documentary+culture  
I awoke to a bowling alley on a golden-yellow beach. It was outside, and the breeze blew like the steady beat of a train's breath pulling into station. Kyp Malone and I were up, and barreled through a few frames, not pros but still doing well. He and I then caught a few gangsters, wearing gold chains like sweatshirts, in the corner of our eyes. They were bowling equally, if not better, and were eying us like the lonely eyes of a drunk girl on the last boy at the party. Our game began. Bowl after bowl. The balls would crash into the pins, sending them flying into the sand, where they would melt into puddles of mercury. The puddles would remain and soon created a metallic sea around us and our game.  Coney Island, NY.
 Brooklyn, NY.
- Work hard. - Bad things happen quickly, good things happen slowly. - Emotional attachment to objects leads to clutter.- HOBBIES ARE WHEELS THAT KEEP TURNING. - Hobbies can never leave you or let you down. - Slow down everything you do by roughly 1 minute.- A relationship is controlled by the person who cares the least. - You learn who you are on the bad days. - A LIFE OF LEISURE ISN'T LUXURY, IT'S A DEATH SENTENCE. - You can never really plan the good days.- Science fiction and fantasy are interesting, but real life is far more strange. - WHEN VISITING SOMEONE, PLAY BY THEIR RULES. - Bear and roadkill deer meat can taste pretty good (in a stew with some cale). - I LOVE THE SOUTH. - Insecurity can spread like an illness throughout someone's life.- You don't need to wear shoes as much as you currently do. - Air conditioning is abused.- Great dogs aren't born, they're trained. - FUCK TALENT. - Timing is everything. - Don't buy more than you need.- LET THE SUNLIGHT ILLUMINATE YOUR ROOM IN THE MORNING. - Long drives to places you want to be teach patience. - Speak up when something doesn't feel right.- Design isn't about invention, it's about rethinking. - YOU ARE NOT A UNIQUE AND BEAUTIFUL FLOWER. - Find a good+simple haircut. - TALENT IS NOT SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED. - The greatest danger to a country is it's people.- The greatest strength in a country is it's people. - DRINK WATER. - Abuse is America's favorite past time.- Being nice doesn't work, being a dick doesn't work, but being confident does. - Fast.- More people are happier than you first think. - Know what a broken heart feels like, and what it's like to break someone else's (so you won't do it again). - FAMILY. - Death is a part of life.- Change keeps an interest in life. - EXERCISE. - Rest.- WE ARE NEVER TRULY ALONE. - Don't talk unless you're saying something.- Read. - EVERYTHING YOU DO SOMEONE ELSE CAN DO BETTER. - Draw inspiration from everything. - Writing conquers stress.- Keep a journal. - Music is simple.- The root to everything successful is concept. - LISTEN TO MASTERS OF THEIR CRAFT. - Accept that you live in a shark tank. - Life/Art/Work/Play/Love/Culture isn't what you do, it's what you don't do.
 Perryville, MD.
It was sunny. It was clear. I was happy. A place in the mountains, some small Bavarian township or an isolated village in the Scottish hills, either one would do just fine. I had before me a massive flock of sheep, and in my left hand an old pair of sheers. I went about my task as if I was learning for the first time, each bolt of wool paired with a bead of sweat on my brow, yet I had the interest and the confidence to do a good job. One by one the sheep were sheered, and as I turned behind me where the now bare sheep were grazing, I saw they were each a different colour. Red, yellow, green, blue...I continued sheering to find more colours beneath the wool. Once I was done I walked. That's all I remember. Walking. Not the scenery, the time of day, not even the physical act of walking. Nothing. It's as if during this duration of time my mind projected an intermission screen on the backs of my eyes that simply read, "walking." Now I was on a street corner with old friends, two of three to be kind of exact. It was an old cobblestone street, old Europe, maybe a seaside town. I was in the middle of figuring out a few notes on an old trombone that was beaten from years of street performance, or a life in a poorly kept pawn shop. Each time I began to play dust would shoot out of the bell and onto myself, my friends, and whoever was passing by our street corner outpost. My friends and I would laugh as note after note would send clouds of white powder into the air. I may have gotten one or two successful notes out, not enough for a catchy tune, but enough to keep us entertained for the evening.  © David Walker Banks
This is the anti-book review. I haven't read Gordon Livingston's national bestseller Too Soon Old, To Late Smart. Not one page. The spine still releases a nervous creek as flawless cream coloured pages lay perfectly pressed against one another. I'll get to it, no doubt. Winter break for a college student is prime time for reading, and the only thing in may is the two other books I'm already excavating. What did catch my eye was the table of contents; up until now a relatively obsolete part of any book, yet never before has one caught my interest in such a way. After reading through some of these titles, I can only imagine what is actually written in the book.
