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See-ming Lee: Facebook + Flickr + Vimeo + YouTube: Simulcasting videos on multiple social networks

See-ming Lee — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:47:00 -0800

I usually simulcast my videos on multiple video social networks: Facebook, Flickr, Vimeo and YouTube. Many people ask me why I do this, so I thought that I would give give an analysis of these video networks, the pros + cons of posting to them, and the audience that they tend to attract.

Facebook

Screenshot: http://www.facebook.com/seeminglee?v=app_2392950137

Facebook is a closed network, so your Facebook friends will see your videos but if you intend your videos to be viewed by people who are not in your network, you are out of luck. While Facebook allow you to share the video with people outside of the network, it will never get indexed by search engines, so you will never get search traffic from it. This is good for personal videos, but for the sake of journalism / photojournalism it is possibly useless unless you have a very large following.

One benefit of posting to Facebook though is the people tagging feature. If your video is about a particular person, tagging them will auto-alert them so you don't have to let them know via emails. Additionally, if you tag the person who is also on Facebook, it will then get posted to that person's wall, which can potentially reach the friends of the person's Facebook friends, reaching an even larger audience.

Further, since your Facebook network is likely composed of people you actually know (compared to your Flickr / Vimeo / YouTube contacts who may likely be people you have never met in person, the likelihood of them checking it out is higher even if the video subject matter does not immediately interest them.

Flickr

Screenshot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/sets/72157622475325272/detail/

Most of my videos feature still photography, and since Flickr has traditionally been my social network stronghold (I have 3,000,000+ views on my stream), so it makes sense for me to post to Flickr. I could also link the still photography references in the description area so if someone sees something in the video that video that they would like to use per Creative Commons, they can find the source within the network.

Groups on Flickr are diverse and plentiful. This means that you can post your video to a very targeted audience, often outside of your existing social networks (aka contacts).

One annoying aspect of Flickr videos is that there is no way for you to set a thumbnail, so even if the thumbnail selected by the system is not the a good representation of your video, you are pretty much stuck with it.

There is a video duration posting limit on Flickr. Videos can be up to 1 minute and 30 seconds. If you post videos that are longer than that, they will be 'cropped' automatically. If your video is longer than 1:30, what you can do is post a 90-sec clip teaser / trailer on Flickr and then refer to your video posted on other network. I usually try to keep them all at the same length unless it is impossible to do it in a single go. This limitation has in fact got me to be a better video editor — constraints tend to drive better creativity. Sometimes the videos (mostly interviews) can be broken down into multiple parts anyway, and I post these clips separately. You might get a higher view anyhow as it's a lot to ask someone to sit through a 10-min video, but if someone like your first 1:30 clip, chances are they are more likely to check out the other video parts.

Vimeo

Screenshot: http://vimeo.com/channels/smlchannel

Vimeo provides many social features not found on other networks.

You can tag people who appear in the video, but you can also provide credits and set different roles for people who were involved in the production.

On Vimeo, you can reference still photography directly. If you provide your photo URLs, Vimeo will display those photos / stills from the video on the video page. This is helpful in cases where others wish to blog about your video or post to image sharing networks.

I wrote a bash script to facilitate this process more easily: flickr2vimeo (hosted on github). This is how it works: open up a Flickr page in your browser with all the images you wish to include. This may be a set page, photos from tags, whatever. Make a selection of of those photos and then view selection source, copy and paste those HTML in a file and run the script in your shell: it will then dishes out the comma-separated URLs that Vimeo requires. I am sure that there is a more elegant way of doing this, but it works for now. Eventually I would like to allow tag input or URL input so I won't have to do the selection source step - feel free to develop on top of it!

Vimeo requires your content to be original, and prohibits commercial postings, as such, there is a relatively large and active art / filmmaker following. So this is a network that you should definitely post to if you have contents in this area. Like Flickr, Vimeo has a diverse and committed community who participate in groups, and posting your videos to those groups will allow you to reach a larger and targeted audience more easily.

On top of your user page, it is very easy to create your own channels, albums, etc. If your videos are episodic, this is very beneficial as they get clustered nicely without additional navigation.

YouTube

Screenshot: http://youtube.com/seeminglee

If you wish to reach the largest audience on the Internet, YouTube is your best bet. YouTube is free and natively support HD content. Vimeo supports HD but you will have to pay extra for HD embedding. The same is true for Flickr.

YouTube is own by Google, so there is a very good chance that it will get indexed by Google servers almost instantly. If your video is time-sensitive, news-worthy or viral in any manner, it has high value as they also show up on Google web search results. Your videos will likely show up on Google video search as well. And while Google Video does index Vimeo and Flickr videos, the Google interface will not play those videos directly from the search results page. So again, if you are doing journalism / photojournalism and intend to reach the largest audience, YouTube is your friend.

One additional aspect regarding YouTube that is often overlooked is YouTube's partnership agreements with multiple mobile devices and consumer electronics. For example, Safari on the iPhone / iPod touch does not support the Flash player, so you can't really see video content on Vimeo, Flickr and Facebook natively. You can sometimes see video on Flickr and Facebook if you use their iPhone app, but on occasion they just won't play. I don't know if there are just kinks on those apps that the developers need to work out, but the YouTube app will play everything. YouTube's iPhone app also plays the highest quality video among others: the Flickr video in the Flickr app is often choppy and leaves much to be desired. YouTube on Apple TV is also top notched. HD videos is so much sexier on the 100" projector!

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: What am I thankful for - #3

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:05:00 -0800

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am writing down something which I am thankful for every day between now and Thanksgiving.

3) I am thankful for two parents who have taught me the difference between right and wrong, who instilled in me the confidence to be my own person, and helped mold me into becoming the man, husband and father that I am today.

2) I am thankful for the 3 most wonderful children that I could ever imagined. They bring me joy every day and I could not (and would not want to) picture my life without them

1) I am thankful for my beautiful wife, who has made my life complete

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Bon Jovi: Living on a Prayer

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:09:00 -0800

Here is another song that I heard on the way home tonight. Took me back to the days in Hilliard Hall at Ithaca College

Once upon a time
Not so long ago

Tommy used to work on the docks
Union's been on strike
He's down on his luck...it's tough, so tough
Gina works the diner all day
Working for her man, she brings home her pay
For love - for love

She says we've got to hold on to what we've got
'Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot

[Chorus:]
Whooah, we're half way there
Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Livin' on a prayer

Tommy's got his six string in hock
Now he's holding in what he used
To make it talk - so tough, it's tough
Gina dreams of running away
When she cries in the night
Tommy whispers baby it's okay, someday

We've got to hold on to what we've got
'Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot

[Chorus]

We've got to hold on ready or not
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got

[Chorus]

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: What am I thankful for - Day 1 & 2

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:56:00 -0800

So the meme out there have asked to post every day between now and thanksgiving what we are thankful for, and being the simple person that I am, I have to oblige:

1) I am thankful for my beautiful wife, who has made my life complete
2) I am thankful for the 3 most wonderful children that I could ever imagined. They bring me joy every day and I could not (and would not want to) picture my life without them

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: RUSH: Spirit of Radio

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:54:00 -0800

I heard this song on the radio on the way home last night and can't get it out of my head. I might as well enjoy it, since it is a great song:

Begin the day with a friendly voice,
A companion unobtrusive
Plays the song that's so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood.

Off on your way, hit the open road,
There is magic at your fingers
For the Spirit ever lingers,
Undemanding contact in your happy solitude.

Chorus
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free

All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted.
Not so coldly charted
It's really just a question of your honesty, yeah,
Your honesty.
One likes to believe in the freedom of music,
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity.

Chorus

For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall,
Concert hall
And echoes with the sounds of salesmen, of salesmen, of salesmen!

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: 6 Mistakes Companies Make in Selecting an Interactive Agency

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:38:00 -0800

This was published by Peter Weiss of Weiss and Mowery a digital consultancy run by a good friend and long time colleague . Here is the entire White Paper

1) The client Cowboy
2) Avoid Eye Contact
3) I'll Have What He's Eating
4) Agencies are Non-Profit Institutions
5) Be Careful What You Wish For
6) "RFP" is Shorthand for "Ready for Primetime"

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:19:00 -0800

I would like to take a few minutes today to stop our regular activities and think about all those who have offered to give their lives or willing to put their life on the line in order to protect our country and defend our freedoms. From the dough-boys in the trenches of WWI, to the Greatest Generation of WWII, to those that fought courageously and valiant efforts of Korea and Vietnam, to our current generation of soldiers that have been involved in the first Gulf War and are now stationed here or abroad in Iraq and Afghanistan

From The Nation:

On the 11th hour of the 11th Day of the 11th month, the guns of World War I fell silent. And a war that should never have been fought – arguably by anyone, certainly by Americans – was done.

Americans who know their history celebrate Veterans Day not to honor war, but to recognize the soldiers who died and the soldiers who survived the wars of the past – and, hopefully, to ponder the futility of abandoning George Washington's advice to avoid the entangling alliances of distant continents and the mortal combats of the kings and conquerers who intrigues Americans rejected when the United States revolted against monarchy, colonialism and the madness of empire.

From Don Russel in the Stamford Advocate

"The eleventh hour of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month" -- that was the way Armistice Day was described to us in school and at home -- the time and the day the Germans surrendered to the Allies of World War I.

At 11 a.m. we knew the time by blasts from the factory whistle at Yale and Towne. One could hear the Yale and Towne whistle in every corner of Stamford. It was the community signal for snow days -- no school, and other emergencies. But on this day it was the signal that everything stopped. Drivers emerged from cars and stood at attention facing east for three minutes. A brief blast from the whistle signaled people that the Stamford community parade was starting its line of march from what is now Washington Boulevard to Atlantic Street, past Old Town Hall to St. John's Park for the annual ceremony of remembrance. I remember from my childhood some of the fiery speeches by leaders and veterans of what was called "The Great War," which indeed it was. Pictures of Doughboys (the common name for soldiers in muddy damp trenches waiting to "go over the top" into battle and for most, sure death) were on the front pages of most newspapers.

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Remember the 5th of November

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:55:00 -0800

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God's providence he was catch'd,
With a dark lantern and burning match

Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!

Hip hip Hoorah !
Hip hip Hoorah !

A penny loaf to feed ol'Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar,'
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we'll say: ol'Pope is dead.

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Attention Stamford Voters; Board of Education Endorsements

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:25:00 -0800

Net/Net, this year's election is a bit of a farce, since the city charter says the majority party (democrats) can have no more than 6 of the 9 seats, so that guarantees that at least 2 of the republicans (Pia, Olson or Pierre-Louis) running will win, even if they receive the least amount of votes. I guess they could win all 3 seats, but I seriously doubt that, since enough democrats will come out to vote in the Mayor's race to ensure one Dem will finish in the top 3.

