Tag: seattle

by jad

Seattle: City of the Future

Just came back from the phantasmagoric and fairly dystopian « #SEATTLE: CITY OF THE FUTURE » immersive art event at The Teal Building in #CapitolHill, organized by Third Place Technologies and @publicdisplay.art. Occupying the former site of R Place bar and nightclub, the exhibit played with and lampooned the futurist vernaculars of the space-age and cyberpunk eras to make dark commentary on the Seattle of today, in a bewildering array of interactive and augmented gizmos and doodads (I’m pretty sure that’s the technical terminology). I’m usually a little cynical about “activating” “vacant” “spaces,” but this was intelligent, insightful, and fun! x

by jad

GEO+NAFSIYA: GREENING THE GREY

Another set of photos from Beirut that I found as old attachments is this series I’d apparently taken for the long-defunct outlet “Hibr.me.” It depicts GREEN THE GREY, a “public intervention” in June 2011 meant to celebrate green spaces in a city in desperate need of them, or what @beirutgreenproject‘s co-founder Dima Boulad would later call a “peaceful protest” to coincide with World Environment Day. Patches of grass were laid out in car-centric Sassine Square and we spent the afternoon hanging out. It was as simple as that. It pains me to reflect on just how utterly prosaic the politic instantiated … Continue reading “GEO+NAFSIYA: GREENING THE GREY” →

by jad

Greyless in Beirut

As you already know, I’ve been making instax prints of some my photos to help raise funds for @christine.bingham.art‘s book project (see my bio for more info). This one is particularly meaningful to me because @greylessinseattle kindly gave me carte blanche to come up with any custom diptych I wanted, giving me the opportunity to dig into more of my old photos from Beirut. These were taken in 2013. It depicts the so-called “bus graveyard” that used to be on the site of the old train station (also defunct), now simply an administrative facility. Next to that is a Marian shrine from the … Continue reading “Greyless in Beirut” →

by jad

Sleepless in Beirut

Google had been bugging me about my cloud storage for a while before I finally clicked the link the other day to hopefully free up some space; a couple of scrolls later, I was punched in the gut with attachments in emails I’d long forgotten about, with files and photos I thought I’d lost forever, including these from a project I worked on with a then-anonymous blogger in 2011. You read that right – an anonymous blogger; this was 2011, after all. More on that later. Thank God for metadata because I simply have no recollection of ever using a … Continue reading “Sleepless in Beirut” →

by jad

Photo Fest 2023

I’ve always found lighting intimidating, so I’m glad that both instructors at today’s sessions intimated that they’d felt the same way at the beginning too. Back in film school, talk of white balance and light metering would make my eyes roll right back into my skull while my heart did jumping jacks, but there would always be someone “more technical” on the crew that I could rely on to get a project done; just leave the writerly stuff to me. I think part of the angst for me has always been the fear of just not getting it? Like, just … Continue reading “Photo Fest 2023” →

by jad

INSTAX = ART

HEY! You. Yeah, you—I see you lurking. Come closer, I’ve got something to show ya. I’m selling Instax prints of some of my photos to raise funds for @christine.bingham.art’s book project. All you have to do is donate $10 to Christine’s Ko-Fi (link in bio) and DM me a screenshot with your address. $10 = 1 instax, but if there’s something you’ve seen on my feed that you like, let me know. I can print something custom for you with a decent donation. You might also consider becoming a monthly supporter instead. Remember, this is to support Christine’s project so if … Continue reading “INSTAX = ART” →

by jad

Nakba Day 2023

Yesterday, a rally and march was held in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in commemoration of 75 years of resistance in Palestine. The event was organized by @falastiniyat & @samidounseattle, with support from @ilps.seattle.tacoma, @gabrielaseattle, @anakbayanseattle, @resist.seattle & @jvpseattle. It was an inspiring day with many moving speeches and moments; I can only share a couple here. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. x x x

by jad

TTArtisan Concert Photography

I’ve been testing out a new and ultra-affordable (relatively speaking) pancake lens from TTArtisans that I’m really falling in love with. You may have noticed how much brighter things looked at this concert in comparison to those at Substation from a couple weeks ago, where I used a vintage Nikkor lens; it’s wild what a difference a stop and a half can make. This lens is fully manual, so it’s a little fiddly to get used to, but it makes for great off the hip and on-the-go captures. It’s also a very weird focal length, which forces me to go … Continue reading “TTArtisan Concert Photography” →

by jad

May Day 2023

By chance and circumstance, I ended up marching alongside the PNW People Over Profit / Anti-APEC contingent in last Monday’s May Day demo. They’re a lively and highly organized coalition of young activists affiliated with @ilps.seattle.tacoma, @anakbayanseattle, @gabriela.usa, @resist.seattle, and @internationalwomensalliance, and carried themselves with infectious energy and what felt like a very real ethic of care. I’ve seen BAYAN and ILPS flags in protests before, but I must admit that I wasn’t aware of the breadth of this transpacific movement beyond the little I’d gathered from Bambu’s lyrics. Listening to their speeches and reading their flyers clued me in; this is a whole antipode … Continue reading “May Day 2023” →

by jad

Behold

I took these on my walk to work on Good Friday. Their existence was realized for me because of that context—I hadn’t even noticed that fledgling blossom I’d been walking past all week until that moment, when it revealed its full glory and called me by name to say: “behold.” That’s one way we make “art.” We see two needles in a cup of water and we say: Behold! Instruments of the Passion! We see an American flag with an upside cross painted over it and we declare: Behold! The veil is torn. I didn’t make any of these things; … Continue reading “Behold” →