Photography education: Virtual Photographic Vision Summit

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Photography

Photo education comes in all shapes, sizes and prices these days. I’ll be part of a virtual Photo program at the end of the month. The Summit is only $29 for the day. The good news is you don’t necessarily need to be present to win. Signing up gives you access to view the recordings for 60 days. Here’s the link.

Virtual Photographic Vision Summit

This summit is organized by Hazel Meredith of Meredith Images in Tennessee. She, along with myself and two others, will be the speakers on the 30th of September in a ZOOM presentation.

Speakers and their presentations

Cheryl Belczak, with a background in graphic design and product photography will be focusing on Still Life and Easy At Home Photography.

In this session, she will explore the elements to easily create still life photos at home. From choosing the best light for your subject, finding backgrounds, tabletops, subjects and props, to picking the best camera angles and arranging the scene – there will be a lot of tips, tricks and ideas to make still life at home easy.

Ken Fisher is an Adobe Certified Trainer in Photoshop and Lightroom. His program will involve showing Photoshop Advanced Techniques.
In Ken’s class it’s a deep dive into Advanced Photoshop, but exactly what does Ken mean by advanced? Here’s his explanation in the form of an example: A driving test.

When you take a driving test, it means you have convinced an instructor that you are competent to perform a series of maneuvers safely in your chosen car. Does this make you a safe driver? No, you don’t really start to learn how to drive until after you have passed your test.

Before passing test: Hands on steering wheel at 10 to 2.

After passing test: Window open, elbow on window holding can of coke, steering with one hand and listening to your fave tunes at 120 decibels. In short, over time you develop your own style of driving.

Learning Photoshop is a little like that, only you are driving a computer. First learn the basics, tools and commands and what they do. Then comes the advanced part, putting it all together to complete a project. This is important because a task can often be achieved in many different ways and with different tools. All will get you to the desired end point but some tools will not suit the task at hand.

In this class, Ken plans to show you how to drive Photoshop. He will show you how to select the best tool for the job and why, and take your image editing to the next level.

Hazel Meredith is an award-winning photographer and a sought-after teacher, speaker, and competition judge. She began teaching in 2007, and now does seminars at camera clubs and conferences across the U.S., both in-person and virtual. She offers her own workshops and webinars, and has done webinars for several software companies.

Here’s Hazel’s program on Post-Processing with Plug-ins. She will demonstrate some of her favorite plug-ins. Some of them you may have heard of, and a couple you may have not! See how Hazel shows you how to take your favorite images from good to a work of art!

Bob Coates (Hey, that’s me!) is a commercial, nature, fine art photographer and photo educator based in Sedona, Arizona. My program will be on Nature, Landscape and Wildlife from Pre-Capture to Post-Processing.

I’ll be sharing the thought process on how I capture and process Landscapes, Wildlife and Nature images. Starting with the thinking behind gathering images, and the final output the conversation will cover gear used and why. I favor micro four-thirds camera and lens systems of Panasonic and Olympus. However, all techniques shared can be accomplished with any camera system. Camera supports can be of great help when making multiple exposures for panoramic, focus stacking and exposure bracketing image capture.

Who knew that a tripod could help with camera artistry? I’ll be showing how to leverage imaginative uses of Platypod and Fotopro tripod supports. Once images have made it to the sensor, more creativity can be applied using software like Adobe Photoshop, NIK and Luminar, and other filters and techniques. Discussion of possibilities in processing will wrap up this talk followed by any questions you may have.

Hopefully I’ll see you at the Virtual Photographic Vision Summit on September 30th.

Yours in Creative Photography, Bob

Iconic Australian photographer reveals why he’s voting No in the Voice

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Photography

Ken Duncan: Iconic Australian photographer reveals why he’s voting No in the Voice referendum – after devoting his life to helping remote Aboriginal communities

By Brett Lackey For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 11:57 EDT, 12 September 2023 | Updated: 12:05 EDT, 12 September 2023

A renowned Australian landscape photographer who founded a non-profit working with Aboriginal communities has revealed why he is voting No in the Voice to Parliament referendum.

Ken Duncan OAM, 68, established the Walk a While Foundation 20 years ago, which seeks to empower First Nations Australians through creative and visual arts.

‘They already have a voice and no-one is listening,’ Mr Duncan told TNT Radio.

‘That’s why I made this foundation, the government is failing miserably… Aboriginals in some of these remote communities are living in third and fourth world conditions.’