In my opinion, Jerry Pia is a given, since he has name recognition, has been on the BoE in the past and is currently on the Board of Representatives. He is very experienced in the inner workings of the city and and might be able to help navigate the budget process more effectively and will fight to protect the schools educational needs

That leaves the only Olsen and Pierre-Louis as the remaining Republicans candidates of choice. Fred Pierre-Louis is very knowledgeable of the process, as he is a teacher in Naugatuck. He seemed smart enough in the debate I was at to say when he did not have enough information to answer a question, rather than try to sugar coat, and I can respect that intellectually. He supports middle school reform as he "is a doctoral student at U of Hartford and his research focuses on mixed ability, or heterogeneous, classes. A pilot project, done as part of his research, found that 14 low-achieving students placed in college prep courses came to think of themselves as college prep students." - Stamford Advocate

I dont know much about Olson, other than she is running on the same ticket as Pia and she could not attend the forum I attended as she claims she is sick with H1N1. She has gotten into a bit of hot water recently with the Catholic schools, since she claimed to have gotten sick as a nurse there, and has said that students at her school have contracted H1N1, though the Principal has denied any students have tested positive. Certainly rips her credible to shreds in my mind. She is also a former school nurse and health instructor in Stamford Public Schools, though I dont think this is sufficient enough to garner my support. The fact that she was unable to attend the forum I attended, sends a signal to me that she is not dedicated or committed in spite of being sick. This may not be a fair assessment, but all is fair in love, war and politics.

That leaves 1 seat for the 2 remaining democrats running. Polly Rauh has the greatest name recognition and is probably the most qualified and right now, and (imho) we need experienced people on the Board of Education to muddle through the process. However, she is for school choice (basically breaking the city into 4 quadrants and assigning 4 schools to that area and saying you can go to any of those schools) and I am not sure how feasible or realistic that really is going to be implement here, since there are much more pressing issues in this city right now.

I liked Naomi Chapman-Taylor but it will take her months to get acclimated and become productive. She has not been to enough BoE meetings to really know or understand the issues. If she comes on a regular basis, she could wind up being a good candidate next year.

I am supporting Jerry Pia, Fred Pierre-Louis and Polly Rauh. Each comes with their own pluses and minuses, but I feel that they are best candidates for Stamford now. Pia and Rauh are both experienced with the Stamford political scene as they are currently on the Board of Reps. Pierre-Louis is a high school teacher and is on the ground in the classroom and can speak first hand to the needs of students. I think a combination of both education and political experience is the leadership qualities which we need now.
The Advocate ran a bit of a profile on the candidates, that is worth a read.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/localnews/ci_13640383?source=rss

They also endorsed the same candidates that I am supporting.

See-ming Lee: How to use Gmail filters to maintain sanity with social media

See-ming Lee — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:17:00 -0800

One of the unfortunate side-effects when you belong to many social networks and subscribe to many listserv is the insane amount of emails you get on a daily basis. In this tutorial, I will illustrate how you can track these activities at your own pace and keeping your inbox tidy and maintaining an overall sanity in your very active technologically sound life.

Gmail Filters, in conjunction with Gmail Labels is all you need to achieve this. And is very simple to use as illustrated below:

How to maintain a clutter free Gmail Inbox

This example illustrate how to take out those Twitter follow invites from your Inbox while allowing you to review them at your own pace.

1. Start by selecting Create a filter next to the search box.

2. In the Subject: field, enter "is now following you on Twitter!" and press Next Step > to continue.

3. Now choose the action you want to apply. You can do anything you want to it, but this is the common things that I do:

3A. Check Skip the Inbox (Archive it). This ensures that it will not show up in your inbox when it arrives.

3B. Create a new label in the Apply the label dropdown, or select an existing label that you would like to apply.

3C. If you are creating a new label, you might want to Also apply filter to conversations below. I guess I had 5000 follows on Twitter since I started using Gmail. Now *that* would be insane if I didn't use Gmail filters!

Don't be alarm if you think that you will never see them again since you have skip the inbox, they still show up in your filter list, and unread items still show up as bold.

I use Gmail filters for pretty much everything, and auto-archive most of the stuff that goes into my inbox, leaving it clutter-free only with important stuff that I need to get to. Here's a list of examples of where you would want to auto-filter:

Gmail filters examples

1. Social network activites. I label all of these with a prefix soc: so they are grouped together nicely in the filter list. Aardvark, Facebook, FriendFeed, Flickr, Picasa, Twitter, or whatever. All gone. Best of all and especially for Facebook activities, I usually can just take a quick glance at the list titles to note the things that require actions, then select all and Mark as Read.

2. Listserv. Do you subscribe to a lot of listserv? Anyone of those IxDA list will turn your inbox into a nightmare!

3. Magazine subscription. I enjoy some of the publication alerts like MKQ and WSJ but they get scary very soon. I like keeping these as email items instead of just reading them in list readers so I can search for them later.

4. Google Alerts. Comes in thousands. Good to know when your stuff get blogged etc. This is especially useful if you license your content via Creative Commons.

5. Keywords. Some times come through in multiple places and does not have a particular subject / email address. Use keywords to bundle them up together.

6. Email addresses. Gmail support retrieving other external accounts. So you can use the same strategy to check your other mails, and also apply labels where necessary.

See-ming Lee: Kisses in black and white

See-ming Lee — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:51:00 -0700

Kiss = Love + Affection + Compatibility

Kiss is an active project of mine. I have been working on it since 2007. I rarely photograph in the studio, so most of these were taken in real life, usually during events were I happened to be photographing.

I usually try to get permission after spotted the love birds in their acts. The photos were shot after I gained permission, but as love is in the air, they generally came out fairly natural as they could care less about whether or not a camera was pointing to them or not! (This is true even for my own self portrait with MMF!)

See the whole set on Flickr.

1. Ideal Husbands: Marlone Star + Chicago Tigerboy

2. Kiss (name withheld)

3. Kiss / Ideal Husbands

4. Kiss: Kevin Aviance + Friend

5. Kiss between friends. It's a friendly kiss as the guy is gay and the girl is straight, but they came out just as sweet.

6. Kiss: SML + MMF. Self-portrait. See also SML Photo Blog: Taking the umbrella outside of the studio.

7. Failed attempt while photographing Bert + Ernie. See SML Gay Blog: Bert + Ernie / SML Ideal Husbands.

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:12:00 -0700

Blanton to start Game 4 for #Phillies, huge break for #Yankees as Lee starts Game 5, and can only relieve in Game 7 (if necessary)

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Another reason to avoid divorce

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:46:00 -0700

True story from Sweden some might enjoy.......

After 17 years of marriage, a man dumped his wife for a younger woman. The downtown luxury apartment was in his name and he wanted to remain there with his new love so he asked the wife to move out and then he would buy her another place. The wife agreed to this, but asked that she be given 3 days on her own there, to pack up her things.

While he was gone, the first day she lovingly put her personal belongings into boxes and crates and suitcases. On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things. On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their candlelit Dining table, soft music playing in the background, and feasted on a pound of shrimp and a bottle of chardonnay. When she had finished, she went into each room and deposited a few of the resulting shrimp shells into the hollow of the curtain rods. She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.

The husband came back, with his new girl, and all was bliss for the first few days. Then it started; slowly but surely. Clueless, the man could not explain why the place smelled so bad. They tried everything; cleaned & mopped and aired the place out. Vents were checked for dead rodents, carpets were steam cleaned, Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in, the carpets were replaced, and on it went.

Finally, they could take it no more and decided to move. The moving company arrived and did a very professional packing job, taking everything to their new home. Including the (curtain rods).

(Maurice, thanks for sending this along)

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:14:00 -0700

Am now the Director, Interactive at #C2Creative

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:14:00 -0700

Attention Stamford Voters and Parents: It is time for our voices to be heard, a unified parent community has to be heard in order to be effective: http://tinyurl.com/ylqxhmd

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Attention Stamford Parents: Let your voice be heard in the upcoming Election

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:07:00 -0700

Friends,

As we approach this upcoming election, other interest groups are out there rallying the troops. It is time we, as parents, begin to flex our political muscle.

In this year's BOF election, we have a slate of candidates on the Democratic ticket that is more pro-education than we have seen in a very long time. Tim Abbazia, and John Louizos have always been supporters of the education budget and they are now joined on the ticket with Dudley Williams, a former BOE member and, in his role as a GE employee, the coordinator of GEs highly substantial educational grant to our district. I am not saying this because I’m a democrat (which I am not) or because I am a friend of theirs (I do not know any of these gentlemen personally)—we really just need the best people for the job. It just happens to be the case that these three Democrats represent our best chance to get BOF support for a strong education budget in the coming years.

And, while party politics SHOULD NOT matter, If Joe Tarzia and Bob Kollenberg, who have been staunchly in opposition to increases in the school budget, get more support and have leverage over more fellow Republicans on the BOF, we will only see a continuation of their clear agenda in recent years to push for significant cuts in our school budgets.

We only have a few days before the election. If a parent-based grassroots effort is going to work, it needs to have everyone's help. If everyone on this list could start the communications chain and begin to mobilize their respective communities and reach out to friends in other communities to do the same, we could make a considerable impact on election day--- and make it clear to these candidates that they should be beholden to us once in office as the interest group that got them elected.

If we don’t not make some noise and gain some political capital now, when it is most important, we will have no one to blame but ourselves when, in the months to follow, we see the BOF making dramatic cuts to the school budgets once again. Let’s show Stamford that the parent community is a force to be reckoned with. Let’s make it clear to our politicians that they need to support our schools, and that not doing so can have political consequences.

I hope you will join with me to make our voices heard. Together, we can make a difference.

Feel free to cut and paste in order to forward onto your friends

Best Regards,

Jeff Herz

admin: Hello world!

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:01:37 -0700

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

See-ming Lee: Choichun Leung / 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 10 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:28:00 -0700

Choichun Leung (Facebook / LinkedIn / SML Flickr) is a Chinese American artist living in New York. I met her towards the end of my gallery visits during the 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival in New York this year.

When I first saw her paintings I had originally thought that she had a graphic design background because of their calligraphic and typographic nature, but it turns out that she was educated in the UK at Loughborough College in 3D Design with a concentration in Jewelry and Silversmithing. Here's a short video interview where she talks about herself and her work:

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / Vimeo / YouTube

And some photographs of her paintings (detail) shot that same day:

You can check out her portfolio at http://choichun.com.

