You Kutztown kids did a fine job of imitating us for this poster photoshoot, we must say. Despite all the time that Doug & I spend crafting our ~*~signature looks~*~, apparently we can each be simplified for parody purposes:

Doug — a mustache.
Me — glasses & a scarf.

Above: side-by-side comparisons of a couple of our favorite student impersonators vs. THE REAL THING. (We couldn’t do a real-time comparison because Doug shaved off his mustache last week. THANKS, DOUG.)

Thank YOU, Kutztown! Hope to see your internship applications filling up our inbox ASAP.

The weather in Philly is perfect right now. 12 hours out my window(which is a little dirty on the outside,sorry).

British director Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scottland”, “Touching the Void”) asked people around the world to document important moments of their lives on July 24 2010 and upload those videos to youtube. More than 80.000 people from 192 countries participated and submitted more than 4500 hours of digital film.

Using that material Macdonald then, together with his editor Joe Walker, cut a film that’s partly happy, partly sad, and sometimes thrilling. Produced is the movie by “Blade Runner” director Ridley Scott. Starting this July it will hit theaters in the US.

Last week, I was going through the snapshots I took during my visit to Greensboro, Alabama and was thrilled to make this connection to Walker Evans — that Greensboro is indeed one of the towns that Evans documented for much of his acclaimed collaboration with writer James Agee in 1936. Their collaboration resulted in the honest and revealing book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and grew out of an assignment that the two accepted from Fortune magazine to produce a magazine feature on the conditions among white sharecropper families in the South.

WALKER EVANS: “Storefront, Greensboro, Alabama.” Summer 1936.

WALKER EVANS: “County seat of Hale County, Alabama.” 1935/1936.

Above: Greensboro’s Main Street, then and now. Much of the architecture remains unchanged.

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In the spirit of Evans, below is some of the inspiring signage I encountered while exploring Greensboro last week — a graphic designer’s gold mine! Fun fact: Evans went on to teach graphic design (and photography) at the Yale University School of Art from 1964 to 1974.)

De’Lognhi has expanded its product offering to include things like food processors, hand blenders and irons. What is great about these products is that their features allow the user to complete tasks with ease and express their creativity. We aimed to capture that idea of expression and possibility with these images.

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

In August, 1945, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt was shooting in Times Square when the US declared victory over Japan, and an end to WWII. At the same time, 27-year-old nurse Edith Shain joined co-workers and fellow New Yorkers pouring into the streets to celebrate. An unknown soldier grabbed her by the waist, tilted her back, and gave her a kiss. Eisenstaedt snapped an image, which later appeared in LIFE magazine, and 65 years later, that photo remains instantly recognizable to millions of Americans.

One of the most fascinating details about that photo is the fact that Eisenstaedt failed to catch the names of his subjects, and for 35 years, neither was identified. That changed in 1980 when Ms. Shain sent a letter to him, finally solving the mystery by identifying herself as the recipient of a kiss from a man she didn’t know, saying, “Someone grabbed me and kissed me, and I let him because he fought for his country.” The modest woman later confessed she kept silent for so long because she was embarrassed to have been photographed while kissing a complete stranger.

Edith Shain passed away this week at the age of 91. When I read her obit yesterday in the NY Times, I was struck by a comment she once made about the iconic photograph and what it meant to her. “It says so many things,” she told the Associated Press. “Hope, love, peace and tomorrow.” Well said, Edith.

Hey, remember that movie Space Camp, where the kids get accidentally launched into space? Well, I came close to that cinematic glory on my recent vacation to Florida, when I went to (watch) the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch in Cape Canaveral.

It was the perfect experience for an ex-Space Camp Nerd-turned-writer, and a sad send-off to the space program. Needless to say, it was an incredible day. The viewing area was set up about 6 miles away from the Cape Canaveral launch site at the Kennedy Space Center, so we entertained ourselves with Astronaut Ice Cream, flight simulators and IMAX movies about the Hubble Telescope while we waited for the countdown. There was also a “Rocket Park” filled with to-scale models of nearly all the aircrafts throughout NASA’s history, including a replica of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, as well as one of the Mercury capsule, Freedom 7, that sent Alan Shepard to space in a compartment about the size of a bathtub. (FACT: did you know the outside of the space shuttle is made out of silica tile that can be safely handled at nearly 2000 degrees Farenheit, only ten seconds after removal from a high temperature oven?)

The launch itself was really impressive, and the day was so clear that we not only got a great view of the shuttle as it went up, but also got a glimpse of the external fuel tank as it fell off the shuttle, and the after-burners diminishing into space. It was pretty cool to be able to simultaneously watch the flight video on a large flat screen, hear expert commentary, and watch the actual shuttle taking flight. NASA has obviously created many checks, balances, and procedures that go into such a large, complex, and carefully choreographed production. Enjoy some of my own photos of the venue and the launch below. (The shuttle photos were taken with a telephoto lens–click on them to get a larger resolution.) Or for some really breathtaking ones of liftoff, check out this photo gallery.

I have to say, even as I get older, space exploration (like dinosaurs and costume parties) really doesn’t get any less mind-blowingly awesome.

The Launch:

This screen showed the different steps to Countdown, and then video feed of the launch:

it’s like Woodstock for aerospace afficionados:

Zoomed out photo of the stream of smoke:

The Venue:

“Astronauts” attached the roof of the Kennedy Space Center:

The Rocket Park:

To give you a sense of the size of these rocket boosters:

The best photography advice I ever heard: Take more pictures. Google Streetview’s got us all beat there. While I’ve yet to edit the shots from my friend Mitch’s 30 birthday at the Russian restaurant from 2003, they’ve got about a gazillion photos sorted and geotagged. Sigh.

Anyhow, great post at the always-interesting Google Sightseeing about the beautiful serendipity that can occur when you put your camera (or nine, in Google’s case) out the window and just start shooting.

One of my favorite parts of living in Philadelphia is the odd mash-up of bougie-international-nerdy-hipster-eccentric characters that you can find in one place, at any given moment.

I was reminded of this particular urban charm on Sunday, when a few of us decided to bike up to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Fairmount Park.  It was a perfect day for a bike ride, a picnic—and everything else that ensued. Among the attractions:

1. Japanese tea gardens, and group demonstrations of traditional Japanese weaponry.

2. Kimonos, Gothic Lolitas, kites, face paint, platform shoes and adorable children holding paper parasols.

3. Feathered nunchucks (no kidding!)

4. Cherry blossoms, and a series of cat-embroidered flags.

5. A Japanese punk rock/rap group that kept the jams pumping (whether this was a good or bad thing is debatable)

6. A “Pretty in Pink” dog costume competition. Soukie took home the prize, with Pickles in a close second.

7. A quick zip by the Plateau, known to pop-culture enthusiasts as the place where The Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff have their fly picnic in the Summertime music video.

Needless to say, it was an awesome day. Check out the photos below, (courtesy of Ro & Kelly). Feel free to go Sartorialist on this blog and comment on your favorite look. I suggest you listen to this song while perusing the photos.

THE SCENE

this flag can be purchased at shepelavy.com:

THE LOLITAS

Gothic Lolitas checking out the Sweet Lolita picnic:

Sweet Lolita picnic:

the girl in the sunglasses is awesome:

Michael Jackson-inspired menswear:

THE YOUNG’NS

THE CULTURE

THE RANDOS

The Mad Hatter:

Look close. It’s a goat! In a tutu!:

I call her Socks:

For all the Philadelphians out there who are sad they missed the spectacle, have no fear. You still have this to look forward to.

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