life in pictures... welcome back interactive narratives, you've been missed.

_posted in interactive narratives | photography | 12 December 2007

there has been a shortage of interactive media postings at cali stars, so i thought these new works could be the comeback post. sunday morning news catch up has been hiding out as well. let's be honest, i've not read one substantial thing in some months. but since the christmas break is slowing approaching, its time to catchup.

there are some amazingly beautiful images here. powerful and strong... anyway, on to the interactive goodies.

antero put me on to the boy in the moon. heartbreaking stuff...very well produced piece by a strong writer... it's very dense, it will take a few sittings to go through it all, but its absolutely worth it... there are at least 5 chapters for each part.

The Boy in the Moon

photographer: peter power/the globe and mail

part 1: full article and supplemental (01.dec.07)

part 2: full article and supplemental (08.dec.07)

part 3: full article and supplemental (15.dec.07)

_quote

Tonight is a lucky night: I can feel him slip off after 10 minutes. He stops grunting, strokes his bottle, turns his back and jams his bony little ass into my hip, a sure sign. He falls asleep.

I hurry after him. For all this nightly nightmare - eight years of desperate worry and illness and chronic sleep deprivation, the havoc he has caused in our lives, threatening our marriage and our finances and our sanity - I long for the moment when he lets his crazy formless body fall asleep against me. For a short while, I feel like a regular little boy's father. Sometimes I think this is his gift to me - but parcelled out, to show me how rare and valuable the gift is. Walker, my teacher, my sweet, sweet, lost and broken boy.

The Marlboro Marine

photographer: luis sinco

interactive video

l.a. times article (19.may.06)

_quote 1

It's an insane connection that you make with that person at that point. To see somebody in your sights and to pull that trigger, it's almost like you're there with them, seeing their life flash before their eyes.

_quote 2

DC was a slap in the face. I even had a congressman miss a meeting, and when I showed up at the office the assistant said he didn't have time to meet with a veteran. I didn't understand why a man with that type of job couldn't take five ten minutes out of his day to speak to someone who had fought for everything this country stands for.

_quote 3

To look back at it now and just think about holding a rifle, and firing at another human being, it's gut wrenching as well as, you know, brain wrecking. How do you justify it regardless of what your causes are or what their causes are?

The Ninth Floor

photographer: jessica dimmock

interactive video

_soundcheck: bob marley: kaya

this sunday morning news is brought to you by the letters T, E and D

_posted in film | photography | sunday morning news catch up | the world | web | 22 July 2007

today on sunday morning news catchup, ive spent a lot of time watching presentations from TED, which by the way is one of my most favorite things ever. i've missed a few great presentations and decided to go back and check them out.

James Nachtwey

james nachtwey has been one of my favorite photographers since forever. his images bring a serious reality and tell stories to those of us who are disconnected by time and location. It's great to hear him talk in detail about some of his photographs. if you haven't seen war photographer, a documentary on nachtwey, its worth netflixing.

TED Prize Wish: Share a vital story with the world

supplemental film

war photographer

Majora Carter

"Economic degradation begets environmental degradation begets social degradation."
Majora Carter is at the same time; incredibly passionate, extremely knowledgeable and lovely in a way only a person whose beliefs runs her life can be.

TED Talk: Greening the Ghetto

sustainable south bronx website

_soundcheck: femi kuti: shoki shoki

my newest crush...

_posted in africa | photography | 06 July 2007

wow. im so smitten right now... andrew dosunmu's photography is honest. and i love it. all his images have a quality that just screams realty, they arent airbrushed crap of artists or models, they are places and people that make sense. you can tell from his images that he's confident, he doens't feel out of place, he belongs where ever he 's taking a picture, he belongs with the people in his images. even his fashion photography appeals to me and i hate fashion photography.

he directed the video for youssou n'dour's birim! and any man who can make me love tracy chapman even more than i already do, is completely talented in my book. he's done work with common, patrice and other artists. and i'm not sure how he wasn't on my radar, cause he's exactly what i love about photography and film.

he did a documentary by the name of hot iron that i did see so long ago and thought, "holy shit. that's mad crazy, i love it!" check it out.

