Year: 2012
Barack Hussein Obama
On my 40th birthday, I found myself in the United States booth in the Exhibition Hall of World Urban Forum 5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They used an entire wall to create a photo opportunity for Forum attendess to shake hands with The President. So I did.
Two and half years later, it’s Election Day in The United States.
For President Obama, it’s Re-Election Day… or maybe the U.S. Electorate will vote Tails instead of Heads and The World wakes up to President-Elect Romney.
Whoever wins tonight, or in the days that follow pending an inconclusive result, it will be a night of nuanced firsts:
Continue reading
The Story Behind Hurricane Sandy’s First Viral Photo
American Photo Magazine interviews Nick Cope about his viral photo experience during Hurricane Sandy. It is a story many accidental photojournalists will identify with.
” On the morning the storm hit New York City, Nick Cope snapped a photo of rising flood waters from the window of his Red Hook, Brooklyn apartment. Then things got interesting. “
Increasingly, Climate Change induced extreme weather phenomena has become the norm. Likewise, so has photograph rights-usage stories like Nick Cope’s also become the norm.
Christie Administration Announces E-Mail & Fax Voting Available to New Jerseyans Displaced by Hurricane Sandy
Imagine if the Electoral College ends up somehow in a tie and New Jersey winds up being the Tie-Breaker Vote.
We could have 50 Shades of Florida.
Fire-Powered Cell Phone Chargers
Spotted near NYU in downtown Manhattan (via: zoneasurvivor.com )
Fire powered cellphone charge station, tea maker, and mini-fireplace (biolitestove.com)
And yes, that is a BlackBerry.
GTA Eid al-Adha [Video]
CBC News: Toronto at 6:00 | Oct 26, 2012 | 1:59
Eid celebrations
Muslims across the Greater Toronto Area celebrate Eid
How Social Media Affects the Eaton Centre Shooting
Weekend summer evenings in downtown Toronto are normally bustling with pedestrians, festival goers, and shoppers peacefully hanging out at the mall.
On Saturday evening, that usual peacefulness was shattered as gunshots replaced the usual sounds in the Toronto Eaton Centre food court. One person died at the scene with seven others injured including a 13-year-old boy who suffered gunshot wounds. He is currently improving.
News of the incident instantly broke.
But it broke not on broadcast nor through traditional mainstream media reporting. One of the first to report it was a professional baseball player tweeting live from the scene:
Walking with Jane Jacobs
The first weekend in May has quickly become known as Jane’s Walk weekend in cities the world over — named for Jane Jacobs, the late author, activist and urban theorist who died in Toronto in 2006.
Jane was a neighbour of mine, living a few blocks over in The Annex neighbourhood in downtown Toronto.
After she passed away, seeing the spontaneous outpouring of loss and remembrance, I wondered if anyone had created a book of condolence. No one had. I quickly bought a sketchbook. Made arrangements for it to be available for public signing in one her regular Annex restaurants. There, friends and strangers shared their memories and thoughts. I later forwarded the book to her family.