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Things I Love this month: Oktober!

10.02.2009

by psaugust

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epic Blu-Ray movies
feeling Out of Africa-ish
The amazing Wire
but mostly crying over Wallace, “You my boys”

Martha Stewart Weddings
and magnolias
hand crafted glass from Spain

early morning rainstorms
and Saturdays off
cyanotypes and pinhole cameras

Tippie Hedren from The Birds
and 21 Balloons or crazy for Krakatoa!
Fall movies
and wearing scarfs in the wind

Russian lace
and 100% silk blouses

museum balls
and shopping for bridesmaid dresses

Happy Moon Festival! Juicy gauvas are in season and moon cakes galore. mmmmmm yummy. It’s official, the big sis is engaged. I’m excited to get the engagement party planning started with all the decorations. I think they’re shooting for a December date, which would be perfect. I love me a good winter party.

I’ve been a big homebody lately. I blame HBO for making awesome shows. But its good that I’m not spending money on impulsive buys at Buffalo Exchange like I always do. Damn that store and its amazing Marc Jacobs and Betsey Johnson finds. sigh. My brother and I have decided to buy one really good Blu-Ray movie for our collection every month. So far, we’ve got Braveheart, the two newer Batmans, Coraline (in 3D!) and I just bought Gladiator yesterday. soooo good. I love rewatching old movies. Sometimes, I still can’t believe I woud cry during an emotional scene even though I’ve seen the movie three times already. But I guess that’s just testament to how well a movie is made. (or how incredibly sappy I am)

I had forgotten how beautiful and good the ending is in A Very Long Engagement until watching it again today. And yes I cried.

Et Mathilde s’adosse bien droite sur sa chaise
Mathilde leans back against her chair

croise les mains sur ses genoux et regarde.
folds her hands in her lap and looks at him.

Dans la douceur de l’air,
In the sweetness of the air,

dans la lumiere du jardin…
in the light of the garden…

Mathilde le regarde.
Mathilde looks at him.

Elle le regarde.
She looks at him.

a new spin on classics

09.29.2009

by psaugust

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fashion

I’m kind of excited for Halloween this year. Last year I dressed up for the first time with a handmade tutu. Yeah I know, a ballerina, how touche. This year, I’m thinking of going as Little Red Riding Hood or some fairy tale character, but with a new spin on the usual party store outfit. I like some of Emily Nathan’s take on Snow White and Hansel and Gretel below. So cute and simple. Now, all I need is guy who’s willing to wear woven suspenders and shorts.

hotness. from Vogue September issue 2009

a hefty weekend

09.28.2009

by psaugust

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Books / photography

Had a very busy weekend. I just finished spending two awesome days in a workshop with Craig Barber building my very first 4×5 pinhole camera. Couldn’t ask for better weather and lighting conditions either. The Menil park during the mornings are just really peaceful and amazing. Still waiting for my 4×5 test shots to dry so I’ll be posting them on the next post, but below are examples of some of Craig’s work during his stay in Vietnam from a book I bought titled, Ghosts in the Landscapes. These are all made from 12×20 pinhole cameras that he custom made himself. The qaulity and the tonal range of these prints in person is really amazing to see. The diptych styles of these images are from two cameras shot simultaneously at a ninety degree angle and the exposures of some these shots are about 30 minuted long. Isn’t that incredible?

I’m really glad I had the opportunity to experience this workshop this weekend. Going back to the basics of camera work only reminds me how caught up I am with all the razzle dazzle of instant digital photography. And ever since I’ve graduated, I’ve been trying to be more creative in making art, because I’ve lost that luxury of having facilities and equipment whenever I needed them. Anyway, I met a French artist named Nathalie, and she’s going to show me how to make cyanotypes and toned cyanotypes, so I’ll be off busy making large negatives. Au revoir!

funny art or balloon torture?

09.27.2009

by psaugust

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art / video

William Lamson. This guy’s work has got me laughing all day today. He has a collection of videos at the Houston Center for Photography in the Artist as a Performer Exhibition right now. It’s really amusing to watch the guy come up with so many ways and build all these contraptions and schemes to pop balloons. In a way, its kind of cruel. There’s one video where the balloons are trapped in an wooden egg-shapped cage. The balloons float up and down the contraption only to be popped at each direction. I like that one balloon escapes its death and flies off into the distant. Some of his videos are simply just pleasing to watch. The one where the two balloons just float around the white space is really nice, and one of my favorite videos is the one where he shoots darts with black ribbons attached to pop the floating balloons. The graphic composition in the end is really cool, especially when the balloon gets caught in between the lines. If you get a chance, you should really check out all the balloon videos at the HCP exhibition.There’s also this amazing video where Lamson uses a plastic gun to smack the living shit out of the balloons. My all time favorite.

some expamles I could find:

Autumn arrives

09.24.2009

by psaugust

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photography

Officially, the first day of fall was Tuesday, but I think the amazing weather today proves otherwise. For the first time in awhile, I let the windows down in my car and let the cool air revive me as I drove to work. And for the first time in awhile, I didn’t breathe in horrible parched air from all the heat that usually preoccupies the car after sitting in the sun for a couple of hours.

There’s a patch of land on Antoine that I always see when I drive to work. It’s the only field amongst all the other dreary suburban landscapes that actually has color to it. Good weather calls for an impromptu photo shoot! The photo of the yellow wildflowers is the first picture that I actually love from my new digital camera so far. It looks like a Holga with the vignette effect from the twilight hour.

I can’t tell what species these are, but it looks like Yellow Fleabane or Bitterweed.

Wildberries. Reminds my of my dad and I picking and eating wild blackberries when I was younger and we used to walk to the tracks by the bayou. I like the flash effect on this photo. It makes the berries look even more untamed.

I can’t decide which composition is better. My photo editing skills are waning.

This is me looking happy after the wind just blew my dress in the air and before I turned around to see that the white horse has come up to the fence to get a closer look at me.

Me in a yellow dress I altered awhile back. Now I realize how long my hair really is. It’s definitely time for a trim.