy your book and support my project while I am on the road. Here we go!

Handcrafted Modern in Casa Brutus/

So I first heard that Casa Brutus was going to have Handcrafted Modern in their books issue. Fantastic, I thought! I love Casa Brutus! Then they asked for access to images. Nice, I thought, guess it will be more than just a little 2x2 pic of the HC Mod cover image. Then there was a mention of the cover of the magazine. I actually think the first thought I had was, "huh? really?" I couldn't imagine. I've never seen a book get a cover of a magazine before. Then I got the issue. HOLY MACKEREL! I don't even know what to think! A fold out cover and a 6 page story? Really? So amazing! Thank you Casa Brutus! Thank you Ryan Conder of South Willard in LA (I really have to email that guy...). I have no idea what it says but I am putting this on the list of things I never even knew I should hope for. Beautiful and amazing! A great way to head off to Europe to shoot the next book. I am a grateful girl.
PS - If someone reads Japanese, let me know what this says, will ya?
PPS - User name "Serendipity" was kind enough to post a translation in the comments section of this post which, in my jetlagged stupor, I accidentally deleted. UGH! Thank you Serendipity for your efforts! You are so kind.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to read the translation. So if someone wants to try again I would be ever so grateful! Kisses from Paris! L-

irving harper/

I have been wondering what Irving Harper's Barn is looking like lately. Are there more sculptures in there? Have these disintegrated more? There is something so sadly beautiful in how these pieces of art he made are slowly just falling apart. Soon there might just be the skeleton hanging there and a pile of string on the floor. Wish I could shoot that...

Handcrafted Modern Slideshow tonight at Gravel and Gold/

Hope to see you all at Gravel and Gold in the Mission (SF) tonight for my (dare I say it?) last signing and slideshow of the project. Come up and say hi if you stop by! More info here.

Handcrafted Modern/AIGA 50 Books 50 Covers Winner!

Well don't I feel fancy! I was walking back from a meeting in NY yesterday and popped in to the AIGA National Design Center to check out what was on view. It was the exhibition for the 50 Books/50 Covers Competition and there was Handcrafted Modern! I totally forgot it was in the show! A big congratulations to Adam Brodsley and all the wonderful people over at Volume Inc. for the beautiful design on my book. What a lovely surprise! So proud that my book is sitting alongside so many beautifully designed brethren!

handcrafted modern/outtake/eames

A couple more from the Eames House. From the area you can't usually see...

happy birthday handcrafted modern!!!

It suddenly occurred to me this weekend as I was nursing a whopper of a cold, that my book is a year old! It is so strange, it seems like it has been out longer...so crazy!

I decided to run an outtake of the Eames house today to commemorate this milestone and to coincide with the California Design show at LACMA. They have disassembled the Eames living room and moved it there for the exhibition. So this room is now empty. I am so thankful I got to shoot it before this happened. Something about knowing that Charles and Ray were the ones that put this room together makes it different for me somehow.

handcrafted modern/outtake/eames

For some reason I have been thinking about Ray Eames a lot. I'm not sure why...but it made me go back and look at all my Eames images. So here is another outtake from the Eames house. I love how everything is an opportunity for arrangement chez Eames  - even the kitchen counter.

handcrafted modern/outakes/john kapel

Yesterday I paid a visit to John  Kapel down in Woodside. I hadn't seen him in awhile and as he just celebrated his 89th birthday, it was definitely time! Every time I visit John he has new projects to tell me about. This time I got to see two new chair designs that he is shopping around (both beautiful, btw) and he continues with his metal/jewelry designs.

John's jewelry making studio is one room that didn't make it into HC Modern just because there wasn't enough space. So today I thought I would run a couple of those shots. I love his jewelry, which echoes his fine art pieces in shape and tone, but my favorite thing in there was this little hand hammered copper cup. It is perfect.

Tonight! Handcrafted Modern Book Party at ReForm Gallery, LA.

Hope you all will join me tonight for a lovely slideshow and book party for Handcrafted Modern tonight at ReForm Gallery. I'll be sharing some experiences from shooting the book and the secrets I learned at some these amazing houses. starts at 7h30. Slideshow at 8h15. 6819 Melrose Avenue.

more info here.

Please come on over and say hello!

john kapel/outtake

I have been going through a bunch of images I shot awhile ago looking for pictures of kitchens for a magazine in Sweden and I happened upon this image of a detail in John Kapel's workshop. A lot of the time this is what I do...I took this shot because I was coveting Kapel's framed nautical knots. I've looked everywhere for something similar since. Every flea market and thrift store, I keep looking. Now I am pinning every nautical rope image I can find on Pinterest. I am beginning to think the answer is to take a knot tying class...it might be faster.

ray kappe/kids room

One of the chapters that did not make it into Handcrafted Modern was on Ray Kappe's home in Pacific Palisades. I really love the images from his home, though. It seems unjust to not share them. This is from one of the kid's bedrooms. The way the windows are placed create truly beautiful light don't you think?

early work/homage to andrew wyeth

last week there was another lovely review of Handcrafted Modern, this time on the 1stdibs website . One of the nice things that writer Erika Heet said was that the results of my shoots for the book were "painterly photos almost reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth's depictions of austere, haunting rooms." I happen to love Andrew Wyeth so I was well pleased by the comparison. It started me thinking about this image I shot early on in my career. It was completely inspired by an Andrew Wyeth painting. I found this old cutaway jacket in a costume shop in Burbank and it instantly made me think of Wyeth, so I decided to make an homage to him. I love how one object or article of clothing can flood the mind with ideas and memory. Glad I was able to find this image and share it today. I still really like it and it still makes me think of that beautiful Wyeth painting.