Photo of the Day: 6/25/12

Rats in a Cage by Small Time Visionary

Night Walk feat. The Peace Bridge

Living in downtown has certainly come with its ups and downs. One thing that I do enjoy though is my direct proximity to excellent architecture and subjects for street photography. One thing that I hated about living in the suburbs is that I was never inspired to pick up my camera and snap some photos of my surroundings. Living downtown has re-opened my eyes and I'm constantly on the lookout for subjects to take photos of! Night photo walks are my favourite. The streets are quiet and the city lights up with new perspectives.

Talking about new perspectives, the new Peace Bridge in our city is a definite challenge to photograph. It has been shot to death and finding a new perspective is not easy. I finally decided to give the Peace Bridge a shot one night and packed my 35mm f/1.4L and a tripod in an attempt to see the bridge from a different angle. I laid on my back and my belly. I tried to focus on more obscure sections and even climbed underneath the red beast. The results were good but I'm certain that with some study and recon, I can do a little more.

The proof is in the pudding.. let me know what you think!















And now a little bit of black and white to chill your retinas out after all of that red!





STV

Freak Motif @ Local 522

I've been sitting on these photos for over a month now. Sorry for the delay, but the month of May turned out to be hella busy! But without any further adieu, may I present to you Freak Motif! A few good friends of mine from high school are members of Calgary's most exciting funk act and asked if I could come out to enjoy their latest show. I happily obliged and thought it would be a nice favor to take a few photos of the band while they performed to a packed crowd at Local 522. Enough chit chat; here are the photos!



If you're able to catch these guys, I would highly suggest it! Freak Motif is pure musical fusion; improvisation at its finest! I hope you liked the photos. It was dark as hell in Local and the only light source was a single red spot light. There are some gems in there though. Check out my Flickr to see more photos that are posted in the blog.
STV

Two Square Blocks | Geometry

I always love the challenge of relegating myself to only two square blocks of city and seeing what I can find. If your eyes are open, you would be surprised with what you can find! Before I know it, I can manage hundreds of different photos. These photos were taken between the blocks of 4th & 6th Street and 4th & 5th Avenue S.W.

The theme for this trip was geometry. I always seem to be fascinated by straight lines and my eye is automatically drawn to symmetry when I compose my photographs. Fortunately, there were a lot of tall buildings to help nourish by desire for geometry!































Cheers,

STV

Art in the Streets | MOCA, LA

I was fortunate enough to be in Los Angeles last summer for the Art in the Streets Exhibit at the progressive Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). When I was in high school, I developed an interest in graffiti. I was fascinated by the intricate way artists would form words with a unique hand style. I recall the numerous classes spent creating a hand style of my own that was both unique and worthy enough to call a tag. I'm not going to lie, I dabbled a little with the spray can in my youth. But those evenings were some of the most memorable adventures of my young life. The thrill of it all was infectious and it had a long standing influence on all of my creative endeavours.

Unfortunately, I never had the balls nor the talent to fully pursue the art of graffiti but my appreciation for the art form never died. Graffiti artists have been making waves in the mainstream thanks to numerous conscious artists like Banksy, Sheperd Fairey and David Choe. It is because of this popular recognition that a show like 'Art in the Streets' was possible. 25 years ago, graffiti was thought of as mindless vandalism but today it has reached a level of acceptance in the art community and public domain.

Below is a series of select photos that I took at the exhibit. The thrill of seeing some of the artists that I have admired for numerous years was seriously inspiring. To say that it was life changing would be an understatement and I will forever be grateful that I was able to witness my 'Mona Lisa', 'Starry Night' and 'Last Supper'. Enjoy!



Keith Haring's painted car welcomed you to the exhibit.


L: Mr. A leading the way to the bathrooms. R:Swoon's massive paper cutout piece titled 'Ice Queen'


The most controversial graffiti artist there has ever been. The often imitated, never duplicated. I'm talking about the one and only Banksy!

Certainly one of the most impressive and talked about pieces at the show. Banksy's collaboration with local school children; Stained Glass


Have you seen Animal Chin?


One of the few OG painters still doing this thing. So classic yet ahead of his time. Risk.


L: Street wear fans will know about this guy. Original Fake, Medicom & Comme des Garcons may ring a bell. Kaws kills it! R: Barry McGee has one of the most unique styles I've seen! Amazing hand style and typography work.


Hugh Holland's photos of the Z-Boys have to be the gnarliest skateboard photos I have ever laid my eyes on. The fluidity is breathtaking!


I'm not sure who inspired this madness... but I love it!




I have a personal obsession with Martha Cooper's photography. Often called the "Fairy Godmother of Graff" she was the first to document graffiti to such an extent and was integral in creating the understanding that these people were not mindless vandals but were artists! Her grittiness and humanistic style is a major inspiration for my photography #incredible.



Thanks for reading and viewing the photos. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of everyone featured (Neck Face, Mr. Cartoon, Futura, Terry Richardson, etc.). Obviously, this is something that left a lasting impression on me and is something that I am still passionate about. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did making it!

Cheers,

STV