Biography

http://www.choichun.com/artist.html
Choichun Leung left Wales when she was seventeen to pursue a degree in metal-smithing at Loughborough college of Art and Design in the UK, afterwhich she studied Buddhist iconography in both Beijing and the Yangkung caves in China's Shanxi province. In 1988 she moved to London where she studied under the Ray Man Chinese Orchestra as a percussionist and a student of the Gu-qin - a traditional Chinese bass zither. Leung worked in Hong Kong as a background artist for animation film before returning to London in 1992 where she received a grant and Gold Award from the Prince of Wales' Youth Business Trust for the most innovative new business of the year: a line of symbolic art products using the traditional technique of Chinese paper cutting. With music and the arts always hand in hand, Leung came to New York in 1994 where she began painting seriously, worked as an assistant to artist Peter Max, and studied music composition. From that point forward, Choichun's artwork has been inextricably entwined with her interest in music and have continued to influence each other. As the single mother of a young daughter, Choichun moved to Germany in 2002 to write music, perform and collaborate on an audio/visual project based in Koln. Upon the invitation of a gallery in 2006 she returned to New York. Most recently Choichun has been featured in two solo exhibitions at JLA Baxter House in Manhattan and will take part in a group showing in Hamburg in November 2008. Choichun currently lives in Brooklyn, NYC.

Artist Statement

http://www.choichun.com/artiststatement.html
Our lives are as long as we remember. Our memories are imbedded in us like DNA. But what of lives that through trauma or age have lost memory? What of the interplay of conscious thought and the sub-conscious? Which one really drives the show? My paintings are like rorschach tests in reverse, a psychological diary of that moment in time, an investigation of the relationship between past and present, reality and illusion and in effect a blue print to the past self. Through the symbolisms revealed, and the stories or objects we project into the abstract, we expose another layer of ourselves and in turn provide clues to what may not be fully aware. My paintings are simple traces of that activity, void of any meaning, but imbedded with the years of experience that shapes us, yet also holds us hostage.

Choichun never paints from sketches but instead allows the process and medium dictate. Each application is an expressive gesture evoking the emotion and inner psychology of that moment, a conflicted excavation of what may be hidden or imagined. The script like lines emerge as a non-cognitive language or what she has come to identify as 'glyphs' - a pictographic personal alphabet; where 'glyphs' document the days, weeks and months spent on a piece. The one actual reference that Choichun can identify in her work after the fact springs from her background in music and her fascination with its chaotic notes and interpretive patterns. These can be seen in the work's fine, rhythmic and frenetic lines as well as in the heavier, poured-on, black & white 'mono-glyphs' which overtake the paintings like visual representations of a sound. Choichun paints on both wood panels and canvas, using liquid acrylic, aerosol, oil bars and thread . With sticks, brushes, trowels and vessels: applying the paint and then scratching through the layers to reveal what is underneath, scripting with ‘glyphs’ throughout, painting over, sanding down and repeating this process until an image is revealed or another is hidden.

13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009
+ 01: Overview
+ 02: Ruza Bagaric
+ 03: Brooklyn Art Project
+ 04: James Cospito
+ 05: J. F. Bautista
+ 06: Ellen Driscoll
+ 07: Fernando Souto
+ 08: Agata Olek
+ 09: Dean Russo
+ 10: Choichun Leung

See-ming Lee: Dean Russo / 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 9 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:51:00 -0700

Dean Russo (Etsy / Facebook / SML Flickr / Twitter) is an American pop-artist based in Brooklyn. I paid his studio a visit during the 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival in NYC in 2009. Here are some photographs and interview videos shot that day.

1. Process + Methodology. Dean Russo chats with See-ming Lee (SML) and Mac Farr (MMF) about the process and methodology in creating his mixed media paintings. The artist also mentioned interesting aspects of how the economy fundamentally changes the way he works.

SML 720 HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / Vimeo / YouTube

2. Subject Matters. Dean Russo talks about how he picks his subject matters for his mixed media paintings.

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / Vimeo / YouTube

3. Source of Inspiration. Dean Russo chats with Mac Farr about where he gets his inspiration — graffiti in Brooklyn apparently!

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / Vimeo / YouTube

4. Artist Toolbox. Touring Dean Russo's artist studio was an interesting experience, as I haven't really met any pop artists in person before. Here we find many interesting tools not commonly found in an artist toolbox: stencils, spray paints, etc. It's quite a wonder to see, but there are also the familiar tools like color pencils and pastels.

5. Process. Most people like to see the end result, but I prefer seeing the process. I believe that process is an important part, without it you cannot have the result. During our interview, Dean told me about his entire process in creating his mixed media paintings, as long as I don't record it nor write it down. As such, I cannot really write about it either but all I can say is that I find it very interesting — that an artist workflow is not far from that from designers (my primary profession).

6. Dean Russo's mixed media paintings include many iconic public figures, but interestingly also many cats and dogs — many of which are commissioned work. You can purchase his paintings at his Etsy site. Most items are priced around $69 depending on their sizes, which is quite a bargain for original artwork — it's not uncommon to find fine art prints asking for more than that these days so 1/1 editions at that price is a great deal!

See-ming Lee: Downtown Brooklyn

See-ming Lee — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:52:00 -0700

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Tags: Construction
+ SML Flickr Tags: Demolition
+ SML Flickr Tags: Downtown Brooklyn
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Forms
+ SML Photo Blog: NYC

See-ming Lee: Agata Olek / 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 8 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:25:00 -0700

The highlight of my DUMBO Art Festival tour was meeting Agata Olek (Facebook / Flickr / SML Flickr Set) and her 100% Acrylic Art Guards.

Olek was born Agata Oleksiak in Poland and graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland with a degree in cultural studies. In New York, she rediscovered her ability to crochet and since then she has started her crocheted journey/madness.

Here's my video interview with her the day we first met:

Artists on Art: 100% Acrylic Art Guards by Agata Olek / Dumbo Art Festival 2009 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo.

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / Vimeo / YouTube

"I think crochet, the way I create it, is a metaphor for the complexity and interconnectedness of our body and its systems and psychology. The connections are stronger as one fabric as opposed to separate strands, but, if you cut one, the whole thing will fall apart.

Relationships are complex and greatly vary situation to situation. They are developmental journeys of growth, and transformation. Time passes, great distances are surpassed and the fabric which individuals are composed of compiles and unravels simultaneously."

Olek's work has been presented in galleries from Brooklyn to Istanbul to Venice and Brazil, featured in "The New York Times", "Fiberarts Magazine", "The Village Voice", and "Washington Post" and drags a tail of dance performance sets and costumes too numerous to mention.

Olek received the Ruth Mellon Award for Sculpture, was selected for 2005 residency program at Sculpture Space, 2009 residency in Instituto Sacatar in Brazil, and is a winner of apex art gallery commercial competition. Olek was an artist in an independent collective exhibition, "Waterways," during the 49th Venice Biennale. She was also a featured artist in "Two Continents Beyond," at the 9th International Istanbul Biennale.

Olek herself however can be found in her Greenpoint studio with a bottle of spiced Polish vodka and a hand rolled cigarette aggressively re-weaving the world as she sees.

Check out her portfolio at agataolek.com.

See-ming Lee: The End of the Trail by Fernando Souto at Smack Mellon / 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 7 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:10:00 -0700

Also showing at Smack Mellon right now is the series titled The End of the Trail by Fernando Souto. I thought taht it would be odd to photograph someone else's photographs so I decided to do a video of the opening reception instead — you can call this the art + art lovers remix!

Opening Reception, The End of the Trail by Fernando Souto at Smack Mellon / Dumbo Art Festival 2009 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo.

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / YouTube

Exhibition description fetched by SML Bio Bot:

“My parents emigrated from Uruguay to Australia when I was eighteen months old. With my extended family still in Uruguay, I never had the opportunity to really know my relatives, particularly my grandmother, who always seemed to be really old to me. The brief, scrambled, international phone calls throughout my childhood did little for me to understand who I was and where I had come from.

In 2002, my grandmother turned one hundred years old and I got a brief opportunity to spend some time with her. Looking at family photographs and listening to the stories of her childhood inspired me to start this photographic project titled, The End of the Trail. During my stay in Uruguay, I set out to photograph the essence of her stories and to gain a greater understanding of my heritage. My thoughts of ranch life were mostly filled with romantic ideals of freedom and independence. I had no concept of the harsh environment that the ranchers lived and worked in, and how the intense solitude defines them. At that moment, I decided to immerse myself in their day-to-day lives, pulling from these experiences to create a unique perspective of their fading culture.

From my initial trip to Uruguay in 2002, my interest in this project evolved, and I decided to expand into other countries where ranching had a significant presence in the culture and traditional working techniques still existed. Through extensive research I decided upon seven countries that had adapted the original working techniques of the Spanish Conquistadors and established a ranching heritage that spanned centuries. Those countries include Spain, Mexico, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Australia.

To date, I have covered cattle ranches in central Australia, Uruguay, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. My plan is to complete this photographic series, which would include south Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Mexico and two additional regions in the United States. I had never intended for this documentary to be a weightless visual record, but an enduring photographic series that is told on the faces of the people that live and work in this unique global culture.”

Fernando Souto currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay in1972, Souto immigrated with his family to Sydney, Australia in 1974. Before studying photography at The Fashion Institute of Technology in 1994, he apprenticed with a Sydney-based photographer specializing in black & white printing. Originally planning on becoming a commercial photographer, he pursued assisting work with location-based portrait photographers throughout the late nineties. In 2002 Souto began his long-term project titled The End of the Trail, a humanistic story of the contemporary cowboy that spans seven countries. This series is shot on film and printed using traditional black and white gelatin papers. In 2008 Souto was chosen to attend the Review Santa Fe and exhibited his work at the Michael Mazzeo Gallery (NYC). Recently Souto was granted an emerging artists award from Photo District News for his work on The End of the Trail.

See-ming Lee: FASTFORWARDFOSSIL: Part 2 by Ellen Driscoll at Smack Mellon / 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 6 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:42:00 -0700

Next we went to Smack Mellon for the artists' reception for two solo exhibitions. The first is Ellen Driscoll's installation FASTFORWARDFOSSIL: Part 2.

1. Installation

Composed of thousands of discarded plastic bottles collected by Ellen Driscoll, FASTFORWARDFOSSIL: Part 2 takes a critical look at the environmental and human damage inflicted by the oil and water industries in the last two centuries on regions as diverse as Nigeria and the United States.

