Snapshots of Dangerous Women is a collection of photographs sourced over two decades from flea markets and estate sales by the art collector Peter Cohen. In candid snapshots from the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s, he discovered images of girls doing activities deemed extremely unladylike at the time – smoking, drinking, riding rodeo or playing football, each one as playful as the next, giving the boys as good as they get.

The photographs are essentially a showcase of Girl Power in its original form. Be they sharing cigarettes in pin up style swim suits or swash buckling in britches and boots, wearing men’s clothing with unapologetic aplomb or swigging beers behind the bike sheds, the women in Cohen’s collection of photographs are all breaking boundaries and crashing through the barriers of expectations – and having a wild time doing it. Each one celebrates a certain sort of spirit that we at KOTUR love – the spirit of a woman who is a renegade, a breath of fresh air and the best sort of rebel. As Mia Fineman, associate curator of the department of photographs at the Met, puts it in the book’s introduction, “She’s a tough dame, an adventuress; harridan, daredevil, badass.” This book celebrates her in all her unapologetic glory. A great gift for the adventuresses in all our lives.

Snapshots of Dangerous Women is published by Rizzoli

Photo Courtesy of Rizzoli 

Michelle Oka Doner Candelabra- I had admired this Amercian artist’s work in various magazines over the years, but first really fell in love with it when I saw it in person at Miami airport. There, in one of the largest artworks in the world, Oka Doner has inlaid the terrazzo floors throughout the terminal with over 9000 mother-of-pearl fossil like shapes. Walking through it feels like you’re treading on the ocean bed. Whilst that might not be something to take home, however, her naturalist sculptures are, and I dream of setting my table one day with her candelabra as my centrepiece. Called Burning Bush, is has an incredible energy and life to it. She is just so, so talented.

http://www.micheleokadoner.com/IO1.html

Mastercraft Table Bases - I’m a huge fan of Mastercraft, the American made mid century furniture. They did a lot of chinoiserie in brass that’s incredibly elegant and works really well at home, and I’m really hankering after their triangular brass table pedestals. I love that they’re really rather glamorous in a Hollywood Regency kind of way, but they also have an earthiness about them. It kind of grounds them, but also elevates them at the same time.

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/dining-room-sets/mastercraft-double-pedestal-brass-glass-dining-table/id-f_868461/

Les Lalanne Hippopotamus Bar – I came across this at the Ben Brown gallery, and was totally blown away by it. The late Francois-Xavier Lalanne only made 8 of his hippo shaped bars apparently, and whilst they are totally sculptural and beautiful works of art, there’s a whimsy and fantasy to them, too. They don’t take themselves too seriously. Plus, with one of these in your home, you really wouldn’t need anything else to make a statement. They cost a fortune, so we might be sitting on cardboard boxes if I bought one, but my decorating work would most definitely be done!

http://www.benbrownfinearts.com/exhibitions/72/

Madeline Weinrib limited edition Cushions - One of my very favourite gift shops in the world is the one in the Neue Gallerie, New York. There, amongst all sorts of beautiful things, you can find these great limited edition pillows from Madeline Weinrib in velvet ikat that are simply stunning. I love them because there is something very warm, welcoming and personal about them. Handwoven in Uzbekistan, their colours are amazing, plus they have this lovely sense of craft that’s found in everything she does.

http://shop.neuegalerie.org/collections/designer-madeline-weinrib/products/madeline-weinrib-velvet-ikat-cushions

Vintage Design Books – I’m always on the hunt for lovely vintage design and interiors books, often helped along by the brilliant website Abebooks.com. They will help you track down out of print books, assist you in building a library and generally help you work up a collection of beautiful tomes that speaks to the subjects you love. I’m obsessed with art, photography and design books, and was particularly pleased with a first edition of Slim Aarons’ A Wonderful Time that I found. Currently, I’m collecting all the David Hicks books from the 1970s.

www.abebooks.com

Luckily, it’s been a standout year for just such books. The worlds of fashion, photography, travel and design have all had light thrown onto them in a series of newly published titles we can’t wait to get our hands on.  With visuals designed to enrapture and subjects that range from Amazonian jungles to the Amalfi coast, steely beauties to starlets, perfect houses to fantasy fashion sets, here’s our roundup of the best books to give, should you wish to help transport someone away from their sofa and to another world this Christmas.  Should one also happen to end up under our tree, we’d have no problem with that, whatsoever.

