Below is the list of Doc’s three favorites this week & his insight:
1. @postaljeff – Minimalism, plus motion. Dig that the leaf is still readable.
2. @juras77 – Symmetry! This was my favorite of the symmetrical entries. Motion lines are dope too.
3. @cekws – The colors sort of flow along with the original, and those shapes are just swell.
The Cr8ors of Decim8nday [ @_suzanne_and@david_baer] and I thank you for participating this week – we hope to do it again in the future!
Congratulations everyone! We are going to be taking a week off from the #decim8this program this week, but it will be a regular decim8nday! Run 1 of your recent 12 posts on IG through Decim8 & tag fx used. See ya next week!
“There are as many approaches and styles to Decim8, as there are folks who use the app. I tend to decim8 on the slightly subtle side, usually post processing for texture or tonal balance and sometimes even blending with the original image. I’ve learned a lot by seeing my own photo edited by so many other folks, and in so many styles. I am inspired to spend a little more time with some FX that I don’t typically use. Thank you to everyone who participated this week with my image! Oh what a task to choose only 3 images from such a wonderful batch! Like a child in a candy shop, I hemmed and hawed and maybe even shed a tear over not being able to choose them all. But choose I did.
1. @bridgettesxo’s lovely art deco dance of the Decim8 stopped me in my tracks… and those olive and blue green ‘feathers’… totally swoon worthy. She used Veth + 59.94 & then added a dose of Glassdagger to that.
2. @rmsherwood’s delicate decim8ed lace curtains, classy enough for Grandmas house, but hip enough for mine. She used TI994(SHA5 Mix), Fold4Rap5, and Kompliance.
3. @shadowleitner’s sweet enchanted forest. I was happily lost in the melon hued land, skipping on my way to granny’s house. She used Veth, Agency, and Doctor Ocular. & be sure you look closely to see the lovely colors carried all the way up through the black.
Check out my feed for some honorable mentions… I told you I couldn’t pick only 3.” – Tammy
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The Cr8ors of Decim8nday [ @_suzanne_ and @david_baer ] and I thank you, Tammy, for rawk’ing this week with us – we hope to do it again in the future!
Stay tuned as we welcome the one and only Doctor Popular, aka @docpop, as guest editor for week 14.
A Touch Screen Artist from Jakarta by Bridgette S.
Bridgette’s Introduction
Before writing this intro, Ebes and I were chatting about life and work in general. He expressed his passion for what he does and how everything in life just ties into his artistry and craft. To which I replied, “it’s who you are and what you do.” He lives it, breathes it and takes every opportunity that comes his way.
I’ve been a big fan of his on Instagram and I’ve seen how he has broken the barriers of mobile design using his iPhone. If you aren’t following him or have seen his gallery, then I highly suggest clicking here– rest assured you won’t be disappointed.
His images speak for themselves and his creativity is astounding. He’s a master at collabs and brilliant at it too. If you don’t believe me, just keep reading 😉
Listen to his music while you read through this article.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/12412569″ iframe=”true” /]
B: Give us a glimpse into your everyday life. What’s family life like? What are your hobbies and how do they factor in with your creative side? What do you do for work?
E: I was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia in the 80’s. I have two brothers, I am the eldest of the two. I act out the things I want to do. I’m the action person. I’ve been living on my own since I was 21. I basically moved out because I was getting married (been divorced for 2 yrs, and I have a son named Kale, he’s 6 yrs old) and needed to get ourself a place. My parents helped me the first year but I’ve been on my own ever since.
I work as a freelance designer plus I’m a full time student (Art student) at that time; graduated in 2008 for Visual Design communication. I won’t lie, it’s a struggle everyday. But the best part about it is having your own space and not to worry about your parents always constantly on your butt about everything; and with each glimpse I get into the life of a Graphic Designer who likes to diversify in all aspects of art and design. This is my life, the people I’ve ran into and those that have helped shape, mood my life into what I’ve become.
B:I am always blown away by your imagination and diversity. What helps you stay motivated and where do you find your inspiration?
E: My son is a huge source of inspiration and joy also. He inspires me to be more imaginative, more expressive, and more excited about everything in the most honest way. These are the things that keep my perspective on life and creativity. Also the most important intention in my life.
