San Francisco, California

From the web zone of Joshua Heineman…“I’m breathing new life into the past using old digitized photographs from the New York Public Library. I’ve spent hours rekindling these moments, & they will not be the last… (it’s like the past has rediscovered a dimension!)” See more here.

Reaching for the Out of Reach 12: Photographer 18 stories above Fifth Avenue, New York City, 1906.

(Thanks, Adrian).

Winnipeg, Canada

“She’s a virgin; she’s a whore. She’s a sinner; she’s a saint. Explore the most beautiful, most repulsive city in the world….” So reads the introductory header of the website Love & Hate Winnipeg by designer/photographer Bryan Scott.

For over 30 years I’ve had the pleasure of working in Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District (Circle spent the first 17 years on Albert Street, then moved to our current location in the Oddfellow Building on Princess Street 15 years ago)—the Exchange District looms large through Bryan’s remarkable lens.

Images © Bryan Scott: Winnipeg’s Old Market Square; Del’s Electric on Princess (two buildings over from us); [not] the ‘Toronto City Police Station’ across McDermot Avenue from our office (the signage is a remnant from movie sets—understandably, the Exchange District is a popular destination for film production).

Newberg, Oregon (USA)

Darryl Brown is the designer of Geez magazine, as well as a talented image maker (illustration and photography). In his words… “Unhappy with working for businesses I did not feel good about supporting, I recently quit a good design job to work in higher education (he’s now the art director at George Fox University). I gave up some income, but also traded a two-hour (round-trip) commute for a short bike ride to work every morning. More importantly, I do work I believe in.” Check out Darryl’s new blog for inspiring examples of visual creativity—here.

Thanks to Aiden Enns for the heads-up (Aiden credits me with “introducing him to the concept of wabi sabi” some years ago, for which Darryl offers this definition here: “Wabi sabi is an intuitive appreciation of transient beauty in the physical world that reflects the irreversible flow of life in the spiritual world. It is an understated beauty that exists in the modest, rustic, imperfect, or even decayed, an aesthetic sensibility that finds a melancholic beauty in the impermanence of all things.”

All images © Darryl Brown: R is for rust; Baseball ll, blog header from darryldesigns.

From a great collection of design and architecture book covers compiled by Joe Kral on flickr here (thanks Jon Whipple)… many of which we also have in our library at Circle.

(source unknown)

Here’s a great use for old rotary telephones… love those legs.

(source unknown—thanks Betty Jackson)

Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

Ev Richter (my smart, beautiful, and talented girlfriend) has been busily preparing for this summer’s 7th Wave Artists’ Studio Tour, which kicks off on the weekend of 14/15 June when “the public is invited to tour the studios and participating artists of the Interlake… essentially a self-guided tour enabling visitors to speak with the artists and view their work in very picturesque locations.” Studios of participating artists will be flying a distinctive blue-and-white Wave flag.

“North of Winnipeg, take the scenic route through cottage country along Lake Winnipeg’s western shore, experience the vastness of Netley Creek and Oak Hammock Marshes, leave the beaten path for charming country lanes, and take a trip inland to Stonewall. Cover the whole tour in a round trip loop, or make it a day or a weekend adventure. Great restaurants, picnic sites, sandy beaches, a refreshing dip, inspiring historic sites, first class accommodations, and of course, an art experience close up and personal!”

More information about the Winnipeg Beach Art & Culture Co-op Inc. and the 7th Wave Artists’ Studio Tour here. See some of Ev’s work here.

Evelin photographed this evening outside her studio with one of her ceramic sculptures (The Seven-Year Itch). 

Winnipeg, Canada

Georgian Bay, the latest photographic coffee-table book by good friend and client Mike Grandmaison, has hit the shelves. This is Mike’s third feature book published by Key Porter Books. See more of Mike’s outstanding photography on the new website we designed for him here, and attend a book-launch at the Polo Park McNally Robinson outlet in Winnipeg at 19:00 on 12 June, 2008 (to attend, send an e-mail to rsvp@keyporter.com and put “Grandmaison in Winnipeg” in the subject line).

Congratulations, Mike!