Cinemagraphs to capture the essence of a moment

The Story of Cinemagraphs

Settings: New York, 2011-today

Characters: New York based visual graphic artist Kevin Burg and photographer Jamie Beck partnered in 2011 to raise animated GIFs to a new level, giving life to the cinemagraph technique, which combines still life photography and video, creating a whole new style of art for digital ads

Plot: The Kevin Burg & Jamie Beck duo made quite a splash a couple of years ago with their “cinemagraph” technique, a combination between photo and animation. The idea of combining traditional photography with video techniques is relatively simple (cinemagraphs are photographs with movement on a loop), nonetheless results are stunning : cinemagraphs have a mystical effect of bringing the viewer into the moment and allow a glimpse of time “to be experienced and preserved endlessly”. Subject to the photos can be anything from a fashion editorial to a portrait or urban landscape: a tiny movement, a breeze through the model’s hair, an eye blink or the sparkle of a glitter-covered shoe, animate the image, “unfreezing” the photo in time. Cinemagraphs have a retro, vintage flair that evokes the charm of old silent films.