Scavenger Hunt

This is how my summer partially looks like - with a special map in my bag all times. I walk around a lot, so why not pop into some small galleries and bigger exhibition spaces. However, it does take some discipline, have to follow the map and spot the signs, not just rush through the town. International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts is in town!

What's the point? Well, but life is a scavenger hunt! In a way at least. There's no guide book, there are no rules set in stone. Plus no-one has a clue what's the prize. However, I do believe that all we do and see and hear piles up somewhere inside our heads and it's good. It's interesting and it helps to see the world from different angles. Long story short - I just find it pretty cool. 

So I try to have a map with me (a mental one at most cases) and pop into galleries and museums or just stroll down hidden alleyways. Or then listen to (new) music. Live! Live experiences totally overrule all less live experiences. This also applies to photography. A real life print is so much more than an image on an iPhone screen. Obviously. 

Perhaps the prize is inspiration and curiosity (ever so often I find something that makes me wanna find out more about it)?!!

Do I like everything I see and hear? Do I know everything about art? Do I know all the names? No. Nooo... after all, I am a simple person who enjoys puppies and sunshine. And snapping photos with my smartphone. And using A Beautiful Mess App. 

However, I like to encourage everyone to make that little extra step and go see a less mainstream exhibition, walk down a random alley or give an odd new band a try. There's nothing to lose. Sure thing you might stumble upon things you don't like. That's fine. But it's still another little clue on the scavenger hunt of life.  And I hear the prize might be pretty good when you add some visual arts to your map, fill parts of your head with different images and sounds. 

xoxo

Ps. This update is partially (read: foremost) a pep talk to myself. So I would always keep going, keep discovering. Because at times it is SO easy to crawl up on the sofa and watch an endless amount of TV series and films. Nothing wrong with that either, but you know...  when done in moderation (guess how many times I have seen all the episodes of Gilmore Girls; numbers shall not be named as the count has been lost a long while ago). 

This Week

iPhone 4S, VCSO cam, A Beautiful Mess

Musical week this week. Saw Of Monsters and Men last night and will attend a local city music festival over the weekend. Me likes. Hope to snap some photos and discover new artists.

Last week I read this article on Petapixel and gotta say that yeah, so it is:

I have discovered that photography has pushed me to live more, to see more of the world, and to become more understanding of what is important to me.

I always find it difficult to explain why I love photography, I think Frank did a pretty good job tho. Relatable, highly so. So, take a moment and check out what he had to say. Frankly (pun intended) I can't say if I take photos, because of the way I see the world or I see the world in a certain way, because I take a lot of photos. A mixture maybe?! What I do know is that if I take a moment to pay attention to my surroundings then I can see something fun every day on my way to work. Like this cool biker chihuahua. 

iPhone 4S, Instagram

Yeah, am gonna buy your love with a photo of a puppy! I'm cheap like that. Have a kick-ass week and take some photos (but only if you feel like it, not 'cos of the peer pressure ;))!

xoxo

Sources of Inspiration: Images and More

The other day someone told me that buying photography books makes no sense as you only look at them once or twice. I was rendered speechless (that happens a lot to me lately and not only 'cos I have caught some cold). I had nothing to add in my defense. Not that I really needed to defend myself. I consume images. That's that. In all forms. I cannot really explain it. They inspire me.

I have mentioned some cool exhibitions and one of my favorite books on art on this blog. This time I wanna share a sneak peek into what I consider totally worthwhile storing on my bookshelf (you know, next to those other books - with many words in them). Some, but not all, you can see on the photo above.

• Books filled with amazing images (basically anything by Taschen, really). It's like having mini art galleries at your own house, why would anyone not love that?! Plus they a lot of really well priced books.
• Books about the technical side of photography. Frankly, I don't own that many. I used to borrow them from library back when I lived in Finland (you know a dorm with no computer and no TV, you end up reading a lot more books). However, if you can find something at good price (and with good content) it's worth having it. I am not particularly obsessed (but possibly a little obsessed) with the technical side of photography, but it helps to know it, to remind yourself of it. Plus it's kinda cool to know why colors of film/memory card look different from what you see with your eye. Etc.
• Books that combine amazing images and a tiny bit of technical data, so you really see how some of the coolest images have been created. Like the combo of art books and theoretical books. 
• Magazines. Mostly fashion magazines. Best cheap source of high quality photography and inspiration. Nope, I don't dress according to the latest fashion. But I "steal" ideas and inspiration. Fancy brands and magazines have a lot of fancy money to invest into high quality images.

