Reminder: Perfection in photography is subjective

By in Photography

Reminder: Perfection in photography is subjective

Many of us could use this reminder to not get caught up in the pursuit of perfection in photography. Of course, this is easier said than done in the world of social media engagement, influencers, and online presence. However, Alex Kilbee of The Photographic Eye, gives us a handful of reasons why this is such an important endeavor for today’s photographers.

In the video above, Kilbee shares his insights from the time he went to photography school. Later on, he realized that there was one lesson that was missing from the curriculum. Perfection in photography, he said, is subjective, and therefore a fleeting, unrealistic, and unreliable muse. As life-long learners of the craft, we are always looking into what teachers, influencers and social media trends dictate as perfect. As a result, we tend to fall into the traps of validation-seeking, self-doubt and comparing ourselves to others.

So, instead of chasing perfection, he suggests photographing what resonates with us. After all, our photography journey is unique to us. Also, we should celebrate the incremental improvements, understanding that they are all part of our photography as an ongoing process.

What are your thoughts on perfection in photography? Do you agree with Kilbee’s insights and realizations? Share your thoughts in the comments below, or in a group discussion if you’re already part of the Photofocus Community!

13 art destinations for day trips near New York City this summer

By in Native

13 art destinations for day trips near New York City this summer

UPSTATE NEW YORK

Beatriz Cortez: The Volcano That Left
Until 13 November at Storm King Art Center, 1 Museum Road, New Windsor, New York
This new outdoor installation features three recent large-scale sculptures by El Salvador-born, Los Angeles-based artist Beatriz Cortez, a multidisciplinary maker best known for her sculptural reflections on the immigrant experience. The Volcano That Left, organised by Storm King associate curator Eric Booker and curatorial assistant Adela Goldsmith, takes on the simultaneous terror and freedom of contemporary futurity, grounding big questions about geologic ontology, history and the human condition in the language of improvisational steel construction.

The exhibition’s central thread relates to Ilopango, the Volcano that Left (2023), the artist’s “speculative reconstruction” of an ancient volcano that erupted 1,500 years ago in current-day El Salvador. The eruption, known as the Tierra Blanca Joven disaster, is considered one of the largest volcanic events in recorded history. Cortez frames the ash distribution from the eruption as a testament to Mayan spiritual and religious practices. “Lava flows under the volcanic range that unites my two homes,” Cortez has said, “Los Angeles and San Salvador. The underworld is not divided by these borders.” This non-linear, de-colonised relationship with time courses throughout Cortez’s practice; in November, her installation will travel by boat to Troy, New York for a show at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center titled Shifting Center. T.A.

James Luna, Make Amerika Red Again, 2018. Photo: Courtesy the Estate of James Luna. Forge Project Collection, traditional lands of the Muh-he-con-ne-ok.

Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969
Until 26 November at the the Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College, 33 Garden Road, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
This exhibition, the first large-scale show foregrounding the importance of performance and theatre in Indigenous art, takes 1969 as its origin point. That was the year the New Native Theater movement launched in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the exhibition features archival materials and documentation related to that movement. It was also the year the group Indians of All Tribes began their 19-month-long occupation of Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay, which brought new visibility to contemporary Indigenous issues in the Americas.

The exhibition, curated by Candice Hopkins—a member of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation and the executive director of Forge Project—features more than 100 works by artists including Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂), Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Band of Choctaw and Cherokee), Kay WalkingStick (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and Anglo), Marie Watt (Seneca and German-Scot), Dyani White Hawk (Sičangu Lakota) and Natalie Ball (Klamath/Modoc), among others. Many of the featured works employ humour as a form of critique, depict Indigenous bodies (and their absences) as a means of undermining stereotypes about Native identity or reinterpret traditional art forms to address contemporary issues. B.S.

Ellsworth Kelly, The River, 2004 © Ellsworth Kelly and Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles

Ellsworth Kelly: States of The River
29 June-29 October at the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, 82 North Broadway, Nyack, New York
The Edward Hopper House Museum and Study Center in Nyack, New York, has joined forces with the Ellsworth Kelly Studio and other organisations to launch States of The River, an exhibition focused on Kelly’s lithographs named for major waterways around the world, including the Hudson (which the Hopper House Museum overlooks), the Amazon and the Nile. Held at Hopper’s birthplace and childhood home, the exhibit will bring together nine lithographs Kelly created between 2004 and 2005 and coincides with the centenary of his birth. Kelly and Hopper were “equally captivated by rivers and the interaction of light on the water’s surface”, museum director Kathleen Motes Bennewitz said in a statement. C.P.