Acclaimed landscape photographer Ken Duncan has worked with Aboriginal communities for decades and said throwing money at bureaucracies isn't helping

‘We need to be going out to these communities and asking Indigenous people what do you need for sustainable outcomes in your communities.’

‘We find these things out then be prepared to walk a while with them and equip them with the skills that are going to be required.’

Mr Duncan said the ‘process is the problem’.

‘Even with a Voice whatever they come up with it will all have to go through the same process with the land councils and things like that that are already failing.’

He compared it to a ‘big funnel’ in which money goes in the top, filters through government and other organisations and a fraction makes it to the communities where many of the programs set up fail in the first year, he said.

‘We think the Aboriginal people own the land but they don’t it’s the land councils. these people can’t do anything on their land without permission.’

‘They has a $550million royal commission about Aboriginal youth in custody and what’s changed? Nothing.

‘If they’d given us that $550million we could have solved some problems.’

‘It stems from poverty, these youths go into towns and there’s nothing for them to do because in these remote communities you need permits so how is anyone going to get a business up.’

Australians will be asked to Vote on whether to alter the Constitution to establish an Aboriginal Voice after two centuries of silencing through colonial rule

‘We need to stop pouring money into the top and get it to these communities and another level over the top will do nothing. Personally I’ll be voting no,’ he said.

Mr Duncan said there were ‘all these unused buildings’ in these remote communities. and when his non-profit wanted to get one for a creative arts centre, it took seven years.

‘We need to send teams in to these communities to find out what they want and actually stay there and walk with them a while, not just throw money at the problem.’

‘If you do it right you will make yourself redundant and these communities will sustain themselves.’

Proponents of the Indigenous Voice say it will be a monumental step forward for Australia on par with Aboriginals being granted the right to vote in 1962.

Downtown Anadarko Shop Part Of Town Revitalization Effort

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Native

A landmark in downtown Anadarko has received a new look after the Caddo Nation has taken over McKee’s Indian Store.

Chairman of the Caddo Nation, Bobby Gonzalez, said the store will not only feature Native American artisans, but may also help revitalize the area.

“It gives our people a place to come back to, to bring their work, their crafts their art so we can look at it and hopefully move it into the market,” Gonzalez said.

The store is now an outlet for the more than 400 Caddo families living in the area, and any others who want to sell their artwork.

“Anadarko being a Caddo name, named right after our band, we wanted to start on Main Street right with our own gallery right with our own place,” Gonzalez said. “This place is full of a variety of different things from silver to paintings to beads to cloth to artwork.”

Gonzalez also said they hope the store will be able to help with the emotional needs of those it serves.

“We want to help the local crafts people economically and give them a place to go mental health purposes and culture purposes,” Gonzalez said.

Aside from the store, there is an art gallery featuring Native American artists such as Robert Redbird.

“That is what makes a tribe, that is what makes a nation,” Gonzalez said. “You know our language our culture our songs our dances. The best way to do it is to support it.”

Every so often, the store will be switching out the artist featured in the gallery.

Indigenous Artists Shine in Two NYC Art Exhibits

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Native

Anishinaabe/French artist Caroline Monnet at her solo exhibitions in Manhattan. (photo/Jenna Kunze for Native News Online)

Details

By Jenna Kunze

September 12, 2023

NEW YORK — Last week, a half dozen Indigenous artists from across the United States and Canada captured the art world’s attention at two separate exhibition openings in New York City.

The first, Caroline Monnet, an Anishinaabe/French artist, had her first solo exhibition open on September 7 at contemporary art gallery Arsenal Contemporary. The show was curated by Greg Hill (Mohawk).

Titled WORKSITE, the exhibit includes 17 original works from the multidisciplinary, Montreal-based artist. Many of the pieces are made from raw construction materials —such as asphalt shingles, plexiglas, and polyethylene foam—that have been repurposed and Indigenized.

The show is meant to be a commentary on humans’ relationships to our environments, Monnet said. She was particularly inspired by the history of logging in New York City: how an old-growth forest has since been clear-cut to build the economic empire and how a lot of timber has since ended up building foundations of buildings rather than staying in the ground.

“It’s really about our relationship with our environment,” Monnet told Native News Online. “The entire show is about how economic development is made on the back of trees and how natural resources and economy are completely linked.”

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For one piece, the artist grew toxic black mold on gypsum plasterboard often used in homebuilding instead of drywall. Then, she overlaid computer-generated Anishinabe designs to create intricate symbols and patterns—” almost like a QR code—over the mold.

