Of the nearly two thousand photos I took during my whirlwind of a sojourn to Liberia, this one is my favorite. I shot it-- and the most darling video ever-- from the passenger seat of my father's car, while these lovely little ladies enthralled at their reflections.

I'll be back soon.

In the meantime, if you've any suggestions as to where I could show this and other images from my trip, do send them along.

I'll be watching this tonight en route to Brussels. Although I must admit, it may take me a while to stop chuckling at the fact that there are subtitles. They're speaking English-- 日本語じゃないよ!

At any rate, I stumbled upon this movie about an hour before I headed out for my first surfing lesson last summer-- which I signed up for after experiencing one and a half years of recurring dreams about wave riding. Synchronicity at its finest.

As I wrap up preparations for my trip to Liberia, I leave you to enjoy this collage-- aptly titled, "Stay Strong"-- by French-Senegalese photographer/art director/painter/designer Delphine Diallo.

J. Michelle Hill-Campbell is a pioneer of digital print on cloth. She designs texiles for use in home furnishings, fashion, and theater (see Lion King, Aida). Hill-Campbell is based in New York, received her MFA from Howard, and teaches several classes at Parsons-- one of which I've been meaning to enroll in for a couple of years. I can't find much information on the Africa- and Asia-inspired designer on the interwebs, but would of course love to see more of her work. Photo from the Museum of Arts and Design.

Patricia Coffie is a Ghanaian photographer based in New York. I missed her recent show at the Mary Boone Gallery, but look forward to having an opportunity to get up close to her thrilling work soon.

Brian "Deka" Paupaw is a broadcast designer, creative director of the Se7en Nations clothing brand (still kicking?), a serious snowboarder, and now a filmmaker. He chronicles his journey from Bed-Stuy to South American back country mountains in his recently completed documentary, Hoods to Woods:

I will have just arrived in Liberia-- with my newly acquired surfboard in tow-- but if you're in New York next Thursday, you should go to the Hoods to Woods screening party at The Blue Seats:

Hoods to Woods Screening
Hosted by Filmmaker Brian "Deka" Paupaw
March 5th, 2009
The Blue Seats
157 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002

Doors open @ 6pm
Film Screening: 8:00 - 8:30
Reception: 8:30 - until

There has been a tendency to shy away from who you are, and I don’t want to deny who I am. If a Japanese architect talks about Shintoism, everyone goes, “Wow.” If an African architect talks about an African village, it is somehow weird in the Western context. I find that hilarious. What’s the difference?

London-based, Ghanaian architect David Adjaye was born in Tanzania and educated at the Royal College of Art. His 2005 Whitechapel Idea Store-- he designed several "Idea Stores," which are not at all unlike Japan's one-stop culture shop community centers-- in London won the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) First Prize Bronze Medal (photo just below). Adjaye also creates stunning private spaces-- including James Casebere and Lorna Simpson's four-story Fort Greene studio (bottom photo), which you may remember as the subject of a 2006 Times article.



Adjaye is all of 42 years old.

1962, St. John's Episcopal High School in Robertsport, Liberia. Eat your heart out, Thom Browne.