I Lost My Camera in Colombia – A Blessing in Disguise?

I just got home yesterday from a 10 day trip to Bogota and a couple surrounding towns. It was an amazing vacation, and before leaving Toronto, nearly every person sent me on my way with a ‘Have fun! Be safe! Take lots of pictures!’ type of message. Another equator-bound lady and I scoffed at such cliches, thinking ‘Ppff! Like we’re not going to come home with hundreds pictures of this new place we’re going to!!?’

And I took them! I took classic shots of my feet in cute little shoes on top of sewer grates or ground-maps that said ‘Bogota.’ I took simple, wide, landscape shots of the churches and the mountains and the crazy masses of yellow diesel-fueled taxis and insanely packed buses everywhere. I also captured unique, artistic close ups of graffiti,  colorfully painted villas, exotic flowers, and road-side cows, chickens, donkeys, sheep, horses, and dogs. I assured there were photos with me framed perfectly in front of the dark salmon terra cotta walls of the house of Simon Bolivar, and sitting on the ledge of a beautiful rock wall backed by huge palm trees in Parque Nationale, and on top of little bridges over an adorable creek in Parque de Los Novios.  But none of these will make it to their destined profile-perfect internet home; instead, I came home with 45 shots, and they’re all from my camera-phone.

Art in the hood.

Just to the east of my neighbourhood there’s an event going on called Do Design. It’s a 4 day design celebration occurring in the Do West Trinity Bellwoods Business Improvement Area (Dundas West, Between Bathurst & Grace), between January 27 and 30, 2011. From the Do West BIA’s website:

Do Design intends to highlight the diversity of our streetscape and community and is a reminder of the value of creative initiatives and the resonance of design in our daily lives.

Dundas Street West (between Bathurst and Grace Street) becomes a “gallery”, with design projects displayed in storefronts, walk-ups, windows, cafe’s, galleries, bars, restaurants, boutiques, showrooms and even a lumber yard! We are pleased to announce 28 participating venues this year, showcasing the works of the contemporary designers listed below.

In honour of this event, I have taken some photos of art that is located mostly in the neighbourhood two BIAs west.

Basement of Zoots Cafe - 1438 Dundas Street West

I’ve seen this incredible photographic work before, maybe in Kensington Market?

I don’t know who it’s by, but I love it.

If you know, please let me know so I can link to the artist/go take photos of other examples!

This reminds my good friend Aubs of the photography of Edward Burtynsky.

I agree. Especially his work on Urban Mines.

An incredible Mosaic on the wall of Howard Junior Public School.

How many animals can you see?

This obviously reminds me of this Smashing Pumpkins song.

I love the contrast in this. I also love how this alley has very clearly been designated as an accepted grafitti zone, with a white-washed area where the painting is allowed to happen, and this artist goes just outside of it.  Badass.

Wow. I wonder if they used rulers?

Toronto Street Art

Wow. I bought my little point and shoot camera last November and I’m only now starting to go through the photos.

Yum/Ew

A certain pizza company identified by this game:

has a new product that sounds and looks deliciously, carbtastically disgusting:

Not QUITE ready to welcome the pastabreadbowl to my hips.  Perhaps post-late-night-calamity?

Seek and I shant find

Left the house in the morning looking for a job, walked around for almost 7hours, found three locations that are hiring, dropped off zero resumes, found some pics.

Here they are:

If this is your guard dog…

I want to shop at your store!

This is in front of an elementary school, and I find it creepily beautiful

 

Alas… none of these will pay the bills.

bASS-ment

Soooo yeah, my basement neighbour is one of those bass-obsessed types.  The kind of person that can only listen to music with a subwoofer.  The kind of person who needs to FEEL his music as well as hear it.  I’m two floors above him and his music vibrates my bed… and not in a good way.

So this morning, when the bass had finally subsided at like, 430 in the a.m…. of course the ol’ pup decides that it is then that she needs to go out for a walk/pee!

So I took her out and took advantage of the cool light and took some pics:

 

 

Au Baril of Pictures

I spent some time in Point Au Baril this summer and took some fun pics.

The header on my page is from the same weekend.

I tease with these:

 

For more: explore

your morning awkwardness

The lovely lady at Xe Dapsicle inspired me to continue with the theme of Winnie the Pooh.

This inspiration brings you this gem from Awkward Family Photos:

wow.

 

Another favourite:

brave choice

documentarian art

Came across a really cool project that really sparked my interest.  It reminds me of a project I read about recently where a young man decided to take a picture of himself every day? week? for the rest of his life.  I think it’s called one day at a time or something.  Too lazy to look it up. . . yet.

Anyway. Also too lazy to describe this project called Exactitudes, so I am plunking the description from the website. Check it out!

Rotterdam-based photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 14 years. Rotterdam’s heterogeneous, multicultural street scene remains a major source of inspiration for Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, although since 1998 they have also worked in cities abroad.

They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element.

Wim van Sinderen, Senior Curator Museum of Photography, The Hague

 

Some of my favourites:

I also particularly enjoy the game boys, think it’s hilarious that so many of the skaters wear Tommy, am slightly embarassed that how I used to dress in grade five is labelled as preppy, don’t particularly understand the title for these adorable children, and adore the title for these adorable young men.

OH, and I should probably mention that I most definitely have a crush on the majority of these handsome fellas, and these cuties too! AND these early birds!

Little Bites Two

I started this thing last tuesday to start keeping track of the websites I’m randomly stumbling across.

Issue two, coming right up:

When I was informed that someone clicked on thepicture in one of my former posts, I decided to look through their site again.  I found the first of this week’s little bites:

Noah Kalina - Apparently some sort of youtube cult star.  I have no idea. But I like his work.  I especially fell in love with this shot. And I’ve always wanted someone to take a picture of me like this.  There is just something incredibly alluring about the anonymity, despite the fact that it is an incredibly respectable nude shot.  I love the lighting and the framing and the general sense of ethereal-ness. (word?)

Uke Hunt – Oh my. What a find. My righteous dude stumbled across this video, of Will Smith singing Men In Black with Stefan Raab playing the Ukelele. I loved it. It made me smile on the inside. It made me feel nostalgic of Fresh Prince Days… and it was all-in-all, a great find.  So I looked up on the google, and came across this website.  Cute. 

Other Words for Said - Ever been caught in a conversation that goes something like this? :

Other person: ‘omigod you won’t believe what happend with me and my EX-best friend yesterday’

You: ‘oh yeah? tell me about it!’

Other Person: ‘Well she told me that ____ and I was like ‘_______,’ ‘and then she said ___, and then I said

_____, and then she said _______, and then I was like __________, then she was like _______’?

It sucks.  This website may help.