And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman

And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman - posted on the NYT website.

House approves additional $50 million to the National Endowment for the Arts

Hooray! The House approved an additional $50 million to the National Endowment for the Arts.

Americans for the Arts reported today that:

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their version of the Economic Recovery Package by a vote of 244 to 188 which successfully included $50 million in supplemental grants funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)!... However, our work is not finished yet as the U.S. Senate starts their debate on the bill tomorrow and continues through next week. The Senate Appropriations Committee did not include an arts jobs funding provision in their version of the bill, but advocates still have an opportunity to change the final outcome.

Use your voice and urge Congress to pass this hugely important funding.

Modern take on an old portrait

Hendrik Kersten's image (second) is a modern take on 15th century Flemish portraits like that of Rogier Van Der Weyden. This is a fun image, and I love the expression on the model's face. The quality of the light is lovely, albeit slightly colder in temperature, capturing that soft glow that I love about Northern Renaissance paintings.

The rest of Kersten's images are quite interesting, especially Sunburnt. I like how his subjects appear so removed - both in physically and emotionally. It's interesting to note that the subject is his daughter, making the relationship between photographer and model all the more interestingly complex. Lovely.

Rogier Van Der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady (image from www.artsales.com)
Hendrik Kersten, Bag (image from his website)

Obama love on U St.

My U St. neighbourhood was teeming with Obama love this weekend. This area is quickly becoming 'the' place to live and hang out, but true to DC style, the foot traffic is always relatively light except from 11pm onwards on Fridays and Saturdays.

This weekend, however, the sidewalks were packed with people. The line outside of Ben's Chili Bowl was ridiculous, winding outside the shop and down and around to the next corner, and it seemed like there were vendors hawking Obama memorabilia every couple of steps down the main drag, and even food vendors are getting in on the action - including a newly erected food stall at the Shaw Metro exit, offering pizza, burgers, hot dogs, everything!

It reminded me of NYC (more like Brooklyn, actually) and I felt slightly disoriented - in my 10 years here I've never felt such excitement and so much activity in DC. I love that DC is finally getting recognition and hopefully that recognition will shift from politics/law to our burgeoning arts and cultural scene.

But not everyone shares the love; I snapped this 'installation' piece on the corner of U and 9th.



Image © Tara Kocourek 2009

Obama Poster - source image found

Read the full story here.

Photo courtesy of PDNPulse

Inauguration Week events in DC

DC is blowing up with all sorts of events to celebrate Inauguration Week! Check out DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities' calendar of events for arty happenings.

I'll be heading over to the Art of Change Ball on the night of the 20th, which was put together by my fave, Artomatic, as well as a slew of other local arts organizations.

Other arty events that have caught my eye include:

ManifestHope: DC from Saturday, Jan. 17 through Monday, Jan. 19 @ 3333 M Street NW

X - DC's only 24 hour Inauguration Party on Saturday, Jan. 17 @ BeBar - cnr 9th & N

Inaugural Opening Concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, Jan. 18

Cool artwork for the Grammys

Check out the cool artwork that was done for this year's Grammys. These protraits by Spinner are made up from a list of 15 songs that inspired the musicians.

Airport fashion

Airport fashion: a fun photo essay by Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times. Lord knows I prefer to wear comfy clothes on planes, especially during the 24 hour door-to-door trip back home to Thailand, but sometimes it's nice to look good. Especially if you're a celeb hounded by the paparazzi when leaving the airport. But I'm not quite there yet.

First step in mastering studio lighting, for cheap

PDN offers cash-strapped (and/or fiscally-conscious) photographers a way to set up their very own studio for around $3000. Two guys were recruited to outfit their own studio, and the comparison between the products they bought and the thought processes behind their choices are super helpful because not only does it recognize the important fact that not all photographers shoot the same way, it offers readers like me a choice.

Most, if not all the equipment was bought online at eBay or craigslist, and while I do like shiny, new things, the breakdown of their research and decisions as well as their “Buyer Be Wary” caveat, helps someone like me who is not confident in hunting down quality bargains from these sites.

I found especially useful the section on buying a lighting kit; I’ve casually browsed lighting kits in catalogs from B&H and Calumet for several years now and I still have no clue on the difference between a must-have and a nice-to-have-but-not-necessary. Yes, I admit I’m afraid of studio lighting and gravitate towards only natural lighting opportunities, except for when I shoot events (yay for mastering the Nikon SB-800!).

But, after seeing Julia Fullerton-Batten’s website and reading that she uses at minimum 7 flash heads I realized, well, I need to up my game and just learn. I did take an undergrad course in studio lighting & large format (combination class) but at the time I was more interested in honing aesthetic vision than I was in developing technical ability. I see now that excluding one from the other was a huge mistake on my part, and because I lack developed skills in artificial lighting I feel that I am certainly at a disadvantage.

Using this guide, especially the lighting kit selection, I feel that this will help me take the first step in the direction of mastering studio lighting.

Image by Irving Penn