There’s picturesque photo shoots and then there’s the ones Gray Malin goes on. For his latest one entitled ‘The Art Of Design’ he packed up some house furniture and headed off to the middle of the South Pacific Ocean and the idyllic islands of French Polynesia.
Disrupting the conventions through which we traditionally experience design, Gray conceptualized an archetypal selection of mid-century modern furniture set atop the pristine turquoise waters of French Polynesia.
Iconic mid-century modern designs by Eames, Saarinen, and Knoll float atop a square 15 foot by 15 foot mirrored platform hand-crafted with the help of local engineers. Each piece of furniture, along with all the props and physical materials used to build the platform were delivered via airline freight shipments from the United States.
To accentuate the form of the furniture, this series was photographed from a vantage point where Mount Otemanu presented a symmetrical backdrop. Staging highly stylised elements of interior design in an unexpected setting, this series juxtaposes natural and man-made beauty, and challenges the viewer to interpret the art of design anew.
Art of Living from Gray Malin on Vimeo.
The short video above shows some highlights from the shoot, and take a look at some further pictures below.
To find out even more, or to purchase one of the prints please head on over to Malin’s website here.