Okay, another confession — when I’ve inspiration I don’t need motivation; I need to sit next to my cigarettes and iced tea (I’m a tea person) wherever that is. It’s easy to work inspired, worse when you got to find some, and motivation to do so is the key.
B:This image is one of my favorites. Tell me what prompted you into adding the spilled paint and what is the story behind it?
E: Well, Thanks so much B! The idea comes when I see the old image (flickr) of that two people dripping a large tin of water. Then I decided to adding the spilled paint on it. I looked for a background that looks like it was a continuously under construction. So… That’s the story behind this picture.
The other images I took from Google (lady on top of the plane, people on the tail, old planes)
Edited with Artstudio, Blender with (Mextures) & Snapseed
B:Have you met other mobile photographers in your area and are you on any other photosharing platforms?
E: I have some accounts on other platforms: EyeEm, Flickr (it’s under the same name @abcdebes).
Yes, I have met a lot of talented mobile photographers in my area (Jakarta). We have a community called “iPhonesia” stands for iPhoneographers Indonesia. After a few months I joined Instagram, I started to get in touch with these people. And it’s changed (again) the way I look at the world.
B:What is the message behind your recent collab with @tomlovesyou? And how did the series come about?
E: I love collaborating with other creative people; it makes the process of creativity so much enjoyable. And when I asked Tom (@tomlovesyou) for a collaboration, then we started to brainstorm about what kind of photos and the edits. I’ve noticed that Tom’s had a best shot of the top of the mountains; so he sent me some of his best shot (mountains). Then I came up with this edit, glad to know that Tom is agree about this vintage collage (colors, collage, stripes) edits.
Edited with ArtStudio along with the stripes, blended with Mextures, Pxlromatic+ & Snapseed
B:Love what you did with my photo! Give us a quick rundown on how you edited the image.
E: Artstudio: I’m going to explain a little bit more about the specifics for this app. It’s a bit tricky because it limits the number of layers one can use (maximum 5 layers only) so you must know what to do the first time. First thing first.
1st step: load your pic (from camera roll). Add a new layer (from the layer menu) then switch the new layer to the bottom. This works for the background so you can start erasing (Eraser tools) the layers above in transparency instead of white. And you can start masking out. You can adjust the brush size and opacity. By zooming the pic you can get more details. (Same step for every pic) You can make them black and white or you can colorize.
2nd step: Import image for background (from the layer menu). You can start to colorize the background, adjust the hue and saturation. You can also transform the image (choose layer and tap the image twice) and the menu will pop up.
3rd step: (Import from cameral roll again) The next step is adding the pin-up ladies and some small details. When using Google or Flickr, using the right keyword is important if you want to get a perfect pic for a collage (minimim size should be 150kb so you won’t get pixelated). As said, this step is always the same for any object (plane, tree, chair…) so you can colorized them later and merge them together.
4th step: Adding the retro shape, line, circle or triangle you can use the empty layer from the first one or make a new one. Fill it with your colors (Paint Bucket or you can choose “fill” on the selection tool button on the top — tap once). You can always pick another color later. Then you can duplicate (tap twice on the layer). If you want a specific color, pick a layer, choose pen tool and hold it for a second to filled with the same colors.
Final image:
“Cupid” – collab with @bridgettesxo
Original pic of Gas Works park taken with iPhone 4
Square Ready: Crop into Square then save to (JPEG 2048 x 2048)
B:And finally, what type of music do you listen to? Do you have a favorite band?
E: Music is everything to me. Listening to music is my hobby. It’s also my dream to become a musician..haha. I can sing and plays guitar and ukulele; my favorite band is The Beatles, The Cure, and Radiohead (I grew up in the 90’s after all). I like music from many eras. I listen to mostly from 90’s alternative, psychedelic chillwave, a bit retro pop or disco, ambience, deep house, techno, acid, to jungly indie band.
You can check my soundcloud (The Akbar)there are some of my songs and mixes there while I started DJ’ing a couple of years ago. At the moment I am listening to Got Somebody – Moon Boots. So stay lit, and Enjoy!
