Minimal, let’s get minimal.

Minimal Spock Esquire magazine cover.

Ever since I started writing, I told myself that I should eliminate in my stories/articles as much filler as I possibly can; I strongly believe that including unnecessary details are the worst thing a writer/a journalist can do in their writing. When I am writing a story or an email or anything else that is related to writing, I always struggle to keep in mind that I don’t need to say a lot of words for it to give a strong impact. Let’s take the example of the Russian classics: they are full of endless descriptive paragraphs on things that the reader can imagine on their own; descriptions that could have been more powerful if only one little detail of the object was given. Like many fellows in the internet era, it annoys me to no end when writers/journalists waste my time with stupid, redundant fillers. Sure, sometimes I am tempted to add details to a story that don’t necessarily need to be added, but then I immediately pinch myself to remember that I have to keep it  short and simple. You have to know when to end a story because if you don’t then you will not affect the reader as much as you might have if you just left them wanting more even though you could have added more things because when it comes to good writing, it is about what you don’t say. (Also  true for copywriters, visual artists etc.)

When Hunter met Annie.

Annie Leibovitz is a rock star. She is the most easily recognizable of contemporary American photographers and she is constantly creating new and interesting work for Vanity Fair, Vogue, and various advertising campaigns.

Hunter S. Thompson is the guy who said “when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro”, and who really meant it. He left a legacy of brilliant, drug-induced rants about everything from politics to the American Dream to Hell’s Angels.

At same point, to the way to somewhere, those two met.

Years later, she brought him to life in “Annie Leibovitz At Work”, a collection of about 100 photos from her career along with the stories of how the images came about and Annie’s own comments and thoughts about the subject, the impact on her career, and that time in her life.

“Hunter sweated a lot. When he wasn’t sweating he was screaming that he wasn’t sweating and he thought he was dying”, she wrote.

This below is the jerkish, self-centered, psychotic, awesome, talented, brilliant Mr. Gonzo.
33 years before grabbing his Smith&Wesson and blowing his face off.

Casual photographers, here is your wake-up call.

I’m sure you’ve all read or heard about it, the Lytro camera has had already tech geeks buzzing about its futuristic technology. But, just in case you’ve missed it, here’s a short recap: Lytro is basically a device that acts like no other camera. Because it captures the entire light field in its view (not just the color and intensity of light rays but also their direction) Lytro can do tricks other cameras can’t do. The main one: being able to change the focus of your photo after you took the photo, or what its creators call a “living picture”. That signature feature it’s not just a hi-tech convenience, it allows you to tell stories in a completely different way with your photos. Changing the subject in focus, by its nature, almost always alters the story in the image. Focus on the diver in the foreground, for example, and it’s a light moment. Zero in on the man in the background looking at him, and you’ve got creepy. Of course, the photo needs the viewer to refocus and get hooked, so sharing becomes key. This social aspect is exactly where Lytro sinks or takes off. If its early users start telling stories with their cameras — and those stories are worth sharing — Lytro will transition from curious trick to superstardom. Okay, now let’s cut the blah-blah, a picture does a much better job explaining:

(How to play with these pictures: click different areas and/or subjects to refocus, double click to zoom)

The Imaginarium of Dr. Tim Walker.

Fashion editorials are usually commercially driven, often same same, and they can can get veeeeeeeery boring.

NOT is the case with Tim Walker and his fantastical worlds, dreamy images and beautiful story lines, all realized through fashion photography. Taking inspiration from his many scrap books that are filled with image cut-outs and media stories, this London based photographer is entrancing the viewer with his romantic characters and his extravagant staging. The only medium through which these kind of elaborate sets, beautiful costumes, and the world class models can be made available for photographers looking create such worlds without the help of digital medias.

Much like the dreamscapes Annie Leibovitz creates, he is one of those people who can create fairytale worlds and make them come alive. The styling and thought behind every little detail is remarkable. But it’s no surprise, he is renowned for his surreal, ethereal and all together magical portraits and shoots, and this shoot is up there with his best. You gotta love how the shoot itself, the pieces and accessories used are all brilliantly timeless and this could have been shot yesterday, or 30 years ago.

Walker was a former assistant to the legendary Richard Avedon, and he first kindled his love of photography while on work experience cataloguing the Cecil Beaton archive in the Condé Nast library. Then, working with magazines such as Vogue UK, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, and W to create fashion editorials, he has produced some of today’s most inspired and imaginative images. Here he takes us on a walk through his whimsical and “weird” (according to unimaginative dullards and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity assholes) wonderland.

The finest documentary to date.

What does your taste in music say about your intelligence. Beyoncé fans, you may want to skip this.

If you’re a fan of Beyonce, then you’re probably kind of dumb. Just thought you’d like to know. Also, Justin Timberlake, T.I. and Lil Wayne listeners aren’t the brightest lights on the Christmas tree either, so, if you’re one of them, don’t apply for Jeopardy. It’s okay, don’t worry, just put on your Dre headphones and accept the hard fact that there are some things – well, actually, many things – that you will never understand. And the sooner you realize that, the happier you will be.

So what’s the deal with this blog post? Well, you see, a CalTech student named Virgil Griffith conducted back in 2009 a highly scientific study about how music tastes correlate with intelligence. Oh, by “highly scientific”, I mean he figured out college students’ favorite music by looking at their Facebook profiles and compared that data to a college population’s overall S.A.T. scores, creating a tongue-in-cheek statistical look at taste and intelligence.

Is “Graph Search” the future of the web or the future of stalker tools?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has unveiled the latest reason for users to leave the social networking site, with the launch of a new search facility which allows users to conduct free text searches on their ‘friends.’

In short, FB is proposing to let users search their “social graph” to find new, useful information. (The social graph is the network of relationships between you, your friends, and their friends. Sadly, it is not a search engine for graphs.)

The potential is huge, but there’re two potential speed-bumps ahead for the company. The first is that perennial Facebook bugbear: privacy. The company is careful to emphasise that only things which are public or shared with you will show up when searched for — but that relies on users understanding how privacy settings actually work, which has historically not been the case.

Fast cars, shooting stars. Until it’s Vegas everywhere we go.

Just a curious…

…fox. 🙂

I kind of wish I directed this video. [ignore the awful music]