Good reading

This is really, really good.
Ad-man Dave Trott waxes lyrical about all manner of topics.
Insightful, observational and engaging.
Worth a read.

(And written in a tight, concise manner befitting of the author's occupation - plenty of good stuff to muse over).

Photos that might make you cry

Days with my father is a stunning website put together by Philip Toledano.

Stylistically I love the subtle focusing and soft palette of colours but what moves me more is the obvious affection between son and father. He writes how the death of his mother and his father's inability to record short-term memories compelled him to begin a record of their time together. I admire them both for their honesty, the words and pictures expose a relationship to strangers and invites viewers into an intimate arena. Not sure about the navigation, it's very 'slick' but it's a bit idiosyncratic for my puritan tastes.

Mr Toledano also takes great photos of, among other things, bankrupt business and phone-sex operators. Worth spending a lot of time looking at these. (The photographs, not necessarily the phone-sex operators).

In his biography Philip writes about how a photograph should be "like an unfinished sentence...there should be space for questions", sentiments I'd agree with. Pictures can paint a thousand words but they don't have to tell the whole story. I like the idea that they can stimulate a train of thought and create a connection with the viewer.

Related post: photos and memories

Bob Greenberg

Good skills from Bob Greenberg, a man who seemingly forecast the way the wind would blow through the creative industries. Jumping from movie titles, into special effects, into web-design with apparent ease. Very humbly he spent a lot of time talking about the staff in his offices, no disrespect to them but Bob was so fascinating i'd rather he talked more about himself and his work. A very clever man, he said to Kodak ten or so years ago people would one day stop using film in cameras to which he was laughed. Wonder who is laughing now?

Projects worth looking at:
nikeid
nikeplus
nokia nseries

Impressive TV advert

That's entertainment – The first UK live television ad played out last night on Channel 4. It was a three-minute advert for Honda, featuring a team of sky jumpers spelling out the brand’s name to promote the ‘difficult is worth doing’ philosophy.

Spartan photography

Disciplined images from Rasmus Norlander
I really like images with white backgrounds

Blue Jake from Brooklyn

Recent discovery on the photoblogging circuit. Great photos not so much because of the style, more because of the subject matter - the down at heel side of New York. Warehouses, abandoned lots, and light industrial units are all captured by this Brooklyn native.

The well captioned photos suggest a man prepared to get off the beaten path to find the places other photographers just don't reach. And seems to possess a belief in the power of serendipity, always a delightful and rewarding trait.

Seen this at T5? Awesome...

Watch the video to see the cloud in action
Created by troika

Sad and moving

This photo and this writing by Duane Michals is pretty awesome (it's the combination of the two together that make the piece, the sum is the greater than the whole). I love the bitter-sweetness of it.



The caption reads: This photograph is my proof. There was that afternoon, when things were still good between us, and she embraced me, and we were so happy. It did happen, she did love me. Look see for yourself!

Fascinating how viewing photographs from yesteryear brings memories flooding back, and the emotions felt at that point in time are suddenly as vivid as they once were. Facebook has brought to light photos of me in my student days – ten years ago, but like only yesterday. My travel photos bring sensations flooding back and awaken experiences from teh back of my mind.

My father and mother separated last year and it's been a painful process for everyone, but as Duane rightly points out the good times will always be there and whether or not there is a photo to document it the important thing is that the good time happened in the first place.

Seeen originally on shanelavalette.com

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