1. If the map doesn't agree with the ground, the map is wrong.
2. We are what we do.
3. It is difficult to remove by logic an idea not placed there by logic in the first place.
4. The statue of limitations has expired on most of our childhood traumas.
5. Any relationship is under the control of the person who cares the least.
6. Feelings follow behavior.
7. Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.
8. The perfect is the enemy of good.
9. Life's two most important questions are "Why?" and "Why not?" The trick is knowing which one to ask.
10. Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses.
11. The most secure prisons are those we construct for ourselves.
12. The problems of the elderly are frequently serious but seldom interesting.
13. Happiness is the ultimate risk.
14. True love is the apple of Eden.
15. Only bad things happen quickly.
16. Not all who wander are lost.
17. Unrequited love is painful but not romantic.
18. There is nothing more pointless, or common, than doing the same things and expecting different results.
19. We flee from the truth in vain.
20. It's a poor idea to lie to oneself.
21. We are all prone to the myth of the perfect stranger.
22. Love is never lost, not even in death.
23. Nobody likes to be told what to do.
24. The major advantage of illness is that it provides relief from responsibility.
25. We are afraid of the wrong things.
26. Parents have a limited ability to shape children's behavior, except for the worse.
27. The only real paradises are those we have lost.
28. Of all forms of courage, the ability to laugh is the most profoundly therapeutic.
29. Mental health requires freedom of choice.
30. Forgiveness is a form of letting go, but they are not the same thing.This my excavation and today is kumran Everything that happens is from now on This is pouring rain This is paralyzed I keep throwing it down two-hundred at a time It's hard to find it when you knew it When your money's gone And you're drunk as hell On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load In the back and the racks and the stacks are your load In the back with your racks and you're un-stacking your load I've twisted to the sun I needed to replace The fountain in the front yard is rusted out All my love was down In a frozen ground There's a black crow sitting across from me; his wiry legs are crossed And he's dangling my keys he even fakes a toss Whatever could it be That has brought me to this loss? On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load In the back and the racks and the stacks are your load In the back with your racks and you're un-stacking your load This is not the sound of a new man or a crispy realization It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away Your love will be Safe with me For as long as I can remember, the best gifts that I both give and receive are surprises, emotional and intellectual sneak attacks that give this buffoonish materialistic holiday true meaning (I'm particularly proud of finding a copy of the Bollywood classic Sholay for my father, a fan of the world's largest movie industry).  I myself received a book I feel somewhat foolish for not hearing about before, and even if I had, not going out and buying it that minute. Dexter Filkins' The Forever War, not Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, chronicles the events leading up to and continuing into Afghanistan and Iraq. I instantly covered 50 pages of the book in a flash, like the mortars and explosions described by Filkins in the opening chapter "Hell's Bells." To begin to understand the places our soldiers are fighting, accounts like this must exhist, and be read. I plan on finishing the book in the next day or so, but page after page has already demonstrated an honesty and swagger of a war literature classic. On a seperate note I found it both fascinating and humbling to be an upper-middle class white American, settled on a plush couch on Christmas morning, enveloped in the warmth of my parent's home, reading of public executions in Kabul, Afghan orphans being whipped in the street, and gruesome accounts of the siege of Falluja in 2004. I couldn't help but shoot my mother a glance and think to myself about the world as she playfully muttered, "I can't believe we had Christmas with these ugly storage boxes out in the livingroom."
