PRESS RELEASE: Crankworx World Tour
Crankworx Whistler, the pinnacle of mountain biking culture, announces a groundbreaking opportunity for intermediate to experienced photographers: for the first time ever, applications are open for consideration to participate in the esteemed Deep Summer Photo Challenge. This move aims to provide emerging talents a platform to display their creativity and passion for the biking industry.
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We’re committed to broadening our horizons, providing a platform for talented photographers who may not yet have a spotlight in the industry. By opening applications for consideration, we’re offering every photographer the chance to step into the arena and showcase their talent and passion for the biking industry. |
The Deep Summer Photo Challenge, a beloved and long-standing feature of Crankworx Whistler, brings together six elite mountain bike photographers for an exhilarating competition. Five photographers are invited, while the sixth is selected through the upcoming Pinkbike Deep Summer Wildcard Photographer Search, slated for later this spring. Over three days throughout the Crankworx Whistler festival, participants capture the essence of Whistler’s Mountain Bike culture, crafting epic slideshow videos to be presented to a live audience of over 4000 people under the stars at Whistler Olympic Plaza.
In addition to celebrating biking prowess, this year’s challenge invites photographers to reflect on community, diversity, and inclusivity in the mountain biking world. Participants are encouraged to creatively represent these themes in their feature edits, embodying the spirit of Crankworx’s inclusive ethos.
With the prospect of winning $5,000 cash and the honour of joining the elite ranks of past Deep Summer winners, photographers are encouraged to push their boundaries and showcase their unique perspectives. This year’s challenge takes place from Friday, July 19 to Sunday, July 21, with the Deep Summer Live screening scheduled for Tuesday, July 23.
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Crankworx Whistler is thrilled to bring back this exhilarating event with a renewed vision, revived community partnerships, and a commitment to fostering change in our industry. |
Applications are open now until May 14.
Those keen who think they may have what it takes can apply >> HERE. Successful applicants will be contacted by May 17.
Photographer Phillip Leeds first captured the zeitgeist back in 2017 with his book, Big Shots – a collection of 400 Polaroid portraits of superstars from the realms of art, music, fashion and popular culture. Featuring Rita Ora on its cover, the book included shots of Jay Z, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, and hundreds of others.
Leeds earned comparisons to Andy Warhol, whose Red Books project (carried out over the course of the 1970s) provided a similar overview of the cultural figures of his time. Interview Magazine summed up Big Shots best, describing it as “the coolest yearbook of the millennium.” Shot with a unique vintage Polaroid camera – the titular ‘Big Shot’ – Lee’s images have a distinct quality, at once contemporary and instantly nostalgic.
Now, Leeds is back with a sequel – BIG SHOTS! Volume 2 (published by Blurring Books). This time, SZA is on the cover, and there are 500 portraits. As with its predecessor, the book provides a fascinating documentation of the present moment; across 500 portraits, it features both major celebrities and behind-the-scenes players.
The collection also includes portraits of Megan Thee Stallion, Mark Ronson, Doechii, Q-Tip, and Ndaba Mandela – plus a foreword written by Pharell Williams, who recalls: “I met Phillip way back, in ’95 or ’96, and he was always the guy who would say, ‘Let’s take a picture’.”
While many of the images have been shown in galleries all over the world – including Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York – they have never previously been published.
Visit the gallery above for a closer look.
Big Shot! Volume 2 by Philip Leeds is published by Blurring Books will be released in July.
Forge Project—the New York-based social-justice initiative founded to support Indigenous art, culture and decolonial education—is transitioning to a non-profit model that leaders believe will help the institution be more sustainable in the long term and serve as an example for Native self-determination.
The organisation was first launched in 2021 by Becky Gochman—who is married to an heir of the wealthy Gochman family, founders of the Academy Sports + Outdoors retail chain—and Zach Feuer, a former New York gallerist and the director of the Gochman family’s collection, which largely focuses on work by contemporary Indigenous artists. In the past three years, under the direction of Candice Hopkins, Forge Project’s executive director and chief curator and Sarah Biscarra Dilley, the director of Indigenous programmes and relationality, Forge Project has supported almost 300 Indigenous artists, hosted other cultural workers and cultivated new audiences for their work, as well as cared for a collection of more than 175 works by contemporary Indigenous artists. The organisation has also taken part in important collaborations, like one with Bard College to overhaul the university’s Native American-studies programme.
