You can either lean back or take photographer Paul Octavious‘ advice and lean with it.

Days gone by.

Signature portraits by our good friend Agenda Photography for the F.Y.I Project. Agenda is a big fan of bouncing natural light sources onto his subjects, while is use of artificial light sources create a studio-like feel in otherwise natural surroundings.

The F.YI. photography exhibition of young creatives shot, produced and promoted by over 30 young people in collaboration with creative professionals (like Agenda) and social enterprises. Nice pictures aside, keep a look out for this group of focused individuals achieve in the future, as their legacy will be the testimony to the project’s success.

Beautiful. Touching. Honest. A few words to describe the photographic journal Days With My Father by Philip Toledano, recorded during the last few years looking after his aging father, who suffered from short term memory, whilst also grieving from the recent passing of his late mother.

Old age is something we’ll all face if we are lucky. The journal highlights the fragility of age and the joy that can be derived from taking the time to listen and appreciate the company of elders.

William Eckersley captures a real sense of depth in what are very tricky, low and mixed light conditions. The compositions are meticulous. Maybe my glasses need cleaning but the light seems to flicker if we stare at them long enough; almost as if we were looking at film.

Make no mistake about it folks; images of this nature are very hard to capture. Eckersley has spent the past four years perfecting the art of bringing life to the stillness of the city. There’s something to admire in every landscape. You just have to have an eye for it.

A really nice minimalist player and visual mechanism by Build for ‘Close’ – an anonymous music collective – comes slightly undone by a webpage that annoyingly rescales the image and has no pause on the player. The beautifully shot images by Benjamin Grillon are in a very high resolution, so you can scale them until your hearts content. but it’s the ‘scaling down’ that is the issue.

Bit of a shame, as this promo site looks pretty damn sexy. The music’s not too shabby either (I’m particularly feeling Beam Me Up). It’s worth noting that the Build boys are some of our favourites in the design stakes. It’s just that a little bit of polish in the programming / coding department would have seen this project do more than come close, but hit the mark entirely.

Director, photographer and actor Aaron Ruell takes photographs like a man who directs film. He was responsible for the promotional photography and opening title sequences for the 2004 award winning cult movie Napoleon Dynamite, which he also starred in.

Ruell manages to capture a real sense of theatre and character; even within the confines of the seemingly bog standard portrait. Skill sets which are particularly handy if you’re an independent film maker trying to sell in your ideas to potential investors about films you might have in the pipeline.

Watching this film shot on the new iPhone 4 makes me wanna get an upgrade, now. The footage looks amazing with a lovely depth of field. I have a feeling that we’re going to see a lot of ‘iMovies’ coming our way soon.

Terry Obiora captures a day of BMXing nostalgia in Milton Keynes. These days I’m scared by a pot hole in the road. These lot on the other hand aren’t scared by anything. Riders ready, pedals ready, GO!

Due to ever spiralling costs, last weeks Atlantis landing at the Kennedy Space Centre marked the end to the NASA Space Shuttle programme. Space exploration might just be moving that little bit closer to home, as Vincent Fournier and his stunning photography charts the Space Project taking place in otherworldly places right here on planet Earth.

Leah Gordon presents an exhibition of photographs at the Side Gallery in Newcastle taken from the book Kanaval: Vodou, Politics and Revolution on the streets of Haiti .

Published by the stella Soul Jazz Records, this book promises an insight into a cultural event unblighted by threats of gentile Hyde Park routes and fizzy drinks sponsorship.

Notting Hill Carnival this certainly ain’t.

There’s something eerily magical about the work of Christoph Morlinghaus. Sometimes sparse, sometimes vast, but always rich, his still shots often leave me with the feeling that someone has just left the room. For this post though, I want to focus on these almost futuristic church interiors.

I’m not what you might call a religious man, but when I saw these images I became a believer in both the power of divine composition and very, very big collection plates.

There’s still time to catch the the book launch & exhibition of Flip the Script – A Photographers Music Diary, by Kingsley Davis & preface by Norman Jay MBE

The original event featured a special performance by Jonzi D – Choreographer, MC, Poet & Curator of Breakin Convention + Flip the Script video premiere.

Rather than dwell on what you’ve missed, get yourself down the exhibition, which runs until May 28, 2011.

Address: Westminster Reference Library, 1st Floor, 35 St Martins Street, London WC2H 7HP

Documentation is representation. If you don’t like the way you’re being represented, you’re best advised to get out there and represent yourself.

While traditional news outlets were busy portraying student activists as mindless, fire-hydrant wielding anarchists hell bent on destruction and the end of society as we know it, a young seventeen year old not only chose to organise a protest against EMA cuts in Lancaster, but she saw fit to document it with her own keen photographic eye.

The pics feature bright faces and poignant messages galore. I won’t say which one’s my favourite: it should be obvious.

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These images were exhibited last month at the 10 Gales Gallery in Bethnal Green.

“It’s quite common to find American towns named after British places…”

Text speak takes on a whole new dimension. Beautiful photographic work by Oli Kellett features not only a typo or two, but more sunshine than I’ve seen for a year walking the streets of Lundun.

