It feels so secret, so intimate, like you’re peeking behind the curtain that is off limits.

Alright first of all Westside Studio is a collective of photographers based in Toronto, and within that Tyler Gray shared his process for a Red Baron Beer ad. Excellent!

From the Westside blog:

I received a call from Jason Goncalves at Play Advertising back in April to shoot a summer ad campaign for Red Baron Beer. The agency’s layout called for a shot of two people standing on a dock on a hot summer day:

I considered shooting the ad on location near Aurora, Ontario. But the weather isn’t always great in April. And I wasn’t keen on having to stand in a cold lake behind a camera for 4 hours. Plus the water would restrict my lighting set-up and the talent would freeze.

I started looking through pictures from canoe trips I had taken in the past and came across a shot of the perfect dock! This photograph became the foundation for the final ad. All camera angles, focal lengths and lighting direction had to match this shot:

I pulled more images of trees, water and skies from various other trips and mocked up a few background options for the team at Play Advertising:

Then I shot the talent in Westside Studio’s parking lot. I had them stand on plywood so that I could easily blend the shot into the dock:

Other small elements were then added to increase the summer atmosphere:

All of these layers were then combined to create the final image:

All images © Tyler Gray

A gallery that has no home. A working studio space that has no address (well, sort of). Shake hands with The Labrador, 12128, a floating workshop/refuge/venue/studio/gallery run by four recent art grads from Lewis & Clark. The Labrador lives on the Willamette River, on Sauvie Island, and used to ship bodes back home after WWII, as well as fish frozen northern waters for crab. Sounds like a set for Ghosthunters, a place where artists go to get terrorized.

Run by four (obviously) crafty humans, The Labrador seems like a destination in itself, any presentation of art beyond the vessel almost seems like bonus. Nevermind that Kyle Thompson, Zoë Clark, Lewis Feuer, and Caitlin Ducey produce solid, gorgeous work individually and collaboratively. Let there be pioneers in a land full of pioneers. But let them be on a boat, you know, just because it’s awesome and a little hilarious. Of course, this is how our (white) people originally came here, just go straight to the source…

Check out the caliber:

Here’s the team, and here’s what it looks like if you go to a gallery opening on The Labrador (the gallery is known as 12128).

Labrador project
WW write-up

Shadow puppet theater is a thousand-year-old artform that entertains millions to this day in Indonesia & Bali. Cut from buffalo hides, puppets are placed between a tightly hung screen and an electric or fire lamp and usually tell epic Hindu tales like The Ramayana or The Mahabharata. Entire villages gather and watch the all-night tales which are accompanied by live music & narration from behind the screen. Cross legged, giggling on rice mats, entire communities lean-in on the story. Clearly in the depiction above, a pair of lovers are taken over by the romantic poetry of the scene. Just writing about it makes me woozy, err, envious of such a form of entertainment. What a way to learn your context, through night-long puppet theater surrounded by your whole village. Incredible.

Kecak, Rangda, & the Barong

Beyond shadow puppetry, the Balinese offer much more exciting pageantry almost always revolving around the idea of good vs. evil. The result are stories that are never concluded, as the battle rages on in the Balinese mind. There are no victors, no happy endings, just the constant push and tear of light and dark. One such representation is the Kecak “Monkey Dance” unique as it has no instruments, just a large group of men singing a haunting chorus late into the night. It must be bone chilling to experience. The Ramayana is recited, lead by a monk, and most participants usually end up in a trance during and after the performance.

Above, the struggle between the Barong and the witch Rangda, performed every 6 months to rid villages of evil. The wooden masks that are worn are completely artisan works of high art, and each carries its own spirit that must be invoked before being worn. Typically, the performer loses consciousness during these performances and wakes after trance has lifted once the mask has come off.

Here is the Kecak performed for Baraka (1992):

What follows is the struggle between the Rangda and the Barong, both mythical creatures. Rangda uses her evil trance to get the villagers to turn their daggars on themselves, but the Barong prevents the daggars from piercing their skin (called the Kris dance). Quite often this also is done in trance and the villagers will place the Kris’ in their mouth, up their nose, or in their eyes or chest and remain unharmed.

Like I needed more reasons to go to Bali, everyone seems to be an artist or a performer:

I’ve seen Nikki Graziano‘s Found Function project here and there for quite a while now, and every time I run across it, it stops me in my tracks. The images alone are striking and the mathematic observations she makes are both surprising, playful, and precise.  I like the way she looks for order in apparent chaos, and her presentation is spot on.