Artist Statement. “This installation is a continuation of a multi-year series which explores the dynamics of resource harvesting and consumption. This part of the series focuses on oil and water. Rising at 5:30 AM, I harvest #2 plastic bottles from the recycling bags put out for collection on the streets of Brooklyn. For one hour, one day at a time, I immerse myself in the tidal wave of plastic that engulfs us by collecting as many bottles as I can carry. The sculptural installation for Smack Mellon comprises 2600 bottles transformed into a 28 foot landscape. Constructed solely of harvested #2 plastic, the sculpture collapses three centuries into a ghostly translucent visual fugue in which a nineteenth century trestle bridge plays host to an eighteenth century water-powered mill which spills a twenty-first century flood from its structure. The flow contains North American, Middle Eastern, and African landmasses (sites of oil harvesting and their consumer destination) buoyed by a sea of plastic water molecules. The piece looks back to eighteenth century American industry powered by water, and forward to the oil refineries of the Niger Delta, site of prolonged guerilla warfare against oil corporations and the source of over fifty percent of crude oil for the United States—the oil that produces the plastic within which our privatized water is currently bought and sold.”

This installation is so gigantic that it was hard to photograph and examine the detail at the same time, so I created a video fly-through so you can experience the piece to approximate my own experience with the piece:

FASTFORWARDFOSSIL: Part 2 by Ellen Driscoll at Smack Mellon / Dumbo Art Festival 2009 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo.

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / YouTube

2. Drawings

Artist Statement. “The wall drawings in the exhibition are based on a close study of the inner workings of an oil refinery. By using huge shifts of scale between the macro and the micro, they depict a dystopic future based on rampant oil consumption. An oil rig shares the horizon with ocean fires and garbage scows, mega shopping malls are abandoned to spontaneous communities of slums, and a refugee camp is inundated by the waters of a melting glacier. The worlds in the drawings are drained of color, but filled with the flux and spillage of a potentially chaotic future.”

Ellen Driscoll is a sculptor whose work includes FASTFORWARDFOSSIL: Part 1 at Frederieke Taylor Gallery, Revenant and Phantom Limb for Nippon Ginko, Hiroshima, Japan, The Loophole of Retreat at the Whitney Museum, Phillip Morris, As Above, So Below for Grand Central Terminal (a suite of 20 mosaic and glass images for the tunnels at 45th, 47th, and 48th Streets), Catching the Drift, a restroom for the Smith College Museum of Art, and Wingspun for the International Arrivals Terminal at Raleigh-Durham airport. Ms. Driscoll has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bunting Institute at Harvard University, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, the LEF Foundation, and Anonymous Was a Woman. Her work is included in major public and private collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of Art. She is a Professor of Sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design.

You can check out her portfolio at ellendriscoll.net.

See-ming Lee: J. F. Bautista / 13th Annual Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 5 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:06:00 -0700

I met J. F. Bautista (BAP) towards the end of my tour of the Brooklyn Art Project headquarter.

Three of his paintings from the series Mutant Organic Architecture were seen at the office (the three black and white paintings on the left):

So what are they?

Artist description: this project is about the absolute mutation of our metropolis, reversing the process of evolution and turning things inside out. The end result is the unfolding of fantastic new architecture, and it draws whomever into the depths of a gigantic, dark, strange and absurd morphed grimy variegated skeletal, organic living reptilian defined as Organic Mutant Architecture or New York Modern in reverse.

Or if you prefer plain English like I do, here's a video of the artist talking about his own work:

Artists on Art: J. F. Bautista on Organic Mutant Architecture / Dumbo Art Festival 2009 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo.

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / YouTube

J. F. Baustista is an architect by profession and he works with his paintings in his free time. His art and architecture portfolio can be seen at his web site at jfbart.com.

See-ming Lee: James Cospito / 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 4 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:42:00 -0700

The Brooklyn Art Project HQ doubles as James Cospito's studio, so naturally I get to do some interviews with him at the same location.

James Cospito (BAP / Facebook / Flickr / LinkedIn / SML Flickr / Twitter) is an artist, painter, photographer, illustrator, designer in New York City. He is also the Co-Founder / Creative Director at StrutNYC and BrooklynArtProject.

In this short video interview, James Cospito talks about his process in creating his NYC Subway series:

Artists on Art: James Cospito talks about his NYC Subway series / Dumbo Arts Center: Art Under the Bridge Festival 2009 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo.

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / YouTube

And photography shot during that day:

1. James carries a Moleskine with him and does quick ink drawings on the notebooks as he rides the subway. He applies watercolors to them afterwards. This mixed media painting titled si ves algo II, was created based on his Moleskine sketches.

2. Subway Moleskine Sketches

3. More Moleskine sketches

4. Tools matter. James' weapon of choice for his Moleskine sketches: the Rotring rapidograph, for its ability to draw very fine lines as well as its archival quality.

5. Moleskine lovers rejoice!

6. Mixed Media Painting: ContinentalDivide lr by James Cospito. 3,500 USD. Available for purchase at artist's website.

7. Artist Toolbox: lots and lots of clamps!

8. Artist Toolbox: wild array of paintbrushes.

9. Still Life Drawing (Detail).

10. Still Life Drawing (Detail). I thought that the blue marks are interesting bit. I didn't know that it was James' work when I photographed these originally so I did not inquire as to their function, but they add an interesting accent to the piece:

See-ming Lee: Brooklyn Art Project / 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 3 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:10:00 -0700

Our second stop: Brooklyn Art Project HQ (SML Pro Blog / SML Wiki).

Brooklyn Art Project is a free social network for artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts. Since its launch in 2007, it has had 5500+ members from over 44 countries featuring over 44,000 artworks and 800+ short films and videos. James Cospito, founder of BAP, talks about the site and the art seen at their office in this mini video interview:

Brooklyn Art Project / Dumbo Arts Center: Art Under the Bridge Festival 2009 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebok / Flickr / YouTube

And here are some photographs seen that day:

1. River City Ransom Street Fight 18" x 24" (457mm x 610mm) by Adam Shub (Facebook / SML Flickr). Adam is an artist in New York. He is currently working on a series of paintings on arcade video games. This painting is available for sale at $350 USD. To purchase it, visit the artist's portfolio site at artbreak.com/squarepainter.

2. More paintings by Adam Shub

From left to right: Adam Shub Mike Tyson Gets Pwned 18" x 24" 350 USD; Mega Man 2 Intro 18" x 24" 350 USD; Contra Opening 36" x 28" 600 USD. Bottom painting origin unknown. Leave a comment so I can give them proper credits!

3. Digital Painting by (unknown artist: if you know who the painter is, let me know so I can give them proper credits)

4. Still Life Drawing (Detail) by James Cospito (Brooklyn Art Project / Facebook / Flickr / LinkedIn / SML Flickr / Twitter). James is an artist, painter, photographer, illustrator, designer in New York City. He is also the co-founder of Brooklyn Art Project.

5. Paintings by Mey Veral, Soule and Collaborative Drawings from BAP Member Meetups.

6. From top left, clock-wise: Organic Mutant Architecture paintings by J. F. Bautista (jfbart.com); drawings + paintings (data unavailable. Leave a comment below if you have additional info. Thanks!)

7. LiAnne Cospito (Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter). So what do the administrative staff at Brooklyn Art Project HQ do all day? Facebook, it appears.

8. The WTF moment.

See-ming Lee: Ruza Bagaric / 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 2 of 10 / Art + Artists

See-ming Lee — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:34:00 -0700

Ruza Bagaric (Flickr / Vimeo / YouTube) is the first artist that Mac Farr (Blogger / Facebook / Flickr / FriendFeed) and I visited during the 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival in New York City 2009.

Ruza was born in Croatia. Ruza Bagaric obtained her MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art in 1996, and currently works and lives as a painter in New York City. As you can see from her portfolio site at www.ruzabagaric.com, she is interested in painting cityscapes, landscapes and still life. But her passion of late is human figures. She thinks that human beings are "spooky entities" and she aspires to explore the "strangeness of human beings."

During our conversations with, she mentioned a fascinating opinion regarding the relationship between art + music, artists vs musicians:

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / YouTube

Artists on Art: Ruza talking about her paintings:

Artists on Art: Ruza Bagaric / DAC: Art Under the Bridge Festival 2009 / 2009-09-26 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo.

SML 720p HD Simulcast: Facebook / Flickr / YouTube

See-ming Lee: 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival NYC 2009: Part 1 of 10

See-ming Lee — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:51:00 -0700

D.U.M.B.O. Art Under the Bridge Festival® is an annual art festival organized by the Dumbo Arts Center in New York City.

I have lived in Dumbo for the past 6 years, and it is only until very recently that I don't get a confused look from New Yorkers when I told them where I live. DUMBO (Wikipedia), an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is a neighborhood in the New York City, New York borough of Brooklyn. It encompasses two sections; one located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, and another which continues east from the Manhattan Bridge to the Vinegar Hill area.

Until the 1890s, it was primarily a manufacturing district, housing warehouses and factories that made machinery, paper boxes and Brillo soap pads. With deindustrialization it began becoming primarily residential, when artists and other young homesteaders seeking relatively large and inexpensive loft apartment spaces for studios and homes began moving there in the late 1970s.

When the luxury condos started to go up due to the outrageous rent in Manhattan, the neighborhood in Dumbo became a really fun place to live in. When I go out for dinner, usually sitting at the bar at Superfine, next to me are people who belong to either one of these categories: artists, construction workers or the filthy rich. The clash of profession and social status makes for *really* interesting conversations, and this is also perhaps why the art coming from this neighborhood has a unique personality of its own.

Every year, Dumbo Arts Center organizes a three-day multi-site neighborhood-wide event called the Art Under the Bridge Festival. This is an event where artists open their studios so you can look at their work and chat with the them in a fun and casual setting. This year I went with Mac Farr (MMF) and found many inspirational work.

I took so many photos and videos during the festival that it took me 2 full weeks to process them. They are finally all done. All 109 photos and 12 videos in their own Flickr set.

Because of the amount of content, I will break the artist interviews into their own posts, but here are some highlights as well as non-artist specific shots during the day:

1. Mixed media painting ContinentalDivide lr by James Cospito (BAP / Facebook / Flickr / LinkedIn / SML Flickr / Twitter), founder of the Brooklyn Art Project (SML Pro Blog). 3,500. Available for purchase at artist's website. Photographed at the BAP HQ in Dumbo. Check out his portfolio at http://www.brooklynartproject.com/profile/jcospito

2. 100% Acrylic Art Guards (crochet / textile / wearable sculpture / public installation) by Agata Olek (Facebook / Flickr / SML Flickr). Check out her portfolio at http://agataolek.com

3. Mixed media painting by Dean Russo (Facebook / SML Flickr / Twitter). Check out his portfolio at http://deanrusso.com

4. Mixed media painting (detail) by Choichun Leung (LinkedIn / SML Flickr). Check out her portfolio at http://choichun.com

5. Ink drawings, FASTFORWARDFOSSIL: Part 2 by Ellen Driscoll (SML Flickr). Check out her portfolio at http://ellendriscoll.net

6. Installation (Detail), FASTFORWARDFOSSIL: Part 2 by Ellen Driscoll (SML Flickr). Check out her portfolio at http://ellendriscoll.net

7. Painting by Ruza Bagaric (SML Flickr). Check out her portfolio at http://ruzabagaric.com

8. Painting: River City Random Street Fight by Adam Shub (Facebook / SML Flickr). Adam is currently working on a series of paintings on arcade video games. You can check out his portfolio at http://www.artbreak.com/Squarepainter

9. Digital Painting (artist name / title unknown) at the Brooklyn Art Project (Facebook / Flickr / FriendFeed / SML Flickr / Twitter) head-quarter.

