Cool Hunting
Growing up in a remote town of 800 people on Cape Breton Island in eastern Canada, the first thing I would do each morning was to check if I had developed super-powers. As I got older, in an attempt to be more like Peter Parker, I began to explore both photography and science so that one day I too could be bitten by a radio-active spider.
I now work as a family doctor in Vancouver, British Columbia. In medical school, I would organize art exhibitions on medical themes, write about photography for medical journals across North America, and use my student loan money to buy the photographs that I fell in love with. My heart still always skips a beat (literally) when I see a really great picture.
When I’m not reorganizing the photographs on my walls or sitting on the beach with my French bulldog Beckett, I still spend most of my free time in search of beautiful pictures, and have recently decided to organize my findings on my own blog called Squint.
Opened by Cok de Rooy and Dick Dankers in 1992, Amsterdam boutique The Frozen Fountain showcases both Dutch and international talents. Interspersed among classic design pieces from well-known design companies such as Vitra and Foscarini, the store features pieces produced specifically for the store by locals and up-and-coming designers alike. (Click on images for enlarged view.) The space hosts exhibitions of new talents twice...
I discovered the unusually frisbee-shaped Freestyle Magazine in my favorite bookshop, Athenaeum Boekhandel, on a recent trip to Amsterdam. Focused on fashion, design, art, architecture, lifestyle and frisbees, Berlin-based fashion photographer Jason McGlade created Freestyle for those who share his uninhibited spirit. In a world of rectangular publications, not only does Freestyle Magazine's circular shape set it apart, but so does its package design....
Justin Gibbens admits to having an "obsessive, unhealthy interest in all things that scamper and poke about in the thickets and undergrowth." Like most obsessive interests that are artfully managed with creativity, Gibbens has been able to channel his work as a contemporary wildlife artist into something magical. Imitating the conventions of 18th and 19th century zoological illustration and traditional Chinese fine-line painting, Gibbens...
Artist Brian Dettmer dissects books to expose the beauty of their anatomy. Using an X-acto knife and tweezers, Dettmer pulls away carefully selected layers of books, revealing a complex view of their internal organization. In this time when the book is no longer the most efficient way to store and transmit data, Dettmer's transformations are at once nostalgic and forward-thinking. His process is a...
Just a few years out of art school, Eli Bornowsky has been included in shows at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver and the Vancouver Art Gallery, and has had two solo shows in Vancouver’s delightful Blanket Gallery. I recently met up with him at his studio to check out more of his work. What lead to the recurrent pattern of circles you've been using...
Although considered by many to be the drink of rowdy university students, tequila remains my alcoholic beverage of choice. So I was especially excited to try as many tequilas as possible during a recent visit to the state of Jaslisco in Mexico. One of my favorite discoveries was a reposado tequila called Chamucos. Chamucos is made with 100% blue agave and is aged in...
For most people, the thought of approaching a complete stranger on the street and asking to take their photograph is an incredibly daunting task. It's easy to forget about the uncomfortable meeting when you look at Richard Renaldi's photographs. In his images of strangers he's encountered on the street or in bus terminals, the people always look relaxed and comfortable, as if they had...
Stacey Steers' animated film "Phantom Canyon" was created from over four thousand handmade collages incorporating the images from Eadweard Muybridge's famous series of photographs from 1887 called "Human and Animal Locomotion." In this film, which is intended to mirror how we all find meaning in our experiences, a curious woman goes on a surrealistic journey with an alluring bat-winged man. The process used to...
