Julian Lennon Interview by Lauri Lyons Julian Lennon, originally from Liverpool, England, is the eldest son of John Lennon. Julian is a chart topping musician, an internationally exhibited photographer, avid traveler, and the Founder of the White Feather charity organization. Read Julian Lennon’s full interview Exploring East Africa’s...
Lidia Bastianich Interview by Lauri Lyons Lidia Bastianich is a world renowned TV chef, restauranteer, and author. When she’s not traveling the world researching flavors, her show Lidia’s Italy is being broadcast in over 50 countries. Read Lidia Bastianich’s full interview The Feast of a...
Gerard Gaskin Interview by Lauri Lyons Gerard Gaskin is a Trinidad native based in New York. His photography explores the terrain of beauty, adornment, and sexuality. He is the author of Legendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene (Duke University Press). A documentation of New York’s Black and Latino gay subculture scene. ...
Europe by Train From Oxford to Las Ramblas By Calum Hill My friend Matt and I recently graduated from university in Southampton and parted our separate ways. I studied journalism and Matt studied film and television. Three months later, I was working in a brassiere in Oxford. It was closing down for refurbishment during January, so I decided I wanted to spend the month travelling. Matt was working in Notting Hill Theatre in London and January was a quiet month as there weren’t many shows on. I contacted him to discuss a possible week away. During our internet scour we stumbled across interrailing and discovered it was rather cheap for a month long ticket during January. Our inspiration was to see a vast array of European countries. We were still young and wanted to see as much of the world as we could. Visiting six countries in one month wasn’t bad . As neither of us drives we spend a lot of time on trains, so it was second nature as a form of travel, making the navigation much easier. The idea of sleeping on night trains also meant we’d have more time to travel and spend less money on rooms. The Dream Becomes Reality… “You come to France and you don’t speak French?”, said the taxi driver. “We’re travelling around Europe, we can’t learn every language”, I replied humorously. “Oh mon dieu, je nele croire, bonne chance.” I was unsure what the taxi driver had said so I remained quiet for the proceeding journey. It’s an oddity conveniently favouring the English, most countries speak English and most Europeans...
Escape to St. Lucia The Land of the Light By Sophie Ball They call St Lucia ‘Land of the Light’, although there was little trace of that light when we landed at Hewanorra airport. Instead, we were met with grey skies and a languid, muggy, heat that threatened to betray the superlatives usually attached to the island. The next day the clouds gave way to rain, but not UK rain - the kind of endless drizzle that dampens your soul. This was tropical rain: abandoned, prodigious, and exhilarating in its intensity. This was the kind of rain that allows an island, which rarely sees temperatures below 25c, to boast of some of the most verdant vegetation in the world. The next day the sun pushed through the clouds, and for my British, city-dwelling self, it was like waking up to the world in HD. Plants were greener, the sand was whiter, and voices were louder. There is a kind of steamy, sensual promise to St Lucia, it has an unbridled fertility that is apparent in everything, from the variety of the vegetation: 60 different types of mango grow here, to the dancing at Jump Up - a weekly street party held at Gros Islet. They say desperation breeds discontent and on an island where “anything grows” and you have “poverty but not starvation”, there is no trace of that desperation. In its place are a curiosity and inherent optimism that breathes credence into that very Caribbean idiom tings b’riite. It’s an interesting and revealing attitude when you take into account the history of St Lucia. In 1778, the British...
Soledad O’Brien Dispatches A Reporter’s Life On the Run Interview by Lauri Lyons TV journalist Soledad O’Brien has tirelessly crisscrossed the globe to report breaking news and produce social documentaries for CNN, Al Jazeera, and HBO. We were lucky enough to catch up with Soledad en route to the airport for her annual Starfish Foundation Gala, through which she works to assist young women scholars get to and through college. Here is the veteran reporter’s take on how she lives life on the run. For your big stories that you’ve covered (Hurricane Katrina, Thailand tsunami, Haiti earthquake) what are the logistics and preparation time for getting you in the field and on camera? Soledad O’Brien: I’m sitting in traffic on my way to Newark airport. So, I’m living your website. The logistics are usually pretty crazy, but I work at CNN, and they are pretty amazing at that. They are just masters of the logistics. They would have a whole apartment, and then their goal is just to get you physically there. Then I travel with stacks of books and printouts, and any information I can find. While I’m on the flight, I’m reading. We’ll often travel without knowing very much. For example, I know there’s an earthquake in Haiti, but what’s the history of Haiti? How did Haiti become a country? What are some of the big stories and issues in Haiti? You spend the entire flight reading until you really understand all the different contexts of the story, while somebody else is trying to figure out how to get you in. Then you get in there, and,...