_soundcheck: youssou n'dour: joko from the village

C.R.S. - Can't Remember Shit syndrome

_posted in photography | sunday morning news catch up | the world | 01 July 2007

this week has been filled with news about the supreme courts decision and since my last post was about that, there are no links in sunday morning news catch up. but there are some interesting articles, none the less.

The end of photojournalism

full article

quote 1

In Europe, German photojournalistic magazines were influenced by the Soviet films of Eisenstein and Pudovkin. In the 1930s Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, and David 'Chim' Seymour - co-founders of Magnum - worked for Ce Soir, the communist daily newspaper. Cartier-Bresson also contributed to Regards, the communist illustrated weekly. Photojournalism was a left-wing occupation. Photographers, agents and editors, forced out of Germany and Hungary by Hitler, took their craft to Britain and the US.

quote 2

The Historical Section of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) gave unemployed photographers jobs so they could record the trauma of the American Depression and the triumphs of the New Deal. Later, Congress wanted to destroy the FSA's 270,000 negatives as un-American. They were saved and are now in the Library of Congress. Some 20 years ago Nick Hedges almost persuaded the Labour government to support a similar project in Britain. It went to Cabinet, but collapsed when the Conservatives won the election.

The General's Report

full article

quote 1

"The whole idea that Rumsfeld projects - 'We're here to protect the nation from terrorism' - is an oxymoron," Taguba said. "He and his aides have abused their offices and have no idea of the values and high standards that are expected of them. And they've dragged a lot of officers with them."

quote 2

The former senior intelligence official said that when the images of Abu Ghraib were published, there were some in the Pentagon and the White House who "didn't think the photographs were that bad" - in that they put the focus on enlisted soldiers, rather than on secret task-force operations. Referring to the task-force members, he said, "Guys on the inside ask me, 'What's the difference between shooting a guy on the street, or in his bed, or in a prison?'" A Pentagon consultant on the war on terror also said that the "basic strategy was 'prosecute the kids in the photographs but protect the big picture.'"

quote 3

"From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service," Taguba said. "And yet when we get to the senior-officer level we forget those values. I know that my peers in the Army will be mad at me for speaking out, but the fact is that we violated the laws of land warfare in Abu Ghraib. We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values. The stress of combat is not an excuse, and I believe, even today, that those civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable."

Are You There, George? It's Me, Ava.

full article

supplemental video

supplemental video

ava's website

quote 1

It remains to be seen, however, whether such virtual, viral efforts can serve as a replacement, or even a stimulus, for face-to-face networks such as church groups or labor unions.

quote 2

At an early age, Ava revealed herself to be more zealously political than her parents, and more left-leaning. By the seventh grade, she had persuaded her mom to let her be homeschooled. Ava didn't fit in at regular school, being more interested in the Electoral College than the latest gossip. She told me her teachers teased her for wearing a Gore-Lieberman T-shirt or reading Dude, Where's My Country? in homeroom.

_soundcheck: femi kuti: do your best

if i were paid to surf the net i'd be a billionare by now...

_posted in art | design | film | photography | web | 24 June 2007

david cho helps to prove that facebook is way cooler than myspace.

_update: fixed the link and check out the comments on this work...

should be required for viewing for all the myspacers under 18.

im a huge fan of phil borges work... so its nice to see how he goes about connecting with people for those amazing images.

really cool photoshop brushes.

really interesting pictures and documentary about manufactured landscapes.

whoa! selfkiss is at the same time amazing, lovely and freakish. there's something about the idea of one's self being more attracted to it's physical than those around it.

little dolls does exactly what it sets out to do; freak you the fuck out.

update: hungry planet

_posted in photography | the world | 12 June 2007

found a link to more photos about what the world eats mentioned in a previous post.

also, a coworker linked me to a map that shows each state in the US' GDP in relation to countries around the world. its staggering! we have the highest GDP in the world, but to see it broken down like this is just something to think about...

_quote

The creator of this map has had the interesting idea to break down that gigantic US GDP into the GDPs of individual states, and compare those to other countries' GDP. What follows, is this slightly misleading map - misleading, because the economies both of the US states and of the countries they are compared with are not weighted for their respective populations.

