Review by Janel Spiegel & Photography by Diane Fleischman

George Clinton & Parliament – Funkadelic

Service Electric Stage at Wind Creek Event Center

Friday, May, 24, 2024 at 8:00PM

Bethlehem, PA! I’m going to need everyone to take a moment, maybe do a little bit of table drumming… Take a moment and know that we are “One Nation Under A Groove.”

Wind Creek was READY. Everyone was excited. The full moon made an appearance, security and the staff at Wind Creek ARE TOP NOTCH.

The AMAZINGLY talented, Dumpstaphunk opened for George Clinton & Parliament – Funkadelic. Dumpstaphunk is from New Orleans, and the talent is just beyond this world. Ivan Neville on vocals and keyboards just killing it. They performed everything from “Justice” to “Fire & Brimstone.” They did “Itchy Boo”, and an Earl King cover, “Street Parade.”

Dumpstaphunk is: Ivan Neville on keyboards, and vocals. Tony Hall (bass/guitar/vocals), Nick Daniels (bass/vocals), Alex Wasily (trombone), Ashlin Parker (trumpet), and Devin Trusclair (drums). They are funk and jazz at it’s finest.

The show started and it was amazing. The crowd was BEYOND HYPED. George Clinton is a LEGEND. At 82 years young, his eclectic mix of funk, electric funk, and fashion that remains memorable till this day. That was quite a conversation. My section was amazing. Everyone was singing and dancing but they also wondered what would George have on? “Something shiny?” “Something wild?” People had various opinions but in TRUE George Clinton style, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic all walked out on-stage in different ensembles. George had on a bright and beautiful sequined outfit. George Clinton has been around since the 1970s. His impact on culture, music, fashion, bands, and more is beyond prevalent.

George Clinton’s band is not of this world. The talent just flows. The legendary Kevin Oliver playing guitar and just mesmerizing the entire audience. Sidney Barnes, Benzel Baltimore on drums. The singers, and the band were beyond this galaxy. A few times George Clinton was taking some moments to sit, and they showed his face, and he just listens. He listens to these incredibly talented people sing, play instruments, and just create the most mazing music ever.

They played everything from “Pole Power,” “Meow Meow,” “One Nation Under a Groove,” “Flash Light,” (Bethlehem understood the “lighter moment with the phone flashlights!), “Up for the Down Stroke,” and of course, “P. Funk (Wants to get Funked Up), and “Atomic Dog.”

This show was amazing. Thank you, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic for all the music. For inspiring so many, and keeping the funk alive.

https://georgeclinton.com/family/kevin-oliver/

https://dumpstaphunk.com/

https://www.windcreekeventcenter.com/

Shooting street photography can be a rewarding experience, but it’s important to find your own voice and style. This fantastic video tutorial offers seven tips sure to help you improve. 

Coming to you from Peter Forsgård, this insightful video explores seven tips for capturing raw and authentic street photographs. Forsgård emphasizes the importance of spontaneity and intuition, encouraging you to shoot from the gut and embrace imperfections. He believes that by letting go of strict rules and conventions, you can tap into a more genuine and personal style of photography. This approach, Forsgård argues, can lead to more compelling and memorable images that reflect your unique perspective. 

Forsgård also encourages experimentation with different formats and gear, suggesting that using simple or unconventional equipment can free you from technical constraints and help you focus on the essence of your subject. He even suggests trying film or a Lomo camera to explore different aesthetics. Forsgård believes that by venturing outside your comfort zone, you can discover new creative possibilities and develop a style that truly represents your vision. 

One of the key takeaways from Forsgård’s video is the importance of embracing authenticity in your street photography. He advises against manipulating the environment or trying to create overly polished images. Instead, he encourages you to capture the reality of the streets as you see them, including imperfections and unexpected elements. This raw and unfiltered approach, Forsgård suggests, can result in more powerful and honest photographs that resonate with viewers on a deeper level. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Forsgård. 
 

Here at Creative Bloq, we’re fans of photography, we like Star Wars and we’re partial to a bit of Lego. So it goes without saying that Lego Star Wars based photography is somewhat up our street.