“I do think that we should treat homes and buildings as living bodies,” Monnet said. “If there’s lingering mold in your home, it’s going to affect your physical, mental, emotional health, even spiritual health. So it speaks about the housing crisis [among First Nations in Canada], and maybe the lack of vision that we’re not necessarily using the proper materials or putting enough care in the building.”

In her largest work at the exhibit, Monnet built wooden scaffolding with Anishinaabe designs around two colonial pillars that existed in the gallery space. She said the piece represented her identity as an Indigenous and French woman.

“I visited the space and saw the columns, which I thought were very colonial. I wanted to find a way that they’re not so present in the show, and how to be in relationship with them. That’s why I did the scaffolding, because New York is full of scaffolding. I’m also part French. My father is from France, and my mother is Anishinaabe, so it’s kind of interesting how the Anishinaabe is surrounding the more colonial.”

WORKSITE is open to the public at Arsenal Contemporary through October 21.

YOUNG ELDER, James Fuentes Art Gallery, 55 Delancey Street, New York, New York

On September 8, further east in Manhattan’s downtown, another exhibit opened at the James Fuentes art gallery, titled Young Elder.

The one-room show features work by artists Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe), Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Inupiaq), Tyrrell Tapaha (Diné), and Nico Williams (Anishinaabe). The exhibit was curated by Natalie Ball (Klamath/Modoc) and Zach Feuer, and named after a Reservation Dogs episode in Season 2, when a character self-righteously refers to himself as a young elder.

Each artists’ work uses Indigenous materials and traditions to create contemporary commentary. “They all hold this tradition and this future at the same time,” Feuer said at a walk-through with the artists on Friday morning. “And that was an inspiring connection.”

Tapaha (they/them) is a 6th generation Diné weaver in their family who herds Navajo-Churro sheep throughout the year, then shears, skirts, washes, and spins the wool for their artwork. “Not only do I know the sheep, I know the dye, I know the plant,” Tapaha said.

Navajo weaving is always paired with pop culture, Tapaha said, which explains the personal text paired on their woven pieces. One work contains messages from Tapha’s personal life: “All that for a boy?” Another weaving showcases a photo of a family sheep wearing a hat that was on a family reunion t-shirt in 2005.

Carlson presented a twenty-four-panel art piece of ink, oil, acrylic, gouache, graphite, watercolor, and pen on paper, titled The Indifference of Fire. The piece is about how Indigenous communities continue to heal and grow and strategies of survival despite environmental conditions, such as fire. One depiction in Carlson’s work l is the white-throated sparrow, a bird with four chromosomal genders that ensures the continuation of its species.

“We have to find some strategies for survival,” she said.

Last, Nico Williams presented his beadwork of four found objects: a flier for a supermarket memorializing food prices impacted by inflation, a red strip of danger tape, an Amazon delivery box, and a wallet containing his Indigenous status card.

“I’m always walking around the city and I’m always looking at objects and the kinds of things and how they’re communicating,” Williams said.

In his Montreal-based studio, Williams creates a digital rendering of found objects he then uses as a pattern for stringing together glass beads. Those works symbolize trade and commerce, Indigenous identity, and lesser-known histories in everyday objects, such as his recreation of a Canadian ten-dollar bill from the 1970s—a period in which the currency boasted an illustration of the nuclear power refinery that was built in Williams’ home, the Aamjiwnaang Nation in Sarnia, Ontario.

Finally, though she wasn’t present for the walk-through, Alaska Native artist Sonya Kelliher-Combs presented a sculpture series called Pink Slips. In it, several synthetic animal skins are “scarred” by imprints, in reference to the emotional scarring of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis.

“My attraction to her work is the idea of using skins from home—she’s from Alaska—but also [including] gender roles in her work, and the repetition and scale,” said curator Natalie Ball of Kelliher-Combs’ work.

She added that, as the exhibitions co-curator, the works of the four artists are in conversation with one another.

“I think that they’re rooted in community, and they’re rooted in ancestral knowledge,” she said. “And that was my preface for wanting them to be in this show. It’s a lot of work to stay rooted in your community and to, maintain that connection to community and to maintain ancestral knowledge. I really respect those artists who maintain that sort of connection. I wanted to respect just that.”

Young Elder will remain on display through October 14.

