Matthew Donaldson's take on wine and design

Inspired by SFMoMA's current show, How Wine Became Modern - which explores the world of wine and the role that architecture, design, and media have played in its stunning transformation over the past three decades - acclaimed photographer Matthew Donaldson has teamed up with renowned creative director Leila Latchin to create a series of surreal photographs of unusual wine glasses designed by some of the biggest names in the business. The group includes a Philippe Starck Baccarat goblet, perched atop a radiator, the Riedel “Eve” decanter – curled like a serpent ready to strike – which nestles in a windowsill and two works by Jeremy Brown: a three-foot-high wine glass stretched luxuriantly across a couch, and a horizontal-stemmed receptacle bleeding wine into a bath of water.

'I wanted to shoot these extraordinary objects in a "normal" environment,' said Donaldson, who has made his name with his distinctive series of everyday subjects shot in captivating and intriguing scenarios. 'Drinking wine is something that we’ve done for hundreds of years of course, but we’re doing it with a twist.'

How Wine Became Modern runs at SFMoMA until 17 April 2011.

Follow the link to NOWNESS for images of Matthew Donaldson's wine glass series