10. Drawings by R. Wayne Reynolds (SML Flickr). Seen at the Fall 2009 Emerging Artists Show at the Rabbit Hole Studio.

11. Mixed media painting by Jenny Eisenpresser (SML Flickr). Check out her portfolio at http://jennyeisterpress.com

12. Collaborative Installation: I left this here for you to read by Tim Devin (SML Flickr).

13. Full-block long graffiti in Dumbo. Since it's graffiti, the artist is unknown. But if you know who did this, let me know so I can give them proper credits!!! Panoramic photography stitched together using three RAW files.

14. Untitled Forms. Not entirely sure if this is a deliberate installation of sorts, but it's interesting to me. Filed under my Abstracts and Forms series.

15. Unitled Forms. Yet another 'mystery' find at the Rabbit Hole Studio where I cannot tell if it is part of the show or not. But it's interesting to me. Filed under my Forms series.

16. The always cheery Mac Farr (Facebook / Flickr / SML Flickr) aka MMF in the SML Universe is the best guy to go art-hunting with. MMF also participated in many artist interviews, which was great because the ADHD-afflicted SML speech is barely comprehensible in many instances!

17. Interestingly there were many weddings taken place on the same day during the festival.

18. The bride and groom was so excited when they saw me snapping them. But I know that with the reflection on the window it is simply impossible to get a good shot. That said, the reflection of the bridge and pedestrians on the road create a really interesting shot so I photographed it anyway. I call this a one-frame collage!

19. Walking around we found a sculpture made with cardboards and other paper waste materials. Particularly interesting is their forms which resemble tree logs, the same materials which create them to begin of. It's an interesting before/after dialog within itself about paper, trees and the effect of modern industry with regard to the environment.

20. How fitting it is to find the perfect frame of lines under the Brooklyn Bridge at a festival called Art Under the Bridge!

And that sums up my experience with the festival. I had a great time! As stated above, interviews with the artists will be posted in their own blog posts as otherwise this blog post, which is already *very* long would be unbearably long to read!

See-ming Lee: Yahoo Pipes: Meta Search Alerts Digest

See-ming Lee — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:19:00 -0700

Since publishing Meta Search Alerts (Yahoo Pipes) (Flickr screenshot / SML Pro Blog / SML Wiki) back in 2007, it has become to most popular pipe ever created. It even popped onto ReadWriteWeb's The Ultimate Yahoo Pipes List in 2008. And perhaps even more bizarre was discovering that somehow CNet had stuck a software publisher profile for me on Download.com earlier this year! SML Thank You!!!

Meta Search Alerts was originally created for my own vanity searches, but then I started using it on SML Wiki so I can track people and things more easily.

This is great until I started writing very long description of photos on Flickr after realising that photos are often referenced as a singular entity — that while you would prefer that people check out the entire set to see the description of the info, most simply don't have the time and patience to do look at them.

For the sake of human browsing, including long description (for example, full bio about an artist that I photographed) in everyone of my photographs about them is useful when items are referenced singularly, but then if you know what you are looking for and wish to cluster them in a single place, the content become repetitive and tired after a very brief instant.

Meta Search Alerts Digest

Screenshot: http://pipes.yahoo.com/seeminglee/metasearchalertsdigest

This is why I created a baby version called Meta Search Alerts Digest. In essense, this pipe uses Meta Search Alerts as a subpipe, then loop through both the item.description and the item.media:description and limit them to 1000 characters.

A sample of this pipe in action can be seen at
http://wiki.seeminglee.com/people:agata-olek

And you can compare the difference between its grand daddy and itself here:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/metasearchalerts/agataolek
http://feeds.feedburner.com/metasearchalertsdigest/agataolek

Note: The reason why I use Feedburner to subscribe to feed is because that for whatever reasons, Yahoo Pipes RSS tends to generate errors when subscribed via normal means. Many feed reader would complain that it's not a valid feed. By using FeedBurner to burn the feed, that problem goes away. An additionally good aspect about using FeedBurner is that you also get analytics data that comes with it, which is useful - particularly if you wish to use it to feed TwitterFeed etc.

Meta Search Alerts (grand daddy version)

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Should we take flu shots for H1N1

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Here is a comment I made to a friend wondering if she should get her kids the flu-shot:

Since my initial childhood shots, I have not been vaccinated for anything (except the occasional tetanus shot after a puncture wound) and I am still standing. I agree halfheartedly with others about the only reason we have vaccines is so that the pharmas can make more $$$, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

As Nancy will attest, I rarely take anti-biotics and when I do I almost never finish them. I believe that all this "medicine" is impacting and effecting our ability to naturally ward of natures attempt to kill us, which is why the bugs and viruses are getting more and more nasty as time goes on.

I also believe that we as a species have lived for thousands of years before modern science required us to take preventative medicine, and assuming we don't find some other way to kill ourselves prior, we will live for a few thousand more.

The current strain of H1N1, has been bad, been declared a pandemic, but has not been particularly deadly as of yet, so at the end of the day if it does not kill you, it only makes you stronger. So even though Nancy is looking to get the kids the flu shot, I would recommend against it, though coincidentally, Nancy never asked me or anyone else their thoughts on this subject.

See-ming Lee: New York City Subway LED Signage

See-ming Lee — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:57:00 -0700

I was riding the M train last week and I spotted this new LED signage system. I am not sure how new they are as I have not seen them before, but then since I mostly travel on F train (or actually mostly cabs...), I don't know if these are really spanking new or just that I have not been riding on the line.

The photograph alone does not show how it is a superior improvement to the previous system, so I did a video of it to show you how it works:

New York City Subway Signage / 2009-09-23 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo.
This 720p HD Video is also on YouTube and Flickr.

The signage is split into two halves. On the left side of the panel shows where the train is at while the train is stopped (with a flashing bounding box), and when it's in motion, it displays the next stop. The name of the next 10 stops, in yellow, are displayed to the right of 'you are here sign post'. Each station name is accompanied with designation in green which shows the additional lines you can do an interchange. A red handicapped icon designate whether there it is a station equipped with accessibility access.

At the end of the right half of the panel shows the last stop of the train, and the LED displays loops through the rest of the stop in multiple of 10s, so you can get a glance of all the stops while keeping the display small enough so as not requiring an extra large panel for the longer lines.

This design is smart, efficient and very usable. I am very glad that MTA enlisted a clearly great design team for this project. When MTA upgraded the signage on the 4/5/6 a few years back, I thought that those signage is a nice upgrade but cannot imagine how flexible it can be when the map was essentially a static print-out. This new system not only is more efficient, but it makes it portable to any line without the need to upgrade the hardware. When new lines are introduced, it can quickly adapt to the new environment, so kudos to the design team, whoever you are!

Related SML
+ SML Pro Blog: Design
+ SML Pro Blog: Infographics
+ SML Pro Blog: Information Design
+ SML Pro Blog: New York

See-ming Lee: Sunset Park Panoramic Photography

See-ming Lee — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

My first attempt with panoramic photography at full resolution. This shows the 360-degree panoramic view of Sunset Park in Brooklyn, New York City.

View large (1024 x 106)
View original (14998 x 1551)

Here's an 720p HD video of the 360-degree sweep:

Sunset Park Panoramic (360) version c1 (720p high-def 1280 x 720 pan video) / 2009-09-21 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo. Also on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZWfuG01xfc

Photographed using Canon 10D mounted on a tripod with the Canon EF 24-70 f2.8L lens, triggered via Canon Remote Timer Control TC-80N3.

The whole thing was stichedtogether in Photoshop CS4 with 24 full-res RAW files:
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This HD video and the photo is licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en

See-ming Lee: SML Paintings 李思明油畫

See-ming Lee — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:13:00 -0700

Actually these are photography disguised as paintings. I have always wanted to paint but I lack the drawing skills so I try my best to create what I wish to do through the lens of my camera.

Most of these also exist in my abstract photography set because they are abstract by nature.

Untitled Abstract / 2009 / SML

間 Division / 2009 / SML

Abstract in C / 2009 / SML

Untitled Forms / 2006 / SML

Untitled Forms / 2008 / SML

Abstract in Beige / 2009 / SML

Abstract in G minor / 2009 / SML

Dots + Lines / 2007 / SML

Untitled Forms / 2009 / SML

Black Hole / 2009 / SML

Untitled Forms / 2009 / SML

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Abstracts 李思明抽象攝影
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Forms
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Paintings 李思明油畫
+ SML Pro Blog: Art

Cross-posted on SML Pro Blog.

See-ming Lee: Taking the umbrella outside of the studio

See-ming Lee — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:04:00 -0700

I've been reading strobist for a while now and learned a ton of techniques on shooting with flash inside and outside of the studio but I never really tried much of it outside of my studio.

Since I was carrying a ton of equipment for my photo trip to Sunset Park, I thought that I would try my first shot using an umbrella outside the studio. Wow what a difference! Definitely carrying the light stand with me next time I go out. Absolutely worth the extra bit of weight!

Technical info: Canon 580EX mounted on light stand with a studio umbrella from below (as the second light source in contrast to the backlight from the sun), remote via Canon ST-E2 on Canon 10D body mounted on a tripod. Shot with Canon 24-70 f2.8L lens. Self-portraits triggered using Canon Timer Remote Control TC-80N3.

Mac Farr (MMF) for the Ideal Husbands project.

Happy Together: SML + MMF for the Kiss project.

Kiss: SML + MMF for the Kiss project.

+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Men
+ SML Projects: Ideal Husbands
+ SML Projects: Kiss

See-ming Lee: Newmindspace NYC: People Photographing People Photographing People

See-ming Lee — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:37:00 -0700

It's a commonly known fact: photographers hate being photographed - but I love photographing photographers. So when Newmindspace announced the People Photographing People Photographing People event, I obviously went and as expected had lots of fun!