Digital Creator Hue Hughes has been sharing stunningly cinematic photographs of toys for a while, and you’d be forgiven for thinking the backdrops and effects involve a fair amount of Photoshop. But as the artist recently revealed in an interview with Gizmodo, most of the effects are created practically. (Keen to start shooting? Check out the best camera deals available now.)

“The only digital manipulation was color grading, the addition of lightsabers, glowing eyes, and the sun and moon,” Hughes told Gizmodo’s io9. “I create all of my own environments using common materials. Backing powder, sand, and construction paper make up the bulk of my building materials.”

Head to Hughes’ Instagram page to find several more stunning examples of Lego Star Wars photography. And be sure to take a look at our roundup of the best camera phones available right now.

Award-winning photographer Kevin Fleming will lead a photography workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, June 1, at Lewes Public Library, 111 Adams Ave., Lewes.

Attendees can learn to be better photographers in just one day. The workshop is limited to six people, so everyone will receive individual attention.

Fleming will begin with the basics of photography including shutter speeds and f-stops. From there he will cover how, when and where to find and create better photographs. The workshop is perfect for beginners and intermediate photographers.

Cost is $125 and includes lunch catered by Arena’s and a free signed copy of Fleming’s “Heart of America” book.

For more information and to register, go to KevinFleming.com.

The photos in Thandiwe Muriu’s “Camo” book are optical illusions, a beautiful blend of models and backdrops. But there’s a greater meaning behind the portraits and the fashion.

Thandiwe Muriu was 14 years old when she found photography. Her father taught her to use his Nikon digital camera, and every day after school she would rush home, finish her homework and then train its lens on whatever she could find. In that old Nikon, Muriu found an outlet for all the creativity she was looking to express.

“I like to say, before then, that I had all this art inside of me that was looking for an outlet but hadn’t found one yet,” Muriu said. “I couldn’t really draw or paint, but right from my first interaction with the camera I knew there was a connection between photography and I.”

Muriu soon turned her camera toward her sisters. One collected Vogue magazines, and Muriu became interested in creating images like she saw on its covers — images of flawless beauty and high fashion.

The family would create elaborate photo shoots in their garden, using bedsheets as backdrops and aluminum foil to create reflectors. What Muriu didn’t realize at the time was that those photo shoots with her sisters were the first step in a lifelong curiosity surrounding beauty and African womanhood.

The eyewear in this portrait from “Camo” combines jewelry and plumbing tape as a unique celebration of Kenyan handymen.

This portrait reminded Muriu of her desire for long braids as a little girl. The eyewear is constructed from comb covers.

That curiosity is fully realized in “Camo,” a yearslong endeavor by Muriu, a portrait and advertising photographer born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. A collection of the work was recently released as her first book.

“Those early photo shoots with my sisters shaped the messages of ‘Camo,’” Muriu said. “It taught me to appreciate dark-skinned beauty, and so the subjects in ‘Camo’ have dark African skin. I wanted to celebrate everything I had struggled with in my own beauty journey — my hair, my skin and my identity as a modern woman in living in a more traditional culture. Because at its core ‘Camo’ is about beauty. There is a lot to learn about Kenyan beauty culture in the images.”

The images in “Camo” are optical illusions. Within each picture, the model’s clothing and the backdrop blend together in an eye-crossing sea of pattern and color, causing the subject to nearly disappear into the kaleidoscopic world that Muriu has created around them. The name of the series comes from this camouflaging effect.

“It’s a commentary on how as individuals, we can lose ourselves to the expectations culture has on us,” Muriu said. “Yet there are such unique and beautiful things about every individual.”

Bottle caps adorn a subject’s hair. The colorful metallic lids are popped from drinks found throughout Kenya, most notably Tusker, a beloved local beer.

The model in this portrait gazes into the camera with five fisted hands, made from afro combs, within her hair. “Light but fierce, the piece visualizes the gentle power of a woman who is confident in herself,” it says in the book.

