Martha Cooper: Os Gemeos Houston Street Mural

by Wendy Dembo

Of the coverage about Os Gemeos' new mural on Houston in NYC, the indefatigable Martha Cooper's series of images wins for the most elegant telling of the recent history of the street corner. Contrasting images shot over the last several days of the twin painters with pics both of Keith Haring at work on his 1982 mural and of the recent reproduction, her photo essay comes from the rare point of view of someone who knows the old and new New York well.

For those in New York, checking out Os Gemeos in action is quite the spectacle, with the artists climbing around on ladders, passersby watching and taking photos, as well as the occasional drop-in from such old school painters as Daze or Lee Quiñones. The scene generally goes down from 10am-8pm everyday except Sundays and should continue until about 24 July 2009.

See more images after the jump.

Significant Objects

by Nathan Suberi

Drawing on the rich sense of history of thrift store objects, Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn founded SignificantObjects.com. The site is a collaborative experiment pairing cheap thrift store/yard sale finds with creative writers who create a unique personality for it. Items include cat figurines printed with chilis (above left), ceramic hot dogs (above right), smiling coffee mugs and buttons lauding professional "necking." These random objects, once imbued with their fictional significance, are posted to eBay to test if that significance translates to an increase in perceived value.

With the literary chops of Luc Sante, Kurt Andersen, Lucinda Rosenfeld, Ben Greenman, Curtis Sittenfeld and more imagining the vivid and immersing tales, the project mixes consummate storytelling with found obects. All net profits from the sales go directly to the authors in what may be the first pay scale for writers based on emotional impact.

All goods and stories can be viewed on SignificantObjects.com, with bids being accepted through their eBay store.

Reef Check

by Nathan Suberi

Of the eco-tourist travel boom lately, one of the most effective programs we've encountered is conservationist non-profit Reef Check. Tourists lucky enough to indulge in exotic island vacations have a chance to give back, combine active and activist lifestyles and help maintain reef integrity by joining Reef Check.

The human impact on coral reefs is a result of quick-buck practices such as bomb fishing, poison fishing, coral mining and even reef walking, leading to the extinction of some indigenous species from a vast majority of the world's reefs. In an effort to help educate people that such practices are selfishly destroying these precious ecosystems for temporal gratification, Reef Check enlists teams of volunteer divers, snorkelers, scientists and community organizers to catalog reef life as an indication of reef health and to promote awareness.

CH recently had the chance to experience the program first hand to promote Malibu's involvement with Reef Check's cause. The rum-maker's role is twofold, with a sponsorship of a 10-day Malibu Beach Internship, where ten of-age adults can travel to an island paradise and survey coral life for Reef Check's worldwide database. They've also recently issued a redesign of the iconic Malibu bottle, sporting flashy Caribbean colors and beach motifs—a portion of all sales go directly towards Reef Check efforts.

For more info on how to get involved on your next excursion visit Reef Check and apply.

The Boyfriend Shirt

by CH Contributor

by Ariston Anderson

Scott Evan Wasserberger and Jess Zaino of Sew, a Soho, NY custom men's shirt mainstay, recognized that many a woman out there liked nothing more than to slip into her man's button-down after a long day. But, like other recent boyfriend-inspired fashion, they wanted to create a shirt more specifically tailored for a woman, leading them to co-design the Boyfriend Shirt.

"My inspiration behind making the shirt was that I always love to grab my man's shirt off the floor/chair/bed and throw it on for sexy comfort," Zaino tells CH. Available in white, light blue and pink, Sew makes the Boyfriend Shirt from the finest Loro Piana Italian cottons, adds Mother-of-Pearl buttons and tapers it at the waist for a more feminine feel.

The shirt is already a favorite of Jessica Biel and Reese Witherspoon, but Zaino says she created the shirt for every woman, “It's classic, strong and soft all at once.”

At a recent photo shoot at the Eldridge, top fashion bloggers came to the set pairing the shirt with items from their own wardrobes. It can be worn alone, paired with leggings, shorts, denim or a skirt and heels—quickly becoming the closet staple of the summer, ripe for mixing in with your own unique style.

The Boyfriend Shirt is available at Sew, retailing for $220, or you can place orders by email (info [at] theboyfriendshirt [dot] com).

Sew
229A Mott Street
New York, New York 10012 map
tel. +1 212 686 1630

Diana Instant Back+ Camera Accessory

by Doug Black

As the Polaroid fades into the annals of photographic history, Fuji's Instax line is filling the instant film void. Available in a standard (108mm x 86mm) and mini (53mm x 86mm) size, the horizontally-oriented photos behave much the same as classic Polaroid film, but they generally only work with three existing models of Fuji-licensed cameras (one for full-sized and two for mini film).

Fortunately, other parties are creating their own mechanisms of exposing Fuji's instant film. The Diana Instant Back+ employs the same dreamy aesthetic of Lomography's classic Diana camera, rendering it on the business card-sized Instax mini film. What used to involved the annoyance of developing 120mm film is now immediately tangible, if much smaller than most medium-format prints.

We were lucky enough to get our hands on an Instant Back and snapped some shots with our Diana. Easily installed as a replacement for the existing back, after loading the Instax cartridge and batteries, you can use is exactly as you would a normal Diana, allowing for varying apertures and multiple exposures.

The resulting shots delivered the hazy, imperfect images the camera's known for in a immediately satisfying medium. Downsides include the relatively expensive and hard-to-find Instax mini film and CR-2 batteries. (While it's more cost-effective to order online, even reputable retailers like B&H don't carry the film.) But despite that and the considerable bulk and weight added to the Diana, the Instant Back represents a worthy successor to the beloved Polaroid.

The Diana Instant Back+ costs $95 from the Lomography shop. See some enlarged photo experiments—including shots of CH folk and a woefully overexposed failure—after the jump.