Newmindspace was founded by Lori Kufner and Kevin Bracken (Facebook). Their mission is to reclaiming public space, inventing new ways of having fun, and creating community. Since 2005, they have been hosting free events in cities around North America, and creating free, fun, all-ages events like parties on subway cars, public pillow fights, giant games of capture the flag on city streets, massive bubble battles, public art installations and much more.

Photography alone probably doesn't do the event justice, so I used my P+S and recorded the insanity for your pleasure. The quality is not too great, but you get the idea.

Newmindspace: People Photographing People Photographing People / 2009-09-19 / SML from See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Vimeo. Also on YouTube

Here are some highlights of what I shot. Be sure to check out full set on Flickr as well.

Keith Dorsch is a filmmaker in New York. He graduated from C.W. Post at the Long Island University in 2008. He is currently working as a filmmaker and editor for ad agencies.

Human Hasselblad popped in out of nowhere and surely got much deserving attention.

Shirley Yu (Facebook / Flickr / Twitter), seen here with Keith Dorsch, is a young aspiring photographer. You can check out her photography portfolio at photobyshirley.carbonmade.com. Shirley is now using this photo as her Facebook profile photo. SML Thank You!!!

You don't need expensive equipments to do good photography. Nick Roach happilly snapped away with his camera phone. He learned about the event from Timeout Magazine.

Francisco Javier Andaur (Facebook / Flickr) aka Fran Juan DeMarco with friend jointly created this two-eye robot.

Francisco Javier Andaur (Facebook / Flickr). Francisco is now using this photo as his Facebook profile photo. SML Thank You!!!

Friend of Francisco Javier Andaur. These two share the same Flickr account. Not sure how they are related though!

Yepo Kayeebo (Flickr) was traveling from London. At the beginning of the event, I was disappointed at how little poeple showed up. It was she who pointed me to the right direction where the crowd is. For this, SML Thank You!

I met Novaid Kahn (Facebook / Flickr) originally on Flickr. I told him about the event when he generously drove me to photograph the Eastern State Penitentiary a couple of weeks ago.

Donald Hanson (Flickr) showed up with Novaid Kahn. He noted that we both liked the same lens: Canon EF 24-70 f2.8L for everyday shooting.

Lloyd Leary is a personal trainer in New York who also plays the classical violin.

Michelle Humphries (Facebook / Flickr) and Alan Gordon (Facebook) are both students at NYU, class of 2011. I was interested in how Michelle came up with her FlickrID:carvinkeeper12 meant. She explained: carvin = skiing, keeper = soccer, 12 = her favorite number.

Alan Gordon (Facebook) is originally from New Orleans. His t-shirt says "reNew Orleans". Alan explained to me that his t-shirt was made after Katrina, and is designed to be a simple combination of the word renew and his hometown of New Orleans. he wears it to remind people that the work isn't done yet and said it's the "right way"!

Alan Gordon (Facebook) is now using this photo as his Facebook profile photo! SML Thank You!!! Love to SML Love to him!

At first I thought that John Carbone was shooting a Canon 1D when I spotted him holding onto a huge Canon body with a big gun but was wondering why someone would be shooting with a 1D with a non-L glass. Then I learned that it was a Canon Rebel with battery-grip. Imposters!!!

The whole thing was a geek porn galore. People shoot with films, digital with makes of cameras from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony and all kinds of strobes.

SML Me: Last but not least, I got to see what I look like when I was doing my thing!

See-ming Lee (SML ME!) interviewed Keith Dorsch. Photo by Novaid Kahn (Facebook / Flickr)

Possibly the best photo of me doing photojournalism! Photo by Novaid Kahn (Facebook / Flickr)

The truly evil SML in action. This photo was originally titled "guy with watch" by Shirley! Photo by Shirley Yu (Facebook / Flickr / Twitter)

This is the first time I have participated in a massive public art installation, and I will definitely look forward to future events!

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Collections: SML Events
+ SML Flickr Sets: Newmindspace: People Photographing People Photogrpahing People
+ SML Flickr Tags: Newmindspace
+ SML Photo Blog
+ SML Pro Blog: Journalism
+ SML Pro Blog: Art
+ SML Pro Blog: Events
+ SML Pro Blog: NYC

See-ming Lee: SML Thank You / 2009-09-25 / SML

See-ming Lee — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:59:00 -0700

Today is my birthday so naturally I am getting greetings all over the globe. This is my thank you card to all of you!

I am a believer in thanking people. As an ADHD-afflicted geek, I have often forgotten the kindness and generosity from others, and I make a point of recording them so I can search through them.

I started a blog called SML Thank You (http://thankyou.seeminglee.com) a while back but it was getting a bit challenging to maintain. It also become a bit insane to keep too many blogs so I have since imported them onto SML Pro Blog and labeled those items as SML Thank You.

I do think that thanking people is still an important activity, so I started tweeting with the prefix [SML Thank You] (http://twitter.com/#search?q=%22SML%20Thank%20You%22) but then to save space I started using #smlthankyou as a suffix (http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23smlthankyou).

But what about all those people I've thanked which did not appear on Twitter. I need to find those thanks, and perhaps in comments area on other places. So I built a Yahoo Pipe to do it:

There is a full description of all the different modules and what it is on SML Wiki: Yahoo Pipes: SML Thank You. In a gist, it does a search on the web and grab data from where I might have thanked folks and put them all in a single RSS feed: http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=a8dc3b5c3847f409e0c1f1d6bee13989&_render=rss.

A sample output looks like this:

and if you go to the Yahoo Pipe page at http://pipes.yahoo.com/seeminglee/smlthankyou you can also use the image view and the map view (for items with geo-data).

A sample output of the pipe and how it renders can be seen on SML Wiki: SML Thank You (http://wiki.seeminglee.com/sml-thank-you)

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Graphic Design
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Pipes
+ SML Pipes
+ SML Pro Blog: SML Graphic Design
+ SML Pro Blog: SML Thank You
+ SML Pro Blog: Yahoo Pipes

Update 01: 2009-09-25
Since posted the design on Flickr, I noted that the 500x500 version does not really work as a comment to thank you, so I created a mini version for 'thumbnail' comment use. Thanks for visiting the blog! Here's my thankyou card just for you!

See-ming Lee: Synergy: an unfocused approach to learning about oneself

See-ming Lee — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0700

A lot of people prefer web destinations to have a very specific focus, but it appears that I am inherently an unfocused person, and therefore my web destinations also are rather unfocused.

In the beginning, SML Pro Blog was just the SML Blog, and it contains pretty much everything that my life contains, until I am getting some negative feedbacks from professional colleagues who wish not have their photos appear next to blog posts relating to my gay activities, which is when SML Gay Blog was born. Then some folks who got really annoyed with my massive photography output, and so SML Photo Blog was born. Then after a while I started to have so many blogs that I cannot keep track on, so I have now reconsolidated the SML Thank You and SML Notebook back into this blog, because it soon became *very* challenging to manage them all.

Conversely, I take a very-me approach when it comes to content on Flickr. I post pretty much everything onto it: my designs, my photography, my hacks, my screenshots, and source of inspiration all bundled up together. It's me, after all. By not separating these data, I gain a much better insight into which of my stuff is good and 'interesting' to folks.

I know far too many people who keep a separate Flickr profile for their "professional" life vs their "play" life but when I view the content, I can't tell the difference and reason as to why they are separate. Consolidation is good. Just filter, and tag. I think that via my very unfocused postings, I have successfully cross-marketed my designs to people who came to my stream because of my abstract photography; or that they discovered that I am much much more than a photojournalist who run around events.

Because of this content cross-pollination, I also learned based on my data that what people find to be interesting is also very all-across the board, and that is interesting to me. I made screenshots of the top 5 pages from the 500 Most Interesting Flickr (set) and bundled them together, and it provides a great sign-post as to where I should be headed next.

Most Interesting SML Flickr: Synergy in data analytics: art + design + hacks + inspiration + photography / 2009-09-20 / SML Data

Available Sizes
+ Medium (500 x 465 JPEG)
+ Large (1000 x 953 JPEG)
+ Original (4974 x 4629 PNG)

Screenshots captured by SML Bio Bot on 2009-09-20
+ 500 Most Interesting SML Flickr: Page 1
+ 500 Most Interesting SML Flickr: Page 2
+ 500 Most Interesting SML Flickr: Page 3
+ 500 Most Interesting SML Flickr: Page 4
+ 500 Most Interesting SML Flickr: Page 5

Related SML
+ SML Pro Blog: Philosophy
+ SML Pro Blog: Synergy
+ SML Flickr Tags: Synergy
+ SML Wiki: Flickr Analytics
+ SML Wiki: Interestingness

See-ming Lee: SML Paintings 李思明油畫

See-ming Lee — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:59:00 -0700

See-ming Lee: Slow Photography at Sunday LES NYC

See-ming Lee — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:32:00 -0700

Thanks to the wonderful and fabulous Julien Aleksandres (Flickr:DitMartian), I went to Sunday LES' opening reception for a group show titled Slow Photography:

The phrase, "slow photography," might conjure images of large format cameras or glass plate techniques; even the idea of loading film may seem slow considering the efficient speed in which photographic images are created today. However, another connotation may not allude to a technology so much as it does a sensibility — an approach to understanding particular roles that photographs can play, a methodical and drawn out way to produce paintings. The three artists in Slow Photography use photography as a starting point, taking exorbitant amounts of time to produce ostensible "photos": paintings that appear to translate a photographic record, yet are something else entirely. — Horton & Liu press release

That's how I met Saul Becker:

Saul Becker Shore 46x86in | oil on linen on panel

Becker's painting can best be described in geek-speak as a mashup:

...in that they appear to depict an actual space, however, they are in fact a seamless combination of photographs from disparate landscapes. These photos, along with impressions from the artist's memory, create his measured, deliberate and lonely paintings. Becker has an acute disquiet that portrays the landscape as eerily strong and resilient, but never heroic. The photographic vantage point often acts as a subtle overseer, a reminder that the camera has forever distorted how anyone sees nature.

More information about the show
Slow Photography Sep 17 - Oct 11, 2009
Sunday LES, 237 Eldridge Street, New York, NY 10002
www.sundaynyc.com +1 212 253 0700

Seen at the opening:

Julien Aleksandres

Arlene Arboitiz

Demian LaPlante

SML + Nabil Abdul + Nicholas C. Mathis Photography by Julien Aleksandres (Flickr:DitMartian)

Related SML
+ SML Fine Art (Flickr Group)
+ SML Fine Art (Friendfeed Group)
+ SML Fine Art (Twitter)
+ SML Flickr Sets: Sunday LES Art Opening Reception / 2009-09-17
+ SML Pro Blog: Art

See-ming Lee: Google Page Rank, Domain Names, Technology Platforms and Platform Owners / SML Analytics

See-ming Lee — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:37:00 -0700

Recently I did a tally of Google PageRank in the SML Universe: Analyzing a single person's Web presence on different domains, the technology platform, the platform owner, and the corresponding Google PageRank data.

