Category / World

by Paul Ottaviano

Cooperation

jazz club and record albums morioka japan

Johnny’s Jazz Cafe. Morioka, Iwate, Japan. ジャズカフェ, 盛岡市, 日本.

Hoard jazz records.

Because cooperation and improvisation is a good evolved skill to have, and then make available to others. That’s if we’re applying intelligent Darwinism, within its proper sphere.

Once this storm passes, and it will, survivors  – odds are you will be one of them – may see exclusion based on lifestyle, area code, or politics as an absurd anarchronism. Instead, it may simply base on who is cooperative or not? Reputation will matter, again.

By the way, these records will have more value than TP before long, which can be subbed with a bidet, anyway (or a shower). For paper towells the smart money substitutes with Sham Wow’s, which are reusable.

Get bent, savage imbeciles.

by Paul Ottaviano

Gotta Love the Internet

Editorial photo by Paul Ottaviano

Photo I shot in 2008. Used by a French publication in a story about Portland, Oregon.

While doing some matching on Pixsy, I discovered that a photo I shot 8 years ago and put on my late great Flickr profile was used in 2012 by a French publication. The article, as best as my poor French can make out, was about Weird Portland and its so-called hipster culture.

I got a chuckle out of this. It’s funny that a photo I shot so quickly eight years ago, with a Nikon Coolpix of all things, found new life across-the-pond. I also appreciate them giving me attribution and using a photo with a Creative Commons license that gave them permission. If they hadn’t or had infringed an all rights photo, this post would’ve taken on a completely different tone.

Speaking of the photo, I wonder what he is up to now?

by Paul Ottaviano

Digital Exhaust: What is the Environmental Impact of a “Like”?

Last week while in the darkroom, a person I was sharing the space with commented that photography was the most environmentally destructive of all art forms. She was implying that analog, e.g. film, while a romantic niche currently, is environmentally damaging and digital is a huge improvement in this regard.

But is it, really? 

I have no illusions about film and its use of chemicals. However, we should ask the question, “What is the environmental impact of a ‘like’?” as well as the impact of our other digital and online behaviors?

There is, at obvious first thought, the never ending exhaust of digital content – much of it unlikely to be seen again – that bloats the cloud. It may seem innocuous, but that storage and let’s just say it, hoarding, for old and mostly unwanted digital files has an environmental impact. It takes a lot of computing power and extensive manufacturing process to make our fleeting digital moments and entertainment happen. We need more and more electrical power for it all, and that can be very dirty business. That’s the obvious.

What is perhaps not so obvious is what happens to all of our old, dead hardware? You might think it’s being recycled. Too often it is not. 

A recent story on OPB paints an ugly picture for so-called e-waste recyclers… http://www.opb.org/news/series/circuit/tracking-dangerous-dead-electronics/ 

Far too many “e waste recyclers” are not recycling at all, and are instead dumping the waste on poorer countries. The negative impact on environment and labor health is predictable.

I’m not advocating that we throw out all our of computers and electronic gadgets. Far from it. But we need to get much better with our e-waste disposal and recycling. We should hold companies accountable when they advertise “e-waste recycling”, but just dump instead. We should demand audits and tracking. I much prefer our government crack down on this, rather than marijuana edibles. 

Which brings me back to my darkroom friend. When I mentioned that digital isn’t eco-friendly at all, and why, she seemed surprised. She is younger than me, so it could just be generational perspective shaped by her coming-of-age in a tech world and its greenwashing popular myths. I certainly don’t blame her for thinking as she does. Film processing isn’t the cleanest thing. But despite its popularity in Portland, it’s now a speck of dust overall compared to the impact of mainstream digital use.

by Paul Ottaviano

Montréal

street photography by Paul Ottaviano

Av du Mont-Royal, Montréal. iPhone snap shot. I loved the public value and display of local photography. These were shot in the mid-1970’s. All great photos.

Montréal is delightfully uncanny. The street life is kinetic. But not in a café culture sense. The energy comes at you in an in-transit way that screams, “We’re busy! We’ve got shit to do here!”

Most people seemed courteous. I got along with local people well enough. How friendly? Hard to know, because my French is poor and that is an obstacle. Not an impenetrable one in this French-first bilingual city, but nonetheless, an obstacle. One week is not enough to scale that fence. One month or year might not be enough.

Quebecois have built and maintained their culture with seemingly an invisible force field that morphs into incongruous directions throughout public, and I presume, private life. It’s a genius design that has dynamically and organically developed over centuries. It makes the city all the more interesting in comparison to the United States and English-Canada. It’s Canada, but it’s not.

Could I live there? If I had to, I suppose I could. Would I choose to? Very unlikely. Am I dying to go back? No. Will I someday? Perhaps. Probably. The city draws in that way. I enjoyed the visit and personally feel all the better for it.

I should also mention their food is great. Their wine and beer is good. The cheese excellent. Croissants in corner convenience stores are good, too. And do not be afraid of the Cronut. It’s delicious! But that’s easy stuff for a visitor.

What is challenging is touring culturally, in an allocentric and responsible way, and discovering the intuitive photographs. Or let them find me.

Then – while mixing in plenty of late night oil like any visitor enjoying the moment – gather the discipline and technique to shoot good photographs. Particularly with a film camera. But any camera will do.

It’s fun work and play, but mental exertion going about it like this. Combined with being on foot for at least five miles each day, and it’s tiring. But I’m not complaining.

The feeling there was great. As things go, life is pretty when I can walk the streets of Montréal for one week, and within sensible limits, more or less do what I want.

While visiting Montréal, I got to thinking that if we can just cut the bullshit and focus on the good stuff, then our world can be a very good place. That in itself makes for successful travel.