Because of this illusionary effect, the fabrics and textiles featured in Muriu’s work play a foundational role in how each image is constructed. Searching through catalogs and roadside fabric shops, Muriu creates the images based on the story she sees in the expressive patterns. She then designs an outfit and works with a local tailor to create it. The result is an original creation made in collaboration with fellow Kenyan artists, rooted in the rich textile tradition of Africa.

Just as important as the fabrics that disguise the model are the hairstyling and eyewear that help pull them from their respective backdrops. Each hairstyle is designed, in collaboration with a stylist, as a modern interpretation of traditional African hairstyles. Each piece of eyewear is designed and fabricated by Muriu, inspired by objects founds in the cupboards of Nairobi households, including her own. The eyewear featured in the images are made from objects she uses every day, repurposed for a second life.

“I always enjoy this part of the creative process the most because it requires me to see ordinary objects as the foundation for exciting fashion accessories,” Muriu said.

Muriu remembers when the fans in her school computers would whirr, the book says, “as if protesting against the hot and dusty conditions of Nairobi.” Here, they serve as eyewear.

“Beads have a rich history of being worn for both beauty and to symbolize messages of status, age group and more,” it says in the book. Today, they are surging back into fashion with younger generations.

The eyewear in this photo is made from squeaky toys to celebrate motherhood with a playful twist. “Raising a child is a monumental task that extends far beyond the scope of a single mother’s efforts,” the book says. “It takes a village to raise a healthy, happy child.”

This portrait shows a model balancing a Lady Dior bag on her head, a modern take on how many generations of African women have carried items such as water and firewood. The iconic designer bag also is used to show how many Kenyan women now own major fashion brands. The eyewear is made from belts.

She maintains a “box of limitless opportunities” — what the introductory text of her book describes as “odds and ends waiting for me to discover what kind of eye pieces they want to be.” She has made eyewear from computer fans, bottle bristle brushes and even tissue rolls. With these repurposed materials, Muriu’s book notes, every image becomes imbued with a nostalgia for domestic Kenyan life and the country’s culture of resourcefulness.

It is only after each individual component is carefully crafted that they are juxtaposed into their final form: an image, composed in-camera, that results in the illusion Muriu set out to create. The images in the book are then presented alongside traditional proverbs. Written in both English and in Swahili, the proverbs pay tribute to the rich oral culture of Africa.

It is through this methodical buildup of decisions, process and meaning that Muriu’s focus on African womanhood becomes clear.

“Kenyan women are known for being able to face difficult realities and unearth innovative solutions from the simple resources before them,” the book says. “By taking often invisible tissue rolls and bringing them to the forefront of the viewer’s gaze, (the portrait) ‘I See You’ celebrates this resourcefulness and ingenuity.”

This yellow brim hat traces its roots to the cover of a plastic laundry basket, one produced by a Kenyan factory known for its distinctive finish. “These baskets have a special place in the local community,” the book says.

In the book, Muriu details times when advertising clients passed her by, assuming her male assistant was the photographer they’d hired. She points out that in post-colonial Kenya, beauty standards favor fair complexions and long, soft hair.

Ultimately, Muriu’s work takes a stand against these expectations, seeking to expand the narratives of beauty and female identity via the tools of fabric and photography.

“’Camo’ is purposefully designed as a love letter to myself and other women,” Muriu said. “I want us to see ourselves in our true fullness — to be unapologetic and harness our power of self-assurance.”

“Camo,” published by Chronicle Books, is now available”>is now available.

The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens as a great cheap lens for budding photographers. That’s because its pancake design makes it great for street photography because of its portability and lightness. Furthermore, it’s slightly larger focal length of 40 mm allows you to capture a wider scene if you have a full frame camera, while a cropped-sensor camera would give you a medium telephoto equivalent of 64 mm.

However, since this is no longer available new, you will have to settle for the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM, which goes for $149 on Amazon. This lens is another pancake design, meaning its easy to carry around in the field. Furthermore, its wider focal length gives it an equivalent full frame focal length of 38.4 mm. While it’s not as wide as the 35mm lenses popularly used in street photography, it’s close enough to give you that feel in a cropped-sensor Canon camera.