View large size (1024 x 903 JPG)
View original size (3846 x 3391 PNG)

What I found especially interesting is that the highest PRs concentrated on properties owned by Yahoo, namely: SML Flickr (5) and SML Pipes (5), followed immediately by Google properties (4): SML Pro Blog (4), SML Photo Blog (4), SML YouTube (4) and perhaps Google's friends: SML Twitter (4), SML Vimeo (4).

SML Amazon (5) perhaps should be expected as Amazon is a hub, but I do find it interesting that its PR is so high since it really receives no publicity nor direct URL.

SML Facebook (0) does not get anything likely because Facebook is a close-walled garden. SML Wiki (0) failed to a zero recently which I contribute to my recent Flickr Censorship saga as I pump most of the content on the wiki via the Flickr API, and failing that means failing all my content. (ouch!) which is why I'm brewing SML Data (1) right now. As historic data has shown, generally speaking, registering a domain name will pump Google PR to at least 1. If you don't even get that, you are doing something wrong and it usually means that Google has placed you on a blacklist and you should definitely watch out.

Here's my 2009-09-18 data on Google Docs for those who prefer raw text:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t6xebhQalrxo9LpGAqo2WGg&output=html

See-ming Lee: TwitterFeed = Great RSS to Twitter Tool

See-ming Lee — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:42:00 -0700

TwitterFeed (Twitter:twfeed) is a useful service which pumps RSS feeds to your Twitter account.

I tested out the server a couple of weeks ago because I wanted a separate feed for some more focus tweets, namely, for SML BW (Flickr Group / FriendFeed / Twitter), SML Fine Art (Flickr Group / FriendFeed / Twitter) and SML Graphic Design (Flickr Group / FriendFeed / Twitter).

Another reason I'm doing this is because, oh, my friends on Twitter was complaining that I tweet too much. So now I can be tweeting without getting massive unfollows: I think that interesting things deserve to be seen and heard. There are more than enough talented people scattered around the Net that are super-talented and waiting to be discovered. So for those who don't mind the extra infos, follow @smlbw (black and white photography), @smlfineart (art), and @smlgfxdesign (graphic design) which is an accumulation of stuff I blogged as well as the super talented folks who post to the Flickr pool. Since Twitter is not inherently visual, it might be easier to follow their Friendfeeds (links above).

TwitterFeed lets you connect separate Twitter Feed with different accounts, which is uber useful because that means that I don't have to create multiple accounts to do that. Additionally it allows you to use a myriad of URL-shortener services. I use bit.ly because it reports analytics data, but you can use pretty much anything available in the market.

If you are feeding with a FeedBurner feed, it gives you additional insights into the feed clicks as well, but it does not work with Feedburner's default settings:

In order to get TwitterFeed to report traffic data, go to Publicize > Awareness API and activate it.

After activating the FeedBurner Awareness API, TwitterFeed successfully captures click data via Feedburner vs bit.ly — which is useful if you are an uber data freak like me!

Related SML
+ SML Delicious: Tools
+ SML Flickr Tags: Tools
+ SML Pro Blog: Tools
+ SML Pro Blog: Twitter

See-ming Lee: Web Trend Map 4 by iA (Information Architects Japan)

See-ming Lee — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:35:00 -0700

iA's Web Trend Map 4 arrived in the doorsteps of SML Studio on September 14th, 2009.

WHAT IT IS: iA's Web Trend Map plots the leading Internet names onto the Tokyo Metro system. The domains and personalities are carefully selected through dialogue with map enthusiasts. Each domain is evaluated based on traffic, revenue, age, owner and character.

Paying attention to the intersections, we grouped associated websites and ensured every domain is on a line that suits it. As a result, the map produces a web of associations: some provocative, some curious, others ironically accurate.

As a few examples: Twitter is located in Shibuya, the train station with the biggest buzz. Google and its network are placed around Shinjuku, the most highly trafficked station in the world. The New York Times is located in Sugamo, the shopping paradise for Tokyo's grandmothers.

Why Tokyo Metro? Because it works.

The map is HUGE. It's printed on A0 (841 mm × 1189 mm / 33.25 in × 46.75 in) to be exact.

Compared to the 2007 version which was printed on A2 (also see my blog post in 2007), the map has grown more than four times in size.

Here's a shot of the map inside the studio for comparison to see how gigantic it is:

Kudos to iA's excellent packaging designs:

...with exceptional attention to detail

...which also inspired some fun strobist action:

Map in detail:

Online Web Trend Map

In collaboration with Craig Mod, iA also produced an online version of the map at webtrendmap.com where you can curate your own maps by choosing sources you trust:

Logo Design(ers) by zlok (Flickr: y-v-e-s)

Sounds great by David Bauer:

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Tags: Web Trend Map
+ SML Pro Blog: Information Design
+ SML Pro Blog: Maps

See-ming Lee: Welcome to Yale map featured on Smashing Magazine / SML Thank You

See-ming Lee — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:55:00 -0700

On September 11th, 2009, Smashing Magazine posted of blog post about Data Visualization and Infographics Resources. The map that I created in college intended to help freshmen navigating around New Haven when I was the photo editor / design editor at The Yale Herald back in 1997 was featured:

View large (1024 x 663 JPEG)
View original (5100 x 3300 PNG)

Within two days, this relatively ancient artifact immediately got a quick boost and the expected long-tail to follow:

Smashing Magazine: Thank you for featuring me! Lots of SML Love to you!!!

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Information Design
+ SML Pro Blog: SML Graphic Design
+ SML Pro Blog: Information Design
+ SML Pro Blog: Maps
+ SML Thank You

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: BBQ Beer Can Chicken w/ Oven Roasted Tomatoes and Broccoli

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:55:00 -0700

Start with one whole chicken (fryer or broiler).

Generously add chicken rub (mine is Kosher Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, chili powder, lemon pepper, and cumin)

Open Can of beer, drink (or pour off) 1/3 of the can. Pour some of the rub into the remaining beer. Place the chicken over the beer, so that as it evaporates it moistens and flavors the inside of the chicken. Place the chicken on a grill (or in the oven) and kick for 2-3 hours. The chicken will stand on its legs and the beer can.

Turn oven to 450. Cut tomatoes in half, drizzle in EVOO spread out over baking pan then sprinkle iwth balsamic vinegar, kosher salt and pepper.

Cut Broccoli into small bite size pieces and throw into a ziplock bag. Cut up 3 cloves of garlic and add to bag. Add EVOO to zip top baggie to coat broccoli and garlic with oil. Place on another baking sheet and add kosher salt and pepper.

Cook both trays for 20-25 minutes, then combine and serve.

http://bbq.about.com/od/chicken/ss/aa072807a.htm

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/george-duran/spice-rubbed-beer-can-chicken-recipe/index.html

See-ming Lee: Bug in Flickr Stats Server?

See-ming Lee — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:35:00 -0700

I have noticed some oddity on my Flickr Stats recently. This problem was particularly noticeable since Flickr's recent server outages happening in August. I created a related forum post about this: Flickr: The Help Forum: Bug in Flickr Stats Server?

Unknown Source Referrals

I have noticed that when I posted my photos past a certain hour (usually after 2am local time EST), my photos would pick up an abnormal amount of views all within minutes after uploads. According to the Flickr Stats Referral detail, they all come from Unknown Sources, and I can't quite get a grasp at what's going on.

If those were actual views, I have no problem with it, but just how some photo of a back alley accumulate 98 views over a minute on Flickr is close to impossible knowing my own stats history.

This is definitely a problem. I haven't tweeted about this photo, nor have I shared this anywhere with any social media sites, you can't blame bit.ly for this. Bad data makes it impossible to evaluate actual performance of the photo.

If any of you are having the same problem, please reply to the forum post: Flickr: The Help Forum: Bug in Flickr Stats Server? as Flickr appears to think that it is a localized problem which happens to only a few of the users.

As far as I know it, this does not happen to me personally. I know of a few Flickr contacts who are having the same problem as well.
+ flickr.com/atomische
+ flickr.com/numbphoto
+ flickr.com/gerryvisco

See-ming Lee: See-ming Lee by Gregory Hull / SML Thank You

See-ming Lee — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:18:00 -0700

Gregory Hull (Blogspot:gregoryhull / Flickr:gregoryhull / SML Wiki: Gregory Hull), an ultra accomplished artist did a couple of pencil drawings of my photographs:

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Galleries: SML Me

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:35:00 -0700

off to the darien farmers market, lunch, then pick up kids at school to head to Binghamton for the holiday with my parents.

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Who is better as an all around ball player and leader: Pete Rose or Derek Jeter?

See-ming Lee: MMF / SML

See-ming Lee — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Magical things happen when love is in the air. Also see full set on SML Flickr: MMF / SML

Technical info: handheld Canon 580EX from left, remote via Canon ST-E2 on Canon 10D body mounted on a tripod. Shot with Canon 24-70 f2.8L lens.

MMF at Deadyard in SML Studio

MMF at Deadyard in SML Studio

Kiss: SML + MMF at Deadyard in SML Studio

Kiss: SML + MMF at MMF home. Shot with the Canon SD 850IS

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML BW 李思明黑白攝影
+ SML Flickr Sets: SML Men
+ SML Projects: Ideal Husbands
+ SML Projects: Kiss

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:57:00 -0700

Just back from the dentist, who fixed a chipped tooth, what a relief

See-ming Lee: Chelsea Art Galleries Openings

See-ming Lee — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:32:00 -0700

After the positive experience with Aaron Johnson (Flickr / SML Flickr / Twitter) first at the Chelsea tour then at the Eastern State Penitentiary, I joined up with Aaron again on 2009-09-10 to check out the art galleries openings in Chelsea.

All photographs taken with:
+ Canon 10D
+ Canon EF 24-70 f2.8L: my current everywhere lens
+ Canon 580EX

See description on Flickr regarding detailed information about the pieces.

Art, artists and art openings crashers

More Ideal Husbands found while touring

For the SML Ideal Husbands project. Aaron spotted him:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Something has gone seriously wrong here

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:15:00 -0700

The Daily Dish - More Reason from the Right

Or: why I am not a tea-partier:

The kid holding it, according to the reader who took this picture, was maybe 16. Obama is a communist and a fascist and a traitor! Then this:

The above protestor is comparing an attempt to privately ensure millions of people currently uninsured is the equivalent of this:

Action T4 (German: Aktion T4) was a program, also called Euthanasia Program, in Nazi Germany spanning October 1939 until August 1941, during which physicians killed 70,273 people specified in Hitler's secret memo of September 1, 1939 as suffering patients "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination", but described in a denunciation of the program by Cardinal Galen as long-term inmates of mental asylums "who may appear incurable".

