Name Name
titledescript
With much of the country caught in the midst of a summer heat wave, it's a good time to post this snowy, year-old video for "Gently Gently," a winsome track from Vancouver singer-songwriter Christopher Smith. The snow globe-esque animation was made by Salazar, a film collective with a bunch of stunning videos under its belt. Check out these making-of pics too. Cool. ...read more
Photographer Christopher Baker traveled to Cordova, Alaska to provide this glimpse of the salmon fishery that drives the local economy. The Copper River ecosystem, "one of the last pure watersheds in North America," is threatened by overfishing, so the state of Alaska and various agencies are working to ensure a sustainable fishery for future generations....read more
China's hyper-dense urban centers tend to conjure images of huge crowds, gridlocked traffic, and polluted air. The Great City, now under construction near the city of Chengdu, aims to be anything but that. Designed by Chicago firm Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture, the Great City is a plan for a sustainability-focused, pedestrian-based satellite city that 80,000 people will......read more
Recycled cardboard is becoming a favorite material for innovative sustainable design. The minimal, retro-looking Cardboard Radio from Suck UK and designer Christopher McNicholl is a case in point. It features an MP3 jack so you can listen to your iPod on the go. And when you’re finally ready to get rid of the radio, just remove the simple card structure that houses the electronic......read more
For his 2009 Light After Dark project, UK photojournalist Toby Smith used extremely long exposures to shoot England's 32 coal power stations at night. We wouldn't normally use the word "beautiful" to describe coal stacks, but in Smith's capable hands, they become just that. Portrayed in a soft, tranquil light, the maligned industrial complexes become spaces of serenity,......read more
Master Blandesmith Quentin Middleton, the man behind the expertly crafted Middleton Made Knives, owes a weird debt of gratitude to Arnold Schwarzenegger, since it was the Governator's 1982 pulp classic Conan the Barbarian that inspired a young Quentin to get into bladesmithing in the first place. Well thank you, Arnie, because these are among the finest kitchen tools we've......read more
23 Ben Howard's brand of gorgeous, stripped-down folk has people drawing comparisons to the likes of Nick Drake, Bon Iver and Jose Gonzalez. None of which are off base. Howard, who grew up on the rugged shores of western England, makes nostalgic, rustic music that conjures memories of crackling campfires. Take "Old Pine," for example. The title track off his upcoming debut EP......read more
We've made no secret that we're big fans of Eric Power's paper animations around here. This video, one of two Power has made for Minnesota's Jeremy Messersmith, has a spooky shadow puppet aesthetic that was inspired by Little Red Riding Hood. Power worked with silhouettes for a pared-down look. "Shadow animation helped me achieve my yearly goal of working with paper in......read more
Shot on the frigid Atlantic coastlines of Ireland and England, "The Dark Side of the Lens" presents a side of surfing that few people glimpse: the world of the surf photographer. The film was made by one of the greats, Irishman Mickey Smith (alongside talented DP Allan Wilson), who explains, “I wanted to create that something that would give insight into what it takes to grind out a......read more
Toby Smith's photos of wind farms in the Scottish Highlands capture nature's grandiosity and marvels of human engineering in equal measure. The flicks are part of the London photographer's "Scottish Renewables" series, which also included hydro projects and their associated landscapes. "With its raging seas, wind-swept hills and high rainfall, Britain has more potential kinetic......read more
