Intro
Hey everyone! In this edition, I discuss some dramatic updates relating to my last post and talk about camera design. Hope all is well, and that you are able to enjoy Thanksgiving this week! With that…
Top 3 Picks
TikTok's Eurocore Summer - I think people in the US who want things to change (that I have been around, at least) like to imagine the positives of other realities without considering the tradeoffs. Perhaps this is because they wouldn't be tolerant of the tradeoffs... I find this pining frustrating when they would not be okay with changes necessary to reach them here in the US.
Longtime area photographer’s tour of Manhattan's Chinatown (Nowness produced)
A recent New Yorker re-look at WKW's In the Mood for Love with an interesting scroll format :)
Misc. Links
Spain lives in flats - very nicely told visual narrative on why and how so much of Spain lives in urbanized flats.
The Netherlands using stable diffusion to advertise their urban design and promote tourism… sick. Here is my street done up pretty:
The tradition of knowledge behind ASML - relationship between the social democracy welfare state and industry is interesting
032c interview with Ouana Stǎnescu - interesting commentary on her generation's faults, Romanian POV, and this quote (my own emphasis):
"Quite often in the States I find, with the hierarchy of the school systems, and capitalism, and the competitive nature of everything, in spite of this abstract notion of freedom, the systems are suggesting the opposite. They set everyone up in a very narrow rat race. And you are led to believe there's only one way of studying architecture or being an architect and that's fundamentally untrue — not for anything. Not for music, not for arts, it is true for absolutely nothing, right? Because it’s less about excelling in your own way, but it’s always comparative. So, again in the face of adversity it's important to not let it reflect back to you, to not start believing other people's bullshit, it's their own problem, it's not yours. It’s hard."
Update on my sporting brands piece
First, this Alexandre Arnault Q&A at The Oxford Union taught me new perspectives on how LVMH views luxury, and how they view building their consumer base.
Second, Joe Greer, the photographer/runner behind Bandit's media work this year, called out On Running for copying his work... here are his Instagram stories:
I don't think this is surprising given On's position between these smaller niche-brands and bigger incumbents. It is a common tactic to lift the creative/culture from smaller brands in fashion, after all.
Third, David and I have been trying some of the events the running space had on offer around the NYC Marathon! We went to NYC's 'Sprint Collective' partnered event with Saucony and Brooklyn Running Co. Around 25 people showed up, got free food, and the chance to do a sprint workout in Saucony's speed shoes. Pretty fun! We also went to a Bandit x Shopify popup event at Shopify's Soho space. Joe Greer and Ardith Singh (Bandit Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer) spoke about Bandit's creative direction and Joe's relationship to running. I thought the way they use their location in Greenpoint/Brooklyn to inspire their creativity less shallow than I initially thought.
Camera Bodies (film vs. digital)
I have recently sold my digital camera body, and replaced it with two film cameras :). I am now a #onlyfilm photographer, lol. My main issue with my digital camera is that, although it was a great digital camera, it just didn't get me excited to make photos. It was heavy and needed to be charged. What annoyed me the most is that the pictures always needed to be edited after the fact. I have opted for a largely automatic (yet still high quality) small 35mm camera (a Contax G1 with a 28mm Zeiss lens) and a compact medium format camera that offers more manual controls (the Fuji GS645 Pro). I am excited by the results I have already had with these cameras!
While I was looking at film cameras, I was struck by the huge amount of varying designs - and by how different they looked from today's cameras.
Look at these designs! Rather disappointing that the tools of today don't inspire as these film cameras (at least to me they really don't). I find the Pixii camera an interesting bridge between the eras - definitely a startup worth following if you are a photographer.
Conclusion
That’s all folks — cheers. I’ll leave you with this poem to end, found it in a reflection on the conflict in Palestine…