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Bio: Ebes Rasyid. 30 years old visual artist, designers whose work with digital platforms provided by touch screen technology and traditional media. then mingle the two, based in Jakarta.
Here’s what Lesslee had to say about this week’s decim8ions:
1. @blortblort
This image by @blortblort uses the Decim8 effects 01Rectine and Veth. I chose it most of all because of the gorgeous, psychodelic color (thanks to 01Rectine) and also becqause of the way the Veth effect gave it a figural quality (it seems to have two eyes and two paws). Decimate frequently liberates figures and faces that we didn’t know were hiding in our images! Thank you @blortblort for sharing this fun image with us.
2. @dragana_s
used the Decim8 effects Pregog1, Veth, and L225 to produce a nine image grid of edtits. The colors stay true to my original image but the resulting tribal masks are just fantastic. I especially like the buck-toothed twins at the top right and the mask with the protruding “tongue” on the bottom left.
3. @jancaru2
Janell Carlson chose to let the Decim8 app choose the effects (Bunker and Brainfeed3r) and this is the beautiful, and minimal, result. I love the pink and white and the way the image seems to spread across the canvas. I think its a good idea to try a roll of the Decim8 dice when starting to edit an image.You might be pleasantly surprised by what appears on the screen.
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The Cr8ors of Decim8nday [ @_suzanne_ and @david_baer ] and I thank you, Matt, for participating this week – we hope to do it again in the future!
Stay tuned as we welcome Tammy, @punkrawkpurl, as guest editor for week 13.
Ben Stocking: A Journalist in Vietnam by Bridgette
B:Ben, tell us a little bit about yourself. How long have you been a journalist and what are you doing now?
Ben: I spent 30 years in journalism, working as a reporter and editor at various newspapers around the country. I wrote about race relations, immigration, poverty, and politics, including a couple of presidential elections. Eventually I became a foreign correspondent in Vietnam, first for the San Jose Mercury News, then for the Associated Press.
My family and I moved to Seattle two years ago, when my wife took a job in the global health division of the Gates Foundation. We’ve been here two years now. I’ve been doing various freelance writing assignments and working on a novel set in Vietnam.
B:What prompted you to move to Vietnam? How long were you there and where about did you live?
Ben: I never intended to move to Vietnam or to become a foreign correspondent. When the Mercury News asked me to take the Vietnam assignment, it came as a complete surprise. From the minute my wife and I set foot in Hanoi, though, we loved the place. We arrived in 2002, when our children were 2 and 5 years old, and didn’t return until eight years later. We lived on the outskirts of Hanoi in a gorgeous villa near a lake. Our kids attended a wonderful international school. We were very spoiled and very lucky.
B:Tell us about the work you did whilst there. What type of assignments did you have and what were you documenting?
Ben: During the first three years, I served as Southeast Asia Bureau Chief for the Mercury News, which serves a large population of Vietnamese refugees who came to the U.S. after the war. After that, I served as Vietnam bureau chief for the Associated Press. In both jobs, I wrote about the rapid social and economic change that has been transforming the country, which, like its communist neighbor China, has a single-party political system but has been gradually implementing free-market economic reforms.
For two decades after the war, Vietnam was cut off from the West by an economic embargo. The communist government implemented a classic centrally planned economy — with catastrophic results. In recent years, as the government encouraged the establishment of private enterprise, the economy has boomed. The pace of development accelerated after the U.S. and Vietnam restored economic ties in 1994 and again after 2006, when Vietnam was admitted into World Trade Organization.
My work in Vietnam focused on everything from economics to fashion to art to television — I covered anything that conveyed a sense of how quickly and dramatically the country was changing.
I also wrote about more delicate subjects, such as religious and political freedom. Although it has loosened its grip on the economy, Vietnam’s communist government does not tolerate dissent and routinely jails those who speak out.
When major news broke out around the region, I traveled to other countries to cover stories, such as the Asian tsunami in Indonesia and a political coup in Thailand.
B:How was family life in Vietnam? Are there any traditions that you have kept?
