Taryn Simon

The clip is a little long, but it is worth the wait to see her incredible photographs. Taryn goes behind the scenes of places most people are not allowed. She discusses each photo in detail.
Is documentation art? Is art documentation?
Some favorites:
US Customs and Border Protection room... African Cane Rats?? Crazy stuff!
Fort Campbell in Kentucky... simulated city for combat training? Wow!





http://www.ted.com/talks/taryn_simon_photographs_secret_sites.html

Cause/Effect Concepts

I hate getting junk email. 38 attachments in one email to showcase the horrors of child abuse. I got the message with the first image attachment, thank you. As I scrolled down to the 15th attachment out of shear boredom (Tuesday night TV is horrible!) I came across this advertisement of sorts. It caught my eye because of the image and then the tag line. I know Stephanie and Amy told us to stay away from baby issues, but I thought I share this example of cause/effect.

Project One-Revised

Here is my revised layout on Project One. Hopefully the reader now will be interested in reading the article along with looking at the visuals. I fixed my margin problem and deleted the top folio element... damn those Aussies!

Show and Tell #2: Robo Nurse

For last week's show and tell I came across an article about Machines That Heal. I thought the layout included good photos of the object they were describing. I like how they had a WHAT, WHERE, WHY, and WOW descriptions before going into the main description. I thought the large photo of Robo Nurse was a nice example of a photo crossing over into the gutter. Two photos, one on each page shows the Robo Nurse in action, serving food and gripping a straw.

Favorite line: "Twenty-One, the bedside nurse-bot, has soft fingertips nimble enough to delicately grip a drinking straw and arms with the strength to lift an adult out of bed."

WOW: Lightly tapping force and pressure sensors in Twenty-One's chest tells the robot to back off.

Refreshingly Mint

Feedback and comments would be appreciated! Thanks!

A reminiscent look at how to use the flourishing green plague in your backyard.

For me, mint stirs up fantastic childhood memories. I can remember summers spent at my grandparent's row home in Baltimore City. The brash smog from the traffic off of Loch Raven Boulevard and Northern Parkway dulled my senses, but the patch of mint growing on the rim of the rectangular garden allowed me to breathe in a sigh of relief.

One might not imagine the sweltering hot Baltimore City summer conjuring up fond memories of mint. Some might picture lounging in a hammock on a cool summer late afternoon, sipping freshly made iced tea. I too sipped on freshly made iced tea infused with rich deep green mint leaves, newly hand picked from against the red rust colored wood fence separating Mrs. Westimyer and my grandmother's backyards. A scrumptious treat of mint chocolate chip ice cream was always a favorite with the neighborhood kids after an exhausting game of freeze tag in the alley. The anticipation of an after dinner adventure to the snowball stand for a hefty-sized spearmint with marshmallow was worth the agonizing torment of eating grandpa's Wednesday night meatloaf surprise.

As adults, we now find the massive green leafy plague growing against our backyard fence or in that disfigured plant container our mother-in-law gave us absolutely revolting. Mint spreads through the soil like a wildfire in Southern California if not self-contained and the shade doesn't hinder this flourishing beast, it thrives under its cover. As mint transforms from a welcoming childhood memory to a pointless weekend landscaping project, remember the positive aspects of mint. Keep in mind the flavorful aroma mint produces, which can captivate your psyche from only yards away. The fresh cool aftertaste it leaves stinging in your mouth will force your husband to make-out with you even after you've had cabbage and garlic soup for dinner. You might prefer to relish in your childhood memories with a mint julep as opposed to mint jelly, but the main ingredient remains refreshingly the same.

Project One - Layout

I was debating on whether on change the photo to more of a food item. I put a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream in there, but it did not give me the effect I wanted like this one does. Thoughts? Feedback? Thanks!

Show and Tell: Party for One

I chose an article in the October 2009 issue of The Oprah Magazine for this past week's show and tell. The article was written by Judith Jones who discovered Julia Child. She wrote a cookbook, The Pleasures of Cooking for One, and includes an excerpt from that book.

I was first drawn to the article because of the photography. I thought it had excellent food photography and I wanted to read more about it. Plus, the fish in the top right corner caught my eye too. I wanted to know why anyone would cook that in the first place and eat it alone. Judith Jones talks about how when her husband died, she was not sure if she could ever enjoy making a meal by herself and eating it alone. She felt that supermarkets sell the idea that it is a waste of time for women to cook when instead they can buy ready-made products.

I found the article and the excerpt quite witty. She says in the article, "Leftovers are boring, who wants to eat cold pork all week?" Her excerpt from her cookbook explains ways to prepare meals different ways using the same ingredient; i.e. pork. She also explains why you should cook for yourself. One of my favorite lines is, "If a sauce curdles, you'll eat it anyway."


I felt the article was personal and it informed you of something new. The photography complimented the article (except for maybe that fish in the pan), and I felt it caught your attention.

Here is the link if you want to read it online: http://www.oprah.com/article/food/cookingadvice/200910-omag-cooking-for-one