Okay and I have a book on photography which has almost no images - Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes. It speaks images tho. And it's a bit scary. 

I do believe that images tell stories as much as words, maybe even more so. 

Any inspirational (art) books on your book shelves? 

xoxo

HeyHelloGoodbye

One of the best feelings? Turning out of office notification on at work. So, no work this Friday, I am taking a mini-break and heading for North. Some five hours on a bus to Bilbao and San Sebastian. Gonna meet up with some faraway friends who are traveling in this neck of the woods. I can already hear the laughter and see the cups of tea. Among other things. Friends, aye, priceless. So I leave you with a little teaser on how cool it looks up there (yes, not my first time). 

Bilbao in summer 2012

San Sebastian photos can be found on my Flickr account, click here.

See you next week and hey, take a look at this greatly inspirational video (because you can not love Henry Cartier-Bresson and anything connected to him!). I mean it, watch it, it's just some two minutes long.

Over and out.

xoxo

Sources of Inspiration: "Ways of Seeing" by John Berger

Last December I made a day trip to Paris. I wrote a bit about it in January (click to read more). Among other things I also managed to visit the famous (I think it's famous, it must be) Shakespeare and Company bookstore. 

Olympus E-420, 25mm

It was the coziest place with tons of cool books. I couldn't help, but get some (because who wouldn't want to walk around the whole day with backpack filled with books). One of the books I got was called "Ways of Seeing" by John Berger. I liked the front cover.

iPhone 4S, Afterlight (aka Afterglow)

And I liked what it said on the back cover:

"...Berger argues that when we see, we are not just looking - we are reading the language of images." 

If you in your life would only read one book on art this should be the one. It provokes thinking, it provokes seeing and re-evaluating what you already have seen or have been told.

Look, inside my book there's a stamp. So my copy of the book is also a special travel memory. 

I was one happy tourist with an inspiration-filled shopping bag. 

iPhone 4S, fisheye lens by Photojojo

I find the fisheye lens by Photojojo so cool when traveling and in desperate need for a photo of me and some cool location. Ever so often I travel alone and usually when I strangers to take my photo I end up with even more awkward shots than those mobile "selfies". However, I am a bit of a memory collector, I like having a visual "note" of having been somewhere. 

Any inspirational book recommendations?

xoxo

This Week

I also want to share this video I found via Petapixel: The Collector. All because he said something as awesome as this: "If I die it doesn't matter, I did something that I love." Oh and he has a cool camera collection. 

xoxo

Inspiration Hiding Behind Every Corner

Hey-hello! I am back from my highly successful mini break to southern Spain. Can't wait to share some photos with you. Because of my offline rule for holidays I have some catching up to do. The offline rule really comes down to being too busy with discovering new places and not having my laptop with me. Also, it proves that I can live without being online. ;) Anyhow, black and white photos are coming up soon. Oh and this week's topic is solitude. 

Being back online I can't help, but share an inspirational quote:

 "Photography helps people to see." 

-Bernice Abbott

Gotta love The Reconstructionists project. You can find out more about Bernice Abbott and other great women there. I especially enjoy the art by Lisa Congdon. 

xoxo

Time-out: Art Journaling

Looks like I didn't manage to avoid the flu-season completely and therefore I am taking it slow for couple of days. Luckily there are enough things to do at home and I don't mean things like cleaning and washing (ahem, ignoring the dirty dishes in my sink, totally), but fun things like art journaling! 

I had this adorable owl-patterned A4 notebook and I needed to put it in a good use. Yes, my table is always somewhat cluttered (music sheets from 2004; and no, I can't even pull off "Be-bop-a-lula" that consists of two simple chords - so don't expect any musical entertainment when you pop over, at least not yet! ;)).