Ben: Our life in Vietnam was wonderful. The Vietnamese are extremely generous, and extremely forgiving. At first, we worried that people would not be welcoming to Americans, especially in Hanoi, where people still remember B-52s dropping bombs on them. But anti-Americanism is extremely rare in Vietnam. People were incredibly warm and welcoming, especially if you took the time to learn some Vietnamese.
In every Vietnamese home you will find a family altar, where people burn incense and leave fruit and other offerings to their ancestors. Here in Seattle, we maintain a small altar in memory of my father, who died during my last year in Vietnam.
B: What camera were you shooting with at the time and at which point did the iPhone come into play?
Ben: The Mercury-News sent me off to Vietnam with a Canon 10-D as well as a 200 mm lens and a 15-36mm zoom, both very nice prime lenses. A couple of times a year, they’d send a staff photographer over to load up on features and shoot pictures to accompany my stories. The rest of the time, I was on my own. I basically shot pictures when I needed to illustrate a story or wanted to document a family trip. In 2008, our last year in Hanoi, I purchased an iPhone and started taking pictures with it, mostly while riding around the streets of Hanoi on my motorbike. This was quite foolhardy — the Hanoi traffic is insane, and the risks of an accident are high even if you are driving with two hands and focusing on the road. But there were so many interesting things to photograph on the streets, I couldn’t resist. I’d steer with one and and shoot iPhone pictures with the other. Miraculously, I’m one of the few people I know who lived in Hanoi but never had a fender-bender.
B: What is your fondest memory? Is there a story you’d like to share with us?
Ben: Well, this isn’t a fond memory, but it’s vivid, and it has to do with photography. Once towards the end of my stay in Vietnam, I was arrested for taking photographs of a news event without permission. A group of Catholics — mostly priests and nuns — were holding a candlelight vigil near St. Joseph’s Cathedral, the biggest church in Hanoi. They wanted the communist authorities to return some land they had seized from the church not long after they came to power in 1945. The state controls religion in Vietnam, and protests are generally forbidden. As soon as I started shooting pictures, an undercover cop arrested me and took me to the Security Ministry headquarters, where I was beaten. The cop actually hit me on my head with the 10-D and broke the lens. The entire episode became a minor international incident. One of the protesters videotaped my arrest and posted it on YouTube. It’s still there, and it’s one of the first things that comes up if you Google me. I would have been deported if the American ambassador hadn’t intervened on my behalf. In the end, I got a brand new Canon 5D Mark II out of the deal, courtesy of the Associated Press.
B: What do you miss the most?
Ben: The food, life street life, and the people. Especially the people. They are funny, wise, kind and resourceful. I miss them every day.
B: Are there any photojournalists on Instagram or another platform that you would recommend?
Ben: My former AP colleague David Guttenfelder is a brilliant photographer. He’s shot photographs of every international conflict in the last 20 years, including some amazing images from Afghanistan, where he spent a lot of time embedded with U.S. troops. He began posting iPhone pics on his Facebook page long before Instagram turned up, and has recently become an avid Instagramer (dguttenfelder).
Another excellent photojournalist active on Instagram is Tomas van Houtryve (tomasvh). Penny de los Santos (pennydelossantos), a former colleague at the Mercury News, can be found on IG as well.
Other IG favorites: je_k, stickiyinhanoi, ipangwahid, josebandeira, zuoc123, iphonefarmer, and eros_sana.
B: And finally, if you were to travel to any place in the world where would you go and why?
Ben: There are many places I would love to go. I’d be happy to live in Vietnam again, if I ever got the chance, or virtually anywhere in Southeast Asia. Myanmar, which is just opening up after years of totalitarian rule, would be very interesting. I lived in Spain for 2.5 years and speak fluent Spanish, but I’ve never been to Latin America. I’d love to go there. And then there’s Rwanda. My wife recently went there on a work trip and loved it.
I plan to return to Vietnam in the spring with my new iPhone, which is vastly superior to the first-generation phone I used to take these iPhone shots.
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Ben Stocking is a Seattle writer/editor who spent 30 years working in daily journalism, including eight years in Hanoi, where he served as the Vietnam bureau chief for the Associated Press. He is currently working on a novel set in Hanoi.
