‘Opening Doors’ is a new feature for Counterpoint Magazine, a beautifully risograph-printed magazine bringing together independent journalism and illustration. For issue #12 ‘Spaces’ I talked to the organisers of Hidden Door, a DIY arts festival colonising Edinburgh’s abandoned spaces. Read the full piece on my portfolio here.
What will we read in 100 years? Probably nothing, if they don’t come up with a solution to the natural consequence of ageing. Of course there are these timeless classics that will endure the passing of time and people will revel forever, something that Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe, Dickens, Austen, Poe or Kafka can tell you a thing or two about. We don’t even know if picking up a book in its traditional form and paper shape is going to be a thing in the 22nd century, but at least there is a bunch of new works that will most certainly hit the bookshops (or whatever people go to these days). Two years ago, Scottish artist Katie Paterson launched her much-noticed project ‘Future Library’ that gives us a tiny glimpse into the future of reading: A forest of 1000 trees was planted in Oslo’s Nordmarka Forest to supply the paper for an anthology of 100 books, to be unveiled in 2114. With every passing year, an author is selected by Paterson to produce a work of …
Sometimes it’s worth taking the time to listen. Especially to those voices that are rarely noticed. Stories that want to be heard and harbour a surprise or two. And there’s so many of them roaming around our streets. A few days ago I found one of them. Motionless, almost dreamy he stares into the distance. The other side of the road. Shivering from the cold, he draws the blanket tight. I see him almost every single day on my way past the local shop. As a was on my way to grab a few essentials for a hearty dinner, I walked past like so many times before. The usual bad feeling hit instantly. Not today, I thought and turned on my heel.‘What can I get you, buddy?’ He gave me a sad smile, but a shine in his eyes. ‘Oh that’s lovely. How about a caramel latte with a splash of sugar?’ Slightly puzzled, I only gave him a nod. ‘Well, he knows what he wants’, I thought. Once I was back with my groceries, …
It’s been a while since I last introduced an exciting new magazine to the blogosphere, so here’s the newest addition to my mag stand. The Eighty-Eight proudly refers to itself as the ‘adventurous magazine for the occasional thinker’, featuring essays, stories and pictures, girdled by engaging, playful designs and illustrations. Created by curator and jazz musician Jamie Cullum, editor Anna-Marie Crowhurst and art director Kate Monument, Volume #2 is jam-packed with great and unusual stories, quirky illustrations and cheeky commentaries you won’t easily find elsewhere. What about finding the true origin of Come on Eileen, taking a dip into the dark and dirty history of flamenco or rummaging a whole mini zine dedicated to Donuts? Exactly. And because I can’t feature all of the goodies, here are my 3 fav picks from the issue! Isobel Diamond & John Hooper: Kerala by Rail Some time ago, photographer John Hooper and writer Isobel Diamond set off to travel the vastness of the Indian land & chose the most common means of transport: On one of the 11.000 trains traversing the 71.000 miles of track. This amazing …
So yeah, I did it! Last friday, well, 3 days behind the big schedule, I launched my final photo story on instagram. Time to wrap up & look back on the crazy amazing journey that left me inspired, exhausted and above all proud. Weeks earlier I decided to be part of a movement, a self-experiment, a challenge to see if I’d keep up or quit the whole thing. For #100DaysOfTales I captured 100 moments, big and small, meaningful and abstract, and brought them to life in 100 stories. Some were fictional stories that just felt right in the visual context, some were drawn from memories and experiences, some served as an emotional release, some actually happened right in front of me, while others were just mere thoughts and ideas that popped up and I tried to bring into a narrative order. Sounds easy peasy, but it was a struggle sometimes. There were days when I had no creativity at all, story-wise and visually. Then there were days when my brain was brimming over with ideas and had 2, 3, 4 things ready in my head, just no photo to go along with. …
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 …
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 …
INTOSHALLOWDEPTHS 