Jonathan Harris, creator of such stylish charts of the Web's emotional and intellectual life as Lovelines, 10x10, and Phylotaxis (and—disclaimer—the Yahoo! Netrospective), now relates his own experience spearing two whales with Inupiat Eskimos in Barrow, Alaska.
The "experiment in human storytelling" unreels like a lush, cinematic sequence. Using a camera on "plodding sequence," Jonathan documents the trek through photographs taken every five minutes. The taxi drive to the airport and the long flight west set up the astonishing vistas of snow and sky; the appearance of the whales; the long haul of the beasts on to the ice; and the ruddy, warm faces of Jonathan's Inupiat hosts.
Skip ahead or shift backwards using the bar graph or various modes at the bottom of the screen. (Need more evidence of Jonathan's design finesse? Check out the "pinwheel" option.) If you don't want to dive in to the photos immediately, explore the endeavor's highlights and interface. Jonathan's statement relates his intent to craft a modern chronicle of this ancient hunt. He succeeds, superbly.
Filed under: Web Art, Photography Exhibits
Bring up "street art" and most people imagine the sides of buildings treated artfully—or hurriedly—with graffiti, stencils, or stickers. Thanks to the artist Slinkachu, some people may also think: "little hand painted people, left in London to fend for themselves."
For a year and a half, the photographer and artist Slinkachu—no other name needed, thanks—has posed diminutive human figures around the U.K.'s capital in positions of longing, trouble, repose, or despair.
His blog documenting the poses, appropriately titled "Little People: A Tiny Street Art Project," quickly caught on with the Web's art and whimsy-minded citizenry. It has since garnered praise both online and off. Slinkachu now has a deal with a press to print and sell selected Little People shots. In September, he participated in a street and urban art show in Norway.
We wrote about Little People last September. Recently, we emailed the mysterious Slinkachu to see what he'd be willing to divulge about his activities since then...
Hey, Slinkachu. We had so much fun writing about Little People. Is coming up with the shots and posing the tiny figures as enjoyable as we imagine it to be?
It can be fun, especially seeing the final piece in place. A few weeks back, I was setting up an installation around a dog poo, though, and that wasn't so much fun. Read the full profile...
There are few debates in the United States as hotly torn apart as immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2005, three friends banded together to cast a fresh look at this red button topic.
This creative trio didn't want to proselytize or argue or blast off emails to voters. They wanted to capture the daily experience of the Mexican migrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally and the American Minutemen attempting to spot and report them.
Cameras were produced. Envelopes were self-addressed and stamped. The small group set off to find border crossers and border watchers willing to photograph their experiences along the remote stretch of land that connects the U.S. to its southern neighbor. Eventually, a name was decided upon: the Border Film Project.
Three years, 73 cameras, and nearly 2,000 photos later, The Border Film Project boasts a moving collection of images from both sides of this fractious issue.
We wrote about the endeavor years ago. Recently, we emailed the project's founders, Rudy Adler, Victoria Criado, and Brett Huneycutt, to see how things are going:
Hey, guys. Your background page details how you distribute cameras to migrants and Minutemen. How did the two groups react, initially, to the idea? Tell us how you went about it.
Surprisingly, the vast majority of migrants we approached were receptive to the project. Granted, many of the 500 migrants that received cameras may have been just fishing for a free camera, but in the end, the migrants that truly believed in the project where the ones that took the best photos. Many migrants expressed a profound desire to show American citizens what they had to endure to arrive in the United States Read the full profile...
Filed under: Photography, Immigration, Photography Exhibits, Yahoo! Picks Profiles
Since we last wrote about Noah K., 432 days have gone by—and 432 photos of his high-browed, wide-eyed, solemn face have appeared on his website, Noah K. Everyday. In the pictures, the unruliness of his hair ebbs and flows, his shirts change or disappear altogether, but his characteristic somber gaze holds steady.
With monk-like devotion, Noah has devoted himself to snapping a daily self-portrait and uploading the image to his webpage. And with what now feels like Web-like predictability, this quirky, personal project has brought him some measure of Internet fame.
A video stream of six years of Noah's self-portraits has garnered nearly 7 million views on YouTube and a leading art museum purchased a version for its permanent collection. Newspapers, magazines, and websites have come calling and VH-1 invited Noah backstage to pose with the stars at their "Big in '06" awards show. We emailed Noah to see how he's taking it:
Noah, you're a YouTube star. You've posed with Paris Hilton. And you were just acquired by the Austin Museum of Art. How's it feel?
It feels really good. It's great to get worldwide recognition for this project. It has certainly been an exciting ride. Not in my wildest dreams did I think it would become as big as it did. By the way, I should thank you! When you named my website the Pick of the day last year, it really set the whole thing in motion. Read the full profile...
Filed under: Photography Exhibits, Self-Portraits, Yahoo! Picks Profiles
George Orwell's "1984" forever popularized the phrase, "Big Brother is watching you." This blog believes others are watching you, too, but these commonplace siblings are less judgmental. (At least, we like to think so.) The collaborative collection highlights faces in such unexpected places as a roof, your front door, a hot iron, or even that muffin you had for breakfast. From screaming faces to friendly ones, angry features to those more fowl, visages with crazy eyes or beady peepers, or the vast array of purse faces—there's a mug here for everyone. Still having trouble picking facial features out of the ordinary? A tour through the gallery may illuminate new ways to see food, buildings, transportation, garden tools, everyday gadgets, and familiar things around the house. Even the red jacket zipper fish is much more fun than Big Brother.
Filed under: Weird Stuff, Photography Exhibits
Yahoo!'s crack team of editors serves up the coolest, funniest, or quirkiest sites we encounter on the Web. Got a favorite new link of your own? Share it with us!