All posts tagged: Lifestyle

Spot On | The Pixel Trade

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A warm bed, a hearty dish and a flight ticket to Marrakech for a stack of beautiful food photography. Sounds almost too good to be true? Well, that’s pretty much how it works if your name is Shantanu Starick. Dreaming of traveling to the world’s 7 continents, dissatisfied and constantly questioning how the creative industries worked, the Australian photographer dared to brush aside old principles and fight his constant struggle between work exposure, financial income and creative fulfilment. So by June 2012 he set up Pixel Trade and started offering his professional work in exchange for life’s simplest necessities – a place to stay, something to eat & the means to get to the next place without spending a single dime. And it seems to have been quite a smooth ride: From photographing weddings in California, artisan knife makers in Ireland, adventurers in the Ecuadorian jungle right up to ice cream makers in South Australia, Shantanu has been up to the task, experienced much and paid nil. Now in his 41st month and 222 trades later, he has now …

Hunting for Solitude

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I always wondered how people can be so burned-out they need a break. There’s always time to switch off, isn’t it? Well, sometimes you’re bombarded with things that make it difficult to say ‘No, it’s enough’. And society pretty much teaches us to always be on our toes, to immerse ourselves in tons of projects, to be always attainable on all channels, to stick out and make a name for ourselves at any price. Onwards and upwards. And yeah, the last couple of weeks and months have been a bit manic, with a workload soaring up bit by bit and freelance & volunteering commitments going literally ballistic. And there’s no end in sight, really. Not that I dread the time, I like to be busy and it’s been pretty amazing! But my batteries were kinda drained and I was running low on creative input lately. So I decided to take a break from work stuff and the busy city life as much as possible, pack my bags & head up North to the beautiful wilderness of Skye …

Desillusion’s The Life We Chose

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It’s one of my favourite things of inspiration ever. Yes, we’re talking about Desillusion Magazine. Fusing the worlds of street and beach, the collective straight from the shores of France’s surf Mecca of Hossegor pays tribute to the youth & a subculture raised on a surf and/or skateboard. Since kickstarting their project in 2002, la maison desillusion has shaken up the print and digital world, released dozens of print mags and documentaries, shedding some light on the many creative individuals who are devoted to their inherent lifestyle and culture. Sticking out with avant garde aesthetics and innovative stories, minimal advertising and great ambitions, they recently turned from regular bi-monthly print issues to hefty hardcover tomes of insightful content. Based on their article ‘Anything that can go wrong, will’ published in Desillusion Magazine 48, Tome 4, director Pierre David now created short film ‘The Life We Chose’ in cooperation with Converse. It features a day in the life of L.A.-based skateboard pro Don ‘Nuge’ Nguyen, talking about the local scene, its communal spirit, his decision to …

Age 33: The End of Music Discovery?

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This might sound strange, but are you tired of browsing new music yet? No? Well maybe you’re still young enough to keep the ball rolling. As this new study suggests, people around 33 kinda lose interest and stop listening to new music. And even though the survey’s based on a rather tight framework – only featuring US-Spotify users in 2014 – it’s still interesting to apply that assumption to your own habits. First off: I’m not 33. But I can’t really see why I shouldn’t go on trying to find new music to keep things fresh and interesting. Sometimes I’m so so fed up with my digital playlists and the small but mighty bunch of records, my ears are simply itching for new stuff to float in. And to be honest, with streaming services popping up here and there, it has never been easier to get your hands on yet undiscovered tunes, given the algorithms deliver it straight to the doormats of us lazy people out there. So what’s the reason for people to stop listening …