Pakistan, for example, has a GDP that's slightly higher than Israel's - but Pakistan has a population of about 170 million, while Israel is only 7 million people strong. The US states those economies are compared with (Arkansas and Oregon, respectively) are much closer to each other in population: 2,7 million and 3,4 million.

the material world

_posted in africa | photography | the world | 06 June 2007

recently while at manual arts high school i came across these amazing photographs of people's homes, turned inside out. im really late finding out about them, but i thought the concept and the images are just profound. nova has a site dedicated to "the world in balance," and the material world is featured. seriously take some time to read through "the world in balance," there's a lot of great information and stories there.

_quote

His resulting book, Material World, offers extraordinary images of families in front of their dwellings with all (or nearly all) of their possessions. Experts at the United Nations and World Bank helped determine the criteria for average families according to location (urban, rural, suburban, small town, or village), type of dwelling, family size, annual income, occupation, and religion. Here, we present five of the photographs Menzel and his team produced, along with updated statistical data for each country.

the photographs and ideas are that of peter menzel. i never knew about menzel's books but i've seen a few of his images over the years and never thought to look him up... i enjoy photography for the sake of art, but i love when photography (film, literature, any art for that matter) puts a mirror or even a different lense of how we see the world. if you can find a great balance between commerce and your passion, then you're alright in my book.

he's extraordinary in taking basic everyday activities and making you think beyond your own experience. his exploration on the economic divide; the haves and the have-nots is very honest. there is a huge disparity in material wealth the world over, but he creates no victims in his images, he gives you the honest truth of people's situations, for better or worse.

the images below are a great example of the genius of his work. the first image is one week's worth of food for a family in nunavut, canada, while the second image is that of a darfur family at a refugee camp in chad. i was dumbfounded by this comparison. these images are part of his latest book, hungry planet: what the world eats.

npr has interviews with menzel and d'aluisio (co-author) about the material world and hungry planet books. great thing about the npr interview is a complete cost breakdown for one week's worth of food. the interviews are very interesting as well.

i think the reason i find menzel's images so amazing is because of the process he goes through in creating them. working on my documentary in the last few months has been hard to say the least; working and school, while trying to get that done at the same time, but can you image putting your life on hold, in order to make a mark the only way you know how, with your camera and your ideas. i can only hope to get to that point, sooner than later, no doubt.

_soundcheck: andy palacio & the garifuna collective: watina

a photographer in kabul

_posted in film | photography | 19 April 2007

i really dig olivier laude's photography. i'm new to his work, but im taken by his portraits. he's created a short video from his trip to Kabul in 2003.

the kids in this video just grab me. it's hard in the midst of all the craziness to stop and think about the everyday people affected by policy and politics.

his musical choice on the car radio is very interesting; joni mitchell. I can't think of a better singer to juxtapose the images and sounds of kabul.

_soundcheck: tim rice and andrew lloyd webber, jesus christ, superstar

"you got more ideas than time"

_posted in africa | dayedayerocks | interactive narratives | photography | 09 April 2007

and... scene...

yea, it's been four months, i know. and in the last four months; lots of new projects, old projects revived, new ideas, etc.

a few things have stood out in the last few months; one being the time i spent teaching a workshop on documentary filmmaking with antero's kids from manual arts high school. it was only for two days, but i have to say it was the highlight for what has started out as a dreary year. the day after the workshop ended i realized i was getting up to go to work, not to hang out with these amazing kids. man, that was depressing. just those two days solidified my ultimate goal of film, media and teaching.

a few gems that i've come across.... enjoy.

MediaStorm always has great work. one piece thats stuck with me is "Kingsley's Crossing." Olivier Jobard created a great narrative from Kingsley's six month journey to get to Europe. there are times i need to be reminded that life requires courage and self-sacrifice, even when trying to make a name or a place for yourselve in the world.

Washington Post's On Being.
and
Peep Show.

_soundcheck: bob marley, legend

the getty

_posted in photography | 04 September 2006

my first attempt at fake model photography... this is a photo of the getty, from my 2002 los angeles visit...

happy refugee day

_posted in africa | dayedayerocks | film | photography | the world | 20 June 2006

today is national refugee day*. of course it makes me think of many things and people, but something that stands out for me is my friend nesanet's story... she's originally from ethopia and awhile ago should told me about her family having to trek to sudan, to a camp, a refugee camp. they were refugees. as much as i pride myself on being aware of the world; the injustices, the cruelty, the need for checks and balances not just for governments, but organizations (like the wto and imf) as well corporate entities, i've been pulled in so many directions that i've not done as much as im sure im capable of doing at this time, in this place. and even though "[insert-social-ill-here] day" is something that i'm sure is meant to evoke some sort of reaction, i find the concept lacking and just another fucking thing we do to make ourselves feel good... "i observed blah-blah-blah day."

