THE Love+Water designs TEST SITE IS READY!

To all charities, artists, and all-around creatively cool people!


The Love+Water designs site is just about to launch, and is currently in test mode, and we want you to create your profiles!!  


To create a profile, simply go to the test site here: 

http://dev.loveandwaterdesigns.com/ 

and create an account!

Then let us know if you have any problems or issues so we can fix them right away by emailing us at: 

info@loveandwaterdesigns.com

We can’t wait to see your profiles on the site…

WeAR(e)Philanthropy at Love+Water designs!

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PHOTOGRAPHY SPOTLIGHT: Bruno Quinquet

Tags

2ldk, brunoquinquet, japan, photography, salaryman

Bruno Quinquet spent 20 years as a recording engineer in Paris.  One year he decided to spend a sabbatical year in Japan.  That is when he bought a camera and his passion for photography began.  He eventually entered the Tokyo Visual Arts Photography school and graduated in 2009.  He has been working as a professional photographer since then, although his work can make you believe he has been doing this his entire life.  His passion for his work shines through his undeniable talent and style in a way that makes his photography exciting and unique.  Here is what he had to say about two stunning projects he is working on- Salaryman and 2LDK.  

Salaryman Project

Between photography and street photography, this series documents the identity of the average Japanese male office worker, called salaryman.  As a person who never worked in an office I try to show the mystery and poetry hidden in the supposedly boring corporate world.  


In Japan, like in my native France, portrait rights have a dissuasive effect on the production of street photography, making publications of candid photography legally risky.  But not revealing the subjects’ identities, the Salaryman Project tries to address this issue.

2LDK

(pronounce “nee-L-D-K”)

In Japan, “2LDK” means “apartment with 2 Bedrooms, Living room, Dining room and Kitchen”.

This work started as a photo series of windows taken in Tokyo. I was attracted by the way frosted glass creates a blurry tableau of privacy. Then, I installed these photos into views of my own apartment, creating hybrid Japanese private spaces.

   

This collage of various elements, which conveys the presence of an invisible resident, can evoke the tradition of still life. 2LDK can also be seen as an introspective space in which suspended, vague memories try to fall into place in the mental map of this resident, an absent-minded photographer.

   

My lack of proficiency in Japanese urges me to photographically deconstruct and recombine my surroundings, until a visual grammar emerges. To illustrate this aspect, the work is presented by the voices of two computer-generated expatriates, struggling with the terminology of Japanese rooms.

Visit Bruno’s site: http://www.brunoquinquet.com/

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Cristóbal Schmal

Tags

cristobal schmal, illustration, visual art

Cristóbal Schmal is an illustrator with a penchant for the times.  He has a way of capturing the past and the present at the same time, as if he is saying we are all in motion and yet very similar to those who came before us.  His illustrations have appeared in countless magazines and publications, further testament that the world at large sees the incredible force behind his work.  Here is what he had to say about some of his pieces:

This is the open spread page for Baku Magazine Moscú about 4 Russian poets

BerliNordik is an international platform that brings together young talented designers from Berlin with their colleagues from Nordic countries on the subject of sustainable design.

That’s was a personal project about sports. I was trying to find some simple effect inspired by Woodcut Print

That was my interpretation about the city where I live.  For me Berlin is a strange city, very big and with a lot of empty spaces, and of course there’s a lot of crows

And at last, a Book Cover for a thriller.  This work has a special meaning because was one of my first professional works.

Visit Cristóbal’s site: www.artnomono.com

Visit Cristóbal’s blog: http://nomono.blogspot.com/

Visit Cristóbal’s Facebook Page

Visit Cristóbal on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chipirilox/

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Daria Jabenko

Tags

daria jabenko, illustration, visual art

Daria Jabenko’s work is utterly feminine, undeniably rich with the world’s landscapes and basically a kick-ass technique that makes everyone stop and say ‘wow!’.  We love her style, as the colors are so mesmerizing and the subject matter, although they speak to the feminine sensibility, reach across to both genders with its generous and humble worldly tone.  Be sure to visit her site for more dreamlike, amazing work.  Here is what Daria had to say about some of her pieces:

I find beauty in the every day. I absolutely love a warm cup of tea on a crisp autumn morning and drawing in my art journal. Since becoming a freelance illustrator eight years ago, I am always seeking new ways to express myself through my art, and looking for new sources of inspiration to bring beauty to someone’s day. 

Greece

Holland

England

I recently discovered a new illustration technique and it’s been such an inspiration for me. I created a series of illustrations called Travel. Each country is so beautiful on its own and I wanted to reflect that through my art. I’m soon going to France and I am planning on creating french illustrations that will reflect the sweet scent of croissants on the streets of Nice. There is so much to express, so much to show. 

