Fer Pérez is the editor of arts, fashion and music website The Youthquake. From their brand new office in Santiago de Chile, Fer tells us what has been the best moment for The Youtquake so far.
The Youthquake’s best moment isn’t actually a punctual moment but a series of circumstances that have made the website grown so much more than what I would have ever thought. It is every single project we develop, every brand we support and all the little things we do.
Actually, another really good moment has been renting our new office – we’re so happy in here!
Hanna Ukura is a Swedish photographer based in Stockholm. We spotted Hanna’s portfolio online and fell in love with her work! Hanna tells us a little bit more about her inspirations and aesthetics.
I photograph a mixture between everyday photography, which is sort of as a journal where you try to keep your eyes busy and never forget to look at things. And then there’s the more thought through projects that develop over time and need more structure and planning. I like the combination of both.
It’s hard to pinpoint why you photograph or why you take the photos in the way you do. But I have a favourite quote from the video-artist Bill Viola which I use as an inspiration:
‘To be sensitive to all frequencies at once, to be overwhelmed and delirious with sensory experience’
I try to look at the world around me with eyes wide open. You see things all the time that are so hauntingly beautiful that it sort of hurts. And instead of losing that image, because you can’t burn it to the inside of your eyelids, I take the camera, which I always carry with me, and capture it. It’s like feeling with your eyes, the same way as you can feel music pierce through your body if it’s good enough.
For my own projects I prefer to work almost exclusively with film cameras. It makes it easier while photographing people because they tend to become very self-aware when being photographed with a digital camera. And it also makes me think one step further before I actually press the button. I always carry my small Mju II or a Canon AE-1 with me. But then I’m forced to work digital when it’s an assignment just to be sure that I actually captured everything, and to be able to deliver the photos on time.
Mr. Spoqui is a ‘family zine’ edited by Tiago, Blanca, Milena and Amanda Baeza, four siblings living in Lisbon, Portugal. Mr Spoqui is published every two months and each issue explores a special and sometimes unusual subject.
Amanda answers to our one question interview this week! Thanks Amanda!
Mr. Spoqui is the perfect example of a creative family project, did your parents somehow inspire you to get all the siblings together and start it?
We’re part of a family of artists (our mom is a dancer and our dad a painter), so since we were little they’ve taught us to respect culture and explore our abilities in a healthy way. Our parents provided us this base in a natural way, allowing us to discover our attitudes and interests at our own pace. It’s something deeper than an inspiration, it was our way of growing together.
The creative act is a method of interaction, communication and affection within our family. Even if it’s something that’s hard to rationalise, this is no unusual phenomenon. Creativity is a powerful tool to stimulate and strengthen our experience as human beings, and while writing this answer I’m reminded of the work of Tom and James Hancock. It’s not about turning into artists to put on display in museums, but to recognise that art has an important role in our development as persons, and the work of these two Australian brothers is a good example of what I want to express.
Follow Mr. Spoqui on Twitter and find out more about the zine on their site.
Oisín Share is an Irish graphic designer based in Manchester, UK. Though Oisín specialises in print-based projects, he also creates corporate identities and other communication imagery for art exhibitions, and photography for leading international publications.
Oisín is the first to contribute to our new One Question Interview.
What is the most exciting thing about working in the creative industries? What do you enjoy about being a freelance graphic designer? What are the challenges?
I think I still have the mentality of someone who’s just flown the nest, in that seeing my work out in the real world is still a tremendous thrill. The more creative work I do in the industry, the more I get to see it out there around me, which is something I might never get used to.
At present, a lot of the design work I do is for small independent businesses in my local community and it’s exciting and encouraging to see something that was previously a thought in my head or a pixel montage onscreen, to suddenly being in the hands of people around me.
Working as a freelance creative is something I never thought I would do, and each day I am so thankful I get to do it – it really is close to ‘living the dream’. I always feared there were already enough designers out there going it alone, and perhaps not enough clients out there to merit our efforts, but I have (thankfully) been proven wrong. It is an industry like any other, and the same rules apply to it that would to a coffee bar or bakery: supply and demand, quality and skill, and passion. It’s incredible to be making a living doing what I have a passion for, it’s something I know is rare in the diverse world of careers. I really do my best to make what I do for people as great as it can be, no matter who the audience. It comes with countless challenges though – the leading one of course being financial. Every project comes alongside a tiring chase for payment, or even uncomfortable janglings of terms and agreements during the quotations and invoices. And of course, the famous ‘clients from hell’. When I realised that most of my work would be directed by clients and infrequently self initiated, it really drove me to ensure I had other parts of my life to exhibit creativity or follow other interests of mine. I’ve been lucky to finally get a website of mine off the ground after years of mulling it over – the European Post – which keeps every day colourful and diverse. I am oddly obsessed with European identity, news and politics and decided to create a site that combines these things. So many designers out there illustrate and create little elements that together add to a wonderful collection of updates and visuals, documenting this continent around us.
It’s certainly a challenge to ensure that I don’t treat freelancing as a job and nothing more, but at that, it’s a challenge that I’m indeed lucky to have. There are few things as energising as an enjoyable challenge, don’t you think?
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