Rita McBride, Arena, 1997. View of the exhibition Time as Matter. MACBA Collection. New Acquisitions, 2009. MACBA Collection. Study Centre. MACBA Historical Fonds. © MACBA Museu d’ArtContemporanide Barcelona.© Of the artwork: © Rita McBride, VEGAP/ARS. Photo: Tony Coll

Rita McBride: Momentum
1 July 2023-January 2025 at Dia Beacon, 3 Beekman Street, Beacon, New York
Rita McBride’s well known Arena (1997) will be installed at the Dia Art Foundation’s Beacon location this summer in an exhibition that explores how architecture and design is incorporated in day-to-day life within the public sphere. The artist’s modular Twaron and wood Arena seating area will be activated throughout the presentation with performances by artists, writers, musicians and dancers, according to Dia. A section of McBride’s work involving public infrastructure from the previous two decades will be presented alongside Arena. C.P.

Installation view of Welcome to New York! at Magazzino Italian Art, Cold Spring, New York. Photo by Marco Anelli/Tommaso Sacconi. Courtesy Magazzino Italian Art

Welcome to New York!
Until June 2024 at Magazzino Italian Art, 2700 Route 9, Cold Spring, New York
To mark Magazzino Italian Art’s sixth anniversary, the museum dedicated to post-war and contemporary Italian art is showing new work by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. A mixed media sculpture, Welcome to New York! draws inspiration from the Statue of Liberty and features colourful, cascading rags tied to a metal crown. Seven of Pistoletto’s mirrored sculptures will be displayed alongside Welcome to New York!. Magazzino will also unveil a permanent installation by Pistoletto, Terzo paradiso, on the museum’s grounds. The project was completed with 46 stones excavated during the construction of a new pavilion. Magazzino will also host the official Upstate Art Weekend kickoff party on 21 July. C.P.

Installation view of Women Reframe American Landscape: Susie Barstow & Her Circle at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site © Peter Aaron/OTTO

Women Reframe American Landscape: Susie Barstow & Her Circle
Until 29 October 29, Thomas Cole National Historic Site, 218 Spring Street, Catskill, New York
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is restoring a lost name to her proper place in the canon this summer. Women Reframe American Landscape is the first retrospective of artist Susie Barstow (1836-1925), well-respected in her time but forgotten in the century since her death. The exhibition seeks to retroactively “reinsert” Barstow into the legacy of the Hudson River School, America’s landmark artistic “fraternity” founded by the institution’s namesake, Thomas Cole. As the Hudson Valley continues to grow in popularity, the legacy of its art historical tradition is being updated for a contemporary audience.

Women Reframe American Landscape also features work by contemporary artists in conversation with Bartstow’s, reflecting subsequent approaches to the landscape. This portion of the show features a new work by the Guerrilla Girls, an outdoor sculpture by Jean Shin, an interactive library installation by Mary Mattingly and works on canvas by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Kay WalkingStick. “This exhibition represents the growing interest in, and need for, greater inclusivity and diverse voices when telling the story of the American landscape movement,” Nancy Siegel, professor of art history at Towson University and exhibition co-curator, said in a statement. (After its run at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, the exhibition will go on view at the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut, 16 November 2023-31 March 2024.) T.A.