Take 5: Knitted Lights, Frequented Substacks, Pearl Phone Straps + More

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Design

I’m fascinated by this artist/designer who creates the most unusual sculptures out of textiles. He is pushing the boundaries on what you can do with fabrics, manipulating them into different textures and freeform shapes. For this year’s Milan Design Week, he merged sculpture, lighting, and textile design together for his exhibition, Knitted Light, which definitely gives me “Stranger Things” vibes.

This is one Phaidon’s newest releases which I was fortunate enough to preview. For a while now, I’ve noticed a shift from monochromatic spaces to ones with thoughtful layers of art, furniture, and curated pieces, like the ones in this book. I love that this book shows just how warm, inviting, and holistic today’s modern homes can be. If you’re looking for inspiration, the photography in this book is beautiful and captures the details of nine homes across the country.

3. Most Frequented Substacks

It seems like everyone’s getting on the Substack train and I am completely here for it. I love the more authentic voice everyone seems to be freeing on this platform; it reminds me of the olden (and golden) days of blogging, without constant ads and sponsorships influencing the writing. I personally subscribe to a few writers whose content I find valuable or curious enough to pay for. If you need a few recommendations, might I suggest Unsquare (by Design Milk’s very own founder, Jaime Derringer), House Call with Kate Arends (perfect for interior design enthusiasts), What I Put On Today (by Megan Alida Strachan, founder of Dorsey, who’s making lab-grown diamonds more popular than their traditionally mined diamonds), and A La Carte (by Ali Labelle; I love her Notes Of series which dissects thematic thinking through a monthly mood board).

I’m constantly on the hunt for cute room decor for my kids’ rooms and love these ceramic alphabets by Paula Atelier. I love how bulbous the shapes are (they remind me of donuts!) and they’re a fun alternative to the wooden name signs I typically see in nurseries.

This is a new-to-me brand that’s making phone accessories cool again. Make note, this is not your cheap phone case/strap that you’ll replace every few months. This is like jewelry for your phone. Ossa uses materials like natural gemstone beads and freshwater pearls to elevate your tech and keep them easily accessible on your body. Seeing as we use our phones every single day, the cost per wear with this accessory will work out to be mere cents. Well worth it to keep our most used devices close by in a fun and fashionable way.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She’s probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.

The best things to do in Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat for Sept. 14-20

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Printmaking

Don’t miss these arts and entertainment events around Sarasota and Manatee counties this week.

These Colors Will Not Run

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Native

Dyani White Hawk, Untitled (All the Colors), 2020, acrylic, bugle beads, thread and synthetic sinew on canvas, Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Gift of the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust.

June 2 – December 21
Kansas Focus Gallery

Artist Talk with Dyani White Hawk
September 28 | 6 p.m.
Hudson Auditorium

Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County of Community College

The exhibition title, derived from text seen in My Country, ‘tis of Thee by Tom Jones, references patriotism and endurance. Jones’ work presents historical images from popular culture through an Indigenous artistic lens, highlighting Native peoples’ involvement in the US military. In the spirit of Jones’ work, this exhibition explores the representational power of color. Featured in the gallery is a wide spectrum, from the bright rainbow hues of a crayon box to the sepia tones of photographs and neutral tones of natural materials such as hide and wood. These works exemplify the richness and beauty of diversity and our shared history.

The inheritance of culture that each of the artists brings into their practice is evident in the materials, techniques and subject matter. There is also a subtext of counterculture in many of the works, which situates them firmly in the contemporary. Upon entry, we are greeted by the prismatic shimmering beads in Dyani White Hawk’s Untitled (All the Colors). Set against a muted white and off-white striping, these elements create a mass of color and volume that gives depth to abstraction.

Living Native artists created all the artworks in this exhibition, which were later purchased by the Nerman Museum—often directly from the artist—with support from the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Art Acquisition Endowment and other generous donors.

Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota) is a visual artist and independent curator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She will be at the Nerman Museum for a visiting artist talk on Sept. 28 at 6 p.m., at the Hudson Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public and will also be available via livestream. For more information, go to nermanmuseum.org/calendar.

White Hawk earned an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2011) and a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico (2008). She served as Gallery Director and Curator for the All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis from 2011 to 2015.

Recent awards include 2021 Anonymous Was a Woman Award and Academy of Arts and Letters Award, 2021. She has participated in residencies in Australia, Russia and Germany. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art NYC, Whitney Museum of American Art, Walker Art Center, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, among other public and private collections.

This exhibition will be temporarily closed from Sep. 4-15 for the Nerman Museum’s WILD LIFE! Celebration. Learn more at nermanmuseum.org/WildLife2023.

