In JPG magazine that is. I just submitted The Light to JPG magazine for the upcoming Dreamscapes issue. If you are a member of the JPG site (it only takes a moment to join) and would like to see The Light in the next issue of the mag, you can vote here to help get this puppy into print.
The Annual Exhibition for the Kingston Photographic Club opens tomorrow and will run for the month of April. Three of my photos have been selected for the exhibit and two of my Flickr friends, Crag Spider and Wayne Hiebert, will also have photos on display.
The opening is on Tues April 3rd at 7pm at the Wilson Room at the Kingston Public Library, so if you are in the Kingston area please come and check it out!
When I arrived home from work today I was pleasantly surprised to find the premiere edition of Photosho in my mailbox. The magazine looks great and has an amazing selection of photographs from many talented photographers across Canada, including two of my Flickr friends Wayne Hiebert and Trevor Haldenby. I was fortunate enough to be chosen as one of the featured photographers and was given a two page spead to show some of the photographs from my Illuminated Watercolours and Industrial sets. I’m looking foward to sitting down with the magazine tonight and no doubt discovering some new Flickr contacts.
What do you get when you combine a 70’s drum track, an edgy beat, and several sweet string melodies? I asked myself that question while playing around with Garage Band this weekend and here is what I came up with.
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Edgy Ballad.mp3 |
All of the tracks used to create the song were included with the Garage Band software. I couldn’t find any restrictions on how they are or are not to be used, so in the spirit of sharing I’m going to put a Creative Commons Attribution license on to this song.
Technology adds nothing to art. Two thousand years ago, I could tell you a story, and at any point during the story I could stop, and ask, Now do you want the hero to be kidnapped, or not? But that would, of course, have ruined the story. Part of the experience of being entertained is sitting back and plugging into someone else’s vision.
Penn Jillette, Interview in WIRED magazine
Growing up I was a huge fan of both Choose Your Own Adventure books and more traditional linear novels. I certainly liked the idea of being able to choose my own path in the story, however, I never seemed to choose correctly and always ended up making choices that lead to an unfortunate and premature end. On the other hand, with the more traditional novels I was never left disappointed at how things ended. Whether I finished the last page with a feeling of sadness or joy I cannot recall a single time where I wished it had ended differently, even in the most tragic circumstances. The linear novel may have restricted my involvement in plot development, however, I think that it was precisely because my involvement was limited (i.e. that I sat back and plugged in to some else’s vision) that I was more satisfied and enriched by the experience.
Matters of choice have been on my mind as of late (mostly due to the fact that I am reading The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz) and issues of technology almost always are. I’ve pretty much taken it as a given that more user choice, more interactivity, is the golden standard that is being aimed for as technology develops and evolves. However, I can’t help but wonder if there are certain situations, in entertainment, education and user interface (three areas where interactivity and user choice are touted as ideal) where choice should be restricted and the flow of the narration or the experience should be left to those who are skilled enough to make those choices in the first place.
Would I have felt differently if I had made more successful choices while reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a child, or is there something to be said for sitting back and plugging in and letting a experienced storyteller choose the adventure for you?
A wonderfully inspiring commencement speech by Steve Jobs recounting three simple yet powerful stories from his life. Here’s a few nuggets that really seemed to resonate with me.
You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect the dots looking back. You have to trust that the dots will connect in the future.
You’ve got to find what you love and that is a true for work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. And don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And like any great relationship, it gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking and don’t settle.
Now, if only he would do something about recycling those iPods.
Apparently Apple Inc. has some of the most outdated environmental policies around which means that their computers are responsible for a lot of toxic e-waste. Specifically, their computers are manufactured with toxic chemicals that seep out into the environment as they sit in landfills and they do not currently offer a recycling program* to help reduce the e-waste their devices produce.
Greenpeace has launched a campaign to encourage Apple to stop using toxic chemicals in their computers and to start a product take-back plan like other computer manufacturers such as Dell and HP. To support the campaign, you can check out the cleverly designed web site and if interested sign a petition.
*correction: they do offer a recycling program, however, this should read “adequate recycling program” as the program is very limited and only offered in the US.
I’m happy to announce that Towering has been selected to appear in the juried exhibition Mass Culture and Society, Exhibit 2A at the McIntosh Gallery in London, Ontario from January 11 ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú February 25, 2007. The exhibition explores both the boundaries and intersection of photography with culture and society. This print is featured in the Built Environment category which focuses on our relationship with the Canadian urban landscape.
This is a big first for me - I rarely print my photos, and the ones I have printed can only be found in my living room - so it was fun to print an 11×14 and pick out a frame for it. This is also the first “proper” self-portrait I’ve ever taken that doesn’t involve me extending my arm out as far as I can. Tripods and self-timers sure are handy. ;)
Thanks to Garrett for letting me know about the exhibition.
An awesome mashup showing the darker side of the beloved Mary Poppins. It never ceases to amaze me how some music and a bit of selective editing can make the good look evil (and vice versa).
I was excited to hear this morning that Flickr introduced geotagging functionality (especially since geotagging is something I have recently become interested in) and was eager to begin locating and tagging some of my pictures. My first choice was one of my most recent and personal favorites ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú Good Morning Machu Picchu. Not only is this the quintessential shot of the archeological site but it is one of the few photographs of mine where the location is actually recognizable and hasn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t been abstracted away. I was able to locate Cuzco easily enough on the map, however, labels and landmarks of the surrounding area were few and far between. I dug out my Lonely Planet and between the guidebook maps and satellite imagery I was able to follow the river from Urubamba up towards the general area of Machu Picchu. I got lost in the many mountain valleys and was about to give up on pinpointing the location when I faintly saw the switchback-scared mountainside of Machu Picchu staring back at me. On the one hand I was relived to have found the exact location but on the other hand I was slightly disturbed at how we managed to scar the landscape in such a way that a bus route can be seen from a satellite. Machu Picchu is a fine example of building in harmony with the surrounding environment, yet this road seemed to be a glaring example of how modern society is completely out of sync. We can send satellites into orbit to take pictures of our landscape and landmarks, but we can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t build a road that preserves the design integrity of an ancient site. Although I marvel at the ability to locate Machu Pichu on a satellite map, I just wish there was an easier and less obtrusive way to see the site, both from the ground and from above. The Incas designed their cities in the shapes of animals to be seen from above, but something tells me that this isn’t exactly what they had in mind. Machu Picchu was designed in the shape of a condor but now all that can be seen from above is a zig zagged bus route.