Tag: urban life
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Concrete Dreams: Morning Rituals.
‘Tastes strange’ was how I would label Japanese tea while I was in Tokyo. Drinking it anyway eventually changed me, though. Since I left, I can’t get enough of sencha anymore. It reminds me of morning rituals, and of the fact that there is a country on the other side of the globe where people…
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Concrete Dreams: Tokyo.
Has the thought of living in a giant concrete ocean ever frightened you? It’s a reality, after all. Most of us are dwelling in cities, making our planet an inreasingly urban one. (tbc) *Warming up for my new yonkoma series ‘Tokyo Mosaik’, tribute to a magic city.*
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Learning from Vivian Maier #6: Share & grow
A closer look on what held Vivian Maier back to publish her posthumously acclaimed street photography work unveils parallels to a very modern dilemma. To be honest, we’ve all become data junkies, aimlessly stacking digital media just as the nanny used to stack her (mostly undeveloped, unseen) visual material. Nowadays, every new app, every new…
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Learning from Vivian Maier #5: Acknowledge your own
For me, the key to Vivian Maier’s story is not her posthumous success. Her visual work is there for us to see and to remind ourselves of what we care about. Concluding this, I care to give a shout-out to the many people whose talents remain locked and whose works, professional or not, remain unseen.…
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Learning from Vivian Maier #4: Finding the audience
As in any other art business, the path to publish and gain visibility often requires faculties that are not directly linked to the art & craft a specific artist masters. So, no matter the quality of your product, you don’t necessarily know how to approach people in order to market it. More concretely: Vivian Maier…
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Learning from Vivian Maier #3: Belated teamwork
Can you imagine why it takes so long, sometimes, to bring your own creativity out to the bright daylight, for others to see? Might be because your creativity has grown overwhelmingly, while your knowledge of publishing techniques still equals zero. Vivian Maier’s story may be unique, but her output dilemma isn’t, at all. A nanny…
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Learning from Vivian Maier #2: The hidden eye
Searching for clues of Vivian Maier’s long time undisclosed photographic work, it would be easy to argue: “She was an odd fish, no wonder she couldn’t relate to whatsoever audiences. Maybe she wasn’t ready for it.” But truth be told, no one of us is ready for success and public exposure until those things reach…
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Learning from Vivian Maier #1: Stockyards & trash puppets
At this year’s Berlin film festival Berlinale, John Maloof’s documentary “Finding Vivian Maier” touched me most in my own experience of being creative. Vivian Maier is one of those antiheroes most of us probably wouldn’t have liked, had we met her personally. Many statements of people who knew her evidence what an awkward person she…
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Inside Berlin: Barefoot Nonchalance
Stormy weather is approaching the city, yet in the metro I see a barefoot beauty with blonde dreads taking a seat in front of me. This reminds me of a “Death Note” dialogue, where the always good looking, psychopathic main character named “Light” asks his opponent, the always messy, strange looking and sharp minded “L”,…
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As From My Window I Sometimes Glance…
… on a sunny afternoon in Berlin, Wedding, I see reflections of light transforming the other side of the street. This is when the charm of living in a neighborhood like mine becomes obvious to me. You don’t need to share the tastes of your neighbors, it’s sufficient to watch. Every now and then, a…