Of course butter sculptures at state fairs aren’t solid. ‘It’s just physics.’

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Sculpture

We talked to the butter sculptors for the Big E to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about the art form.

What Photography has taught me about music

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Photography

What Photography has taught me about music

Andrew Tasselmyer explains how his new found passion for photography taught him how to change his mindset about making music and overall improving his creative process.

by ANDREW TASSELMYER of Sound Methods via Soundfly’s Flypaper blog

If you’re like most people I know, you probably learned a thing or two about yourself while shut inside during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in early-to-mid 2020, when the depths seemed to be their darkest and most claustrophobic. My biggest realization from that time was just how much I crave the mental/psychological satisfaction of learning new things.

The sudden absence of musical performances, inability to travel abroad, barrage of video conferences and screen time, and the vanishing of all kinds of other enriching real-world, in-person interactions I took for granted in the “before times” really did a number on my mental state.

This probably explains some of the educational projects I took up that year, in pursuit of new experiences: I made the switch from Logic Pro to Ableton Live; my wife and I learned how to brew kombucha ourselves; I figured out how to stop the cycle of “shanks” in my golf swing by simply distributing my weight further back toward my heels at address…

Big things, all of them, in those days.

I also learned, for the first time, how to properly wield a camera. Or at least, how to press a shutter button, and what words like “aperture” and “shutter speed” were actually referring to.

*Wielding a camera in Philly; May 2022.*

Despite what I now realize to be some pretty obvious parallels and complements to musical expression, photography was simply one of those things that I felt utterly unqualified to practice. My knowledge of photo-making was, essentially, tinkering with the camera and editing apps on my iPhone, slowly adjusting dials here and there to eventually come up with an image I thought looked okay.

ME: “Hey, wait a minute…isn’t that what I’m already doing with my music half of the time?”

AUDIENCE: [roars with laughter]

In all seriousness, this isn’t far off from the train of thought that led me to buying my first non-iPhone camera. Why couldn’t this be different than the musical path that led me to learn trombone, then bass guitar, then drums, then modular synthesis?

Reading manuals and studying new material had never scared me, but I think I felt some kind of pressure to make a “good” photographic product as a result of this, like I was releasing an album for review or something to that effect. I was worried that the photos I’d be making wouldn’t be good enough to justify the expense.

I had to shake off some (misplaced) anxiety about putting unnecessary, sub-par content into the world, and just remind myself why I was interested in taking photos to begin with.

Any musician or creative person sharing their work can probably relate to this experience in some way: it’s a totally unhealthy way of thinking about creative practices, and the self-doubt convinces you that the world doesn’t need to hear from you, that your contributions have no value, and you shouldn’t bother taking that first step.

So, while I was selling some gear to come up with the funds for my first camera, I started the endless, mind-numbing research and spec sheet comparisons for entry-level mirrorless cameras. Eventually, at the recommendation of my brother, I picked up a used Canon M50.

Truthfully, my primary use case was filming high-quality video in a low-light basement studio. The added benefit of taking photos and documenting the world around me in a visual way, not just through field recordings, was a nice bonus. I felt I could justify the purchase this way.

*Philly: Winter 2021 with the Canon M50*.

Fast forward three-ish years later. Now having 3 mirrorless cameras and having taken thousands of photos, I’m by no means a “good” photographer…at least not in the traditional sense. I still feel that I don’t fully know what I’m doing in every situation, and I’ve filled up a lot of space on my memory cards with bad shots. It’s pretty common for my photo outings to return 0 useable shots. I have so much to learn, but that’s exactly why I keep going. It’s been a rewarding and humbling experience to learn how to take better photos, and it feels just as challenging, rewarding, and open-ended as making music.

I wouldn’t call myself a “good” musician in the traditional sense, either, and I see so many parallels in my DIY, make-it-up-as-I-go approach to these two art forms.

Spending a few years behind a lens has permanently altered my perspective of the world, and I’ve learned so many things about myself and my musical practice as a result. I thought it would be worth sharing 3 things that photography has taught me, all of which I apply to my music-making process.

Lesson 1: Lack of Technical Skill Doesn’t Mean Lack of Worth or Merit

Being an improving novice at photography has given me a whole new outlook on my music. It’s given me an alternative outlet to process my inner desire to be creative, and I feel refreshed when I’ve stepped away from the DAW, focused on my cameras instead, and progressed with my photography skills.

