Office Art - Arabella Advisors
Today we delivered our first prints to a company client, Arabella Advisors, which offers philanthropic giving advice. These were also the first framed prints we've sold and they included the first 30" x 40" print we've ever sold. It was a day of firsts.
Unforeseen challenge: revolving door!
Arabella bought four framed 16x20s for their board room. Nuru Project prints make great office art!
Benedicte Kurzen's gorgeous 30x40 right inside the entrance. Get your company to redecorate with Nuru Project prints. 50% goes to non-profits!
Today's Shipment!
Damn You, Siachen
On April 7, 2012, an avalanche killed 136 Pakistani soldiers and civilians on the Siachen Glacier, underscoring the futility of the conflict there between Pakistan and India. Below, Jonathan Wu offers a poem in response to Teru Kuwayama's print from Siachen:
Siachen, 1984 -
It is a curious thing how
an image
strikes you --
The jagged mountains,
the dark
ghostly figure, walking
into luminous snow, bright
beyond form.
The image settles in;
the mind digs deeper.
A cold, slow
war. Cold and slow as the glacier
itself, fought
for no reason, with no
end
as the earth wields its brutal
beauty, unrelenting
amidst fighting men.
Billowed sky and sharp stone
converge,
a faceless figure in slow, sacred
procession,
a body shrouded.
I feel
a mourning
A few years back, Jonathan Wu left his job at a big internet company to pursue his passion for sustainable agriculture. While he works out the details, he can be found double-digging his backyard garden, re-skilling at the local community college, or playing concerts to cows. His favorite poets are Mary Oliver, Robert Hass, and Wendell Berry.
SHARE THIS POST - Poem from @NuruProject about Teru Kuwayama's print from #Siachen Glacier and the #India #Pakistan conflict there - http://bit.ly/HFlcB0
Shoutouts
Seth Godin on Art
"But art, the new, the ability to connect the dots and to make an impact--sooner or later, that can only come from one who creates, not from a teacher and not from a book." - Seth Godin
Shoutouts: Portland! Lambertville! Chicago! Coral Gables!
Balloons in the Streets of Kabul
“I'm roaming in Kabul's old city amongst the cool shadows of the early morning. In a tiny backstreet I pass a woman carrying a sack of rice, some cooking oil, and a balloon. She is not wearing a burqa. She sees my camera and whispers to me in Dari "take my picture". An Afghan woman has never asked me to take her photograph before. I imagine it is forbidden, Haram, but she looks happy and our surroundings are quiet, so I take a picture. I wander some more and spot the child who sold the woman her balloon. He is walking on a parallel street carrying a big bunch of them. I move quickly and catch the balloons in the sunlight before he disappears onto a busy street."
Throughout time, balloons have served as a symbol of hope, wonder, and possibility. In the children's classic, The Red Balloon, a French film from the 50s by Albert Lamorisse, a little boy named Pascal is on his way to school when he encounters a red balloon with a life of its own that decides to befriend him. The balloon follows Pascal around the streets of Paris — on the bus, to school, and to church. Soon, interest and jealousy arise, and a gang of boys sets out to destroy Pascal's balloon. For those who haven't seen it, I won't spoil the ending, but it's a brilliant tale that reminds us that while our ideas may be fragile and vulnerable, our imagination and dreams are the most powerful things we possess.
I'm struck by Ross' story of the woman, armed with balloon, asking to have her picture taken. I wonder if, somehow, the balloon gave her courage to do something out of the ordinary, if it gave her a sense of innocence to absolve her of any wrongdoing. I'm struck that while returning from the market with cooking oil and rice in hand, she stopped and spent money on a balloon.
But, why am I surprised? Because my mind harbors notions of what women who live on backstreets in places like Kabul must be like — how they must think, how they must act, how they must make decisions. But no matter where we're born or how we're brought up, we all grow up learning to associate balloons with occasions for celebration and the promise of a good day. And what logical explanation does one need to give for desiring joy, happiness, or hope? If there is one thing that unites us, perhaps it is this.
When I see Ross’ print, I think of Pascal from The Red Balloon. I think of Carl Frederickson's flying balloon-powered home in Pixar's Up. I think of Professor Sherman's adventure on Krakatoa in William Pene du Bois' The Twenty-One Balloons. I think of Banksy's iconic Balloon Girl. I think of all the balloons at every birthday party I ever had or attended under the age of 11. All the startling pops — intended or unintended, all the static clings, all the frightening clowns and their amazing animal balloons, all the times I went blue in the face inflating balloons with my measly breath, and all the helium intakes that would produce hours of hysterical high-pitched laughter. They were all good times (minus the clowns). Every memory, magical. And for me, that's what this photo represents. Magic. The magic of joy, the magic of hope, the magic of imagination, the magic of dreams. But above all, the simple belief in magic.
James Wu manages branding and online communications at Acumen Fund. You can find him on Twitter at @bunkywu or on Tumblr at dumplingboy.
Nuru Prints + Amazing Institutions
Prints en route to UCLA Photo Dept, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship!
We Dig: Martin Roemers on Megacities
Amazing Martin Roemers exhibit at Anastasia Gallery about life in megacities, 10M+ population. 166 Orchard, NYC. Comes down today. Check it out!
Shoutouts: Washington (state)! Cali! PA! Canada! Mass! NYC!
2012 Q1 Print Sales Results
Adorn Your Walls with Hope
Our prints just launched on AHAlife! http://bit.ly/Hl3W1O
We love AHA's description of our work, "Nuru means 'light' in Swahili and was so-named because photography is the medium of light. But also, these images shine a light on what it’s like to live in a place defined by hardship. They are snapshots of hope, and that’s a powerful cause to support—as well as stunning message to adorn your walls."
Photojournalism at its Best
Photojournalist Wendy Watriss once wrote that “photojournalism at its best embodies our ability to benefit the issues and people with whom we connect.” http://bit.ly/GYsJKN
Foreign Lands
Yesterday’s shipment included prints to Switzerland, Portugal, and Indiana!
Nuru Project & Populism
Jade Dressler’s of Metropolis Magazine places Nuru Project within a trend of populism evident at this year’s Armory Show: "...with 50% of the proceeds going to non-profits, it is a populist, good idea indeed." READ MORE - http://bit.ly/GU3UOP.
Yellow Tape
Started using yellow tape in our packaging. Loving the new look!
Kony2012 Strategy
"SocialFlow undertook a data visualization (see above) of the first 5,000 Twitter users who posted the #Kony2012 hashtag. What the clustering of connections reveals is that the hashtag started trending on 1 March before the video was posted online, and the trend came from Birmingham, Alabama."
- via David Campbell, http://bit.ly/GGdKIB
Nuru + TED
What does a stack of 99 prints headed out to TED attendees look like?
Sasha Dichter on Nuru Project & Kony2012
"I wish people would see photographs by Nuru photographers, photos that capture the spirit and challenges of the life of the poor in the developing world, and share these photos, these stories, more than 70 million times. Not out of pity, but out of joy."
- Sasha Dichter, Acumen Fund
READ MORE - http://bit.ly/xViBAy
Meetings About to Happen
Loving how our order fulfillment notes on the outside of our packaging juxtapose photographer and customer names. They're like reservations for a meeting that is about to happen when the packages are opened!
