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IPHONE ADVENTURE

Todd Spoth — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:56:23 +0000

Every year Libby and I send out a self-designed holiday card using our own skills as graphic artists and photographers. When it came time to produce this year’s card we had some initial trouble coming up with a fresh idea. After a bit of thinking I came up with the idea of using images taken specifically with my iPhone.

We whittled down hundreds of images from 5 continents and numerous events down to 70 colorful images that all appear on the front of the card. I wanted the thumbnails on the front of the card to be large enough to be readable to the viewer, yet small enough to maintain the graphic element of the grid. After putting the design together, we were both pleased with the initial outcome, but wanted to take it a step further. I decided to create the online aspect to supplement the physical card. IPHONEADVENTURE.COM is the manifestation of that.

Since all of the images that were chosen represent a significant moment or memory from 2009, we wanted this project to go beyond just a tiny thumbnail, and to explain itself, in context.

All 70 images from the physical card, are viewable in a larger, un-cropped format on the website. In addition, each image is accompanied by the date the image was made, the GPS coordinates corresponding to where the image was taken as well as a short and candid description of the image. Since the iPhone automatically embeds GPS location data into each photo taken with the device you will be able to see exactly where we were when we took the image via Google Maps. Clicking on the coordinates in each image’s description will open up a new window with data about the location.

Happy Holidays to everyone. Please take a moment to visit our little end of year project, IPHONEADVENTURE.COM

(ps. the image above is also an iphone image!)

STREET ART RIO

Todd Spoth — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:25:57 +0000

After spending a good bit of time in Brasil, Ive noticed that in most cities, namely Rio de Janeiro, street art, whether it be graffiti, wheat pasting, stenciling or another form is thought of and subsequently dealt with a lot differently than it is here in Houston. Of course this differential may be a lot less apparent if you live in a more concentrated and older metropolitan area such as New York or Baltimore, but Ive lived in Baltimore and visited New York several times and the difference is apparent.

Around every corner, whether it is in the expensive suburbs of Barra or in the doldrums of Centro, you are bound to stumble across something interesting, but for every colorful, detailed piece there are hundreds of base tags thrown up randomly. The walls covered with the inane scribblings of the juvenile underbelly of Rio only deter for seconds as they are usually replaced by huge murals that make traffic somewhat bearable and sometimes pleasing.

As I walked around Rio most recently, I made it a point to try and make a photo of most of the instances of street art that I came across. There are pastings, traditional graffiti (in several styles), murals, and just plain old interesting walls. The overall diversity of styles in street art that you see on a casual walk around Rio is incredible. Regardless if you see some forms of street art as vandalism or criminal in nature, it’s all art, and for that I give it my respect.

I wish, when I walked (or drove) around certain parts of Houston, that Id be greeted with a nice, big, mural of something as colorful and whimsical as what I saw in Brasil.

RIO

Todd Spoth — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:17:13 +0000

I have finally begun working on putting something together using my stills and video that I gathered on my trip to Rio de Janeiro back in January. Not exactly sure what direction it will end up taking, but for now here is a teaser of my introduction thus far.

VUVOX

Todd Spoth — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:48:33 +0000

*EDIT 6/21/08* I just removed the audio track from this piece since it seemed to automatically play when you visit my blog, which was a little annoying. Visit my VUVOX page to check out the full piece with the audio intact. Thanks!