_*

me : happy world rufugee day
sp : yeah
sp: i saw that
sp: wieeerd
sp: guess it's logical
me: yea a friend of mine lived in a rufegee camp with her fam when she was younger
sp: you regulate everything else to a single day
me: walking from ethopia to sudan
sp: like love and respect and etc
sp: no shit
sp: that's hardcore
me: indeed... fucking culture of those in control
me: **** day
me: we're so stupid that we cant see further than... world aids day... worlds rufugee day... world imperialist day...
sp: lol
sp: world imperialist day
sp: awesome
sp: that should totally be a holiday
me: it is... 4th of july
sp: that doesn't have the same ring to it
me: hehehe
me: indeed it does not... i think initially we were meant to be a shining beacon of blah blah blah
me: there are no shining beacons... and i wish people would admit to it... and stop acting like america, britain, or any other western country has all the answers...
me: fucked up fuckers that we are
sp: very true
sp: speaking of beacons, i loved that klimt story
sp: that's awesome
sp: surpassing picasso
me: yea im gonna go see it on next week...
sp: very outstanding

the skirball has a photography exhibit by michal ronnen sarfdie, rwanda: after, darfur: now now showing... to coincide with this exhibit they are showing the documentary, refugee allstars as well as a live performance by the band. the band is comprised of six sierra leonean musicians who met while in refugee camps in the republic of guinea.

being very interested in design and how design plays a HUGE role in social issues, i found these gems to be worth mentioning...

the refugee radio created by mareike gast, german designer, who worked at Freeplay. you can buy a radio (for $55) and it will be shipped to a community in need... a few of these have taken the place of a few items on my "must buy list," let's be honest half the shit on my "must buy list" isnt even worth looking at, let alone buying....

came across vestal design a while back and thought they are doing some really great things... one of their ideas, The SHRIMP (Sustainable Housing for Refugees via Mass Production), refugee housing....

a refugee camp in the heart of the city... i really wish this was going to be los angeles... check out the pictures... this will be in atlanta in september... i suggest those of you at home check it out!

_in other news...

i had this meeting with a friend concerning some business opportunities and it seems i was something of an oddity for him, since my goal wasn't to make money with my various ventures, but to establish community and/or community-minded organizations and goals. he says in business school you are taught to "go for the kill" monetarily speaking, the way of the business jungle and all that... i figure along the way money will find its way in my pocket and ill live more comfortably than i do at present. its already a sad state of affairs when money (lack thereof) is the determining factor for so many of my decisions, can you see it being the determining factor for my goals and behavior if it were to be in abundance. i can see myself being one of those many people (look to hollywood) whose reality is a construct of their own making. right now its a moot point even thinking about this since im as poor as a church mouse. but, as of late ive been concerned about my responsibilities as an individual and how little things have the ability of pushing my focus from here to there... although my fundamental belief structures are sound, i can at times, easily be pulled away from my responsibilities.

it's ten days into my summer and i've not done much. i have filmed a lot and gotten maybe 4 more hours of footage which is great, but damn if im not as focused as i should be for someone excited about finally working on her documentary. there's been too much drinking and too many distractions (making up for a semester of good behavior) and me being the extrovert i tend to be, too much wanting to hang out, when sitting at home working would benefit me more.

_soundcheck: wolf parade, apologies to queen mary

"it has survived wars, prisons, and strife"

_posted in art | dayedayerocks | photography | 17 January 2006

so those who know me know that im a fan of viggo mortenson's art and photography... so i was rather jazzed to see his new exhibit (with georg gudni) at track 16 in santa monica this saturday. so the show started at 6pm and by 6.15 we walked out... i was seriously disappointed by the work and by the presentation of the work... the photography is part of a book called "for wellington" and its compromised mostly of movement and light... which is great if it's "light and motion #3" in photography 101 at university x or some shit like that... some of the pieces were HUGE, as in six feet tall and for no reason. i just felt this overwhelming sense of coldness from them, nothing more... there were a few pieces that stood out, only because the other pieces weren't necessarily able to stand on their own merit... then in the third and final and smallest room were various series of what looked like pin hole camera shots that were absolutely beautiful... black and white pieces... the composition, the depth of field, the fact each individual piece fit with the other pieces in its series, made for good art viewing... why these pieces were pushed in the back room and last to be seen, i dont know... but most of my 15 minutes was spent there.