Jonathan Becker – 30 Years at Vanity Fair

Via stints as both a taxi driver and a backgammon player, Becker, one of the Vanity Fair’s lead photographers, has been shooting for the magazine for three decades. Since his first picture was published in their prototype relaunch issue in 1982, the magazine has sent him everywhere from the Amazon to Aspen, via Buckingham palace. Famous for his portraits, on his journeys he has shot everyone from Andy Warhol to Robert Mapplethorpe, Arthur Miller to Gwyneth Paltrow, Jocelyn Wildenstein to Nancy Reagan. This book doesn’t just document that life, it takes you behind the scenes of both Becker’s shoots and his subjects’ worlds, shedding light on some of the most famous faces of the past 30 years. More than a book of portraits, it’s a romp through decades of our culture, a snapshot of it’s icons from the man whose job it was to really see them. Whether it’s escapism or insight you’re after, here’s your man.

Slim Aarons – La Dolce Vita

If you wanted to bottle the good life and then pour it into the pages of a book, here’s an example of how to do it. During a decades long love affair with Italy, the late photographer Slim Aarons shot the good, the bad and the glam of Italy living it large in the country’s most fabulous spots. From Sicily to Capri, bronzed bodies to boats, Ursula Andress to to the Amalfi, here’s a book that will take you far, far away from a wintry day at home.

Kate: The Kate Moss Book

She’s been THE face for decades, is THE supermodel still standing, and has looked good dressed in everything from nothing to gold paint. In a collection of photographs (some never seen before) shot by the great and good of fashion photography, here are the many faces of Kate Moss, plus proof of the power of quirky beauty.

Tim Walker – Storyteller

If fashion is about fantasy, then Tim Walker is a man who makes that magic appear. The British photographer known for his elaborate sets has had Lily Donaldson crash landing a Spitfire in a country house, Karlie Kloss clambering over Humpty Dumpty and even recreated the world of Alice in Wonderland, all in the name of fashion. In this, his latest book, his sets and portraits (all 175 of them) are conceived to take you on a journey somewhere otherworldly. They work.

Our brief six minute Q&A left no room for editing, which seems very much like her anyway- concentrated brilliance…

KOTUR: What is your favorite bag?
Candida: This one I have with me, from Issey Miyake. It’s black and holds everything I need and fits my shoulder.

KOTUR: What do you never leave home without?
Candida: I am not the type of person who has special or favourite things. I only take things with me that I really need when I am travelling. These are usually a map and some books about the city. I also take my mobile phone, a computer and a pencil. These are normal things I always have with me.

KOTUR: If you were to live in any other time, what would it be?
Candida: I am now at an age where I am very happy not to be a girl anymore. I think I grew up in a time [after the Second World War] where there was so much change and I learnt a lot. It was very exciting growing up in Cologne which was the capital of art. I met a lot of people at this time especially artists, writers and scientists – people who influenced me.

KOTUR: What inspires you?
Candida: I never think about what inspires me. Earlier on [in my career] I did very different type of work and when I was finished with this, I switched over to interiors which I have been doing for 14 years. I am very happy I can do what I want and select places I want to go and photograph. I also look through a lot of books and magazines, which can be helpful. When I watch TV or go to a movie, I also focus on the interiors of a scene. Fashion doesn’t really inspire me.

KOTUR: Who would you come back as in your next life?
Candida: When I was really young I wanted to be a singer and be part of a band. When you are an artist you do the work by yourself and in a way you are alone. But you have to talk to people about it, therefore it’s helpful to have a group you trust and whom you can talk to.

KOTUR: What are you most proud of?
Candida: I am really proud that I can manage everything I am doing in a short time and it still makes me happy.

KOTUR: What are you least proud of?
Candida: I don’t think about it.

KOTUR: What is your idea of pure bliss?
Candida: When I feel good and the people around me feel good and everything works fine.

KOTUR: What is your favourite smell.
Candida: No smell.

KOTUR: What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Candida: To relax.

KOTUR: What’s your idea of a perfect holiday?
Candida: I prefer to have no great holidays. I like to relax and be by myself but I prefer in a way to keep busy.

KOTUR: If you could meet someone in history, who might that be?
Candida: There are too many.

KOTUR: How would you like to be remembered?
Candida: Someone else needs to help me answer this.