Love Letters

This illustration is very dear to me because of its subject. It’s all about love. I tried to capture the indescribable feeling of being loved and treasured. This illustration is called “Love letters”

Mademoiselle

I created this illustration after coming back from my trip to France. I wanted to express style of Chanel and it’s elegance. She is very delicate and tender, in other words she is like a flower. When she is walking down the streets of France, there is this mystery that spreads around her like a cloud. 

Visit Daria’s site: http://www.dariadesignca.com
Follow Daria on Twitter: @dariajabenko
Find her on Facebook: facebook.com/dariadesignca

L+W Official Oct. 1 Launch!

The time is almost here for Love+Water desigs to make it’s world debut!  On October 1st, our design projects will officially begin and you will be able to create your profile on our site, http://www.loveandwaterdesigns.com!


Why join our community?
Because who wouldn’t want to contribute to giving money to a large number of charities, as well as be part of a major new artistic movement?!


How do you join?
On Friday October 1st, you will be able to create your profile on our site at www.loveandwaterdesigns.com. The rest is history in the making.

Questions?
Email us at loveandwaterinternational@gmail.com


In the meantime…
Follow us on Twitter!
Check out our Facebook page!

As you know, we are all about embracing philanthropy and artistry, and communicating a greater social awareness through design, and your positively bold individuality will help us achieve just that and then some.


We want to help you find charities that inspire you and your work, and we want to help you realize what a better place the world is because of the work we can do together.  We want you to be a part of our mission. 

Join us in creating Wearable Philanthropy.
Every Drop Counts.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Africa Fanlo

Tags

africa fanlo, barcelona, illustration, multimedia, visual art

Africa Fanlo’s art spans the globe and has more depth and integrity than you can imagine.  Based in Barcelona, she combines illustration, motion and video projects in her many different approaches to expressing herself as an artist.  Her illustrations are fantastically subtle and deep, and her video work is mind-blowing.  Her work truly speaks for itself.  Have a look… and then check out her site!

The first is of my last story.  It is a story about a town in Catalonia, in Spain.

 

A story about mothers and daughters. 

 

Personal work on the seabed and the dark.

 

  Poster for the Festival of St Pol.

Visit Africa’s site: www.africafanlo.com

Have you found your PRIME PRODUCE?

Tags

jerome hsu, preprobono, prime produce, prom, volunteer work

Prime Produce is a non-profit that works on connecting people with altruistic interests to other non-profits in order to help them maximize their time with volunteer work. Talk about creating an amazing platform of giving! Jerone Hsu talks about Prime Produce and the various programs they have taken on that have been making a HUGE impact on the non-profit world.

Love + Water- Can you talk about the mission of Prime Produce?

Jerone Hsu- Prime Produce’s official mission is to innovate new channels for positive impact in the non-profit sector, particularly for creative and entrepreneurial students.  The logic behind it is that we think there are a lot of conscientious people out there, but it isn’t cost-effective for everyone to do relief work.  People’s aptitudes vary and they have their own personal needs to adhere to.  At the heart of our organization we’re about creating channels for people to convert whatever aptitudes or resources they have at their disposal and then provide each of them a way to convert those into usable capital for the non-profit sector as a whole.  Our programming is really about the volunteers at the end of the day.  Through our programming we assist other non-profits, and our volunteers get a hands-on experience in innovative not-for-profit programming.  As an organization made up completely of volunteers, we can take more risks and experiment more, without needing a great deal of centralized oversight to leverage our resources and ideas to benefit the causes we care about. We like to call it “guerilla activism.”  We started in 2007, and are still a small outfit but are doing more and more work everyday.

L+W- I understand one of your programs includes helping pre-law students shape their paths toward the non-profit sector.
JH- We run a program called PreProBono.  It provides pre-law students who have demonstrated interest in altruistic or volunteer law practice and provides them with the tools necessary to get into law school.  That includes top-tier LSAT curriculum and admissions consulting.  We are working on building a community that bridges the gap between public interest and law.  We also bring in keynote speakers from the public interest sector to speak to the students about what it means to practice public law and how to gear their law school experience in that direction.  Since April 2008 we’ve had over 250 students in six cities go through this program.

L+W- What inspired you to come up with the idea for Prime Produce?

JH- There was no organization that addressed everything I was interested in pursuing.  Prime Produce allows people to leverage resources to their disposal and comes up with ways to help people harness personal resources using their free time in an altruistic way.

L+W- Plus you have Prom coming up on Sept 25!

