Happy (belated) Father’s Day to all the dads out there! We met up with Curt’s family in Long Beach today for a late lunch and some Aquarium action. Admission was half price after 5pm AND they have extended summer hours this weekend and next weekend. I hadn’t been in at least 6 years or so, and it was cool to see how the exhibits had changed. The sea otters are still the best!

Before I get into all the aquarium photos, a quick shout out to C & O Trattoria. See those garlic knots in the first picture? Those things are like crack. Curt’s not big on Italian food but we’ve been there twice in two weeks. That’s all I have to say about that. Now for some fishes!

I’m going to shamelessly brag on my husband for a bit and suggest that you go take a look at some of his underwater photography (the sea life looks much better when it’s not on the other side of a piece of acrylic).

Have a great weekend, guys! Longest day of the year is on Tuesday! It’s summer!

- Jessica

This post is a bit more solemn than the typical GBM fare, but Judy Gelles’ portraits of inner city 4th graders are pretty powerful, in content as well as visual presentation. Back in 2009, after volunteering to help inner city 4th graders with their reading skills, Judy took it upon herself to find out her more about her pupils’ lives. She asked her kids three simple questions:

Who do you live with?
What do you wish for?
What do you worry about?

And she got back some pretty heartbreaking responses. Count yourself blessed if, when answering these questions yourself, your dramas don’t even compare to these kids’ struggles. I know I do. See the rest of Judy’s series after the jump:

- Curt

seen on My Modern Met

How was your Easter weekend? Here are a couple shots from our weekend festivities. We doubled up on brunch Saturday and Sunday. The Easter baskets were found in record time this year thanks to team work. We were total creepers and went to a dog park with no dog (well at least not one of our own), but we’re making progress on the dog front so stay tuned. As mentioned previously we also hit up the Santa Monica flea market at the SaMo Airport. It was kinda meh. When you get that close to the ocean the prices are gonna be pretty steep. Jess did score that cool necklace though. We’ve been threatening to make the pilgrimage to Brimfield, Mass. Oh jeez. It would be crazy.

- Curt

“My photography is inspired by cinematography (particularly Stanley Kubrick, Michael Haneke, David Lynch, Edward Hopper and Film noir), texture, composition and creating a mood.”

I definitely pick up on that cinematic tone in his “Surveillance” series.

Check out a few more stills from the series after the jump:

- Curt

Howdy! I hope you all had a great weekend, even if an hour was stolen from all of us here in the US (excluding the weirdos in AZ). BUT now it’s light when I leave work! Yay! We made a quick trip down to the OC on Saturday to visit various family members. My lil’ sis came back up with us in order to experience the throngs of humanity at the Rose Bowl Flea. I scored a nice little pottery set and some scientific glassware to be featured at the new pad. We move this weekend! We also made time for some fancy tacos at the Taco Asylum in Costa Mesa and hit up the Swedish big blue box (IKEA) this weekend. It may be a bit quiet ’round these parts since most nights this week will be spent packing. Check out a few more snaps after the jump:

No signs of Bono at the Rose Bowl, even though they are clearly welcome.

This little bank was the highlight of the flea. Charmingly titled “Shoot-A-Bar-Bank.” Yes BAR. This coin bank allows you to load a penny onto the hunter’s spring loaded shotgun and shoot it directly into the grizzly’s gaping mouth to store up for the hard winter ahead. Horrifying and funny all at the same time. Exactly what you’ll find at most fleas. If shelf space wasn’t at such a premium in the new place I may have put in an offer for it.

- Curt

Nuf Said. Annie Collinge.

- Curt

I hit up MoMA during the three free hours I had in NYC on Wednesday after my presentation at AOL. I would have had these pics up sooner but JetBlue lost my bag and I didn’t get it back until late last night. Check out a few other shots of my day after the jump:

- Curt

I’m loving these amazing compositions and collections by Dutch photographer Anja Mulder. Her Flickr photostream is full of all kinds of goodness. Check out more of Anja’s Collections after the jump:

- Curt

seen on 2.2

We’re back! And PDX did not disappoint. Despite some dreary weather, we had so much fun exploring and shopping and eating… mostly eating. There are plenty of posts to come, but here’s a little sneak peek for now… look at all those beautiful fall colors!

- Curt and Jess

Photographer Heidi Norton received her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago eight years ago and that academic rigor and theory is exemplified in her New Age Still Life series. See more of Heidi’s work after the jump:

New Age Still Life: Paint, Plants, Trash, and Formalism are studio constructs utilizing plexi and wood shelves, plants and other objects that are representational of my youth. They are things borrowed from my parent’s basement—animal horns, macramé, art, drum cymbals, old mirror, incense, candles—and represent a universal new age culture of the 60’s and 70’s. These works engage in a conversation between still life, photography, sculpture, and painting and are intended to stimulate an exchange that questions the ideals of Modernism, particularly notions of idyllic beauty.

The idea of simultaneously preserving and deconstructing idyllic beauty (represented by the plants and other organic objects) is accomplished through the application of paint to the objects. With Whitescape and Blackscape the still life is completely covered with paint and then photographed. The plants eventually grow out of the center and shed the acrylic paint digressing into the their natural forms, ie. Deconstructed (Rebirth). The paint encapsulates and preserves, but it also kills, forcing the plants to sit somewhere between life and death.

- Curt

seen on Feature Shoot