SAVORY ANECDOTES AND OCCASIONALLY USEFUL OBSERVATIONS OF AN
Artful Realist
My name is LARRY VINCENT. I'm a writer, speaker, photographer and lovable nerd based in Los Angeles. When I'm not writing here about things that inspire me, I look after The Brand Studio at United Talent Agency.
Posts on inspiration
I am an amateur and intend to remain one my whole life long. I attribute to photography the task of recording the real nature of things, their interior, their life.
// Andre Kertesz, our January photographer of the month (via pabloveshutterbugs)
Words to live by…
Tweet
IMG_0133 by Schlaich on Flickr.
An inspiring “light painting” using empty bottles of chemotherapy treatment to form the letters of the message.
Tweet
New photos from Hedi Slimane, who seems to capture that youthful zeal that’s woven into the LA music life. His photo diary is one of my favorite destinations.
For many of us, summer is a time for the adrenaline rush of a good roller coaster. Each coaster taunts us with its own promise. Some promise speed, others harrowing loops. There are coasters that promise to suspend us in the air and frighten us in the dark. One thing’s for sure: we celebrate the coasters that exceed our expectations.
This article in today’s New York Times profiles a particular type of coaster that combines the best of science with the charm of the past. Wooden roller coasters can have tighter bends and twists than steel ones. They excel at giving just the right amount of airtime—that exhilarating feeling that grips the pit of your stomach when you truly feel you’re falling and makes you happy to be alive.
My favorite part of the accompanying video is the interview with Sister Michelle Sinkhorn, a Benedictine who is lovingly referred to as The Coaster Nun. Her excitement demonstrates just how universal the power of a good coaster can be for saints and sinners alike.
My friend Jason Pollock has been hard at work on his next documentary film, which focuses on changing the conversation and bolstering support for America’s schools. In a unique approach that truly makes social media part of the filmmaking process, Undroppable is breaking new ground by engaging viewers in the lives of the people behind the story as the story develops.
TweetRebranding America’s Schools — One Tumblr Post at a Time
In the heart of East Los Angeles, in an office building turned magnet school, Jonathan Araiza speaks into a camera. “My dream is to get out of high school,” the former gang member says. “I will be the first one to graduate in my family.” The man behind the lens, Jason Pollock, would say that Araiza is “undroppable” — he has persevered, against trying circumstances, to graduate this year. For the past two months, Pollock has interviewed hundreds of students like him, in some of the poorest districts in the country, to find out what keeps them from dropping out. The result — a documentary film project and vast social media campaign that launches today on Tumblr — is called Undroppable.
There’s an interesting trend at work in our culture. In spite of the most amazing advances in technology, a lot of people are craving a sense of authenticity, history and craftsmanship. It’s a growing interest in “old school” approaches. You can see this in our love affair with Instagram, where a high quality photograph is deliberately roughed up around the edges to look vintage. Or in the revival of the Moleskine. How about the surge in the growth of vinyl albums? This video from photographer and filmmaker Ian Ruhter portrays an extremely beautiful variant on the trend with his quest to capture ever larger wet plate photographs. “I didn’t just build a camera. I created a time machine.”
Tweet
What if a bicycle’s tires had ink on them? What kind of pattern would they make? What if we applied this inspiration to a series of notebooks. Check them out along with a video on how they make them at Postalco.
Tweet
TweetGandhi’s top 10 fundamentals for changing the world by 22-year-old graphic designer Francesca Ramos – a fine addition to this collection of (typo)graphic wisdom on life.
When did experience ever limit the fantasy of a child?
// Scientific American’s Maria Konnikova
on the big lesson of The Little Prince, one of the 5 most beloved children’s books with timeless philosophy for grown-ups.
(Source: , via explore-blog)
Tweet
Copyright 2012 by Laurence Vincent