Maybe yanks can’t spell for doo doo, but since when was there any strict copy-write on names? The new version of Monopoly really is so easy…

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via CR Blog

As ‘humans’ we tend to see ourselves as very different to ‘animals’. While we sit subjectively at the top of the evolutionary scale, and I look into the eyes of these primates I know which I’d prefer staring back at me during rush hour on the underground. I’m thinking there’d be less pushing with a Bonobo.

James’ photographs of Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Bonobos and Orangutans use the aesthetic of the humble passport photograph and infer a strong sense of identity and character. I can’t help but feel that if we only knew what they were thinking, there would certainly be a lot we could learn.

When you’ve got a big story to tell it’s best to keep it simple while finding a truth that everyone can relate to. That should be the same for all communications in fact, and with James Mollison‘s Where Children Sleep book project in conjunction with Fabrica, we have the perfect case in point.

Fabrica is Benetton’s communication research centre in Treviso, Italy, and are a case study in their own right. The creative partnership has seen Mollison take a lateral yet personal approach to dealing with the ‘complex situations and social issues affecting children.

Much can be said by looking at the place where a child lays his or her head at night.

There’s a beautiful story behind the late great J DIlla‘s album cover photography. Video director Andrew Gura tells the full story here, but the long and short of it is that Stones Throw Art Director guru Jeff Jank needed photography for the 2006 Donut’s EP. J Dilla was in no position to provide any due his ailing health, and that’s where Gura’s video-shoot offcuts came in.

Gura provided 3 stills from that shoot for possible inclusion on the cover. In turn, what at first might look like a generic shoot spawned what even J Dilla’s mother considered to be the perfect encapsulation of her son’s spirit.

Behind the smile lies a beautiful story indeed.

Already struggling with those new years ‘resolutions’? Well here’s the Recovering Lazyholic with a few helpful reminders.

A very simple, well executed idea leads to some effective self promotion for Erin Hanson and his photographic / creative ambitions.

It will take Big Society’s much bigger brother to pick places like Detroit up off its knees. These dramatic photographs of The Motor City paint the picture of a country still struggling to come to terms with its new position within a larger global economy.

Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre‘s photography provide a haunting reference to when life was simpler for those who could afford access to these once grand buildings.

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via The Guardian

I’m not the type to be sifting through a 186 picture strong folder on BookFace. Really, I’m not. When those shots are taken by long time forerunner of the UK Graf scene Bunny Bread of Airheads fame then one has to pay attention dagdabbit.

London really is an amazing source of vibrance, vitality and character[s], but if you don’t believe me, then I’ll let pics do the talking. Normally, I’d only choose 3. How I only picked 5 is beyond me.

Props, backdrops and a pull-out-all-the-stops attitude means there’s an added level of craft and invention to the work of fashion photographer Grégoire Alexandre.

I’m a child of the 70′s and 80′s, which makes me fan of the A-Team, which makes me a fan of Mr.T’s van, which has meant a lasting romance with all vans of the same ilk, which in turn makes me an undoubted fan of Vans and the Places Where They Were.

Haw-lin.com is a purely visual look at the world of culture couture and consumerism.

You might normally hate endless scrolling, but you won’t with this site.

My friend Jason pointed me in the direction of this masterful video by director and visual effects guru Sam O’Hare.

The way Sam plays with the sense of scale and movement is truly a joy to behold, as it makes for one utterly enchanting piece of work.

Now why didn’t my train-set ever look like that?

You know Jay- Z the artist, you definitely know Jay-Z the brand, but anyone for Dan Tobin Smith the photographer? Didn’t think so, but Tobin-Smith, along with Nicola Yeoman, and Greg Burke are the trio responsible for Jay-Z’s recent album art for Blueprint 3,

At first glance you’d be excused for thinking it was some Photoshop magic, but delve a little deeper and you’ll be rewarded by work that is not just a strong concept, but an elaborate feat of production. The album’s aesthetic and concept actually owes more than a little nod to Tobin Smith’s earlier work for Athlete’s Tourist album, and uses some clever plays on perspective.

So why some keyboards in a corner you might ask. Well Dan (first name basis and all that) refers to the gathered instruments by saying: “These things are like the forgotten pieces in hip-hop…”

Did you realise that the 3 stripes were actually painted onto the instruments themselves? Me neither, but check out the behind the scenes video to appreciate the craft that goes into such a project, or for more from the horses mouth, go to itsnicethat.com, where Dan goes into great detail about the whole process.

The only question left to be asked is: Is New York really running it, or a couple of young designers from London?

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via Sleevage

The winners of the World Press Photo awards were announced late last week, with Pietro Masturzo‘s photograph of a group of women shouting from a Tehran rooftop in protest at the Iranian presidential results taking Photo of the Year.

Check out some of the other category winners, that range from harrowing to humorous, and are all amazing snapshots of an eventful 2009.

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via CR Blog

SPOT NEWS STORIES 1st Walter Astrada, Argentina, Agence France-Presse. Bloodbath in Madagascar, February

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS SINGLES 2nd David Guttenfelder, USA, The Associated Press. US soldiers respond to Taliban fire outside their bunker, Korengal Valley

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES SINGLES 2nd Stefano De Luigi, Italy, VII Network for Le Monde Magazine. Giraffe killed by drought, northeast Kenya, September

NATURE STORIES 1st Paul Nicklen, Canada, National Geographic. South Georgia, Antarctica