JH- Yes! The objectives for the Prom are threefold: to provide a platform for non-profit networking and resource-sharing, to provide and auxiliary fundraising opportunity to non-profits at no cost and to have a great Prom-themed party full of good people. 100% of the proceeds from each entrance fee goes to each attendee’s chosen non-profit. There will be live music, live art, auctions, raffles and a Prom Afterparty. Also, many of our friends, because we’re very grassroots oriented.  We feel strongly that this emphasis on immediate personal networks has given us a real backbone.  Doing these projects is fun, a great way to learn together and allows us to build a community around the idea that fuels us.  

L+W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far?

JH- There have been so many and many different levels.  I have one friend from school who ended up becoming my partner on Pre-Pro-Bono, and we’ve become so much closer as a result.  He is one of my closest friends as a result of us working together, and we’re very productive as a result.  Another one was last year we were able to go to Nepal after raising money from a benefit t-shirt to conduct arts programming and pay for a playground at an orphanage there. I think also the day-to-day challenges of figuring out how to make certain projects happen and then watching the results is very rewarding.

Visit the Prime Produce site: http://www.primeproduce.org/
Get tickets for the Prime Produce Prom: primeproduce.org/prom
Find the Prime Produce Prom on Facebook
Visit PreProBono: www.preprobono.org

PHOTOGRAPHY SPOTLIGHT: Nicola Boccaccini

Tags

nicola boccaccini, photography, visual art

Nicola Boccaccini’s photography is of an era of class and artistic fervor.  There is life and excitement and history pulsating through each piece.  It’s no wonder he has photographed artists such as Tom Waits, Alberto Sordi, Woody Allen and Henri Cartier-Bresson (shown in the last of the below pieces).   He is of the same language as these artists- unique, inventive and fearless.  Take a look at the below and then go to his site for a more full experience.


I am interested in people.  My photographs are about people, people and situations.  My subjects interact with the ambient and I try to catch all those interactions where you can find something poetic, strange or even ironic.

I am now working on long term projects about documentation of “old jobs” (like Woodturner Roncalli), manual jobs and related activities.  A sort of “documenting something” before it disappears forever is the fulcrum of my kind of photography in projects and in single shots too.  I think that every frame, every photograph that I make recalls a kind of “preservation-philosophy” showing, in a single frame, something that I saw in my own way and (thus) became a way to keep that situation alive forever!

 

Visit Nicola’s site: http://www.nicolaboccaccini.com

E.P.I.C. (Everyday People Initiating Change)

Tags

alexi panos, clean water, epic, mtv, quiksilver, tennille amor

Alexi Panos and Tennille Amor realized that they could start making a difference in the world, as in right now. So without any experience in the non-profit world they started E.P.I.C. (Everyday People Initiating Change), a non-profit organization focused on building water wells in villages in the developing world. They just began, and the rest followed, including a feature on MTV, a partnership with Quiksilver, and the building of wells in places that were in desperate need of clean water. And they’re just getting started…

Love + Water- What was Alexi’s and your motivation to start Epic?

Tennille Amor- We all have the opportunity to make a difference in the world right in this moment, which is something both Alexi and I realized at the same time and decided to just start.  So in 2006 we started E.P.I.C, and the results have been incredible every step of the way.  We didn’t have to give up our lives in order to start this organization, and we didn’t have any experience in the non-profit world.  We just learned as we went along, and raised as much money as we could doing fundraisers here and there.  Starting Epic has also allowed us to continue on our artistic paths while pursuing this project that we’re so passionate about.  

L+W- You are now partnered with Quiksilver- what has that been like?

TA- When Quiksilver started their women’s line they wanted to do something similar to what they’re doing with the men’s line in terms of finding young, creative women who run a charity.  We happen to know someone who works for the men’s line who passed our name along to them.  They interviewed other charities for about three months, but couldn’t find one that was a better match.  We are their brand ambassadors now, and have been super happy about the partnership.  When Quiksilver came along they helped us so much with donating clothing and 3% of all their eco-friendly clothing sales, which allowed us to build our second and third wells in Mangalai and Kibebe.  Their support has allowed us to accomplish work we didn’t anticipate.  

L+W- I understand also that you stay in the areas where you build wells for as long as it takes to help them build sustainable communities.

TA- One thing that we realized that sets us apart as an organization is the personal involvement we have in each of the communities we get involved with.  In order to fully understand the struggle we thought it was important to experience it, so we always participate in doing the ‘walk of water’ with the women, where they take us to see where their source of water comes from.   We’ve done it enough times now where we could become desensitized to the whole situation if we were to just build wells and leave.  We realized how important it is to us to slow down and take the time to educate the people we work with on the importance of why cleaner water is important.  As an example, there is an area called Ugele with three villages, and the government had built a well in one of the main villages, which is extremely far away from the other two villages.  So the women of the other two villages built a hand-dug well to get water from the main well, and they set out buckets in the morning , do their chores and check on their buckets several hours later.  This source of water is not good for them, but to them it makes sense logically to continue in this way because it’s what they’re used to.  Some will also have their kids miss school in order to walk the longer distance to get water from the main source.  We decided that the best way to help them was to give bikes to each of the three villages so they can get to the main water source easily until we are able to build wells in each village.  It also sends the message to them that we are here for a long-term project, and that we plan on working with them until we solve the problem to the best of our abilities.  That also instills a sense of trust in them that we are there to help.