No matter how the photos look in the end, it’s still worthwhile to me when I know that I’ve done something to better myself. I take great satisfaction in every new experience with my camera, and I can feel the ripple effects on my musical motivation.

*Just having a camera on hand has trained my eye to look for “small moments” and notice things about a performance that would have passed me by without it.*

Expression is the ultimate goal of my artistic practice(s), not the quality of the finished good. I have a natural, deeply felt desire to make stuff, and I live to feel the thrill of the creative process playing out as it happens. It’s a rush I can’t live without.

Having a camera available, especially on tour and while making music with others, is another way for me to feel creative.

Just knowing a camera is available has helped me see these experiences in new ways. Even if the photos aren’t technically great, they’re deeply meaningful to me, and I’m glad I took the time to try at all.

Lesson 2: Don’t Forget to Have Fun

One of the quickest ways to learn the ins and outs of a camera is to do weird things with it: mess with slow shutter speeds for blurred lights; overexpose an image for washed-out artifacts; throw an object in front of the camera to obscure the focus… play around and see what happens. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

I try to do the same with music by setting up regular “play time” with my gear. I do weird things with no intention aside from experimentation. I simply have fun with it. If we don’t remind ourselves of how fun music can be, it can feel tedious.

Take time to play and reorient yourself with equipment you think you know: wipe your presets and start fresh!

Playing with low shutter speed at night; 2022. I had no idea what I was doing at the time these photos were taken…I must have spent hours waiting for cars to pass, just to see the effect that different settings would have on the photos.

I talked about this notion of “play time” at great length in an interview I did for Fifteen Questions in 2022; perhaps you’d like to read it here for a deeper discussion of this concept.

“I feel like I keep using the word “playful” but I really do feel strongly that whatever I’m making should have some element of fun and play involved. In that sense, the creative state probably feels like a playground in my mind…just trying stuff, seeing what sticks, learning new things. I don’t like the idea of excessive reverence for music, or the inflated sense of self-importance you sometimes hear when people talk about music they’re making or enjoying. Just not my style.”

Lesson 3: Make as Much as You Want

When I was learning my way around the camera with my M50, I had to constantly remind myself that it wouldn’t hurt me to just, you know, take a photo every now and then! For some reason I was trying to “conserve” space on my memory card unnecessarily; I was treating digital bits and bytes like finite and precious resources to be conserved. I think the same risk is present for digital music.

Of course, analog storage is another matter… film isn’t cheap, nor is analog tape. But for digital art like I’m making, what’s the excuse to restrain myself?

Occasionally, I have to remind myself that it’s okay to have 2, 3, 6, 10 versions of a track even if I’m the only one who can hear the subtle variations between them. Don’t hesitate to record multiple takes and experiment with new approaches. Let it fly and keep moving forward to find the best result, and don’t stop until you’re satisfied.

Don’t like the result? Delete it and try again.

I think a lot of Daido Moriyama when I catch myself exercising an excessive amount of restraint. He’s one of my favorite street photographers who’s well known for his “aggressive” style of high-contrast images with the Ricoh GRIII. He is a prolific, high-volume shooter, as he describes in most of his interviews about his practice:

“I go ahead and take photos one after another. If I fail, I take another one again. I do not look back on life. Photography is the same for me.” – Daido Moriyama (for Ricoh Japan)

I love this approach. It inspires me to be bold and stop overthinking things. Take the shot! Make the recording! And if you don’t like it, simply try again.

There’s nothing to lose.

Alana Bonilla on 09/12/2023 in Music Business | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tags: music, music business, music industry, musician, musicians, photography

Mestiz’s Furniture and Fixtures Meld Vibrant Craft Traditions with Mexican Flora and Fauna

Sep 12, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

Wander into the new Mestiz space in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and you’ll encounter suspended cacti lights made of hot pink wicker, wooden tables shaped like spiky fauna, and wool rugs evocative of mythical animals. Founded by architect and designer Daniel Valero in 2015, the studio is known for collaborating with local artisans and makers to create functional home goods and decorative objects that capture the vibrancy and textures of the surrounding environment. Valero’s pieces reflect the traditions of local craftspeople, and he focuses on using “the same tools they have always used to create new things,” he said in an interview.

Mestiz’s most recent designs include a cherimoya chair, which has dried palm fringe and gouged feet that mimic the fruit’s surface. Follow the latest projects, and take a tour of the new workspace on the studio’s Instagram.