 Hip hop artist Spank Rock rests before performing with Ninjasonik and other surprise acts at the 2008 Baltimore Bass Connection, an annual Christmas show held at Sonar in Baltimore, MD.
 © Michal Chelbin
Stepping into the media industry at this point in time is arguably a death wish. More times than not I end up in a cold sweat every time I think about attempting to make a living taking pictures or working as a videographer. The typical way to go about things for a journalism student is to attend school, MAYBE get hooked up with an internship, MAYBE have a standout portfolio, and then MAYBE be ready for the "real world" by graduation. The sad thing is classwork and assignments in school aren't enough, this isn't history class. This isn't a passion/industry where you get what you need in class, and this can be incredibly misleading for a student (someone who has been trained to just...go to class). If anything the end of a lecture is a starter's pistol to hit the ground running. It's really different now, and because of that we as students have to really step it up. Below are a few ideas and goals (and I plan on posting more from now on) that I've either been encouraged to get involved in or have stumbled upon myself that are now becoming crucial for young photographers. WORKSHOPS+SHORT COURSESThe chance to mingle, attend lectures, and get completely smashed in a hotel penthouse with other young photographers is incredibly valuable. Seeing the work being produced by your peers from around the country/world gives you a keen perspective on what can be done by students (and breeds a polite competitive spirit). These people, in many cases, will also be the people you will be working with 20 years from now, so why not say hello now? Workshops and portfolio reviews also offer so many opportunities to meet future employers and big names who are surviving in the industry. They've done it before you did, so ask questions, lots of questions. Here's a few ideas:
Eddie Adams WorkshopAtlanta Photojournalism SeminarNorthern Short CourseINTERNSHIPS+FREELANCE WORKThe emphasis on internships is the fact that it's plural. Get out there, apply to intern positions with a fervor for experience and work. Plan on graduating with at least 2 separate internships and a cluster of freelance assignments. Dedicate your summers to moving somewhere new and working at a newspaper, magazine, studio, etc... The only thing separating most outstanding students from professionals is experience, and once you begin to get a feel for how professional work is completed, that gap begins to close dramatically. "HEY, I REALLY LIKE YOUR WORK"If you spend most of your day gawking at your ten favorite photographer's work online, send them a message and let them know you're watching. There is absolutely no excuse for getting in touch with professionals. At the very least your polite email will no be responded to, but at the very most a dialog begins with an artists who you really admire, and maybe even connections later on. Also think about how a photographer's mind works, despite the subject matter, most photographers (no matter how hard they may fight it) love hearing that people are enjoying their work, so saying "thanks for the inspiration" to your favorite photographer is a great way to be remembered. Make it imperative to connect to EVERY photographer you enjoy, 10 a week, 10 a day...the same can even be applied to editors of publications you enjoy. The worst thing that can happen is you become "that real friendly guy/girl who sends tons of messages." TRY IT ALLIt is incredibly misleading to think that all photographers are of the same genus, perhaps even species. You have on one end the gear heads who grow a big rubbery one when they hold a D3, and then on the other end there's the backwoods kids who got into Magnum when they were 19 because they learned how to use an old Exacta. Try on all these shoes. You may have aspirations to be of the best newspaper staffers, but learn how to light in the studio, then pick up a 4x5 camera and shoot landscapes. If you're only comfortable in the art school critique and gallery shows, shoot sports, learn the ins and outs of a 1Ds MkIII. Abandon zooms for primes, or visa versa. Learn how to incorporate a photograph into a magazine ad. Figure out Flash, and Illustrator. Jump the barrier at a protest to get the best shot you can. These are all things that photographers should do, even if it's not what you want to do for the rest of your life. Who knows, maybe you'll learn to see things a bit differently, which is arguably the root to being a dedicated photographer.  © Susana Raab  © Jason Nocito  North Bowl, Philadelphia, PA.  Fishtown, Philadelphia, PA.  © Boogie  Infants learn basic swimming and water survival at the Mecklenburg County Center in Charlotte, NC.  Waffle House, Atlanta, GA.  Buffalo, NY, left, and Syracuse, NY, right. |
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