LONG ISLAND

Installation view of Artists Choose Parrish, Part I A. Left: Sam Moyer, My heart is like a wheel, (2022). Right: Lynda Benglis, Untitled, 1979. Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York. Photo: Gary Mamay

Artists Choose Parrish Part 1 A
Until 6 August, Parrish Art Museum, 279 Montauk Highway, Water Mill, New York
The Parrish Art Museum is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a conceptual retrospective of sorts—41 renowned artists with ties to the east end of Long Island have selected work from the museum’s collection to show alongside their own. Artists Choose Parrish, organised by Corinne Erni, the museum’s deputy director of curatorial affairs, is unfolding in three parts. Part I, split into A and B rotation, pairs the work of contemporary artists who have spent time in and around the Hamptons like Mary Heilmann, Cindy Sherman, Eric Fischl and Ross Bleckner with pieces by art historical figures like William Merritt Chase and Jackson Pollock, juxtaposing cultural, visual and creative narratives across time, movements and genres. The exhibition is also an opportunity to delve into into PAM’s 3,600-piece online and in-person collection, affording opportunities to see rarely-exhibited gems and discover new connections between contemporary and historical works. T.A.

Renée Cox, Red Coat, 2004 Courtesy the artist

Renée Cox: A Proof of Being
2 July-4 September at Guild Hall, 158 Main Street, East Hampton, New York
The centrepiece of Guild Hall’s reopening following a $25m renovation is a thoroughly overdue 30-year survey of Renée Cox’s photographic work, which often involves elaborate self-portraiture in which she assumes various guises—from supermodels and superheroes to historical figures and artistic tropes—to unsettle conventions of gender, race and beauty. In addition to a recent video installation, Soul Culture (2022), the show (organised by independent curator Monique Long) brings together earlier series like her rumination on motherhood, Yo Mama (1992-94), and other iconic images from the 1990s and early 2000s. Also featured is her 12ft-wide photograph The Signing (2017), which reimagines Howard Chandler Christy’s 1940 painting Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States but replaces all the historical figures with people of colour. B.S.

CONNECTICUT

Raven Halfmoon, Weeping Willow Women, 2022 Courtesy of the artist and Kouri + Corrao Gallery

Raven Halfmoon: Flags of Our Mothers
Until 7 January 2024 at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 258 Main Street, Ridgefield, Connecticut
In her bravura earthenware sculptures the artist Raven Halfmoon, who is a member of the Caddo Nation, transforms the iconography of historical statues and sculptural portraits. She brings in influences from Caddo tattooing to Land art and Moai sculpture to create pieces that are often monumental in scale yet also intensely personal and richly tactile. Her heavily worked sculptures, which can rise as tall as nine feet and weigh more than 800 pounds, feature impressions of her fingers and expressively dripping glazes. The pieces here span the past five years and include brand new works; the show, which was co-curated by Amy Smith-Stewart of the Aldrich and Rachel Adams of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha, Nebraska, will travel there following its run in Connecticut. B.S.

Installation view of In a New Light: Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art at Yale University Art Gallery. Photo: Jessica Smolinski

In a New Light: Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art
Until 3 December at the Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut
Visitors to In a New Light: Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art can see more than 50 paintings from the Yale Center for British Art’s (YCBA) collection at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven while the YCBA is closed for a conservation project. The exhibition covers 400 years of British painting with works from artists like Mary Beale, John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth and JMW Turner. Highlights include an 1818 seascape by Turner and Constable’s Hampstead Heath (around 1825). The display occupies a section of the fourth floor of the Yale University Art Gallery’s Kahn building, which was designed by Louis I. Kahn and was the first modernist structure on the university’s campus. The YCBA is home to the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. C.P.

NEW JERSEY

Installation view, Adama Delphine Fawundu: In the Spirit of Àṣẹ, at the Newark Museum of Art. Photos by Richard Goodbody

Adama Delphine Fawundu: In the Spirit of Àṣẹ
Until 10 March 2024 at the Newark Museum of Art, 49 Washington Street, Newark, New Jersey
An exhibition at the Newark Museum of Art pairs 17 new works by Sierra Leonean-American photographer and visual artist Adama Delphine Fawundu with objects from the museum’s collection of global African art to explore ancestral memory and liberation. Much of Fawundu’s work includes images of herself at historic sites related to Black resistance in Africa and the Americas. For this exhibition, Farundu chose to include three works by Sierra Leonean artist Olayinka Miranda Burney-Nicol, a pioneer of modern African art. Fuwundu approached the work from the Newark Museum of Art’s collection as connected and intertwined with what the Yorùbá people in West Africa call “Àṣẹ”, a life force that causes things to happen and change, the museum said. C.P.

