What it Feels Like to Fly

I can safely say that JP Auclair and I probably have little in common and I'm sure we will never meet.  Can't imagine how our paths might cross. Until today, I'd never heard of him.  But he makes my spirits soar.  

JP is a freeskier. The man has 20 videos on vimeo.  You can tell right away, he's a major ski dude.  Even has his own page on the Oakley site. That's JP on the right, catching some air.  


So why am I writing about him? Because of a 14 day collaboration with this man, Dave Mossop (Dave's on the left). 

And what you're about to see is a tour de force:  beautifully shot, edited and executed.  And also really cool.  Go Dave and JP.  


Kind of an all-time kid's fantasy.  Anyone who ever dreamed of flying knows what I mean.  So see for yourself.   Here's a link to the video "JP Auclair Street Segment."  And you can read an interview about the making of Dave's video here.  

Ice Does Eames

Making assumptions.  So automatic, you don't even know you're doing it.  So when Bob, my colleague, sent me a link to an Ice Cube video about designer Charles Eames, I thought, what's up with that?  It's true that Mr. Cube (I love calling him that) has moved very successfully from rapper to actor (shedding one set of assumptions for another). But why would a rapper/actor even know about Eames? See what I mean about assumptions?

Here's the iconic chair Eames designed in 1946.  Strong, simple lines.  An excellent example of what can be created by great design.

And this chair, created in 1953, is similar to the one that Ice is sitting in.  Of course Eames and his wife were perhaps the most influential designers of their time.  You can find out more about them here and here.  And the cool video that Ice made introduces a retrospective exhibit on Eames and his work.  The video is so creative in concept - as it juxtaposes two styles, rap and documentary - and includes Mr. Cube's  very personal homage to Eames and what he was all about.   


Well, see for yourself.

Schaible's Barber Shop in Frenchtown

Last December I found myself wandering Frenchtown, NJ and was drawn to this building.

I decided to take a closer look.  Especially at the barber shop.

The deco "smoking" sign caught my eye.  But now I think it was probably just a faded "no smoking" sign.  Schaible's was closed that day.  But a man's lifetime was locked inside.  

So I leaned up against the window and looked more closely. I've always loved how reflections seem to capture dual realities. Especially how you can see inside and outside at the same time.  It's disorienting and illuminating, like how thinking deeply about something can lead you in different directions.

And looking at all this stuff, I feel part voyeur, part anthropologist.  So much is familiar; so much unknown.  Like someone else's memories seeping into consciousness... or something you almost see out of the corner of your eye. You can almost hear them passing the time, a joke, some gossip, a proud moment.  

Seeing his tools takes me back to when I was a kid,  how it used to smell, like lemon mint.  With hairy arms, a firm grasp and snip snip snip marking time in my ear.   

Well, that's my last photo and I thought that was the end of the story.  But there's a little bit more.  I found a photo of Don Schaible.  And learned that there's been a barber shop there since 1901.  And that Don spent most of his life working there.  His shop was even featured in a book about small town barber shops.  
And I guess the reason it was closed was probably due to illness. Because two months after I took these photos, Don passed away.  You can find out more here.
   

What's Wrong With This Picture

Today there was a historic meeting between Hillary Clinton and Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi.  And this photo ran in the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader, in Yangon on Thursday.

 

What I see is what seems to be a cordial meeting.  They're both smiling and seem pleased to be together.  I also notice that Hillary is wearing white and wearing her hair pulled back, as is Aung San Suu Kyi.  I take that as a sign of respect on Hillary's part.  But other than that, the photo seems very straight forward, especially given the headline in the NYT  "U.S. Will Ease Some Limits on Myanmar, Clinton Says"


When I went to the Wall Street Journal I noticed how they portrayed the event.  Here's the Photo they ran:

WSJ version

You can tell from the camera angle it was most likely taken by the same photographer.  The pose is almost identical, but compare the images and the pictures tells a different story. 

NYT/Post version

The NYT/Post picture is "warmer" with the red, yellow tones slightly more present and the whites brighter and more distinct.  This makes the picture look more lifelike and more pleasing to the eye.  My guess is that this is pretty much the way things actually looked.  I say that because Hillary's skin tones look good and the white levels seem correct.  When you work with images, if you pay attention to the skin tones and the whites, everything else usually falls into place.

WSJ version

The WSJ image is more grayed out, flatter, with a slightly greenish tinge.  Green skin is not eye appealing, it makes people look more sickly and unpleasant.  And the whites are dulled too, giving it an overall dim, muddy quality.  Not appealing at all.  

What about the captured moment?

NYT/Post version

In the NYT/Post image, Hillary is just beaming and that, in itself, says a lot. Look at how the two women are with each other and you can see they're connecting and seem happy to be together. Look at the tilt of Aung San Suu Kyi's head and you can almost see positive energy flowing between them.

WSJ version

In the WSJ image they seem to be sizing each other up.  They are certainly more formal with each other and their bodies seem more rigid, as if they're not together by choice.    


More importantly, in the NYT/Post image you see a meeting of equals and it certainly casts Hillary in a proactive, positive light. In the WSJ image, Hillary is much less attractive.  And they've made it easier to see her in a poor light - figuratively and literally. For me, that's what's wrong with this picture, it's a subtle way of shading the news.