Olympus E-420, 25mm

I hadn't heard about art journaling before I read about it on A Beautiful Mess (one of my fave blogs, btw). I am a lover of all things colorful and I am also one of those people who always has pens, papers, glue and piles of inspirational(?!) stuff around. Kind of a pack-rat, yes. So I decided to purchase my first ever e-course - Art Journal All Year. Couldn't be more happier with my purchase. I am really savoring it for the "rainy days". So I can have my little crafty moments cutting and glueing. It has 52 sessions and I have gone through five first ones and I already have my own ideas on which pages I'd like to create. So I see there's a long-term potential for me and my art journal.

Olympus E-420, 25mm

Olympus E-420, 25mm

What I especially love about art journaling is that now I have this (seemingly) simple rule: cute and/or sentimental stuff goes into my art journal or it gets thrown out - less clutter! Yes, please. 

One of my favorite quotes
Olympus E-420, 25mm

I am pretty sure I will talk more about my art journaling journey in the future. But now it's time for some rest, more hot tea and flipping through "The Economist" for my weekly dosage of world news. And all that shall be "washed down" with some music by Arcade Fire.

xoxo

ExEx as in Exciting Exhibitions

Over the past month or so I have been lucky enough to visit three great photo exhibitions in three lovely cities. Whenever I have a chance I try to check out potentially interesting (for me) exhibitions (art, photography, fashion etc). Living in Madrid it is not too hard, it's more like there's TOO much going on all the time for a normal person to grasp. Okay, but let's cut to the chase.

Elliott Erwitt, Personal Best @Elephant Paname (Paris, France) 

Last December I spent one day (yes, only about 12 hours) in Paris and I was stocked to find out there's Elliott Erwitt's exhibition as he is one of my favorite photographers. I say it was fate 'cos I found out about it on Instagram - I spotted a poster with the exhibition information as background to a photo posted there by a stranger. You know, tiny little Instagram pic on your smartphone screen. Hundreds of new pics all the time. And I was lucky enough to spot such a small detail. 

It was well worth it. I loved the gallery with its squeaky old staircase on a quiet side street in central Paris. Ever so amazing and inspirational. Me, couple of Asian tourists and some art students, no big fuss. Oh and the staff was so lovely and I got to practice my broken French a tiny bit.

Cas Oorthuys, Bruxelles 1946-1956 @City Museum (Brussels, Belgium)

It was a really chilly day in Brussels and while I was taking my super touristy walk from Manneken Pis to the see the Town Hall I felt like I need a little warm break and then I saw that the City Museum facing Town Hall is holding a photo exhibition. Needless to say I made my way in and enjoyed a fun photographic trip into the history of Brussels. Loved his work and how most of his work was shot in 1:1 ratio. Squares work so well at times. Even for street photography or maybe especially for street photography. 

Imogen Cunningham @Sala Azca (Madrid, Spain)

First of all I must say that Fundacion MAPFRE has always such amazing exhibitions and they're for free. It would be a sin to miss them. I had never been to Sala Azca before. It was in a bit of an evil location, in a mall (ahem, yes, sales want to get the best of me, but I try to resist). However, the exhibition was a lot bigger and versatile than I had anticipated. I am always in awe when I see that people took what to me seem like very modern photos already in the beginning of the 20th century. And to imagine that back in the days being a female photographer was rather unheard of. Very inspiring. From nudes to portraits to plants to street photography - Imogen was really creative (and obviously had great technical skills). Oh and she was born 100 years before me, I think that is a nice little fact.

So, yes, while photos often look very good on a screen and you can browse through thousands and millions of them online, I'd say they still look a lot better framed on a wall. Coincidentally all the exhibitions I saw had b&w photography. I am not saying b&w is easy to shoot, but I'd say it's easy to fall in love with it. The crisp clean images (even if they happen to be blurry or hazy they seem somewhat clean and pure) are mesmerizing. 

I have noticed one thing, the more I go to different exhibitions the more I want to go to even more exhibitions. No better (affordable) source for inspiration (and education). 

xoxo

Ps. Click on the links, google the images, feel inspired!