Meryl McMaster, Harbourage for a Song, 2019, from the series As Immense as the Sky Courtesy of the artist and Stephen Bulger Gallery and Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain

Meryl McMaster: Chronologies
Until 15 October at Montclair Art Museum, 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey
Though most concisely described as a photographer, Québec-based artist Meryl McMaster, who is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation and the Siksika Nation, works across disciplines, incorporating elements of sculpture and performance to create powerful and enigmatic images. She fashions elaborate costumes and sculptural props, often augmented with dramatic makeup, which then form the basis for self-portraits and tableaux she shoots at sites that hold significance for her family and community. For instance, in her recent series Stories of my Grandmothers | nōhkominak ācimowina (2022)—showing in the US for the first time—she re-creates family stories using objects, images and accounts of events from her Plains Cree and Métis grandmothers. B.S.

Installation view of Spiral Q: The Parade featuring the Make Your Own Protest Sign maker space All objects Courtesy of Spiral Q. Photo: Bruce M. White

Spiral Q: The Parade
Until 7 January 2024 at Grounds for Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton, New Jersey
Spiral Q is a Philadelphia-based non-profit known for their creative protests and direct action campaigns, which typically incorporate elements of large-scale puppetry, elaborate costumes and props. Since 1996, the group has animated street festivals and celebrations, as well as bringing powerful imagery and pageantry to protests against police brutality and violence against transgender people, in support of greater environmental regulation and more. This exhibition brings together materials from past actions and protests, plus new images of footage of their performances and portraits of Spiral Q members. B.S.

Talented Photographer That ‘Nobody Knows’ is Ready to Quit

By in Photography

Talented Photographer That ‘Nobody Knows’ is Ready to Quit
Patagonia
One of Andrew Waddington’s gorgeous landscape photos.

A talented landscape photographer says his decision to reject most social media platforms has resulted in him being “virtually unknown” and he is ready to bow out of the medium.

Despite capturing breathtaking landscape photos, Andrew Waddington tells PetaPixel that nobody is aware of him “primarily because I refuse to use Instagram” and his best work “barely receives a handful of views on Flickr.”

Waddington’s only online outlet is his Flickr page which he fills with stunning views of Patagonia where he has spent four years.

“Few words are needed to describe the beauty of Patagonia. I come specifically to Los Glaciers National Park because I’m drawn to the sharp dramatic peaks,” he says.

“I’ve seen nearly all of the world’s 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) peaks and nothing comes close to Cerro Torre and Mt Fitz Roy.”

Patagonia

Patagonia

Rejecting Social Media as a Photographer

Social media plays a vital role in the photography landscape, for many it’s not just about sharing their work for likes — it’s also a vital marketing tool and a way to land clients.

However, there are many pitfalls. And in 2017, despite having a following on Instagram and other platforms, Waddington felt the negatives outweighed the benefits.

“I closed them down after I became aware that certain places were being damaged through over-visitation,” he says.

“In more recent years, I’ve tried not to look at the work other people do. Instead of looking at other people’s pictures on Instagram, I prefer to use Google Earth to try to visualize how a landscape might look.

“I do this because I want to find new compositions on my own. I’m not always successful, at times I’ve shot the same scene as others, when this happens I like to give credit to the person I believe shot there first.”

Patagonia

Patagonia

Overtourism is a problem the world over, but that’s not the only reason Waddington has declined to upload his photos online.

“If you hope to improve as a photographer social media can also help you to improve,” he says.

“However, if you’re using social media for dopamine hits then you’re probably using it for the wrong reasons.

“In many ways, I like the freedom I have without having to appease Instagram followers and so I don’t feel disenfranchised [from photography].”

Patagonia

Quitting Photography

Waddington tells PetaPixel that he is ready to “call it a day” and take up printing instead.

“Some years back I set a goal to capture five images, I wanted five images that would have a really strong meaning to me,” he explains.

“I like getting a lucky ’snap’ just like anyone else, but the photographs that took real effort; perhaps the ones that happened despite adversity are the ones that will have a lasting appeal to me.

“I’ve spent roughly four out of the last 13 years in Patagonia. I believe I’ve captured images I’d like to be looking at in old age and so processing and printing them is the next logical step. I aim to create the finest quality, cleanest prints using a linear profile and work on raw on raw layers.”

