Captured Glow
Summer is on the wane, but I've made the most of the tail-end, at least with the camera. Most of what you see below has been shot out in the Quebec countryside and various parts of Newfoundland, where nature and the weather have both obliged with rich, carnival hues. I'm experimenting with various techniques, including the nearly ubiquitous HDR, which I fear is a photography trend running amok. When I've employed HDR, I've deliberately toned it down, avoiding heavy-handed 'clown sick' imagery where possible. One method is to go monochrome, while retaining the extended tonal ranges that HDR can offer. I've ...
Ray Kettlewell Paddles.
When I arrived to these shores in 2010, my wife took me out canoeing. I'd been in a canoe before, but only on a handful of occasions, and never anywhere as idyllic as the Canadian backcountry. A canoe instructor in a previous life, she taught me some of the basics, beginning with the essential 'J' stroke. I have fond memories those first trips, packing up her little yellow Mazda with dry bags, paddles, dog, then strapping the canoe to the roof and heading east for the North Frontenac parklands. Each camp fire roared with the frustration of a ten year camping ...
Marathon des Sables – 2013
I've wanted to participate in the Marathon Des Sables ever since I completed the Hong Kong Trailwalker in 1996 and proved to myself that I was capable of ultra-marathon distances. For a long time it remained an unfulfilled dream - always a reason why this year wasn't the one - job, money, other commitments, lack of vacation, the usual excuses. Now I've arrived at that point in my life where, to use and indelicate idiom, I must 'piss or get off the pot'. Last year I -preregistered for the MDS, and last month I paid the first of two installments. There is ...
Inspiration from Utah.
Apologies for the pause - I've been busy with various projects whilst preparing myself for a significant changes in my personal and professional life later this year. It's all very exciting. When the time comes, you'll see more evidence of the new direction right here. Eons ago I dabbled in photography. I owned a cheap SLR, printed my images in the school lab, even developed my own film. After graduating I was hired by an aerial photography and mapping company where I was responsible for first-run contact prints. My manager hailed from the UK, where previously he earned his keep as ...
Celebrating Freckles
From 'Middlesex' a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides published in 2002: Part of my interest was scientific, zoological. I'd never seen a creature with so many freckles before. A Big Bang had occurred, originating at the bridge of her nose, and the force of this explosion had sent galaxies of freckles hurtling and drifting to every end of her curved, warm-blooded universe. There were clusters of freckles on her forearms and wrists, an entire Milky Way spreading across her forehead, even a few sputtering quasars flung into the wormholes of her ears. I am, in my 43rd year, still peppered with ...
The 2012 Conqueror Typographic Games
Conqueror, the premium paper brand from Arjowiggins Creative Papers, announces its "Typographic Games",a creative challenge on the theme of sport. There is Gold, Silver and Bronze glory for the world’s fittest designers and a coveted ticket to the 2012 Olympics in London for the top medalist. The graphic design and typographic poster competition is open to creatives around the world and runs from November 2011 to April 2012. Entry is free and the only requirement is that their graphics incorporate the phrase "It’s not what you win, but how you conquer it". Full competition details are available to download at: www.conqueror.com/typographicgames Typographer Jean François Porchez will head the international jury of leading typographers ...
Tim Smith – The Hutterites of Western Canada
[caption id="attachment_2444" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun"][/caption] Brandon, Manitoba based Tim Smith is a photojournalist with a distinguished career for one so young. He's bagged an impressive list of national and international awards for his photography. His tear sheets include some big names, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian (UK), The Independent (UK), and The Globe and Mail. I first became aware of him through his magnetic contributions to Canadian Geographic magazine. A seminal moment in Tim's career came when he started as a freelancer for the Edmonton Sun, working alongside highly experienced, award-winning photographers. Under ...
Andrey and Lili – Russian Fashion Photographers Series
I've decided to herald the works of new breed Russian fashion photographers, beginning with the bewitching visual artistry of Andrey Yakolev and Lili Aleeva. Andrey is the photographer half of the Moscow based team, while Lili is responsible for the inspired art direction. To date, I haven't been successful at learning more about the dynamic duo, so for the time being, they'll continue in their guise as the enigmatic talent behind this stunning set of glamour photos, handpicked from an extensive portfolio of works. If Andrey or Lili do happen upon this page, then I'd love to chat more about your work.