The organisation first opened as a limited liability company, “simply because that was the fastest way we could get off the ground, and because we felt there was a real urgency to our work”, according to Hopkins.
But even in Forge Project’s earliest days, Gochman and Feuer (who are not Indigenous) wanted to enable self-determination and Indigenous leadership at the institution, Hopkins says. For more than a year, Forge Project has been working to develop a new organisational model that will open the now non-profit up for more financial support from diverse sources.
As part of the transition, Forge Project has created an Indigenous Steering Council to help guide the institution and its vision, a model of governance not necessarily unique in Indigenous communities, Hopkins says. Members of the council serving three-year terms include Indigenous artists like Sky Hopinka, Jolene Rickard, G. Peter Jemison and Jeffrey Gibson (who opened the US pavilion at the Venice Biennale last week as the first Indigenous artist to represent the country with a solo show there). Unlike other non-profits, Forge Project is now structured so that the board of directors will answer to the Steering Council.
Candice Hopkins, Forge Project’s executive director and and chief curator. Photo by Thatcher Keats, courtesy of Forge Project
“One of the questions that we wanted to answer as we transitioned was, ‘How do we always enable Indigenous leadership, no matter the makeup of the board?’” Hopkins says. “We are really conscious of the fact that the majority of wealth in this settler country is not held in Native hands. That means a lot of our supporters as we grow might not necessarily be Native philanthropists, but we hope that there are folks who are really invested in ideas of how philanthropy can enable repair and restitution.”
As part of reaching those goals, Forge Project has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, a tribe made up of members descended from the Moh-He-Con-Nuck, or the People of the Waters That Are Never Still. Forge Project’s Ai Weiwei-designed spaces are located in Taghkanic, New York, on a 60-acre campus on unceded lands of the Moh-He-Con-Nuck. Aims of the collaboration include expanding research and cultural access to the site and supporting avenues of return.
“We’re thinking about how the work we do can also directly benefit them,” Hopkins says.
Indigenous art has slowly received more mainstream attention over the past decade or so, Hopkins says, and has accelerated recently. This year’s Venice Biennale highlighted and awarded Indigenous artists for their work, and the market is slowly catching up to increased institutional and curatorial awareness.
“This has always been central for us, it just hasn’t been central for everyone else,” Hopkins says. “I feel like there’s real momentum right now with Native artists, and rightly so. Honestly, they’re making some of the best work.”
‘I like the way this photo tells a story – but you’re not quite sure what the story is about. Who is the guy on the right talking to, and what about? What is the guy sitting on the cycle taxi thinking as he looks on? And how does the slogan on the vehicle’s roof fit in, if it does at all?’
Photograph: Stephen Richards
Wednesday, April 24
School of Art Market | Free Speech Alley
The Ceramic Arts Student Association will be hosting an art market from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Students are welcome to stop by and see work by the Ceramic Arts Student Association, the Digital Art and Design Association, the Graphic Design Student Association, the Painter’s League, the Photo Club, the Society Of Sculptors, and The Print Guild. Learn more here.
Pie a Phi |Free Speech Alley
Phi Mu will be hosting Pie a Phi in Free Speech Alley from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. All proceeds will go to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Learn more here.
Thursday, April 25
Student Short Film Screening | Julian T. White Hall, Room 103
The Digital Art and Design Association will be hosting a Student Short Film Screening from 6 to 8 p.m. Short films made by LSU students will be shown. Submissions are due by Tuesday, April 23. Refrain from bringing food or drinks. Learn more here.
41st Annual CSA Gala | Lauberge Hotel
The Construction Student Association at LSU will be hosting its Spring Gala at Lauberge Hotel from 6 to 9 p.m. It will include a three-course meal, a silent auction and many networking opportunities. This event will recognize the many achievements of these construction management students. All are invited to attend. Register here.
Friday, April 26
2024 LSU Sales Symposium | Lod Cook Alumni Center
The E. J. Ourso College of Business will be hosting experts from academia and industry to explore AI-driven sales in business. This is open to all, but ideal for those interested in business. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Learn more here.
RHA Annual Crawfish Boil | Nicholson Gateway on Oxbow’s Lawn
The Residence Hall Association will be hosting a crawfish boil for all LSU students. There will be crawfish, jambalaya and T-shirts. The event will run from 4-7 p.m. Learn more here.
