Believe it or not but every time we travel out of state, we visit a zoo.I’ve never been a fan of zoo’s until I met my husband, he’s all over the polar bear action and penguins. Thus it’s become a staple no matter what city we visit.

When in Memphis, there’s more to do than hang at the zoo. Any night on Beale Street, downtown or in the Cooper Young district you are going to find music and fantastic food.

Unfortunately, this time we didn’t get out too much.  We did get out to Itta Bena, a third floor club above B.B. King’s on Beale. The lovely Susan Marshall was tickling the keys of the piano with everything from Al Green to Steeley Dan. The last stop we hit before heading back home,was the Arcade Restaurant and Cafe, anyone who is a Jim Jarmusch, Mystery Train fan, has to stop and eat some buttery, goodness that is the Arcade’s infamous sweet potato pancakes.

Because it was a short trip , and less night life time available, I took the opportunity to get out my camera and snap a few shots.

{BEWARE of vicious dolphins in Memphis, especially those that like to hang out by the train tracks.}

I’ve been obsessed with murals and street art for a while, and the best murals I’ve seen so far have been in Memphis.

{Main Street, Memphis, TN ~ some of the best mural art you will find.}

There’s something about the history, rock n’ roll, blues, the up and coming, and down and going businesses/architecture there. A splash of modernism pops up here and there, but the downtown area especially looks as if it never passed the 1960’s after MLK was asassinated.

It’s a BEAUTIFUL city, don’t be fooled by the areas that are left over from manufacturing and railway. Memphis is a gorgeous city that cradles the heart of the Mississippi with music and art.

{My back yard}

I bought the Hipstamatic app (along with several listed in an winter issue of Layers Magazine) back in December. I forgot about it until this past weekend when a friend of mine was playing with the app and it tweaked my curiosity more, so a few test shots have commenced.

For an iphone app, it rocks. It looks very similar to theHolga camera I used to play with when I still shot film. Not the most exciting content I’ve chosen to capture, but fun to play with, if you like retro film affects.

Film stock affects with the appropiate lens make it feel and look pretty damn cool.

{On the left, empty plate at the St. Al’s Sausage Feast.}

There’s quite a lot going on this week (September is always a busy month in Indianapolis.) Below are a few interesting links of happenings and design fun that I came across that may be of interest.



EVENTS AND GATHERINGS
1. Artvs.Art: The main event that pits painting against painting in a match to the death. Here is a recap of last year’s event. Vote for your favorite painting while there is still time!
Oh, and did I mention you can also see the Naptown Rollergirls and a fantastic indie rock band, Bad Veins?

Friday, Sept. 25, 2009
The Vogue Theatre
Adv. tix:$12/Day of:$15
Doors open at 8pm



2. Mass Ave Video “You Call It” Movie Night: That’s right, just like happy hour in your favorite cocktail hang out-you get to show up Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 9pm vote on or request your fav documentary (Thursday), the most obscure avant-garde/surreal flick (Friday) and European/American horror (Saturday). Don’t forget to bring your beverage of choice and you can spend the evening in the media garden adjacent to the store.


Mass Ave Video Location
Thursday, Fridays and Saturday
(Ongoing until it gets too cold to sit outside)
FREE/Starts at 9pm
BYOB



3. Slow Foods USA: Just a tidbit of info for any local foodies out there. For the month of September if you donate to Slow Foods USA(any amount) the normal individual membership fee to join the Indianapolis Slow Foods Chapter is waived. You can enjoy the membership perks as well as great events and info about local food.
Indy Slow Foods Donation/Membership ends Sept. 30, 2009



THE SHORT LIST
1. Holy Triannual
2. Portfolio help is here!
3. Spend some time mocking the ultra cool kids.

Since this is the first post for this topic, I figure I would start with the beginning…my beginning into design. The first designer that caught my eye and helped me figure out what I wanted to do with product photography came from Alexey Brodovitch.

My first professional job out of college was with a web/multimedia design firm in Indianapolis. I had interviewed with dozens of agencies around the circle city and found myself choosing between two businesses in the area. The one I wanted to work for was located in Broad Ripple and had the most versatility I craved: print, web, animation, photography, advertising– a real smorgasborg of marketing/design opportunities.

Once hired on as a production assistant, I spent long hours (sometimes into the wee hours of the morning) setting up photo shoots for the Paul Harris Store online dressing room and various reproduced African beaded garments, Viking carved furniture, and Chinese-jade engraved boxes for the J. Peterman Auction site.

My background was in film photography, and I had to apply all that I had learned to the art translating lighting and composition into digital photography with a Kodak Digital Camera (a relic by today’s standards). I began checking out books from the library to figure out how to use the two Paul Harris mannequins and stage faux scenes of mannequins in various seasonal activity. I came across Brodovitch in a design biography dedicated to his work. My work was no where as brilliant as Brodovitch’s, but the inspiration was a religious experience.

Brodovitch was a master of editorial art direction, layout, typography, photographs and navigating white space into a statement of luxury that made you want to dive in and bask in the same brilliant chiascuro that the models and clothing themselves were captured within. He put the glamour-ala Busby Berkeley meets Russian constructivism- in Harper’s Bazaar magazine covers. His influence is still apparent in the layout of current fashion magazines.

Inspiration Lab has an excellent collection of some of his best layouts. Abby Larsent has a mini booklet you can download and see more examples of his work. You can also purchase this little gem of a book and fall in love with black, white and technicolor fashions of the thirties, forties and fifties.

Unbelievable-I’d love to live in his photographs.