The Fender Stratocaster
Today's trite aphorism is courtesy of Dieter Rams: Good design is long-lasting. I would add to that : Good design is widely copied. The Fender Stratocaster exemplifies both. In 1954, Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares created one of the most enduring and recognizable examples of industrial design music has ever seen. The "Strat" is still in production today, testimony to the qualities that made it such a groundbreaking instrument back in the Fabulous Fifties. Even Leo Fender was surprised at how the Stratocaster surpassed his expectations. The shape, immediately familiar to us now as the quintessential solid body guitar, was radical ...
James Dyson Award 2011
Over the last 30 years, the flow of our brightest engineering graduates was sucked into the bloated and profligate financial-services sector, seduced by lucrative compensation packages. Meanwhile, manufacturing was allowed to wither on the vine, seen as an unfashionable anachronism in the charge to a predominantly services based economic model. In countries like Australia, manufacturing shrunk from a peak of approximately 25% of GDP in the 1960s, to something like 13% today. It's simply easier to dig it up, grow it, or peddle intangibles. The absence of an export oriented manufacturing sector is an area of concern, especially as the ...
Poler Duffaluffagus Duffel
I've been a long time skater, though I don't usually travel with my board. If I did, and I know plenty of people do, then this bag from Poler would tick all the boxes. Included are stowable backpack straps, leather accents to lend it a little understated style, enough capacity to carry a week's worth of gear, and best of all, an additional strap to secure your skateboard, converting the Duffaluffagus (love the name) into a wheeled case. All for USD8o. Perfect.
Hublot’s replica Antikythera mechanism
The story of the Antikythera mechanism could be drawn directly from science fiction. Discovered in 1900, along with a treasure trove of ancient artefacts from a Roman shipwreck resting at the bottom of the Aegean, it was eventually revealed to be a complicated analogue computer, conceived to predict the motion of celestial objects decades into the future. So advanced was the clockwork genius of the mechanism, nothing would rival it's complexity and precision for at least 14 centuries. I have visited the Louvre, the British Museum, and many other equally distinguised institutions during my 20 years abroad. I've often marveled at ...
Design
Ray Kettlewell Paddles.When I arrived to these shores in 2010, my wife took me out canoeing. I’d...
The Fender Stratocaster
Today’s trite aphorism is courtesy of Dieter Rams: Good design is long-lasting....
James Dyson Award 2011
Over the last 30 years, the flow of our brightest engineering graduates was...
Poler Duffaluffagus Duffel
I’ve been a long time skater, though I don’t usually travel with my...
Read more posts from Design
Photography
Captured GlowSummer is on the wane, but I’ve made the most of the tail-end, at least with...
ViewBug award
Granted, a humble beginning, but I’m pleased someone, somewhere acknowledged...
Inspiration from Utah.
Apologies for the pause – I’ve been busy with various projects...
Celebrating Freckles
From ‘Middlesex’ a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides...
Read more posts from Photography
Music
The Fender StratocasterToday’s trite aphorism is courtesy of Dieter Rams: Good design is long-lasting. I would add to that : Good design is widely copied. The Fender Stratocaster exemplifies both. In 1954, Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares created one of the most enduring and recognizable examples of industrial design music has ever seen. The “Strat”... [Read more of this review]
Scott Walker – Oort Man
In the eccentric cosmology of entertainment, those who succeed early usually embark on one of three trajectories. Many take a rocket ride into the stratosphere for a quick sub-orbital jaunt, only to come crashing back down to obscurity, bankruptcy or premature death. Some achieve orbit, then inhabit our heavens in the form of a slowly decaying satellite,... [Read more of this review]
Dogs In Space
Don’t think less of me for quoting Nietzsche: “The advantage of having a bad memory is that you can enjoy the same good things for the first time several times.” As such, I’m looking forward to the next chance I have to see Richard Lowenstein’s 1986 movie, ‘Dogs in Space’. The rare-as-hen’s-teeth soundtrack... [Read more of this review]
Neil Hannon – The Divine Comedy.
I can’t reliably recall when it was that I first listened to The Divine Comedy. Sometime back in the 90′s for sure, and likely to have been during one of my Saturday shopping trips into Shibuya or Shinjuku (Tokyo). Many enjoyable solo hours were spent wandering the floors of HMV or Tower Records, hopping from one listening station to... [Read more of this review]
John Cale
John Cale left the experimental rock band he co-founded with Lou Reed – ‘The Velvet Underground‘ in the same year I was born. From that time, he’s released around 30 albums. This prolific and hugely talented Welsh composer, musician and singer-songwriter is one of my all-time favourites. I’m rather partial to this cover... [Read more of this review]
Read more posts from Music