Patagonia

Patagonia

Aside from that, he acknowledges that heavy camera equipment is a burden and can prevent further travel.

“I like to hike with just a lightweight backpack. If I’m content with five prints then subsequent photography is likely to just remain as web images,” he says.

“If that’s the case I don’t see the need to carry heavy camera gear. I might just as well shoot with a cell phone.”

Patagonia
Waddington hiking in Los Glaciers National Park.

No Social Media, No Pressure

The English photographer is demanding of himself, admitting that he “can be extremely picky.” He has made foreign trips without returning with a single image.

“I don’t have the pressure to keep performing to my audience in the way someone with an Instagram following might,” he says.

“I would, however, be lying if I said I don’t miss some of the encouragement I used to get from having an image top of 500px.”

Patagonia

More of Waddington’s work can be seen on his Flickr page.

Image credits: All photos by Andrew Waddington.

The 2023 Audubon Photography Awards: The Top 100

By in Photography

The 2023 Audubon Photography Awards: The Top 100
image

Another year, another fantastic Audubon Photography Awards. For the 14 installment of our annual competition, we had more than 2,200 individuals from across the United States and Canada submit almost 9,000 photographs and videos. Then the hard part began: After reviewing every anonymous image and video file, three panels of expert judges selected just 13 winners and honorable mentions. Be sure to check them out if you haven’t already. 

But as always, with so many amazing submissions, we couldn’t stop there. So here are 100 more of our favorite photos for your enjoyment. Shared in no particular order, these shots show birds from around the world in all of their breathtaking variety and wonder. The images also illustrate the many different techniques and approaches used by wildlife photographers, which you can read about in the detailed “behind the shot” stories for each photograph.

After perusing this gallery, you might feel inspired to pick up a camera and try your own hand at avian photography. If so, our photography section is a good place to get started. There you’ll find articles covering tips and how-to’s, Audubon’s ethical guidelines for wildlife photography, and gear recommendations. And if you end up capturing one or more images you’re especially pleased with, considering entering next year’s awards! 

Luminous Creatures Haunt Darkened Landscapes in Hannu Huhtamo’s Dreamlike Light Paintings

By in Art World News

Luminous Creatures Haunt Darkened Landscapes in Hannu Huhtamo’s Dreamlike Light Paintings

“Serenity” (2021). All images © Hannu Huhtamo, shared with permission

Glowing swans float atop a lake, a jellyfish-like creature hovers in the air, and supernatural alien blooms spring from the ground in Hannu Huhtamo’s ethereal light paintings, which position radiant creatures among darkened landscapes. Long-exposure photography has been the Helsinki-based artist’s medium of choice since 2008, having spawned a robust repertoire of plants and animals both real and imagined.

As shown in the making-of video below, each completed work contains minutes or even hours of heavily choreographed painting, all captured in camera with no post-production editing. “If I start from scratch, it takes about a week to learn how to draw the new shape with light,” Huhtamo (previously) shares. “First, I want to do some simple sketches on paper. After that, I try to figure out how to do all the elements by using my light tools. I usually divide the form or a shape into sections and then practice each part separately.” Finding the proper location for the life form is the most difficult step in the process because the environment needs to feel natural for the intended creature and be dark enough for the composition to glow.

To create the works, Huhtamo primarily uses various sizes of optical fibers, which give “smooth transparent light trails that have a nice organic texture.” These fibers require sufficient power to be effective, so he attaches them to 1,200 to 2,500-lumen flashlights with custom adaptors. Colored filters in turquoise, yellow, pink, and green slot between the two elements to produce vibrant hues.

Huhtamo is currently working on a few collaborations and commercial projects, and you can find more of his paintings and information about prints on his site and Instagram.

