New York Street Photography Restrictions

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!?



The Mayor’s Office of Film deals primarily with big film shoots (ie.commercials, features, t.v.) is where permits and insurance are, obviously, given.

However, many photographers and filmmakers carry on an equally important tradition in which spontaneous documentation of the urban environment is at the very heart of their work.

to photograph on the street you probably need to wait for the right activity, the right light, the break in the traffic; the countless other unpredictable factors that need to fall into place to make a shot worthwhile

… other than that it's just another dumb picture an teenage girl could take with her new Nikon D40 her daddy bought her

but now permits would have to be obtained for specific dates and times and exact locations, and the insurance would be out of reach for many.

The fact is that no one can simply PREDICT where, when, and how long they are going to film or photograph;

they probably can't afford expensive insurance policies, etc.

(The regulations would, for example, effectively rule out a great deal of time-lapse photography which depends on tripods and cannot possibly be done with time limitations of 10 to 30 minutes, as well as the use of large format still cameras and long lenses)


If these regulations go through, it would invite if not require police to harass or shut down both professional artists and amateurs.

New York is a city that welcomes and inspires art-making (and historical documentation)

This is a part of a ever growing number of attacks against civil liberties and free expression that seem to be ignored by the rest of the public


If you are a photographer, film maker, or just someone who loves
good underground art, no major mainstream labels attached

Please contact the following person immediately and express your concerns to:

Julianne Cho
Associate Commissioner
Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater & Broadcasting
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
jcho@film.nyc.gov
ph: 212.489.6710
fax: 212.307.6237

You Appointed Who!?

It's been a while but I think it should be said that I was very disappointed by Obama’s appointment of Rick Warren to deliver his invocation during Obama’s inaugural address. Rick Warren is against gay marriage and reproductive rights, and he does not believe in evolution (maybe he offers himself as proof of lack of evolution). I still think Obama is the best choice for president, but I can’t condone Warren’s involvement in Obama’s inauguration, no matter how insignificant it is. I understand that Obama is trying to appeal to conservatives and evangelicals, but this move is symbolically a slap in the face to many people. Warren is not a uniter, but a divider… he is intolerant in many of his views. I think it is important to speak one’s mind, but also to not let the narcissism of petty differences sabotage our unity and progress.

Beautiful Losers

Paint a Deck with Ed Templeton from BlackLake on Vimeo.


Inspired by the DIY culture film, beautiful losers, the MAKE SOMETHING!!workshop is a series of workshops presented by NIKE sportswear.

Artists such as Ed Templeton, Aaron Rose, Tobin Yelland, Money Mark, Jesse Spears, Mike Mills, and more went to schools in New York and Los Angeles to lead workshops on everything to making zines or skate graphics to poster art or video editing.

The 9 webisodes feature artists from the film, their contemporaries, as well as the filmmakers teaching high school kids in NY and LA the DIY aspects of art-making

Aminals

No, I didn't misspell the title to my blog. Aminals is a website I stumbled onto when I was looking for a band that I like on google.

http://www.aminaldolls.com/

apparently they got kids to draw what ever they liked and made them into
soft puppets made from organic material. The idea was coined by the designers
at Dreaming Lion LLC. I thought is was pretty nice how they help kids interest
in art flourish from such an early stage, allowing them to be proud of something they made by just being themselves.


Oh, and they also seem pretty proud that their product is made from
organic material:


" There is a solution! Organic farms are free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, keeping their soil and water protected and usable for many, many years to come. Before a farm may be certified organic, the fields must be free of synthetic chemicals for three years!

Organic farms rotate crops to replenish and maintain the soil’s fertility, and control pests and weeds naturally, using insect predators, traps, or botanical pesticides that are broken down quickly and simply with oxygen and sunlight. Growing cotton organically also benefits small-scale farmers who don’t have the funds to buy expensive, toxic pesticides. Organic cotton farming also uses significantly less water and electric power than conventional cotton farming techniques.

