If you are in YVR, make sure you write it in your schedule, it ends on sept 4th.

I wanted this show to look like a tumblr or a mood board style blog. So there isn’t really a theme, it’s images I shot that are either black and white or are earth tones. There are few winks to the photos inspired by the rap music that once inspired me project on the wall. Most of the original pictures from that project cycled around on those type of websites so it’s kind of a no brainer to tie it back in I think.

I made a sculpture and some letterpress stuff as well that didn’t make it into the show. The space was too small and it didn’t fit with the overall theme. Why did I paint? I guess I’m exercising my license to ill. The painting is my first and it won’t be my last. I did it with Dan Buller from HVW8. It’s a collaborative painting project. It’s new for me and it’s fun. We painted a 1992 16V Gti. The car has an amazing front end. One of my favorite designs from the late 80′s and early 90′s. It’s also a pretty rare car to find intact as it was very popular back then; most of the ones in Quebec were stolen.

ACRYLIC with Matte Medium on CANVAS

45″ x 45″

ACRYLIC with Matte Medium on CANVAS

19″ x 15″

The Ringleaders FC
SHOT BY JFK

First let’s examine the evolutionary line of being that defines photography as Art. We first heard of this theory through avant-gardist Newhall’s conception of what it means to consider photography on the same plane as high art painting or sculpting. While he failed to penetrate masses with the idea, it was undoubtedly a stepping stone for this unclaimed ideology. His focus on curation was purely artist-based; in other words, he preached personal expression and the photographer as an autonomous artist. Public mass wasn’t ready for this. A photographers work was imcomparable to the time and competence needed to achieve an oil painting. Visitors didn’t comprehend the concept of a presence by absence of the photographer which, at the epoch was seemingly viewed to be snobbish and pontifical; often criticized for being submerged in some esoteric fog. Of course, the rise of mechanical reproduction made it impossible to praise the uniqueness, singularity and authenticity of a photograph.

This is where it gets revealing. His successor however, Edward Steichen remapped the idea of what it means to curate an photo exhibit. With the help of Bauhaus designer Herbert Bayer, four guidelines became the appraisal of curation’s organizational logic: space, color, elevation and most importantly typography. His goal? Penetrate and endoctrine an idea and specfic reaction by persuading the visitor to a, not so much biased opinion, but definitely a planned one. Much like these blogs, the photographers were almost or nearly considered a run of the mill. While I, myself as a photographer, hold no belligerent thoughts, it is simple historic fact and modern day truth. The photographer now became an illustrator of another artist’s ideas(in this case, Steichel); the designer’s hand soon became more important than the photographer’s eye. Nonetheless, he succeeded in grabbing the public eye, not because of the talented photographers, but because of the installations and the way photography was being displayed. During Steichen’s 15 year stay as the photographic curator and director at the MoMA, some of America’s most notable photographers went through unnoticed: Callahan’s formalistic style or Robert Frank’s romantic and poignant style slipped through the editting and cropping that Steichen allowed himself to do.

So where do we, as photographers, stand? or as Bloggers? While the 60′s had John Szarkowski to re-establish the balance between curation and photography. The internet is a much bigger Art Museum than the physical institutions…

Share your thoughts. Please.

-Vincent Tsang

Trolly, New Orleans by Robert Frank

The Americans by Robert Frank

Cuzco, Peru by Harry Callahan

Untitled (#372) by Harry Callahan

01. Ok, let’s start this off with a brief introduction: who you are, what you do, what brought you to do what you do?

My name is Dylan Adair and I was born, raised and currently live in Montreal, Canada. I’m a freelance graphic designer and my work deals primarily with logo design and brand identity development.

02. When exactly, did you know you wanted to go into design?

My mom is a painter and there was always art, photography and music around the house. At the end of the day, when it came time to decide what to do, it was pretty clear that I would end up in a creative field of some kind. I ended up in Fine Arts at Dawson and I knew right away that it was for me. I settled on graphic design while I was completing my Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan and I haven’t looked back since.

03. Why did you come back to Montreal? why not stay in the States, in a bigger city like NY or LA where there is a stronger market for designers, especially forward thinking ones like yourself.

Good question, I often wonder the same thing. Let’s chalk it up to a combination of timing, logistics, politics and money. The three years I spent in Los Angeles were important ones and I had a blast while I was there. It was in LA that I got into the apparel industry and that ended up being my career path for the better part of 10 years. I think I followed the work because I felt that I had more to learn and it subsequently led me back here. I often wonder what would have happened had I stayed in LA; I guess second guessing is sometimes second nature. I think my friend Kris has the right philosophy: “Rip out the rearview mirror. What’s behind you is behind you and the road is up front”. He’s in finance though, so don’t trust him.

04. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like graphic design doesn’t even have steady a place in our quickly maturing industry, it’s like if anyone can be a designer by just putting a serif typeface and a few lines here & there…how does someone who’s been doing it for years like yourself, cope with the current situation?

Wow. I think there’s a greater cultural issue here than simply who can do what and how well they can do it. In college they didn’t let us near the computers for the first two years. We were still key-lining and drafting and drawing letters by hand. They wanted us to understand the mechanics behind the art form before we laid ourselves prostrate before the kingdom of Adobe. However, even given how valuable that experience was and despite my formal design education, I have still met people who are phenomenally talented who are 100% self-taught. I think the internet and massive advancements in design software have helped make that an easier thing to do, but I also don’t think that following the hottest 10 design blogs in your RSS feed constitutes an education in design. The bottom line is that we are still a good 200 years behind Europe in our aesthetics and our attitude toward good design and we need to catch up. The argument can be made that every person trying to make our lives better and more beautiful through design is helping move us forward. What doesn’t help is having the potential “value” of hiring a designer questioned by the guy whose nephew knows his way around Illustrator (and will do the work for free). I’m holding out for the possibility that every person that looks a little harder or takes a second longer to appreciate the time taken to make something better and more beautiful will benefit us all in the end.

05. What is SOMETIMES?

Sometimes™ is an ongoing project that I’m working on with Paul Labonté. It’s a vehicle to make things that we feel strongly about that otherwise wouldn’t see the light of day. Imagine having the ability to purge and then produce a great idea within days of it coming to you as opposed to relegating it to the back pages of a Moleskine for months or – worse – forgetting it altogether. It’s incredibly liberating and a lot of fun.

06. I know you might be sick of talking about the Joy Division Nike‘s & NB‘s, but I’m still gonna ask; did you work directly with them or was it a personal project? What did they think and were there any plans of actually producing a minimum?

It’s amazing to think that it’s been 5 years since I made those fucking shoes. The (Nike) Blazers were a custom thing that I did for Sneaker Pimps when the show came through Montreal in 2005. It was purely an art project and an exercise in making a theme/tribute shoe. I love Joy Division, and I love those shoes. They are starting to yellow and discolour but I still love them. The New Balance versions were allegedly going to release in England through RAN UK who have a number of stores in the north. It would have been extremely limited I am sure, but honestly I have no clue why the project fell through. There could have been a hundred reasons at the time to not do it. I’m just sad New Order broke up.

07. Let’s talk a bit about menswear, I like to think you’re a pretty fashion forward guy. I myself am in love with 2 very specific things: outerwear & layers. What are your fall & winter jackets of CHOICE?

I love jackets. My go-to’s for Fall/Winter are a Barbour Beaufort in OD green and a grey wool Aquascutum Duffle for colder weather. I’m also trying to find a replacement for my vintage Swedish naval peacoat that I bought at a surplus store 7 years ago; It’s starting to look pretty thin in spots.

08. A brand that’s killing it right now? and why.

WP Lavori Group and their work in creating the Woolen Mills and John Rich & Bros ranges for Woolrich. I’m very happy about the return to heritage brands that is at the fore of menswear right now, but few are doing it as well as Woolrich. Although I think Daiki Suzuki did amazing things from jump, I am really excited about the potential that Mark Mcnairy could bring to the Woolrich experience. Hopefully the price points will be digestible enough for someone to bring it to the Montreal menswear market.

Honorable mention (and I stress the honour) goes to Benny Gold. I’m personally past the tee and fitted look at this point, but watching what BG has done in the past two years with his own brand is both exciting and inspirational. Young designers would do well to look long and hard at the way Benny works, starting with the humility and gratitude that proceeds his talent. The guy goes out of his way to thank the people that give him opportunities as well as the people that rock his gear. I think that’s classy as hell and – sadly – increasingly rare in this business.

His Portolio
His Blog

“When accuracy, minute details, and preservation count, the unparalleled archival quality of Pigma Micron pens makes them everyone’s first choice. Artist, writers, and illustrators reach for Pigma Micron and know their work is safeguarded with the permanence of Pigma ink. The first disposable technical pen using archival pigmented ink, Pigma Micron ink pen is selected for fine-point technical and artistic applications.”