While not exactly math these images also fall under the “order from chaos” umbrella. Taking famous moments from sport (many brought back great memories of watching these events take place as a kid) and exploring all the detail that was captured within them, an image is worth a thousand words and all that. I like these because they break down all the things that make these images emotional for so many people. Built into many of these images are our understanding and judgements concerning each athlete both as a professional and a public figure. It is interesting to see someone expose some of the messages that those who have followed these athletes understand intuitively. In addition, alot of the comments are just plain funny.

For the life of my I cannot find a source for the next set of images they have been passed around so man times on so many nameless blogs and image sharing sites that they have been separated from their owners! If you know who made these please leave a comment and I’ll edit the post to give credit.

Mr. Shultz works out of charming Düsseldorf and is one of the best architectural photographers I have ever seen. It’s impossible to tear my eyes away. Ok let’s get this straight, this isn’t easy. To make an enormous object like a building look wafer thin, or chunkier than it is, or to appear completely foreign to its background is so precise a skill that I can’t quite fathom his process. He repeatedly performs these feats and throws them on his portfolio site like they’re casual snapshots of buildings he stumbles across in what appears to be the most gorgeous Germany I’ve ever imagined.

And that grass. Something is happening with that grass.

I originally hesitated to comment on this, wondering if this was the appropriate venue to talk about a couple of pressing things. If it’s not a stretch, the subject does involve shared spaces, complex systems, and perhaps narrative storytelling. Don’t be alarmed, I’m quite a mild commentator, perhaps you share some of these views also.

Headlines usually have a short lifespan for those not in them, but often we don’t realize that most headlines involve all of us. Most particularly in the case of the “Ground Zero Mosque” — which, by the way is a misnomer. Now that I’ve said this subject is relevant to this space I may leave all that behind and share my point-of-view from here forward. This would be Aaron now, not FORTPORT (you may now place your recording devices on the table).

It’s a Rec Club, not the Taliban

First, let’s be clear. Here is a map of the proposed Muslim community center:

The community center is in red, the actual location of Ground Zero is at the World Memorial in blue. Even from the furthest tip of the lot where the towers once stood it is two blocks to the community center, but more accurately from Ground Zero, it is four blocks. From the WTC Tribute Visitors Center it is six blocks, and from the WTC Memorial Fountain also six blocks. In essence, the term Ground Zero Mosque is a falsehood.

The notion that any such Muslim-oriented building would be looming down upon Ground Zero was probably stated by someone who has never been to Manhattan. The size of the buildings obliterate any chance of seeing 45 Park Place (the address of proposed center), in fact to see this location one would have to deliberately walk to 45 Park Place, or never know it existed.

In addition to being located away from actual Ground Zero, the alleged Mosque is actually a Community Center. Indeed, for it to be a Mosque (or Masjid) only worship could be conducted there. In the 13 stories proposed, only the top two are reserved for prayer space. The floors beneath will include basketball courts, and a culinary school. Once again, the term Ground Zero Mosque is inaccurate, and likely used to alarm you. It would be more accurately labelled a Muslim YMCA, or Muslim Rec Center.

Islam equates to… our enemy?

Now that we know exactly what we are talking about I’d love to discuss the idea of the presence of a Muslim Community Center insulting the victims of 9/11.

We all know what happened. Our grandchildren will know what happened. But two glaring logical fallacies erupt when confronted with the idea that building a Muslim Community Center is wrong at this location:

1. We were not attacked by Islam.

2. If our purpose was to invade Iraq to liberate Muslim Iraqi’s from a dictator,
why don’t we offer them the same compassion in Manhattan?

Our brothers and sisters in Islam are crucial to defining ourselves, and our survival. Without them, we are less, and without us, they are less. A place of worship, prayer, and community sounds exactly like something I’d want near the burial ground of my family members. It is a far, far cry from the terrorist training camps it is being called. Alarmism grossly distorts what is actually happening, and we are left to decide between falsehoods, the fate of a people who literally want to cook and pray together, or perhaps shoot a few hoops.

Now, I am not naive enough to think that fundamentalism hasn’t resulted in violent acts. But, fundamentalism in any creed or in any country has violent cells, perhaps because the nature of fundamentalism sometimes wakes in us the desire to enforce our view. Perhaps the question is, are we being fundamentalists by disallowing Muslims to pray and cook and shoot hoops in a building that has been abandoned & vacant for 9 years?