This is as sick as those who called Bush a Nazi before the Iraq war. But unlike the Iraq war, the proposal for universal healthcare was a big issue in the last election, was widely debated, and the winners of that election are fulfilling a clear pledge. So what we have here is unhinged hysteria. I certainly think pent-up anger at Bush (which partisanship and religious devotion meant they could never vent) is a part of this; but the fact of a non-white, non-Southern effective president should not be discounted.

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:34:00 -0700

Seeing the flags at half mast today seems more meaningful than any words or other images

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Sad State of Network Television

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:11:00 -0700

If you check out this list of when the Fall TV shows (new and old) are debuting, and I see only a handful of programs I am planning on watching. They are:

Glee
Heroes
The Office
Cougar Town
The Simpsons

Throw in Grey's Anatomy (Nancy's choice) and that is just a pathetic offering across the board.

See-ming Lee: Aaron Johnson Chelsea Tour

See-ming Lee — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:00:00 -0700

I met Aaron Johnson (Flickr:Erotocrat) on Flickr. I really enjoy his stream and the witty comments by him and his loyal followers, and I decided to meet up with him on 2009-09-04. All photographs were taken that same afternoon.

Aaron keeps a journal to jot down interesting conversation. Hopefully I'll get quoted at some point in his satires.

Men trapped in a prison named GYM

167 8th Ave, New York, NY 10011

What is art?

I think this is art!

I think this is art too!

Abstracts: everywhere I go, I like to do abstracts.

Ideal Husbands: For the SML Ideal Husbands project

Trash for my Deadyard project.

Crazy is good for my Crazy is Good Flickr Group based on my motto: Crazy = Good!

SML Me: and of course me. For the SML Me series!

Check out the full set on Flickr: Aaron Johnson Chelsea Tour / 2009-09-04 / SML

See-ming Lee: Eastern State Penitentiary

See-ming Lee — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:08:00 -0700

Eastern State Penitentiary (Wikipedia) is considered one of America's most historic former prisons. It was the world's first true penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire penitence - or true regret - in the hearts of criminals. the original seven cellblocks spread like the spokes of a wheel, and had running water and central heat before the White House.

Its vaulted, sky-lit cells held many of America's most notorious criminals, including bank robber "Slick Willie" Sutton and "Scarface" Al Capone. The prison stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and a surprising, eerie beauty.

I had a chance to visit the place thanks because Novaid Kahn (Flickr:numbphoto / SML Flickr) offered to drive me there. The day before the trip, I met up with Aaron Johnson (Flickr:Erotocrat / SML Flickr) for the first time, and I asked him to come along.

Check out the full set on Flickr. Detailed description of the photos are included on the Flickr photo page. Here are some highlights.

Hallway

Hub at the Center

Typical cell

The cell of Al Capone

Abstracts

HDR

The extreme lighting condition at the Eastern State Penitentiary (Flickr set) makes a fine candidate of creating some HDR photos. I'm glad that I brought my tripod!

ESP Photo Trip Camera Bag

See Flickr notes for equipment details

Novaid Kahn

Aaron Johnson

SML Me!

Photo Credit: Aaron Johnson

Jeff Herz - My View of the World: Random Thoughts on the Healthcare debate

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 02:23:00 -0700

In response to someone saying we should listen to the issues, debate, and enact or not enact some of the presidents ideas.

This issue with listening, debating, enacting or not is that it involves time and thought, not knee jerk reactions and being able to draw immediate infallible conclusions, leaving no position with a fraction of an inch of variation regardless of how the winds are blowing. The blowhards (that is the media, not the conservatives), dont want us to stop, listen, think, process, digest, absorb and then respond to our leaders actions. It is more memorable, photographic, with better imagery to attract the fleeting eye, when you light a fire of hate, intolerant ideologically and what not because that is what the masses want to see, that is how you make news and gain viewers and advertisers. We are now like the Romans, feeding the christians to the lions, since this is what the masses want. The inmates have escaped and are now running the asylum on both sides of the spectrum because they think extremism is what the people want, because the extremist are screaming the loudest and making the biggest impact.

The problem is the moderates are driving 10 year old hondas and subaru's, trying to make ends meet, trying to raise our children to be tolerant of all cultural, all religions, all ideologies, all belief's. There is no PAC or lobby group that is focused on the middle. People that dont want our government to grow, people that want health care reform in an intelligent capitalistic way, where government is not picking up the tab, where Doctors are compensated for treating the individual not for bilking the insurance companies because they are worried about being sued for malpractice if they dont run one test, where consumers have free choice to choose a health insurance plans that fits their individual needs, not the needs of their employer, where insurance companies are allowed to compete and make money by offering policies that people need and then incentivized to provide care to those that cannot afford insurance.

The bottom line is we, the people, are already paying for those that dont have insurance already one way or another. By creating tax breaks or other incentives for the insurance companies to cover everyone, essentially achieves the same goal without the govt footing the entire bill.

And for the record, I dont think a typical elementary school kid understands or cares about the presidents philosophy or ideology or agenda. They think it is cool to know who the president is and they feel honored if they get to hear him (or her) speak. In spite of my feelings for Bush 43, I never stopped Jacob (8) from listening to him or talking about him, since he was excited he knew who the president was and he was learning to respect the office, which is what we all should be doing. If we teach our children that we disrespecting our leader is appropriate than that is not acceptable and we are doomed like some many empires before.

Just like I was told in 2000, we lost, now get over it. The conservatives need to take their own medicine. You dont like the president, then work to find someone that is more electable in 2012.

See-ming Lee: Abstracts in C

See-ming Lee — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:10:00 -0700

Downtown Brooklyn is changing very quickly, with buildings going up at a very fast pace. With development comes the scaffolding and other construction materials that often present itself as a wonderful canvas for photography.

Abstracts in C major and C minor refers to the dominance of the color cyan. C major is where cyan fills out the photo. C minors are duets of cyan with other colors.

These were shot with the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens and the Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash on a tripod.

Abstracts in C

Abstracts in C minor

See-ming Lee: Multi Strobes

See-ming Lee — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:26:00 -0700

I've done multi-strobes before. But only in the studio, and always with a tripod.

Tonight I went to see Arthur's Landing and I took some photographs. The place is completely dark and I'm using my flash. The dynamic energy and motion of the musicians were lost, so I thought to myself, why not try it out with multi-strobes - it's silly to get the 580EX and just stick it on with TTL all the time.

So here it is. Hand-held at a live event, with no tripod, trying to hold the camera still while setting the flash to multi at 10Hz. It's pretty clear that I couldn't really hold still, as there are double-image of the drums, but the musician's motion were captured. I will definitely shoot more in multi-strobes in the future.

The event
Arthur's Landing
Genre: Pop / Experimental / House
A celebration of musical genius Arthur Russell
www.myspace.com/arthurslanding

About Arthur Russell
Wikipedia: Arthur Russel (musician)

Charles Arthur Russell, Jr. (May 21, 1951 – April 4, 1992) was an American cellist, composer, singer, and disco artist. While he found the most success in dance music, Russell's career bridged New York's downtown, rock, and dance music scenes; his collaborators ranged from Philip Glass to David Byrne to Nicky Siano. Relatively unknown during his lifetime, a series of reissues and compilations have raised his profile in the 2000s.

Related SML
+ SML Flickr Tags: Arthur's Landing
+ SML Pro Blog: Arthur's Landing

See-ming Lee: SML Ideas to SML Pro Blog migration

See-ming Lee — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:44:00 -0700

All future blog post will appear in SML Blog

See-ming Lee: Lines in space

See-ming Lee — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:56:00 -0700

See-ming Lee: Fish story

See-ming Lee — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:50:00 -0700

From time to time, I browse back old photos in my Lightroom library and find things that I did not like then that I like now. The intensity of the green is so intense in the raw file that I had to tone it down quite bit. Looks like they're having a family meeting of sorts.

See-ming Lee: Circles Story

See-ming Lee — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:59:00 -0700

Walking down 7th Avenue at night, I encountered the reunion of circles, and the beautiful notes they left behind.

Location: Signage at 888 7th Avenue, New York, NY

See-ming Lee: Decay

See-ming Lee — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:46:00 -0700

There is something exciting about lines and texture coming off of natural decay, and stories to be found with each mark. It's up to anyone's interpretation. For me, these marks taken while riding the Boston Duck Tour forms the gateway to the heavens.

See-ming Lee: Boston

See-ming Lee — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:50:00 -0700

Last week a went up to Boston to join my parents visiting from Hong Kong to visit my sister. Unlike my previous visits where I was too busy with my friends, I really got to spend some quality time with my family. Since it was a family trip and not a photo trip, I brought only a single lens and I now declare the 24-70 f/2.8L my everywhere lens.

My sister was kind enough to drive me around the MIT campus and the Harvard Medical School where she now works to see some pretty spectacular buildings, and I am grateful for I have found some very eye-candy to savor for a good while.

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:34:00 -0700

Looking for a fulltime mid level digital project manager to work in NYC Suburb, let me know if you or someone else is interested

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:19:00 -0700

"These Iranians are wusses. Remember when Bush stole the election in 2000. Did we riot in the streets and complain. We did not!" "Hell, No. We said, 'Well, that's the way it goes," and went home and watched TV."

Jeff Herz - My View of the World:

Jeff Herz - My View of the World — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:19:00 -0700

Have you tried the new Sarah Palin cocktail. Russian vodka over ice with bitters and a garnish of sour grapes. Potentially powerful, but you want to quit half way through.

Toby Vann: finished kitchen

Toby Vann — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:35:08 -0700

A few months ago we finally got around to installing the faces on the fronts of the drawers in the kitchen. That last task took about a year and a half to motivate, even though they were painted and ready to go. So posting this picture of the completed litchen just a couple of months after the fact seems in keeping.

alex: Much better than getting a new one and breaking it in

alex — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:05:19 -0700

The softball glove I’ve had since high school is on its last legs. I went to Paragon a few weeks ago to check out new gloves and the thought of breaking one in from scratch was really discouraging. Finding this little gem is the solution to my problem.

alex: Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki for lunch. I love this place.

alex — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:18:09 -0700

[ sent from the future ]

alex: Check out this Bi Bim Bap!

alex — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:59:44 -0700

Picked this up at the Valencia Market on 13th and 5th.

alex: My friend Carlos at work grows giant organic zucchinis.

alex — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:20:09 -0700

[ sent from the future ]