Not only is organic farming healthier and safer for our farmers, our fieldworkers, and our communities, organic cotton is free from synthetic poisons that are absorbed into our bloodstream through skin contact. Products manufactured from certified organic ingredients are the safest for your kids!

Only low impact and natural vegetable dyes can be used in certified organic cotton production, unlike the toxic, synthetic dyes used in conventional cotton manufacturing. "


-Aminals

SUPER SIZE ME

I had gotten home today and was watching That's 70 show like i always do after school. It seemed that every food commercial had to do with big food though. Big macs, Big man microwavable food, mega sized pizza at Pizza Hut, etc. What the hell ever happened to normal size? Actually, what about the quality of the food we buy? I know that you shouldn't ask for much when you're getting fast food, but come one, I'm not going to pay 10 dollars for something a dog wouldn't touch. I mean, I've heard Taco Bell's meat is only 10 percent away from being dog food, that's just disgusting. So when it comes to food, I prefer either my mom's home cooked meals or just some good sushi, that beats a cholesterol covered fast pass to health problems any day.

Our Word Is Our Weapon

A Question from Rowan on Vimeo.

" In the light of recent attacks in south Africa, WE respond to the questions, WE take to the streets...And like our brothers in the Zapatista National Liberation Army, We believe a word is a weapon. This war is not a statement, it is a question, which comes from a place in our hearts in where we believe that every person has a right to Equality, Freedom, and Life."



"Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefor extend their hand."is a piece done in Cape Town, South Africa deep inside the Hazendal community.

This graffiti message was written by FAITH47, an artist who resides in
South Africa and who is renowned for her political statements through her
pieces worldwide.



Eventually someone realizes that there is injustice in the world. Eventually someone is bound to wake up. But it is the by product of humanity when it is cornered that amazes me. We don't feel a need to express our selves unless emotionally awakened, a need to fight unless pissed off, and a need to speak of peace until there is hate.


So what happens when the ideal society is created? Will there not arise dissent in the perfect government? Is not the idea of "world peace" an impossible daydream we like to imagine to keep our destructive souls company? Instead of trying to change the world we should first change ourselves, then maybe things would mold themselves into something more livable.


I remember hearing in my philosophy class about an experiment were thousands of people meditated in front of the Washington Monument as part of research on the power of our minds. The crime rate in the state of Washington D.C. dropped 33% in the following year.


If you could just take a minute of your time to wish everyone well, to dream of inner peace and the welfare of your family and friends, then maybe you would reduce the grip of hate and animosity in the world. With a little more breathing space, maybe we would be able to think more clearly about how our actions affect every spec of dust around us.


It takes courage to tell others that you were wrong, it takes maturity to
understand what the best reaction should be before you go off on someone about how much of a jack ass they are. For all these things a person needs to have wisdom, something vital that seems to be missing from many politicians...maybe that's why there's so many wars and starving minds, maybe we've been picking our leaders based on a more fact based point of view? We pick men and women to lead us because of the school they went to and the laws they voted on, but never on their morals, no, political parties have taken the place of that. If you're conservative you love money if you're liberal you're a leftist, and that's the end of that.

Obama is going to be kicked out?

I just heard on a Hispanic news channel that because Obama is apparently not
an American since he was born in Indonesia, there has been investigations into
his origins. A tribune is being set up to decide if he should be allowed into the Presidency or not, because it seems as if he forged documents to make it appear as if he were American, when in reality he is of Indonesian nationality.

His birth mother mentioned this while she was being interviewed
which sparked the interest of those opposed to his political party.


Now I don't know much on this and would really appreciate to get comments
from people who have heard about it.

I can't believe that these people have decided to start looking at this kind of stuff just now, after his election by American voters.

Would we be forced to look for a new president?

would we have to go through elections once again?


or is this just a scheme from right wing conservatives who can't accomplish their corporate goals with such an open minded mine as the new leader of a free country?

If this does become a serious issue, I believe any attempt at dethrowning Obama and the people who chose him would cause discontent and maybe even rioting.

To change someone we have chosen to such a high political position on technical
idiocies seems to be a new bureaucratic low.