 

A jellyfish-like creature floats mid-air in a blue light painting with red rings in the center

“Imaginary Sea Creature 1” (2022)

Four light paintings all in forests, on the top left are two birds in pink, on the top are two wolves in yellow, on the bottom left are two antelope in blue, and on the bottom right are otherworldly palnts in pink

Top left: “Âmes Libres” (2019). Top right: “Wild Ones” (2021). Bottom left: “The Bond” (2019). Bottom right: “Risen” (2021)

Two otherworldly plants in pink glow on the landscape

“New Terrain” (2022)

Four glowing otherworldly marine-like animals on black backdrops

From the ‘Imaginary Sea Creature’ series (2022)

A glowing green plan amid a forest landscape

“Photon” (2021)

Three glowing purple plants under a darkened tree with light trails in the sky

“Starmade” (2021)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Luminous Creatures Haunt Darkened Landscapes in Hannu Huhtamo’s Dreamlike Light Paintings appeared first on Colossal.

Photographer Shares His Playful Perspective of the World Around Us

By in Photography

Photographer Shares His Playful Perspective of the World Around Us

Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas

Lisbon-based photographer Hugo Suíssas turns the impossible into reality. Using forced perspective, he juxtaposes household objects and sometimes himself with real-life settings, creating playful images that fool the eye. From the Statue of Liberty getting sprayed with deodorant to a screwdriver that pairs perfectly with a twisty skyscraper, these images are as clever as they are entertaining.

Suíssas proves that you don’t need a high-end budget for amazing photos, as most of his pictures are made with items that everyone owns. So, once he has found the desired location to take a picture, he will incorporate a smaller prop into the composition. This can be anything from toothpaste or nail clippers to a pair of scissors or a roll of aluminum foil. And while these objects are not extraordinary on their own, Suíssas’ understanding of forced perspective helps him merge their shapes and functions into the landscape.

In one photo, for instance, he inserts a pencil into a pencil sharpener and the shavings blend into an orange spiral staircase. Another photo features a hand holding an average whisk in front of a few flying birds, creating the illusion that they are trapped inside a birdcage. By using his imagination and the objects he has on hand, the sky is the limit for Suíssas’ photography.

Check out more of his forced perspective photography below and keep up to date with his latest additions by following Suíssas on Instagram.

Lisbon-based photographer Hugo Suíssas creates photos with surreal compositions.

Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas

He uses forced perspective to create these whimsical tricks of the eye.

Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas

Everyday objects are juxtaposed with large-scale settings to create these optical illusions.

Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas

Scissors, clothes hangers, pencil sharpeners, and more appear to merge with their surroundings.

Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas
Forced Perspective Photography by Hugo SuissasForced Perspective Photography by Hugo Suissas

Hugo Suíssas: Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Hugo Suíssas.

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‘Glow Yoga Pizza Party’ Event Combines Some of the Best Things in Life

By in Native

‘Glow Yoga Pizza Party’ Event Combines Some of the Best Things in Life
Elevate Well STL is a cannabis friendly yoga studio.  
BRADEN MCMAKIN” class=”uk-display-block uk-position-relative uk-visible-toggle”> click to enlarge Elevate Well STL is a cannabis friendly yoga studio. - BRADEN MCMAKIN

BRADEN MCMAKIN

Elevate Well STL is a cannabis friendly yoga studio.

Yoga can be a fine time in and of itself. Bending your horrible body into whimsical shapes is apparently a health-conscious thing to do, and it can prevent said horrible body from betraying you in increasingly painful ways as the ceaseless march of time degrades your overall structural integrity.

But you know what would make it even more fun? Weed, pizza and black lights, of course. Enter the Glow Yoga Pizza Party, coming this Friday, June 30, to Elevate Well STL (3206 South Grand Boulevard), St. Louis’ premier cannabis-friendly health club.

Dubbed “Glowga,” the event kicks off as you slather neon body paint on yourself before the blacklights kick on and the Glow Yoga Rave begins. After the workout, replenish those spent calories by indulging in some eats from Pizza Head and some cannabis-infused beverages from WYNK Seltzer.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own weed from home, and the party starts at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $15 to $25 and include food and drink as well as mat and towel rental. Purchase them through Eventbrite.

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Hands On: Tidbyt Simplifies Notifications Into Something Almost Fun

By in Design

Hands On: Tidbyt Simplifies Notifications Into Something Almost Fun

The origin of Tidbyt can be traced back to a litany of questions many of us ask ourselves each and every morning: What time is it? Do I need to wear a coat today? What time do I need to leave for work? Co-founders Rohan Singh and Mats Linander’s backgrounds in software and computer science made them ideally suited to address these questions from the perspective of technologists. Yet, both also identified with a growing number of everyday folks harboring the desire to reduce any reason to reach for their phone throughout the day. Thus, the pair set out to create a solution for users to glean the most basic of information without giving into that ever-present itch.