In this instance, the headlines affect us all. There is great turmoil over this subject because we are growing as a nation, growing as a people. There will be unrest. The path to inclusion, abundance, and wholeness is a steep climb.

I hope we offer all Muslims better than we offered the Apachee, Blackfeet, Catabwa, Chikasaw, Choctaw, and Comanche peoples. Better than was given to the Crow, the Cowlitz, Deleware, Cherokee, Shawnee, Hoh, and Hopi men and women. Better than was served to the Iowa, Me-Wuk, Kickapoo, Klamath, Makah, Miami, and Mississippi communities. Better than was offered to the Navajo, Nez Perce, Omaha, Osage, Otoe-Missouria, Paiute and Puyallup, Quechan, Quinault, Redding Rancheria, the Sac & Fox, Samish, Santa Rosa, Sauk-Suiattle, and Seminole. Far better than was handed to the Snoqualmie, Tonkawa, Tohono O’odham, Utu Utu Gwaitu, Winnebago, Wiyot, Yurok, Yselta Del Sur, and Zuni families.

partial list of our previous exclusions

We must confront our inner Muslim. And when we do we’ll find nothing more than a family member, homesick for the same place we are.

Perttu Saksa is a Finnish photographer working from his base in Helsinki. He’s got an impressive list of exhibitions under his belt and has worked for clients like Greenpeace, Nokia, Sony BMG, Universal Music, Waterhouse & Coopers, and a litany of editorial publications. I love seeing these out-of-context, especially since the majority of these seem to be editorial works. I like to imagine what their context became when they were sent to press, apart from their borderless homes on the internet.

I have this crazy fantasy in my head that we’re just energy trapped inside this body. The energy comes out but we could do whatever we want. I think like that because I do some crazy things sometimes. I don’t even understand. You just have to focus on something so hard and believe that it’s possible and it will happen.

What I am so in love with is the voice-over in the beginning. The direction is most excellent, but the narrations sets this epic super-hero theme that is delivered in full by the end credits. Most, most excellent work here. The first portrait of a skater comes across in frail form, so fragile and young & unknowing. Then his skin starts smoking. Icon.

A sudden minor shock or meaningless/meaningful interruption…that is a memory…here is a blip of the land of the rising sun. JAPAN!

The suggestion of Japan is clearly better than facing it head-on. The first two minutes of this could have been anywhere. Nathan & Matt suggested the idea of Japan without showing a Japanese stereotype or even face, with Humpback whale song overlays. What!? This video makes me feel like this trip was either super epic or the editing is just way over the top. Probably both, but not in a negative way, more in a “why doesn’t my life look like that” way. Nice work, excellent escape, definite dopamine squirt.

Grabbing some fresh mountain air and incredible landscapes is usually enough. Coming home with luggage tags and decals only makes it more incredible. These socialists know how to make a take-away!

Most people are familiar with the Chateau at Lake Louise, it’s such a huge icon of the Northwest. On this side of the country, however, most people have never seen or heard of Chateau Frontenac. It’s the worlds most photographed hotel and is basically an enormous castle on a hill. It’s strange to think of a functioning castle in the Americas, but it’s there, and it’s gorgeous.

“Oil Capital of Canada” just sounds so appealing, doesn’t it? It’s sad, because Edmonton is awesome, it’s the northernmost city on our continent with a population over 1 million. Surprisingly Edmonton has a huge rodeo scene and is basically a northern extension of what we know to be the Midwest. Maple leaves, beavers, moose. Nice iconography Canada. We’re familiar with most of these way down in Orygun, with the exception of the moose. Do we even have those here still?

Since maple leaves came up and Canada’s flag has been described as the best-designed flag in history, I found this great little flier celebrating the second national anthem of Canada, “The Maple Leaf Forever.”

Here’s the lyrical breakdown of my favorite part, the chorus:

Long may it wave, and grace our own,
Blue skies and stormy weather,
Within my heart, above my home,
The Maple Leaf forever!

Thanks Canadian Design Resource & Creative Roots

Dr. Cornel West recently said

I like to be multi-contextual, which is much more important than being multicultural.

I read that only a day before I visited a Mosque (Masjid) for the first time in my life. This was a heartwood trip. I’ve heard the call to prayer (Adhan) for years, I’ve even had a widget on my home computer blare out the call to prayer for about a year, much to the surprise of guests.

What on earth is my context in a Mosque? What is my context within Islam?

