Every Time I Reread Tales of the Jazz Age, This Quote Makes Me Smile:

"What floor, please?" said the elevator man.

"Any floor," said Mr. In.

"Top floor," said Mr. Out.

"This is the top floor," said the elevator man.

"Have another floor put on," said Mr. Out.

"Higher," said Mr. In.

"Heaven," said Mr. Out.

--May Day, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Manhattanville.net

Why You Should Always Save Your Negatives

...because you may have asked a future American President to pose for your portfolio back when he was a college student bumming around at Occidental.

(I'm not turning this blog into an Obama media fest, I swear. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.)

What Should Obama Wear?

Women's Wear Daily asks 50 different designers what they think Obama should wear to Inauguration 2009.

So True.

The Death of Photojournalism

I'm going to keep this short because I think Vincent Laforet's recent post sums up my thoughts fairly accurately, but stories like this one make me livid. From Rob's post:

Dear XXXXX,

We would like to publish your photo in Time Magazine in a year-end issue and also on Time.com. If you are the author of the photo and can give Time the rights to publish it, please send a high-resolution image to xxxxxxxx@timemagazine.com. While we can’t pay you for this use, we’ll give you an author’s photo credit with the published photo in the magazine and of course you retain the copyright.

Thank you for your participation.

Sincerely,

XXXXX

Time, I don't care how badly you're suffering right now, this is nothing short of taking advantage of photographers who simply don't know better and screwing over those who do. It's one thing to solicit unpaid contributions from photographers and writers in crowdsourcing-type projects; it's another thing entirely to value someone's work at, oh, NOTHING. And lowering publication standards to go with a free alternative is just sad.

Good photography will always be expensive.

Aiming for Michelle?

(Thanks, Fern.)

Manhattanville

Coffee

A chronicle of Christoph Niemann's lifelong relationship with everyone's favorite caffeine source.

Photogram

Lunch Bag Art

New favorite blog: Lunch Bag Art, where the father of two grade schoolers posts photos of the drawings he adds to his children's brown bag lunches every morning.

Click

All of My Friends Are Men, Too

HEARTS LOVE FEELINGS BUTTERFLIES KISSES MUSHY MUSHY CUTENESS.

...Nope, still a guy, according to Gender Analyzer.

Polling Place Photo Project

As you head to your respective voting places today, don't forget to take some photos for the Polling Place Photo Project!

No Surprise Here:

Pennsylvania Voters

Stop Sending Mail You Later Regret:

Too True

Our Homecoming shirts read:

Front:

COLUMBIA HOMECOMING 2008
THEY MAY WIN

Back:

BUT THEY'RE STILL GOING HOME TO JERSEY
COLUMBIA LIONS VS. PRINCETON TIGERS

Form and Function in Architecture

"I am in favor of an almost unlimited plastic freedom, a freedom that is not slavishly subordinate to the reasons of any given technique or of functionalism, but which makes an appeal to the imagination, to things that are new and beautiful, capable of arousing surprise and emotion by their very newness and creativeness; a freedom that provides scope -- when desirable -- for moods of ecstasy, reverie, and poetry."

--"Form and Function in Architecture," Oscar Niemeyer

Help A College Student!

Hi All,

I'm in an architecture seminar focused on product sustainability and recycling paths, and I need your help. I've been gathering data on recycling legislation and regulations in a dozen or so countries around the world for a comprehensive Flash website -- which is surprisingly fascinating in and of itself -- but I'd like to collect some graphical data as well.

This is where you come in! I'm looking to enlist ~20 people or so to help me with a visual comparison of just how much recycled material a two- or three-person family generates every week. I promise it won't take much time -- I'd just ask that you photograph the contents of your recycling bin once a week just before it's collected in a neat, well-lit (and creative, if you wish) fashion and send it to me with a list of the items being recycled. This is due in late October, so it would probably only be for a three- or four-week period.

These are the cities/countries/regions I'm especially looking for:
[EDIT: I'm updating this list as I find volunteers.]
NYC
LA
DC
London
France/Paris
Germany
Spain
Netherlands/Holland
Poland
China
India
South Africa
Australia
New Zealand
Canada
Ireland
Russia/Moscow
Argentina
Israel
Switzerland
Denmark
Sweden
Japan
Chile

If you are interested in participating and you don't fit into any of the above, please still comment -- I'm interested in any and all regions with developed/burgeoning recycling programs and the more the better.

This will manifest itself as a Flash website that will go live by November or so, and of course all of you will be duly credited. So, if you think you might want to participate, please comment with the following:

1. Where you live.
2. How many in your household (I think I'm looking for people in 3-person households, but if there's an overwhelming majority of 2-person or 4-person responses then we'll go with that).
3. A (very!) brief summary of your area's recycling program (I'm assuming most are weekly, but if they're biweekly or have other little quirks let me know).
4. Your e-mail (if you don't want to post this, just send me an e-mail at dani[@]dan.iella.net with the subject "Research Project").

Also, feel free to forward this to any vaguely relevant photography/sustainability/recycling-related message boards/blogs, or any photographically-inclined overseas friends.

Thanks so much! Looking forward to your responses.

d.

Catskills

Cabin Fever

"'Isolated' is an urban concept. It is a product of the city. To leave the map behind is a uniquely urban fantasy. It is those at the center of the pattern who talk the most about escaping it. But their escapes are usually just extensions of the pattern, demonstrations that the city knows no limit."

--"Cabin Fever," Mark Wigley

(I love that I'm taking his class at GSAPP and his reading his papers in my senior seminar...)

Donna Karan Models

Backstage @ Fashion Week

TO ALL BLOGGERS:

MY PHOTOS ARE NO LONGER UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE AND THEREFORE NOT FOR USE IN YOUR POSTS ABOUT HOW CINDY MCCAIN'S SHOES LOOK LIKE THEY'RE FROM PAYLESS (I'm not kidding.) I SEE YOU. STOP IT. OR I WILL BE FORCED TO BREAK OUT MY SECRET ASIAN KUNG FU.

Thursday Night at the RNC

Wednesday Night at the RNC

Tuesday Night at the RNC

Bob Barr

To Put Things In Perspective:

5 Days, 4,167 Photos

Barack Obama Accepts the DNC Nomination

Wednesday Night at the DNC

Entire set available here.

Hillary & Chelsea

Michael Dukakis