Fight Club

"I Felt Like Destroying Something Beautiful"

Tarhir Square: Social Media, Public Space

The arab spring was galvanized by the public relam that is the internet, but it's ctalyst was the public square that brought. The digital spaces in which we allow for social movement to convene is directly related to the physical spaces we allow them to happen. The public relam, much like the Greek Agora is not dead. Read the full article here. A compelling case for public space.

A Scanner Darkly: Best Scenes

My favourite esoteric scenes from the best Keanu Reeves movie, A Scanner Darkly (2006), Where finally, Keanu's wooden acting skills came to use when he played this vacant and  jaded character. Still yet to read the 1977 Phillip K. Dick book though. And most definitely not the best Linklater film, 'cause Before Sunset takes the cake. 

James Mollison's Photography

"Photography is a way to experience the world."

James Mollison has the job I want. Travel, document, experience. I love how he uses comparative photography on unlikely subjects to draw a larger story out from a series of photographs i.e. the Ape passport photos. So simple and also fascinating. Check out more of James' work here. 

William Gottlieb's Iconic Photos of Jazz Greats

In the 1930s, a young reporter by the name of William Gottlieb set out to cover the boom of the jazz scene for the Washington Post, only to find the paper didn’t care to dispatch an official staff photographer. Gottlieb, a self-taught photographer armed with his Speed Graphic and an ample supply of flashbulbs, took it upon himself to photograph the subjects of his interviews. Between 1938 and 1948, he documented the jazz scene in New York City and Washington, D.C., and created what eventually became some of history’s most iconic portraits of jazz greats. The Golden Age of Jazz gathers 219 of those, including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan (who would have been 88 today), Billie Holiday, and Thelonious Monk, along with original text from the photographer contextualizing the images and their subjects.

 Sarah Vaughan, Café Society (Downtown)(?), New York, N.Y., ca. Aug. 1946

 Thelonious Monk, Minton's Playhouse, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947

 Billie Holiday, Downbeat, New York, N.Y., ca. Feb. 1947

 Joe Thomas, Pied Piper, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947

 Ella Fitzgerald, New York, N.Y., ca. Nov. 1946

 Nina Simone performing, Town Hall, N.Y., 1959

 Lennie Tristano, New York, N.Y., ca. Aug. 1947

 Ernest Tubb, Carnegie Hall, New York, N.Y., Sept. 1947

 Charlie Ventura, William P. Gottlieb's home (table tennis room), N.Y., ca. Apr. 1947

 Henry Wells, Aquarium, New York, N.Y., ca. Jan. 1947

Josh White and Mary Lou Williams, WMCA, New York, N.Y., ca. Oct. 1947

 Cootie Williams, New York, N.Y.(?), between 1938 and 1948

 Louis Armstrong, between 1938 and 1948

 Tex Beneke, ca. Jan. 1947

 Gracie Barry and Dick Stabile, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948

Sy Synclair

 Joan Brooks and Duke Niles, New York, N.Y., ca. Apr. 1947

 Vivien Garry, New York, N.Y., Dixon's, ca. May 1947

 Mary Lou Williams, New York, N.Y., ca. 1946

 Dizzy Gillespie, New York, N.Y., ca. May 1947

 Buddy Rich, Arcadia Ballroom, New York, N.Y., ca. May 1947

 June Christy, 1947 or 1948

 Louis Jordan, between 1938 and 1948

 William P. Gottlieb, WINX, Washington, D.C., ca. 1940

Mister (Billie Holiday's dog), New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948

Svan Fennema's Forgotten Places

Sven Fennema, a German photographer's passion for abandoned places is recorded in these following images that make up his photo series, "Forgotten Places". Find out more about Sven's work here. This series is somewhat reminiscent of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, who also shoot abandoned buildings, resulting in images mirroring a poetic poignancy. Find out more about their work here. 

Buenos Mares House by RDR Arquitectos

This house by RDR Arquitectos is located next to the sea on a beach in José Ignacio in Uruguay. Completed in 2009, the program is a single family vacation home with continuous use during the summer, and occasional use during the winter. It is designed almost entirely in a single floor that terraces slightly following the natural slope of the terrain. The house is formed by a series of stone wall pavilions, separated by courtyards and covered by a large slab. This roof garden is a strong horizontal gesture that relates the house with the sunset on the ocean horizon. Both elements define the social area of the house as a sequence of exterior, interior, and semi-covered spaces that interrelate creating various conditions adapted to the climate variables of the site. 

Only God Forgives Trailer

Nicolas Winding-Refn's next offering, where he teams up with Ryan Gosling for the second time since 2011's Drive, is Only God Forgives. Also starring on of my favourites, Kristen Scott Thomas, the film is set in the gritty backdrop of Bangkok and revolves around the world of Muay Thai boxing. Ryan plays an ex-boxer-turned-gangster who fights a Bangkok police lieutenant to avenge the killing of his brother. Gosling's impressive line-up of films has most movie buffs and fan girls alike bursting at the seams and Only God Forgives doesn't look like it's set to disappoint. 

Afghanistan: March 2013 In Pictures

Afghan President Hamid Karzai spent last weekend in Qatar, speaking with Qatari officials about mediating possible talks with Taliban officials as the 2014 deadline for NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan approaches. Australia announced it will withdraw most troops by the end of this year, closing down at least one major NATO base. Two newly appointed U.S. officials -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry -- paid visits to the country last month, making efforts to shore up relations with Karzai, who has been stepping up his criticism of the U.S. and NATO. The photos below are just a glimpse of this conflict over the past month, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan. Check out the rest of the stunning images shot by The Atlantic here.