BRAZIL

Todd Spoth — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:50:33 +0000

And no I’m not talking about Blanka’s stage on the original Street Fighter. I’m talking about a country so rich in culture it drowns you. I spent the first two weeks of 2008 in Brazil and was so impressed by the beauty and ethnology of the nation Id have liked to just stayed. Although there are an infinite number of Brazilian locales I did not get to visit (Amazonia, Sao Paulo, et al) I did experience Rio deJaneiro to the fullest as well as a few coastal towns (Cabo Frio and Buzios). Popular culture and relevant media suggest Rio is a dangerous place with high crime and corrupt government. It is partially true. The favelas, or slums, of Rio and other areas of Brazil pose a real danger to tourists and other outsiders given their consistent drug problems and police raids. There are an estimated 600 different favelas in Rio with the largest being Rocinha. I got the chance to (very carefully) visit Rocinha during my visit and it was truly an eye opening experience. The living conditions of the people and the general way of life is so foreign, so rich, so raw. It is estimated that an upwards of 400,000 people live in Rocinha alone. While I did not usually find myself out much after dark, I did not feel threatened at all in most areas. I was really working on my video editing via my Canon G9, but the times when I did break out my rather large 1D outfit I didn’t have any trouble. The journalist side of me could not allow myself to NOT properly document what I saw and the cautious photojournalist side of me kept my head on a swivel, always alert. I heard countless horror stories from friends and family about being held up at gunpoint and mugged, but in the end I came back with all of my appendages and all of my gear. What one has to realize is that every major metro area has its sketchy areas and every major metro area has its share of crime, Houston definitely being no exception. There is a feeling that starts to creep up on me when I visit places like Rio. Places that often hit you with a culture shock/sensory overload makes the journalist inside of me speak up and say, “Hey! You need to work!” I have to balance trying to capture and tell the story of this wonderful place in the time that I am here and being a tourist as well. I had the feeling during my stay in Colorado. The feeling makes me realize that I am in this incredible place with these incredible people for a limited amount of time and I begin to feel guilty if I don’t spend ever waking second of it making a meaningful connection or making a great image. Sometimes I have to tell myself that it’s OK to just relax and take it all in. I wonder if other photographers feel the same way.

A NEW FRIEND

Todd Spoth — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:47:48 +0000

For those that are not aware, Ive been shooting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the last week or so and it has been an amazing experience thus far. It’s January and since Brazil is in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the height of Summer here. The day I arrived the temperature reached 102F however since then it has been beautiful with nice breezes and even though its closer to the equator, no where near as hot as Houston’s Summers. I am staying with my parents at their spacious condo that overlooks the Lagoa. It is probably one of the best views I have ever seen. Regardless of the obvious opposition, Rio shares a lot of interesting parallels with Colorado. Everyone is outside for most of the day; whether you are a day trader or a street artisan, you find time to be out in shorts and flip flops doing something outdoors. There are lush rain forests, mountains, beaches, coves, lakes, and tons of things to do at each. I will write more about my experience after I get home, but before I go, the above photo is a friend I made during my travels. His name is Selaron and he is the epitome of the eccentric artist. He built an elaborate staircase here Rio’s Santa Teresa district made entirely of tile. Selaron paints as well. He is definitely a character and the staircase is spectacular. To learn more about Selaron and his staircase visit www.selaron.net

A 12 HOUR PLANE RIDE & A FRESH OUTLOOK

Todd Spoth — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:43:03 +0000

…or maybe it’s just jet lag. I haven’t blogged in more than a few days, mainly due to the fact that I haven’t really been shooting much save the lot of cheesy family snapshots with my new Canon G9. I had been meaning to buy a smaller Canon compact camera for some time and the G9 was the perfect (partial) Christmas present to myself. While it may not be as compact as the smaller SD series, it has a lot of familiar control features that allow myself not to be alienated every time I pick it up. I have also been meaning to really start to teach myself video capture and production and it seems I’m using the G9 for mostly its video capture capabilities of late. It shoots with excellent video quality for such a tiny camera. I put a short piece together while on a 12 hour plane ride from Houston to Rio de Janeiro earlier today. I am here visiting my parents who live in Brazil. My goal is to be more proficient behind a camera capturing video frames as well as Final Cut, however this piece was put together entirely in iMovie. Rio is a plethora of photo opportunities so expect more frequent updates for the next two weeks.

Here is a very nice comment I received when I originally posted this on my older blog. Received from “moto” on January 20th, 2008:

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“That little film was absolutely and amazingly good. Very impressive. Can’t wait to see more of your work, (play?)”