thank god that the patricia correia gallery also had an opening that night, and we were able to walk across the way and enjoy some fucking art. correia gallery only shows mexican-american and chicano/a art and damn if it wasn't fucking great. there were pieces by three different artists and they all held this visceral quality about them (which most of mortenson's pieces lacked).

i've never heard of gronk until that night, but a coworker told me his mom bought tons of his stuff in the seventies at mexican flea markets and shit for almost no money... and damn if i didnt just love his pieces... they really evoked reactions, some on several levels... the santa fe reporter has an interview with gronk (art director) and peter sellars, the director of the opera ainadamar.

_quote

East LA-born artist Gronk is an exquisite rebel, part of a clique of avant-garde Chicano artists in the late 1960s that avoided the clichés of macho nationalism. A queer, a painter more informed by I Love Lucy reruns than Aztec pyramids, an organic political activist with a sharp wit, I imagine Gronk what Oscar Wilde would have been like if he’d lived through our years of plague and reaction.

gaspar enriquez's piece, La Patsy, Los Homeboys, y Bush, is definitely an interesting piece. more so, because the order of the pieces can be changed about, as well as props added, like the brown sacked libation... enriquez says, "One is born a Mexican-American, but one chooses to be a Chicano, Politically charged, the Chicano lifestyle has been passed from one generation to another. It has survived wars, prisons, and strife." i hear you brother...

and my favorite of the three, Xavier Cazares Cortez!

chicano prayer wheels anyone? how awesome is this... and yes i did spin the hell out of the "just a little bit louder now" prayer wheel.... cause damn if it can ever be loud enough... or fast enough or angry enough or high enough... his collage of pieces were just amazing... my favorite of course, "don't Tell GgoD your plans"

the time spent in the correia gallery was definitely time well spent... and i left with a nice little piece of merchandise... no, no artwork (which would have been fucking nice), but i did purchase the saddest place on earth by camille rose garcia. it is currently the book of feature on the new coffee table...

flickr pictures from the exhibit

_soundcheck: bob marley, kaya

change me

_posted in interactive narratives | photography | web | 27 December 2005

change me: the power of imagery to create a change, is a very nice interactive piece (designed by asterik) ... and's its also a good way for getty images to put there catalog to good use...

they've partnered up with ONE to...

_quote

fight the global emergency of AIDS and extreme poverty, Getty Images is launching an online community to further those efforts as well as raise awareness on the state of the world by leveraging the power of imagery. Whether it¡¦s a call to end poverty or generate greater collective regard for the environment, this is a chance to express your ideas, challenge assumptions or simply make someone smile. In addition to creating this community, Getty Images will donate $10 to ONE for each submission made.

_soundcheck: meshell ndegeocello, comfort woman

Hope Is Vital

_posted in photography | 22 December 2005

http://www.posithiv.nl/eng/

moving images from http://www.pepbonet.com pep bonet of hiv+ individuals...

bound for glory, america in color: 1939 - 1943

_posted in photography | 13 December 2005

i've always been a fan of gordon parks, walker evans, dorothea lange and the other farm security administration photographers, so i was pleased to see the depression era in color...

bound for glory is a set of lovely photos in color that just really make the time period seem personal, more than just a part of america's history at large.

_quote

Bound for Glory: America in Color is the first major exhibition of the little known color images taken by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information. These vivid scenes and portraits capture the effects of the Depression on America's rural and small town populations, the nation's subsequent economic recovery and industrial growth, and the country's great mobilization for World War II.

_soundcheck: vince guaraldi, a charlie brown christmas

"little by little fills the cup"

_posted in africa | interactive narratives | photography | web | 11 December 2005

another lovely interactive piece, little by little outside of being lovely its content is awesome and well worth your time...

produced by 49th parallel productions and the oakland tribune... the accompanying article is rather short, but you get all the info from the interactive piece...

_quote

He saw them walk miles to learn in dirt-floor school houses, sharing books with other students crammed onto wood benches.