The Sultans of Style Taking Fashion to the Streets Interview by Lauri Lyons Once again, the intrepid fashion photographer John-Paul Pietrus has been making rounds on the international style circuit. He recently made a pit stop in the Ottoman Empire to shoot a Young Turk fashion story in Istanbul. Did you ever have a desire or fantasy about going to Istanbul? John-Paul Pietrus: I always had a desire to visit Istanbul as it is this fantastic place historically, the merging between East and West, so it has this allure related to Orientalist fantasies and folklore, which I wanted to experience even in modern day terms. Was this your first time visiting Istanbul? This shoot was my fifth visit. I really love Istanbul. What was the inspiration for your story? The concept was about an opulent Orientalist fantasy and the meeting of East and West. Who was on your team? The styling was done by Lucia Liu and Fatos Hanlim. The model was Tian Yi. The hair was done by Bon Chou and the makeup was done by Adam de Cruz. The stylists and model flew in from Beijing and the makeup artist and I flew in from London. I hired a Turkish production team and a local photographer, Pinar Lauridsen, to shoot the behind the scenes video. Pinar was already a good friend of mine from my previous visits to Istanbul, so it was wonderful to work and hang out with her. Where is the model from and why did you choose her for the story? I hired Tian Yi because she has a very delicate beauty with a...
Afrique in 3D Cross-Cultural Beats & Rhymes Interview by Lauri Lyons Nadjib Ben Bella is a globetrotting music producer and gallery owner. After touring for more than ten years as DJ Boulaone, one of Europe’s most popular Dj’s, Ben Bella is now remixing the creative boundaries between Europe, Africa, and America. Lauri Lyons: You’re from Northern France, tell me about the region and the history of that area? Nadjib Ben Bella: Roubaix was considered in the beginning of the 20th century the Silicon Valley, the richest region in the world because it was mostly textiles and mining industry. Now it’s one of the poorest in France because now all of the industries are now in India, North Africa, so we don’t get so much activity here. It is a bit like Detroit with a lot of unemployment and old factories. The good thing is the politicians decided to recycle this region with culture. We have a lot of art centers, museums, galleries, and ventures. There are a lot of good things happening now. Most of the resident’s heritage is Algerian or North African? Yes. It corresponds to the waves of immigration that France asked for when they needed to increase their workforce in the factories. We had some Polish people, Italians, Portuguese, Moroccans, Algerians, Senegalese. For example, in the city next to Roubaix, for every 100,000 people we have 120 different nationalities. It is very rich with a lot of different cultures. What attracts you to Arab and African music in your work? I really like African music. In some countries in Africa you have maybe 40 different languages,...
Asia in 5 Films A Native P.O.V. By Gian Cruz There’s never been a more exciting time in Asian cinema. The dynamic multiplicities working alongside the crossroads of different cultures, plus the ambiguous confluence between the East and the West, are paving the way for a richer cinema. Asian cinema as a whole has started to explore a more inward-looking perspective, specific to the cultural contexts across the continent. The label “exotic” is quite a tricky one, that I myself being Asian, can not explain in a precise manner - and that’s the beauty of it. There’s a whole dreamy universe of Asian cinema that speaks of ambiguity amidst vast landscapes and cultural nuances. It’s just a matter of how much of it you let in, and then slowly you’ll find yourself drawn deeper and deeper into it. A Personal Selection of Films Cemetery of Splendor (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) In this latest film by the Thai auteur, he touches on the whimsical mix of shamanism and magic. As one catches a glimpse of the spirit world and the mysterious realm of the unseen, he gives us an enigmatic kind of cinema, that captivates audiences through the metaphysical in a way that is free and unpretentious. The supernatural and its unexplained mysteries find itself in a romantic homage to an ancient civilization, that’s not of our time but still begs to have a certain semblance to our times. Above the Clouds (dir. Pepe Diokno) After the loss of his family, a young boy gets reunited with his estranged grandfather. As they try to mend their precarious relationship through a...
The Jewel of Tuscany Florence’s Artisan District By John-Paul Pietrus With a sigh of relief, one early February morning I boarded a tiny airplane and left behind London’s cold, dark, and wet environs, in the roar of a jet engine. This was the start of my month long Italian ‘minisabbatical’. Although I love being a fashion photographer, last year I was stung by some of the industry’s thorns and realized that I needed a break. My new plan was to live a glorious life in Florence, while studying the art of Florentine jewelry making and design. I’d always had an interest in jewelry and thought; why don’t I learn something new for a month and keep my brain on a creative track with something not directly related to my work? As one of the creative capitals of the Renaissance, Florence is a city of artisans which still prides itself on creative traditions and incredible craftsmanship. One walks down the narrow streets of the city and passes cobblers, goldsmiths, printmakers, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers. Metallo Nobile (noble metal) is one of Europe’s top jewelry schools, and is set in the heart of the artisan district of Santo Spiritu. This area is located just a stone’s throw away from the historic Pitti Palace and the Ponte Vecchio. Walking into the scuola, I was greeted by the sound of blaring opera music and pounding metal hammers. The air lingered with the unmistakable scent of hot wax and morning cappuccino. Geometric glass lamps hung from the ceiling above two dozen jeweler’s desks, at which an international selection of students from Salvador, China,...