Unfortunately, since it’s an EF-S lens, you cannot use it on full frame Canon cameras, as its deeper mount physically does not allow the lens to attach to the body. But if you have a newer mirrorless APS-C Canon camera, like the Canon EOS R7 and the Canon EOS R10, you can use this lens on those cameras with an EF-EOS R Mount Adapter.

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MILTON — Williamsport couple Michael Kinney and Missy Gray survived scorching summer-like heat, rapids, and torrential rain over the course of 25 days on the Susquehanna River.

On Friday, they paddled their canoes to shore at Shikellamy State Park Marina to finish their journey which was the full distance of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

Kinney, who practices wildlife photography said he undertook this adventure for three reasons: “First, to raise appreciation of the river system. Number two was to increase the volume of my photograph library. More photos of the river, and wildlife, which is what I enjoy. Landscapes on the water are another target for my photography.”

The trip began at the very edge of Clearfield County.

A third reason for the trek was, “Why not? As I’ve gotten older now seemed the right time,” he said.

Kinney planned by making mile markers of the entire river.

“A good day would be either 10 or 20 miles. So every 10 or so miles ,I’d look for a campsite nearby. Many times I would end up making a base camp and travel to and from the base camp every day. In some cases, there were riverside campsites.”

Kinney’s girlfriend, Missy Gray, came along for most of the trip. This was her first long canoe trip, she said.

There was a lot of rain during the trip.

“The toughest stretch was at Moshannon Falls,” Kinney said. “One of the rocks was up and caught us off guard and we couldn’t overpower the river. It hit the side of our 14-foot canoe.”

“It weighs 75 pounds without any gear, but the canoe was loaded with about 300 pounds of gear.”

Gray wasn’t experienced as a paddler. Still, she said, “I loved the trip. I used to live in Clearfield, and when this was offered as an option, I said, ‘Okay, I’m not passing this up.’”

For Kinney, this was the longest trip he’s ever made by canoe. He’s done 25 miles. But for Gray, it was a first experience, “and I had to show her how to row,” Kinney said.

The headwaters were his favorite spot.

“We were in the middle of nowhere, but it was beautiful,” Gray said. But that’s when the rain came down.

At the headwaters, Kinney spotted wildlife, a common merganser — a bird that dives into the water and lives on fish.

“We saw a few ospreys, muskrats, and snapping turtles,” he said.

Accompanying Kinney and Gray during some of the later miles as they approached the finish line at Shikellamy State Park was Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky, who said what they were doing was awesome.

“Anything that gets people thinking about the river is a good thing,” Zaktansky said.

Kinney and Zaktansky had a chance to talk as they paddled side by side, on the river at Fort Bone.

“There is a busy road on both sides of the river and everybody is worried about where they are going next and then you have this peaceful and serene river bisecting the middle,” Zaktansky said. “A way to reconnect outdoors. Kind of a way to reset. A neat experience.

“I wish more people had time to experience the river as Michael and Missy have. Even three hours on the river, somewhere outdoors in nature, helps you unplug and kind of get away from it all.”

Along the way, Zaktansky and Kinney tracked the landscape and wildlife.

How were Kinney and Gray planning to celebrate coming assure at the end of the trip?

“Probably a trip home to our bed and a shower,” Kinney said. “Missy and I are currently arguing about what is next.

“The next river trip will probably be a lot shorter. Seven days seems to be the golden range for us.”

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For Katie Sadie, owner of Rooney’s shop in Hamilton, nothing beats looking through the waist-level viewfinder of a Pentax 67.

“It’s better than real life.”

A long-time freelance photographer, who studied fashion photography in school, Sadie says there’s something about film that smartphones and digital cameras can’t capture.

It’s a feeling more Hamiltonians seem to be sharing.

Like the rise of vinyl a decade ago, film photography is having a renaissance. In the last few years, it’s hit Hamilton. 

Just look at Sadie’s business.

Her coffee shop on Main Street East, Rooney’s, serves as a hub for creatives and artists, with a focus on photography. There are photography books on the shelves, and a regularly rotating display of local shots on the wall, many of them done on film. 

As of this week, it’s now also a place you can send your undeveloped camera rolls.

