I enrolled at the Denver satellite campus of the University of Colorado thinking I might as well just continue doing the only thing I am even remotely good at, photography. Though I have never made much of a career out of this interest-come-passion, identifying and thinking as a photographer or as a "creative" has opened more doors and shaped more of my being than possibly any other aspect of my life. It sparked interests in computers (especially Macs) and software that have paid vast dividends many times over.
The meager budget of the art department paid for famed Minnesotan and photographer Alec Soth to visit and talk. Soth hardly discussed his own work, instead, he brought with him a small collection of photobooks from his personal library and for lack of a better term fanboyed out over them, A practice he has recently brought to Youtube. On his channel, Soth sang the praises of Craig Mod's new book Kissa By Kissa, which of course I bought and immediately became a fanboy of Mr. Mod within 10 pages. Mod's text and images are as warm and inviting as the Japanese cuisine and interiors he features. The book as an object is a well-thought-out marvel of modern publishing that showcases Mod's talent for finding and creating minimalist beauty.
Soth's mini-showcase of Kissa and my experience with the book set up Mod in my mind as some sort of exclusive photobook art nerd, an insular world of what I imagine are mostly bearded hermits living in remote cabins. That was until Mod crossed a disparate stream and recently appeared as a guest on John Gruber's The Talk Show. Consuming Gruber's prodigious and thoughtful, Apple-centric commentary has been an almost daily habit since I started my tech career working at the big fruit company well over a decade ago. The conversation is far-reaching and covers Mod's incredible career so far from Japan to writing and publishing to 'coding' and Pizza Toast.
Having both Soth and Gruber universally praise Mod's creative work was massively re-affirming to a side of myself that I sadly have put on the back burner for far too long since leaving the classroom and entering the techno-workforce. Which is something I am rectifying as I write this.
If you want a—ahem—taste of Craig's work he has also branched into video Pizza Toast & Coffee: Kissa Būgen is a lovely vignette of the book.
The meager budget of the art department paid for famed Minnesotan and photographer Alec Soth to visit and talk. Soth hardly discussed his own work, instead, he brought with him a small collection of photobooks from his personal library and for lack of a better term fanboyed out over them, A practice he has recently brought to Youtube. On his channel, Soth sang the praises of Craig Mod's new book Kissa By Kissa, which of course I bought and immediately became a fanboy of Mr. Mod within 10 pages. Mod's text and images are as warm and inviting as the Japanese cuisine and interiors he features. The book as an object is a well-thought-out marvel of modern publishing that showcases Mod's talent for finding and creating minimalist beauty.
Soth's mini-showcase of Kissa and my experience with the book set up Mod in my mind as some sort of exclusive photobook art nerd, an insular world of what I imagine are mostly bearded hermits living in remote cabins. That was until Mod crossed a disparate stream and recently appeared as a guest on John Gruber's The Talk Show. Consuming Gruber's prodigious and thoughtful, Apple-centric commentary has been an almost daily habit since I started my tech career working at the big fruit company well over a decade ago. The conversation is far-reaching and covers Mod's incredible career so far from Japan to writing and publishing to 'coding' and Pizza Toast.
Having both Soth and Gruber universally praise Mod's creative work was massively re-affirming to a side of myself that I sadly have put on the back burner for far too long since leaving the classroom and entering the techno-workforce. Which is something I am rectifying as I write this.
If you want a—ahem—taste of Craig's work he has also branched into video Pizza Toast & Coffee: Kissa Būgen is a lovely vignette of the book.