I’ve been wanting to find out, so I emailed Imam Mohammad A. Rahman to ask if a non-Muslim would be welcome in the Masjid. He was more than welcoming, so I hopped on a bus and got lost in Southwest Portland, a place not designed for pedestrians, or religious tourists. The Mosque itself is like a mini Islamic quarter. A tiny minaret, blocky cinder forms, and surrounded by streams of covered women and elegant, bearded men. I stepped right out of Portland and into the Arab world. Correction, Muslim world. Once inside I was surrounded by a buffet of humanity;  Indonesians, Nigerians, Egyptians, Caucasians, Somalis, Qataris, and me. It was cool in there, a gentle breeze drifting down from ornamental fans, and lit overwhelmingly from above by many skylights. It was like stumbling into an inner courtyard unexpectedly, and smelled literally of star jasmine.

The carpet had a prayer rug grid printed on it, so worshipers all had a place, perfectly sized for an average human. Mine was larger than me, naturally. I felt like a total infidel.

A young man covered in scarves that I used to wear (what an idiot I was) walked to the front of the room with his back to us and all the spaces quickly filled. He began his call to prayer, which breaks down like this:

• الله اكبر  Allahu Akbar God is the greatest/most great
• اشهد ان لا اله الا الله Ash-hadu allā ilāha illa llāh I testify that there is no deity except for God
• اشهد ان محمدا رسول الله  Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan-rasūlu llāh I testify that Muhammad is a Messenger of God
• حي على الصلاة Hayya ‘ala-salatt  Make haste towards the prayer
• حي على الفلاح  Hayya ‘ala ‘l-falah Make haste towards success
• الله أكبر  Allāhu akbar God is the greatest!
• لا إله إلا الله  La ilaha illallah There is no deity except for God

During the morning prayer, this line is added in there:

• الصلاة خير من النوم  Al-salatu khayru min an-nawm Prayer is better than sleep

You can follow along here, with one of the best Adhan’s I’ve ever heard, each line repeated twice, except for the last two:

After a few minutes, the room was completely full, with worshipers spilling out into the hallway on the floor, snug up against one another in barefoot intimacy. My toes were touching a strangers toes, my elbows imposing on another’s. This is church, I thought to myself, for 1.6 billion humans. Am I multicontextual enough to handle this? Why is this my first time visiting a Mosque? How dramatic will my mother be when she hears where I was today?

There were a series of events that I did not exactly follow, some communal recitals, some holy verses, and lots of standing and kneeling. No one paid me any mind, and I was free to check everyone out. The cute baby with fat brown cheeks and eyes for days, the floor length robes on young handsome teens, and the feeling that this room was basically as diverse as the UN. The Mosque was only a shell of what was inside of it, barely able to hold its gorgeous contents. There is no conclusion, I was just lucky enough to be allowed into such an experience.

After the half Arabic, half English sermon (is it called a sermon?) I was welcomed by about 15 different men in robes and plain clothes with warm handshakes and a hearty Salam wa aleikum. I responded hello back, and I usually got a wink. Several men then sat in the middle of the room leaning against one another with their children playing around/on them and visited. I was approached by a few more people who were curious about me before I decided to trek it back home and let these fine people enjoy their Friday after-service.

Being a pastors-kid and going to church my whole life, I know the newcomer program. Seek them out, shake their hand, use their name, and invite them back as authentically as you can muster. In no way did I feel like I was being asked to come back.

To me, this is a much more authentic approach to relationship. Either it happens or it doesn’t, you can’t be a fixer and begin a relationship to increase your coffers, because a relationship at root is whole, not a quota. We used to train our youth in the Christian churches that “it’s all about building relationships” without knowing what on earth they were.

What I saw in that place wasn’t really a building, but a huge, functioning human relationship.

There are many reasons Islam is growing so rapidly. I already want it in my life, and I’ve only spent 2 hours with it.

If the practitioners of the other Abrahamic faiths knew this, maybe we’d spend less time on protecting our walls and more on those relationships. I’d like to find more Mosques (figuratively, as in places I’ve not ventured) and extend my ability to be multicontextual. I’ve but to show up and be as open as possible. Surprisingly, I think I’ll find that most humans are wanting to be more inclusive than we’ve ever been in history.

As a great mentor of mine has presented:

Inclusion > Exclusion
Abundance > Scarcity

Take a sec and listen to this pilar of Islamic song, reciting the 99 names of God, with transliteration and translation, just follow down the list! Both open in new windows:

99 Names of Allah, transcript here, follow along!