I tried!!! 15min off!!

I guess I broke my own test. Submit an idea everyday for a year and I missed today the 10th by 15min. Let this be a lesson, never try to start a 5 year old deal with hard drive problems and expect it to boot up like a macbook pro. I was sooo close to posting under the deadline too. I had the idea as I was running back from El Carmen on 3rd St. I had just went to a fashion show/bachelor auction at Em and Co also on 3rd St. and I met the organizers and some bachelors and some all around good people. I tell you, I was not dressed for fashion in my old jeans, gray hat and gray sweater, carrying a backpack full of avocados from a friends yard. But, they took me in and with the vodka/cranberry drinks flowing like fast moving lava, I was in my element. So, met some great people and tried to run home and just got here too late so Feb 11 get two submissions. Here's my first one. A reality competition show for amateur and professional photographers. If it's not being worked on it should because everything else has a damn reality show. Hairstylists, fashion, cakes, drinks, security guards. Hell, why not have a great reality show a la Top Chef that pits the worlds greatest photographers together and challenges them in ways they never thought possible. No photoshop, b/w, only one roll, no lighting, only reflective surfaces. Must make inanimate objects look lifelike. Think how fun and crazy this show would be. We would get an inside view into the minds of the worlds best photogs. They'd have to be papparazzi's and run around, have to shoot weddings, kids parties, high school prom photos. Heck, the list is endless. But, who could be the judges? Liebowitz? Jim Marshall, Arbus, Avedon, Mapplethorpe, Newton. I know a lot of them are dead, but we could find some great ones to judge the challengers. Oooh, it'd be good. I just know it.

A hand on art

Last night I went to the museum of contemporary art in downtown Los Angeles. There were many famous pieces of art, among the notables: Warhol, Johns, Basquiat, Koons, Raushcenberg, Lichtenstein, Miro and Flavin. Great pieces all in all and I did a surprising thing. I took pictures of some of them with my hand in front. I don't know why I did it but when I looked at them as a whole it seemed as if my hand was trying to touch the priceless works. Parts of the pieces were covered with my hand but what the also did was open up the pieces. It contextualized them and gave them some what's the word, ah, dimension to them. Is this weird? Vain? I thought it was interesting and so I took many photos. I only included a few here but you see what I mean. The hand also looks as if it might be malicious toward the art but rest assured, it is not. I kept thinking of that old Kids in the Hall sketch with the guy who sits in the chair on the street and raises his fingers to crush the heads of strangers walking by. He doesn't do any damage but in his mind he is destroying these people.

Lonely Art: LA

I walk around. I walk around a lot. When I do, I notice the smallest pieces of art, put there however long ago and forgotten or overlooked by the majority of peripatetic folks like me. Lets not kid ourselves, these pieces of art are forgotten by near everyone. If I only traveled with a camera I could document it all. The wrought iron swordfish, the ceramic snake gnomes, the pied-piper mural half-covered with ivy. All great stuff but I'd wager money not seen on 99.99999(you get the point) % of LA. Not anymore. My idea would be blog of all the great hidden pieces of art in LA. If it got big, yeah, it could move to other cities: New York, Miami, London, Issaquah. The point is, people over look the smallest gestures and if there was something that documented and described them, well then maybe people wouldn't take them for granted. Be sure to come back to this one because I'll be sure to take photos and show you exactly what I mean.

Apple store photo blog

I have a weird obsession. I like to go to the Apple stores and look at the photos that people take of themselves on the tester iphones and cameras on laptops and desktops. People take all sorts of photos of themselves that anyone can see. I've come across many weird photos but some of my favorite: young couples smooching, an old man showing off his crooked teeth and a young mother taking photos of her baby in a stroller. My idea would be to start a website where people can go to the Apple stores and send in the photos they find. How about you? Have you ever looked at the photos people take? Have you ever taken photos of yourself or someone else? The key ingredient to these cameras is that they have an internet connection whereas the tester cameras at BestBuy and Office Depot often don't have access, but should be noted, great photos. But another question I ask is, am I crossing the line here? Do these people assume complete protection and privacy when they take photos of themselves or others at these stores? Do they assume some responsibility and waive their protection? Who owns the photos? The Apple store? If so, why? Should they limit that function on the phone or computers? Is this just weird of me to think of this? Have you thought of this?

Hidden Landmarks: A photo book

I've been kicking around this idea for a little bit and I haven't really told anyone because I think I'm sitting on a gold mine. It's a little out there but here goes. Pictures of famous landmarks that are obscured by the local surroundings. I figure, everyone knows what the Eiffel Tower looks like or the Pyramids of Giza, but if you block them slightly and show the surrounding area, you'd get a better perspective of what it's like to be there. Last thanksgiving I was in San Francisco and had the opportunity to put this theory to the test. It's the Golden Gate Bridge blocked by a call box at Crissy Field. The bridge is so iconic that you know what it is even when it's covered up. I have this wild dream of traveling around the world taking pictures like this one of famous landmarks. Yeah, I know it's pretty weird. But can you picture it?

iPhone App Idea

This is a real simple one I'm assuming, but it eludes my grasp of software development. Here goes. I don't have an iphone but if I did I would use this app. You can either upload a photo to the app or take a picture with your iphone and what the app does is make a real paper mask of the person whom you take the photo of. Similar to the app that turns photos into real postcards that can be sent. This app takes a portrait photo and removes the eyes and you can choose to have the mask be held together with an elastic band or held up with a small wooden stick. It would sell for maybe $1.99 and shipping would be included if you order a certain amount. But picture it, personalized masks that can be worn for a friends birthday party, sporting events, school projects, bachelor parties, etc...