When we first learned about Tidbyt, we described it as the “antithesis of high resolution” display-based devices continually refining toward imperceptibly small pixels. Instead, Singh and Linander’s small desktop Internet-connected info display was conceived to filter relevant data customized to the user’s own interests, whether it be the weather, stocks, sports, and a myriad of other interests. These channels are displayed through the filter of a retro 64×32 pixel LED display to further visually slow down the flow of information otherwise hosed towards us throughout the day.

User's Tidbyt app collection screen with weather, air quality, sunrise/sunset, photo, and clock apps.

My app list is primarily composed of information I typically would reach to my phone for. Open to independent developers, Tidbyt’s app catalog is ever growing, and filled with a mixture of gimmicky and truly useful apps developed for the pixelated platform. Images: Gregory Han

I was recently given the opportunity to experience whether the Tidbyt delivered on its promises to allow users to “spend less time looking at our phones and more time doing what we care about.” For the last several weeks I’ve had the wood enclosed unit placed on a shelf just beside my desk at an easily glanceable distance. Loaded up with a short list of Tidbyt apps displaying weather, sunrise/sunset, local air quality, sports news, and my Spotify song playback, I set both my iPhone and Android devices at an arm’s length away to dedicate to a less tethered relationship with my preferred serving of info.

Tidbyt displayed on floating shelf with air quality of Los Angeles being displayed.

As wildfires have become increasingly a concern across the globe, being able to take a quick glance at the AQI proved to be one of the most useful bits of information I loaded onto the Tidbyt. Photo: Gregory Han

Tidbyt with photo of cat converted to its low resolution display.

The Tidbyt can be used to display photos uploaded from your phone, but the low resolution requires some distance and a close cropped image for optimal viewing. Photo: Gregory Han

Almost immediately I had to dim down the surprisingly bright screen to half its full luminescence, and preferred to keep Tidbyt set at a further distance than its originally planned proximity. While I thought it would be great to be kept abreast of NBA news, weather, and air quality viewable with just a turn of my head throughout the day, I found myself easily distracted by the carousel of apps switching from one to another (it was like working beside a miniature Las Vegas neon sign).

Tidbyt set on table next to Google Nest Mini.

Launched as a beta feature late last year, Google Home voice control fortifies Tidbyt’s goals of reducing our dependence upon our phones (if you’re already invested in compatible devices like the Google Nest Mini).

Tidbyt’s designers preemptively identified this natural progression between users, their device, and the information it is designed to display. To alleviate any distractions, Tidbyt can be customized to display certain apps only at specific times during the day. I choose to keep a singular static digital clock display that reminded me of the Timex clock I grew up with, complete with large amber or red LED numerals, with other app reports scheduled to appear only at the start and end of the work day.

Tidbyt set on table next to Google Nest Mini.

Now, this static display may seem to defeat the purpose of buying a multi-app device, but Tidbyt supports Google Home, meaning I can ask Tidbyt at any time to display the weather, check with local air quality, or see current NBA news by voice alone.

Tidbyt set in digital clock mode set on white wire bookself.

Positioned further away and customized to display the weather forecast, news, and air quality only at specific times of the day, the Tidbyt lives up to its goal of purposeful information without the tempting distractions of our phones. Photo: Gregory Han

Any additional display introduced into our lives, even one as cute and engineered as the Tidbyt, can easily become an additional distraction. Novelty’s fun factor is fleeting, and it quickly disintegrates into annoyance when you’ve got work to do. To credit Tidbyt’s creators, they seem to recognize the information we need throughout the day ebbs and flows, and have integrated a level of control across its display to literally and figuratively dim down our relationship with notifications. In doing so, I found a perfectly low resolution, hi-tech clock just smart enough and also fun to earn itself a place on my shelf.

The Tidbyt is available in Beech or Walnut for $199 at tidbyt.com.

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Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

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