They had so little and yet were so determined to learn and so quick to laugh.

_soundcheck: richard pryor, is it something i said

photography tuesdays

_posted in africa | interactive narratives | photography | 06 December 2005

gideon mendel has a nice interactive piece over at the guardian, an answer in africa... i first came in contact with mendel a year ago when i saw his book, a broken landscape. he primarily shoots in various countries in africa and the hiv/aids pandemic...

_other interactive pieces from mendel for the guardian...

eight women one voice
Salvation is Cheap
Gideon Mendel in Mozambique: The children left behind

_soundcheck: me first and the gimme gimmes, are a drag

"everyone always wants to go to the other side"

_posted in interactive narratives | photography | web | 01 December 2005

i've been trying to figure out how documentary filmmakers and photographers have the staying power needed to work on a project for years... it's obvious that it's all small steps that make for giant strides... but it still baffles me...

simon wheatly does an amazing job at photographing inner-city youth in london, a four year effort. it's amazing... magnum in motion is an awesome idea, but the audio aspect of their projects are for shite at times... there are a number of slides, where the audio seems to prematuraly stop, pissing me off, cause everything wheatly says is so interesting and the images are so strong you want to hear the details... listen to what he has to say in slide number 23... ive rarely heard the bastardization of culture stated more eloquently...

alex webb shares photos from a 26-year period at the mexican-u.s. border...

_soundcheck: sufjan stevens, live @ kcrw 2005

world aids day

_posted in africa | interactive narratives | photography | the world | 01 December 2005

today is world aids day... get tested... learn a new fact about hiv/aids... better yet, teach a new fact about hiv/aids... be informed... be safe... be smart... be caring... be...

_links

global business coalition on hiv/aids
keep a child alive
stop aids campaign
unaids: i love the fact that the united nations programme on hiv/aids reads as unaids; as in to release, free, or remove from aids... smart...
we all have aids: kenneth cole's public service campaign... definitely worth checking out...
world aids campaign
world aids day
world health organization

_important things to watch

pandemic: facing aids is a five-part series that shows the effects of aids around the globe... it doesnt shy away from the pandemic and how it effects us all...

yesterday is amazing! i'll talk more about this movie later... you have to watch it! the fact that leleti khumalo is the main character was enough for me... because i can't get enough of the music in sarafina!...

kristen ashburn's photo essay on aids in africa

_soundcheck: damian marley, welcome to jamrock

"it's worth getting on a plane"

_posted in film | interactive narratives | photography | web | 27 November 2005

been extremely busy and then took some time to enjoy the turkey holiday... hope it rocked hardcore for everyone... tons of links from the digital storytelling side of the web...

came across this organization called bridges...

_quote

Bridges to Understanding gives voice directly to youth around the world. Our interactive online program connects middle school students in the developed world with their contemporaries in indigenous communities. Central to the program is digital storytelling mentored by professionals and created by students. We provide the tools and training that enable them to tell stories from their own lives and communities.

check out two pieces that really made me smile, maji: water shapes culture in takaungu and dwight's adventure, away from the "res"


from brooklyn to pristina was a p.o.v docu that aired in july... and the from brooklyn to pristina interactive piece about how a gun can be purchased legally in the us and then end up in kosovo, in a guerilla war.

the pineros: men of the pines is a wonderful piece about the "ghost workforce" of latinos doing some serious hard, manual labor.

_quote

They are pineros, the men who work in the pines. They are the major source of manual labor in America's forest industry, the muscle behind the Healthy Forest Initiative - often paid in tax dollars to work on public lands. And they are being misused and abused under the noses of government officials.

