Welcome to Room 116

Space Shuttle Launch

Check out these photos and video clip of the launch. Beautiful.  Reminds me a little of Cai Guo-Qiang. His exhibition at the Guggenheim now is one of the most amazing exhibitions I've ever seen. Be sure to check out his video performances.  Very dreamy.

Click here to watch video clip

Annie Leibowitz's new Disney Campaign

Celebrities Beyonce Knowles (L), Lyle Lovett and Oliver Platt pose in a scene from Alice in Wonderland in a new advertising campaign for the 11 Disney theme parks, photographed by celebrity photographer Annie Leibowitz in this publicity photo released to Reuters January 26, 2007. Other photos feature celebrites David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson as part of their 'When Dream Come True' campaign, which seeks to extend attendance gains made during Disney's 50th anniversary. (Annie Leibowitz/Walt Disney Company/Handout/Reuters)

                  Soccer star David Beckham poses as Prince Charming from Cinderella.

                  Actress Scarlett Johansson poses as Cinderella.

The Perfect Day

Hope you enjoy this photo taken today in Central Park.

Berlin

Saw these while I was walking around in Berlin last week.  I thought the Nike outdoor ads were great, especially for a counter-culture city known for its graffiti.  Axe was seen in East Berlin near all the bars, restaurants and clubs.  The Bush was seen in the Berlin airport on the way to Krakow, Poland.  Enjoy!

Richard Misrach: Golden Gate

"For about twenty years I lived in an artist's studio in California that had skylights but no windows. And I never thought much about that until we bought a house in the Berkeley Hills, from which you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. I started noticing how the light chnaged every day, every hour, every minute...I was just stunned by the beauty. The change in atmosphere, color and light quality was reminiscent of Monet's wonderful studies. Making these photographs has become an obsession over the last three years."-Richard Misrach.

Apeture just reissued this beautiful photography book about 3 weeks ago. Misrach notes the date and exact time of each photo he took from his front porch.  The way the golden gate interacts with the sky is really lovely. There are a few taken in the morning with fog engulfing the bridge that are just amazing.  Later in his photos, he starts to combine different photographs from different days together to create some cool combinations. This a great book for those who always find beauty in the skies or a single cloud. 

Speaking of the Golden Gate bridge, also check out this new film called, The Bridge.

In this bold and thought-provoking documentary about suicide and its complex aftermath, Eric Steel (the director) spends from dusk until dawn filming the Golden Gate Bridge everyday for a year, capturing nearly two dozen suicides that occurred in 2004. Intercut with these frightening leaps are interviews with the family and friends of the deceased.

Wow, what a premise huh?  Here's the trailer. (I don't think it's working, but you can read more from that link and here. )

I wonder if by some chance Misrach had photographed Steel while he was filming.

I'll leave you with some more photos from Richard Misrach. He has a nice series on solitude and the ocean.

Border Film Project

Sample photo from Migrant:

Sample photo from Minutemen:

www.borderfilmproject.com

Interesting note: One of the three people who started this went to w+k 12.

Reuter's Top 40

View more at: Reuter's Top 40 PIctures of the Year

2000 words

The Thought Project

You don’t know what the man or woman you pass on the street is thinking about. You want to know it, but you don’t. Danish photographer, Simon Hoegsberg spent 3 months in 2004 stopping strangers in the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark and New York to find out what they were thinking about just before he stopped them. Using a dictaphone he recorded what they told him, then took a picture of them. 55 thoughts are presented here in the form of quotes. All quotes state exactly what was said during the interviews.

We found this project to be a very interesting exploration into the study of human nature, one person at a time. It kind makes you wonder what everyone around you is thinking about.
-From The Thought Project at DesignforFreedom.

The photographs of Phillip Toledano

I believe that a photograph should be like an unfinished sentence. There should be space for questions.
    -Phillip Toledano

You can visit his site here.  He was an art director for 10 years at TBWA/Chiat/Day, Berlin Cameron, and Fallon.  He is now taking photos full time.