One of my favorite photographers -- Dean Kaufman -- has teamed up with artist Andrea Zittel on a series of photos of the austerely designed residence of MoMA curator Klaus Biesenbach for W Magazine.

"Small objects make me nervous," says Biesenbach, 42, looking around his apartment on New York's Lower East Side, which is notable for its lack of not only small objects but also large ones. The living room has no sofas, tables, pillows, books or lamps; the kitchen has no countertops, cookware or appliances, apart from a $99 mini fridge. As for beds, there is a mail-order mattress in the bedroom, but Biesenbach prefers to sleep on the one on the outdoor terrace, weather permitting.

Of course, Biesenbach, who is known to possess one of the keenest eyes in the art world (along with a large wardrobe of perfectly tailored Jil Sander suits), could easily be inhabiting a predictably glamorous, art-filled Chelsea loft, but he offers up a few reasons he's not. Some have to do with his background in Germany, where he was part of an early wave of settlers in Berlin just after the fall of the Wall.

Read the full article here and take the virtual tour via Kaufman's photographic eye. The pictures are amazing, as is the space whose story they tell. As everyone knows, only a master can make virtually nothing look amazing. The design, which verges on no design, if not done well, would look more down and out than post communist chic. Once you see this guy's place, I guarantee you'll spend your holiday weekend trying to figure out how to get rid of everything in your apartment. Be careful. It's not as easy as it looks!

Make sure to check out Kaufman's site. His photos, like Biesenbach's apartment, are studies in chic austerity. Once you see his portfolio, you'll know what I mean. Like all photographic greats, he's got an eye for composition, but it's how he takes a photo and the look he consistently acheives that really matters. Ten other people could take the same photo and it just wouldn't look the same.

Dean Kaufman has created groups of photographs over the past 15 years for both exhibition and as a regular contributor to international publications including The New York Times Magazine, W, Vogue, D La Repubblica (Milan), Wallpaper, and Esquire Japan.

He also was commmissioned to photograph the Chanel/Zaha Hadid project in Central Park this past fall, which I'm trying to get my hands on. As soon as I have something, you'll be the first to know.