Saturday, April 27
Audubon Day 2024 | Hill Memorial Library
LSU Libraries will be hosting Audobon Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a viewing pf John James Audobon’s “Birds of America”. Registration is free. Reserve a time here.
Disney On Ice Presents Magic in the Stars| Raising Cane’s River Center
The Raising Cane’s River Center will be hosting Disney on Ice starting at 7 p.m. Special characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, Aladdin, and more will make an appearance. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased here.
Sunday, April 28
LSU Baseball v. Auburn | Alex Box Stadium
LSU Baseball is playing North Dakota State at home at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15-18 for the public and $8 for children ages three to twelve. Tickets can be purchased here.
Fiber Arts and Makers Festival | Mid-City Artisans
The Mid-City Artisans will be hosting a festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be hosted by local yarn and fiber vendor, Fleur De Stitch’d. Learn more here.
Born in St. Petersburg, Kira Gyngazova has been spending her time between Asia and Europe, from Bangkok to Paris, for about ten years. These constant transfers have affected not only her life but also her photography. In fact, it was when she first moved that Kira Gyngazova felt the need to buy a camera and start capturing her surroundings, new faces, new roads, new places.
Over time, Kira shifted her focus to people living in cities, trying to show how sometimes life in large hyper-populated metropolises can be lonely. Kira Gyngazova herself, with each new move, noticed how easy it was to live among millions of people and still feel lonely and how cities turned into deserts.
Precisely for this reason, her shots tell of half-empty places where everyone lives their lives alone, of people sitting on a bus or a ferry with their eyes lost in the void, surrounded by as many empty and indifferent glances.
Moreover, the loneliness of people seems to surround the places, the bare, monochrome rooms, the deserted metro stops.
Below you can find some shots of Kira Gyngazova, but to find out more visit her website and her Instagram profile.
Niagara’s climate and abundance of cherry and peach orchards make for a dazzling spring display that few regions in Canada get to experience.
It takes only a day or two of sunny, balmy temperatures to cause the blossoms to burst into bloom, but their beauty is fleeting with at most a two-week window of opportunity to capture them with your camera.
Here are some photo tips to make the most of this short-lived but magnificent spectacle.
• The pink of cherry blossoms contrasted with a clear blue sky always creates an eye-popping image. However, don’t overlook the soft, diffused light of a cloudy day, or the warm light of early morning and late afternoon/evening when the sun is low in the sky. Cloudy days have the advantage of even lighting, without the harsh shadows and overexposed highlights that may ruin your photo.
• April showers bring May flowers — but rain can enhance your flower photography as well. If you venture out with your camera after a rain shower, capture the blooms with raindrops still clinging to them. Or bring along a small spray bottle of water on your next photo outing — no one will know the difference, and your feet will be dry!
• Don’t be afraid to get up close and personal with flowers. I like to get close enough to fill the entire frame with my chosen subject. In the absence of a macro or close-up lens, today’s cellphones do an admirable job of close-focusing.
• Pay close attention to the background — try to find one with as few distracting elements as possible. Isolating a few blossoms on the tree with dreamy out-of-focus blossoms in the background is a good strategy. Experiment with different angles and viewpoints. Shoot low to the ground, at flower level, and get a “bug’s-eye view.”
• Most cellphone cameras have a portrait mode, as well as a food photography mode. These work well when you want to keep your flower subject in sharp focus while creating a lovely soft, blurred background and foreground.
• Use “leading lines” to guide the viewer’s eye into your photo — especially when shooting orchards in bloom, and fields of lavender and tulips.
• Magnolias and daffodils are the first harbingers of blossom time in Niagara, followed by cherry/peach blossoms, then tulips; lilacs in mid-May, followed by peonies and irises in June. Check the website of your local botanical gardens to see what’s currently in bloom. Pick-your-own tulip and lavender fields have become popular attractions in the last few years; many are designed with Instagram-worthy selfies in mind. Enjoy all that the spring blossom season has to offer the photo enthusiast — but don’t wait too long to get out there!
Karen Fulham is program director and past president of the Niagara Association of Photographic Art club, which has been meeting for interested persons to learn, enjoy, discuss and explore photography for 70 years, having been formed in 1954. For more info, visit niagaraphoto.org.