L+W- How often do you tend to return to one area before leaving the work entirely in their hands?

TA- We haven’t left a village entirely yet, and I don’t know that we will.  We’ve asked within the villages if we can come back and see the areas that have been affected and see how the cleaner water is helping them, because we want to have a long-term relationship with them.  It is the little things that we focus on, like whether a well has broken down or little glitches they might run into along the way to building a more sustainable community that we want to be able to answer for them.  That’s most important to us.

L+W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far?

TA- It was in a village called Mangalae when we had a meeting with the local women to find out what they needed.  We had just done the ‘walk for water’ with them, which was a 3.4 mile walk to the Ruaha River, a terribly dirty source of water.  When we sat with them afterwards, we asked them how they felt about getting a new well and whether they would take care of it.  One woman said that they would build a wall around it and padlock it and guard it with their lives because clean water is like gold to them.  While we were having these conversations there was a woman staring at Alexi and me with such love that I just burst into tears.  It was that moment that I realized the impact we were having.  As I said earlier it’s easy to become desensitized to what we are doing when we’re focusing on how to raise money, how to get the next well drilled, and all of the logistics involved in planning.  But moments like that really serve as a reminder that our work is paying off.  It’s really moving.

Visit E.P.I.C. (Everyday People Initiating Change)

PHOTOGRAPHY SPOTLIGHT: Michael Gray

Tags

michael gray, photography, visual art

Michael Gray’s photography will just knock your socks off.  Perhaps it is because of the stunning contrasts that he captures.  Perhaps it is because of the time he takes to create and develop each print.  Or perhaps is it because he has worked steadily over the years to hone his craft and create photos that are true to his vision.  I think all of the above, plus he’s just a really, really talented artist.  Here is what he had to say about some of his work:

Battersea power station, study 3. 2007.

I planned to go to Battersea on this July morning to take a few images of the power station but sadly it was raining heavily and any decent sky was non existent. Around mid morning I noticed the sky clearing with white clouds appearing so I grabbed my Arax60 with 45mm PC lens and swiftly went to the power station. As I arrived the sky was like no other sky I had seen before and rapidly changing so time was not on my side. I took a few frames of film before the sky turned to grey and started raining again.  

Battle Abbey, study 6. 2007

For this image the time of year is important for the ray to be at the correct angle although it does not always appear even with the sun shining. I visited the abbey on this November day with my MamiyaRB67 camera and the ray was fortunately visible. The lighting is complex with light coming from windows outside of the frame as well as the windows in front of the camera so exposure and development of the film is critical to maintain detail.

British museum, study 1. 2006

This was an early morning visit to the museum and I was one of the first visitors through the doors.

The view in front of me was breath taking with light and shadows all around. This was the first frame I took with my Arax60 and 50mm wide lens, only 10 minutes later visitors were on the stairs. 

City hall, study 5. 2009

Taken early on a dull summer day using my 5×4 camera the composition was not very straightforward.

Camera position was very critical and only a few centimetres either way ruined the composition.

The large rail to the left creates a distorted perspective due to the large size of around 30-40 cm across.

 The smaller silver inner handrail is actually hand size.

Clapham Common study 3, foggy night. 2008

Fog is one of my favourite weather conditions for photography but sadly is very rare. I was fortunate during February 2008 to have four days of fog so I decided to take some very early morning images on Clapham Common. I ventured on to the common at around 4-00am with my Mamiya C330s and started taking some images of various subjects. Suddenly I came across this scene of a tree lit from behind by a street lamp, which created the beautiful light rays.

Eagle pond, snow, Clapham Common. 2009

We had very heavy snow during the night and when I woke in the morning I had to get out there even though it was only 4-00am.  

I live close to the common but walking on this particular morning was daunting so I managed to drive to the common in my car, slipping and sliding all the way.  I set up my Mamiya C330s camera on a tripod and was the only person around so no footprints, just fresh clean snow.

Headstones, West Norwood cemetery. 2006.

This was my first ever visit to the cemetery on a sunny autumn day. Finding a decent composition with my Arax60 was not easy and this headstone with the cross to the left really attracted my attention. I burnt the background in to give a night-time appearance.

Visit Michael’s site: http://michaelgrayphotographic.com/index.htm