The store, which only opened in 2022, has grown in popularity, to the point that independent film labs started reaching out to Sadie about a partnership.

The first was Toronto-based Graination, which this week placed a drop box for film canisters inside. Customers can drop off their roll, and every week, a truck will take the deposits to the Chinatown lab for development. Then, an envelope of prints will be trucked back a week later.

In the first two days, Sadie says six customers dropped off rolls. And she’s hearing lots of excited feedback from her regulars.

Look of film ‘still unmatchable’

Graination co-founder Neil Guo says the partnership was a way for his new business to branch out beyond Toronto’s film market, which he says is already saturated with film labs. The company has already four more drop boxes they’re about to send to other markets outside the city.

Guo has his own theories behind film photography’s resurgence in the age of Instagram.

As phones have made picture-taking almost free and limitless, Guo thinks the finite, practical nature of film has brought meaning back to photography. Especially for younger photographers who grew up in a digital world.

“When it comes to film, [people] have to take photos of what they think is more valuable, that are worth $2 a shot,” he said.

“We scan thousands and thousands of prints every single day,” he said. “We don’t really see people taking photos of [their] breakfast.”

And then there’s the quality of a film print.

“The look, I feel, is still unmatchable,” Guo said.

Though the new drop-off box in Rooney’s might signal a growing demand for film photography in Hamilton, the town has always had a place to get film developed.

Also in the east end, on Ottawa Street North, people have been able to drop their rolls off at Bell Arte Camera since 1972.

Ottawa Street shop developing 500 rolls a week

They still develop film in-house, though owner Robert Bagliolid says the service was on life support for a time.

In the late 2000s, he says, the store was developing about 50 rolls a week, which made just enough money to keep the equipment running.

Since the pandemic lockdowns of 2020, he says, the weekly average has gone up to 500 rolls, coming in from Niagara, Toronto, Brantford and beyond. 

Bagliolid says the younger customers he talks to mention similar draws to the analogue medium: it’s more tactile, it’s private, and it takes time and focus.

“It’s not just a click and instant gratification,” Bagliolid says. “It’s a click with a mystery.”

For him, nothing beats watching his customers go through their developed photos.

“It’s like watching them open up a Christmas gift.”

Local photographer and writer Steacy Easton, who’s teaching a photography course in June at the Dundas Valley School of Art, says both shops are helping to grow the number of film enthusiasts in the Hamilton area. 

One of the best things to come out of the town’s growing film community, they said, is sharing the passion. 

“You can exchange and show [your creations] to other people, almost like trading cards.”

‘Peter Hujar lived in the Ukrainian neighbourhood in New York, yet few Ukrainian-Americans knew about him or his work,’ says Peter Doroshenko, director of The Ukrainian Museum in New York, where there is currently an exhibition covering the first 15 years of the artist’s career. ‘Focusing on his early work, it was important to show Hujar’s three important series of photographs, because he used these groups of images as a foundation for his later portraiture and other varied work. There have been important Peter Hujar exhibitions over the past thirty years, but never focusing on his formative years.’

Three bodies of work created in the 1950s and 1960s are the focus of Peter Hujar: Rialto, with many photographs from Southbury (1957), Florence (1958), and the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo (1963) previously unseen. Also on view are Hujar’s black and white portraits of the characters who frequented bohemian downtown New York, including Iggy Pop and Janis Joplin.

Born to an immigrant family in New York, Hujar was raised by his Ukrainian grandmother, who spoke only the Ukrainian language to him for the first five years of his life. His later struggles with an unstable upbring led him to seek refuge in his photography, which he married with his immersion in the subcultures of New York where he felt most at home.

‘I believe that Hujar’s formal Ukrainian upbringing created various systems and control for his photographic work during his lifetime,’ Doroshenko adds. ‘Ukrainians are very critical and hard on themselves. Hujar had the same critical DNA with his use of the camera and later darkroom production. Peter Hujar lived and worked in one of the most active and creative epicentres of New York, yet he was ahead of his time in many ways.’

‘Peter Hujar: Rialto’ is at The Ukrainian Museum, New York until 1 September 2024. See more New York exhibitions on now.

theukrainianmuseum.org