Chronophotography

Almost 3 years ago, I did my first short film thinking it would allow me take photography a step further and help me tell more meaningful stories and share them with the rest of the world. Last year, on my way to Iceland, I had to flip a coin to decide whether to brave the erupting barbargunda volcano and all the consequences of being stuck on a distant Island or cancel my trip. I finally went and witnessed the most beautiful aurora borealis, geysers, waterfalls... I could not come back empty handed. This Sunday at 10.30 am, the short film I made in Iceland is screening at the Northwave film festival in a fishing village 2 hours off Reykjavik and Sunday after it's screening in Paris at the Brasilian Theater. I would love to share it with you and thank all those who participated in its completion.

-AB CITE (2013).
Featured at the Vid Eo Cite "Passages" projection on the walls of the Cite Internationale (and funded by the FIE) on the 24 and 25 of May 2013 http://le-theatre-et-les-residents.com/billet-initiative/passages-video-installation-3/ https://www.facebook.com/video.citethen projected in Cuidades Visibles in Cordoba, Argentina in 2013 http://ciudadesvisibles.hol.es/?page_id=5


-Drole de Drames (2014)
Selection/Awards: 48hfParis official Selection
Projections:
Paris, Oct 2014: Cinema Action Christine, dans le cadre de faire un film en 48h

-Missed Connections (2013-2014)
Selections/Awards:
Official Selection of the Viewster Film Festival
Official selection at the Festival CineRail
Projections:
Amphitheatre de Jussieu, Paris, January 2014,
International Viewster Film Festival December 2014
Cinerail International Film Festival 16 December 2015

-I C Land (2014-2015)
Selections/Award:
Winner of the best experimental short film for the AFIMarché du Film - Festival de Cannes Cannes World Peace Initiative
The Northern Wave Film Festival Official Selection
Projections:
Paris: 14 Dec 2014 (Maison de Portugal)
Cannes: 21 May 2015 (Marche du Film at the Cannes Film Festival)
Paris: 17 July 2015 (AntiCafe Innovation)
Iceland: 17 Oct 2015 ( I C LAND in ICELANDNorthwave International Film Festival)
Paris 25 Oct 2015 ( L'art du voyage corporel, mental et spirituel : Theatre Maison du Bresil avec la Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian et l’ambassade de Portugal en France)
I have something written for a feature film that will be announced shortly after the production is confirmed!


Posted by ALAgrApHY on Thursday, October 15, 2015

This has been a GREAT year

This has been a GREAT year.

Indeed, so great I am not looking forward to bid it farewell tonight.

This has been a GREAT year on so many levels.

On a professional level, I "survived" a long PhD roller-coaster and accepted a postdoctoral position in Paris, where life is promising and the morrows are bright.
On an artistic level, I had two successful exhibitions, one in the States and another in Paris. Needless to mention the crazy photoshoots and the 1001 faces project that will be completed and announced next year.
On a soul-searching level, I traveled for more than 4 months in 4 continents to finally find a couple of places to accommodate my restless soul, arts and science -- a place that welcomes both sides of the brain and all races, backgrounds and beliefs. The US and its folks will always be remembered and missed.
On a soul-union level, I was reunited with family and good friends and it feels so great to spend time with them.

This has been a GREAT year.

It will be hard to beat it by the years to come. However, if there is something I learned from the previous years it is that life can be lived by the imposed social norms and traditions but much more so when these limits are pushed and redefined. So I invite you all to have a dream if you do not already and dare pursue it till the very end. Otherwise, do what you are best at until your vision becomes clear. Do not let others tell you what is impossible. Associate with positive people and dissociate with the rest.

This has been a GREAT year.

Thank you all for contributing to its success. I hope to be seeing more of you this year.

This has been a GREAT year.

I hope the same for you and wish you GREATER forthcoming years of joy and success.

PS. I made a calendar  based on my photography exhibit in Paris, "Couleurs de mes Voyages" if interested in marking it with splendid days and traveling each month to memorable places.

Greenness

I like to think of myself as an aesthete who is equally interested in the function of things, especially that explaining their beauty. Perhaps a restless reflective aesthete seems to empathize with my kind. I am greatly puzzled and often tormented by what my heart desires and this inexorable passion has lead me to unimaginable places. I wish not to deprive my future from the unexpected, nonetheless, an intimation about my following passions and consequential vicissitudes could bring comfort to my restless soul and mind.  Blaise said: "Le coeur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connaît point" but how much of his life did he dedicate to love or reason and what made him jump to this conclusion? Sour grapes?

As a photographer, I experience a constant urge of self-improvement and readiness for "the" perfect shot! That shot is most often ephemeral and requires high skills, expensive equipment and immediate action.  Paradoxically, I am unsatisfied by attributing a lot of my self-fulfillment to a shot that is heavily based on chance. On the other hand, it must be utterly frustrating to have the perfect shot but lack skill or equipment. So is life, opportunities come and go but importuned are the inapt!

Spring has spring and Bloomington has bloomed! I had an epiphany inspired by spring's ethereal greenness. A week ago, I identified with my naked eye at least three shades of green in most plants and trees around campus. Lighter shades of green colored the peripheral newly sprung leaves while the center was dominated by a darker shade of green, regardless of the light. In photography, a similar ethereal effect is created by a technique known as high dynamic range (HDR) often used to add depth and embellish photography. Upon such an observation, I can only conclude to myself that nature feigns this and similar surreal visual effects to the eyes of the aesthete, commiserating our constant lament and endless search for beauty.