Curtis James

Booth Teeth on Flickr.

Back to work after a week working on Work (see below). My teeth are aching.

Back from another day at our (informal) apprenticeship at Amberley Print Rooms. We are classing it as a Stanley James Press Outpost. The man in the picture is called Terry, and, he is one of the best teachers I have ever had. He has a way about him I wish my school teachers had had. I spent most of my day finishing some type setting I’d started a few weeks ago, realising there were still typo’s, old letters that needed replacing and spacing issues. I then learnt how to use a Heidelberg printing press, although I know I have barely scratched the surface. The machine is 60 years old, but works pretty well. It has some amazing design features, like a little indent to measure how much packing paper you need to put in and a safety device that means you can’t get your hands or head mangled in one of the various moving parts.

If you’ve never visited Amberley, the place needs some interested eyes and ears, so please come.

Work - an experimental photographic investigation/publication

Next week, I’m going to be taking part in Matt Westons Publishathon at New England House in Brighton.  The idea is that we publish a load of stuff over five days using the materials and equipment to hand.  Me and Emily are taking the week off ‘Work’ to be involved.  So, it’s pretty fitting that my publication is going to be called ‘Work’.  At the moment, the idea is for me to make a book each day, the contents of which will contain photographs of a single person at work, with maybe a few words.  With my People Who Do hat on, I’m really interested in how and why people do stuff, what makes them work, what people class as work, how they do their jobs, how they fill the large bulk of their time/lives.  These publications are hopefully the start of an ongoing set of books I hope to make over the coming months.

At the moment my daily plan is this:

• Load 2 black and white films from the bulk loader
• Spend up to 3 hours with the worker, taking photo’s of them at work
• Develop the films
• Scan the negatives
• Design and layout the book
• Print a number of copies of the book
• Bind and finish the books
• Sleep

I’ve pretty much covered everything apart from picking the 5 people I will photograph, so, if you know someone that has an interesting or not so interesting job in and around Brighton, and you think they wouldn’t mind me hanging out with them for 3 hours one morning next week, please get in touch.  If you hook me up with someone, I’ll send you a copy of their book.

Hidden in plain site.

(via It’s Nice That : How to hide an aircraft plant - amazing 1940s photos show you how)

I want to ride on this.

(via FFFFOUND! | Tumblr)

The View From Ouchy on Flickr.

Visited Switzerland for the first time. Saw some beautiful sites and met some interesting people. We were very well looked after.

mattrichardson.com

The Descrip­tive Cam­era works a lot like a reg­u­lar cam­era—point it at sub­ject and press the shut­ter but­ton to cap­ture the scene. How­ev­er, instead of pro­duc­ing an image, this pro­to­type out­puts a text descrip­tion of the scene. Mod­er…

I’ve been seeing some of the pictures from this on twitter recently. Nice to read about its development.

Worms on Flickr.

Merry on Flickr.

Taken on the Palace Pier in Brighton, on a slightly drunken night out.

Dome on Flickr.

Spent an hour looking around the Dome in Brighton. It really took me back, because I worked there when I was 16. After months of working at a sound and lighting shop called MBI, I got to know the guys who looked after the tech stuff at the Dome. My boss was called Fraser Disney, which felt like the perfect name for someone working in showbiz. I had various roles, including replacing lightbulbs high up in the rooftops, setting up pyrotechnics and my favourite, follow spot, tracking actors on the stage with a heavy and very hot light. At the time, it felt like I was being paid to play, it felt like I was being paid to do the stuff I’d been doing at school for the past few years. I probably would have done it for free.

I’m sure this is all over the net by now, but, I still have to put it on my site.  What a beautiful story.  The perfect way to start my day.

Amazing installation by Gabriel Dawe.

Found via Cool Hunting

Biking on Flickr.

A happy thing to stumble upon on a warm March Sunday.

That’s as happy as I want to be

Via Devour.com

All this simplicity, however, is overshadowed by one missing key feature: push email. For most people, email is time sensitive. You need to know when an email hits your inbox so you can respond (or at least read it) right away. That’s why you need push notification and why Sparrow for iOS is disappointing in that regard.

This kind of thinking is why people work late, look at their phones when at shows/cinema/dinner/talks/anything they should be engaging with and it’s why relationships fail.  How have we got to a point where an email is critical to life?  Most of us aren’t saving lives or putting out real fires.  If you think you ‘need’ email to arrive straight away and alert you immediately, have you ever really thought why that is?

Sparrow released - lacks notification

You can’t be a butcher over the internet

It’s all about the process, and, there is so much about the physical process that always beats online, hands down.

Found via Swiss Miss

This is one of those moments that comes around every now and then that I wish I could bottle up and use when I needed to. I guess it wouldn’t feel so special if that was the case. What I loved about this moment is that it reminded me of some good stuff about growing up with Simon. I feel child like most of the time, but at this moment even more so. You could never accuse Simon and Matt of being full of themselves. They exist in a world where everything seems so cool, a weird intersection of Hip Hop and electronics and space. On the outside, some of the people look like they take themselves very seriously. Simon and Matt take what they do seriously, to the point that they would rather not make money if it meant compromising on what they are doing. It tends to be mint tea, water and ginger in the changing room (if there is one). Maybe it’s like this with most people that have a stage persona, most people don’t get to see the banal world behind the scenes. Anyway, back to the point. I feel so lucky to have a twin brother that I am so close to. I love being involved in some of his projects. Most of all, I love that it gives us even more oppurtunity to feel like kids again.

Aidan Moffat (via It’s Nice That : FOUND: #UNRAVEL)

youmightfindyourself:

willycheesesteak:

Metropolis: What makes a good hamburger?

Yoshihide Matsubara: First, a good burger is one that has all the parts assembled with perfect balance and harmony. Many burgers in Japan are served with all the flavorings already included, so before adding ketchup and mustard, try it as it’s served to you first. Secondly, a good hamburger has a dignified appearance and is built up beautifully. In some traditional American diner-style shops, they serve the ingredients side-by-side on a flat plate. But I’m of the opinion that places which serve the hamburger in its complete form think precisely about the proper way to pile ingredients—the size of the patty, bun and vegetables and their order —and this really reflects the sensitive and delicate technique of the Japanese. Especially in downtown Tokyo, hamburgers have crossed over from being “American-style” to being simply a “delicious meal.” Their originality is evolving every day. Lastly, a good hamburger needs to be dynamic and hearty. After all, hamburgers are entertainment!

Metropolis: What makes a good hamburger?

KEN Saito: Of course, the actual taste of the hamburger is crucial, but what happens before you bite into the hamburger is equally important. Mainly, the appearance and the aroma are extremely important factors. In smaller restaurants, you can hear and smell the hamburger patty being cooked. A perfectly assembled hamburger is a work of art. It’s exciting to imagine the taste of the hamburger before you actually take a bite. When I pick up the hamburger and smell the charcoal aroma, I can sense that I’m in for a helluva ride.

(via :: Metropolis Tokyo :: Japan’s No. 1 English Magazine Advertising Special)