_magnum in motion

found this awesome little treat... magnum in motion is exactly that... digital storytelling from the horses mouth, as they say... magnum photographers giving you some insight into their process, their politics and their experiences.

i found the two larry towell pieces very interesting.

backstage with larry towell is filled with little nuggets of wisdom. I love the fact that he takes a DAT with him when he photographs, to record ambient noise... viewing photography is sometimes a very isolated event, to have the sound that was at one time attached to an image, takes me a lot closer to these people with no names and somber expressions.

looking at towell's pictures of el salvador in his land and identity interactive essay, reminded me of a movie i saw some months ago, innocent voices. i can't even get into how that movie affected me. i can't recall ever seeing another movie that had me weeping and gnashing my teeth in fear and disgust... thinking about it almost brings me to tears... it was honest and brutal, about war's affect on children. if you get a chance to see innocent voices you should...

paul fusco's the bitter fruit annoyed me a great deal, in terms of how the design and the audio just didnt work well together...it made the short comments seem rather choppy and caused things to seem non-cohesive. this picture above is one of my favorite from this essay, this woman is angry and you can see it... you can check out the the bitter fruit website to see more pictures, sans audio... if you get a chance make sure you read the comments... some touching and pointed messages...

thomas dworzak's piece on new orleans and hurricane katrina, ghost town, was definitely on point... it's really interesting to see how a foreign photographer views an american tragedy...

magnum in motion's 42 seconds on 42nd street

_quote

From New Year�s Day 2005 to the end of February, Magnum Photos altered the behavior of Times Square pedestrians. Using a digital billboard on the corner of 42nd and 8th, Magnum presented a series of photo essays that caused New York�s frantic crowds to slow down and look up.

style is the easy part of culture... jesse kornbluth offers up a personal view of the sixties, with lots of quotables... take 3: the '60s kids

_soundcheck: john lee hooker, serves you right to suffer

i'm back home in los angeles

_posted in art | dayedayerocks | film | interactive narratives | music | news | photography | the temple | web | 15 November 2005

well, on a bed of california stars is back, since ive been told several times i need to start it back up and i am tired of sending out emails, so here it goes...

two week vacations are freakin' long! i feel like i was in georgia for a whole month. re:birth, my first exhibit, was a blast! pictures are up… hoping to add more once i can track them down.

finally finished reading, on photography by susan sontag, while sitting in airports on saturday (as in the whole day saturday). previous to sontag's passing in 2004, i had only read one of her writings, notes on "camp," which i found to be very entertaining.

there are tons of passages from on photography that do it for me, but i think these are the most interesting...

_first quote

Nobody ever discovered ugliness through photographs. But many, through photographs, have discovered beauty. Except for those situations in which the camera is used to document, or to mark social rites, what moves people to take photographs is finding something beautiful. (The name under which Fox Talbot patented the photograph in 1841 was the calotype: from kalos, beautiful.) Nobody exclaims, "Isn't that ugly! I must take a photograph of it." Even if someone did say that, all it would mean is: "I found that ugly thing. . . beautiful."

if any photographer made the ugly beautiful, it was diane arbus.

_second quote

A photograph that brings news of some unsuspected zone of misery cannot make a dent in public opinion unless there is an appropriate context of feeling and attitude. The photographs of Mathew Brady and his colleagues took on the horrors of the battlefields did not make people any less keen to go on with the Civil War. The photographs of ill-clad, skeletal prisoners held at Andersonville inflamed Northern public opinion-against the South. (The effect of the Andersonville photographs must have been partly due to the very novelty, at the time, of seeing photographs.) ... Photographs cannot create a moral position, but they cnn reinforce one -- and can help build a nascent one.

regardless of one's views on the war in iraq, final salute is a very touching piece, and most definitely an "unsuspected zone of misery." there is a great deal of "appropriate context of feelings and attitude" on both sides of the debate on iraq.

_another quote

Photographs may be more memorable than moving images, because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow. Television is a stream of underselected images, each of which cancels its predecessor. Each still photograph is a privileged moment, turned into a slim object that one can keep and look at again. Photographs like the one that made the front page of most newspapers in the world in 1972 -- a naked South Vietnamese child just sprayed by American napalm, running down a highway toward the camera, her opens open, screaming with pain--probably did more to increase the public revulsion against the war than a hundred hours of televised barbarities.

(nick) ut cong huynh's image of a "a naked South Vietnamese child just sprayed by American napalm, running down a highway toward the camera, her opens open, screaming with pain." Winner of the World Press Photo, 1972. a portion of the "hundred hours of televised barbarities."

_in other news

the uc system's investment committee voted to divest from sudan! the recommendation goes to the board of regents in january for an up or down vote.

well it's started... i have no idea where this damn thing is suppose to go or exactly what it's suppose to be... but hey... who doesn’t want lay their “heavy head tonight on a bed of california stars”

_soundcheck: cat power, the covers record