Helloooo July

The thing I miss the most about not being in school, and about being in a small city like this is art and art culture. Not to say that Kochi doesn't have an "art scene." There's the Kochi Museum of Contemporary Art (got to see a Pop Art exhibition there) and they have a bi-monthly pamphlet that comes out with different gallery openings and things I could go to (though I haven't yet)... It just doesn't feel like a place with a lot of art, though. That, and I'm a photographer and while there are exhibitions, there haven't been ANY photography ones. Mostly print/painting/sculpture and a lot of very traditional/cultural work.

This Sunday, a bunch of artsy people I know are getting together in the city to discuss inspiration and what inspires you. They had their first meeting last month, but I wasn't able to go (meeting time was set up last-minute the day before). I think this is a wonderful idea. I've been having a lot of trouble inspiring myself to do the time of fine-art photography I was doing constantly through my four years of college. It doesn't help that I don't have the sort of resources I used to have at school either (huge digital and chemical print labs, supply stores a short drive away, a faculty to give you advice and criticism... my Nikon film camera). Hopefully, all of us art-majors-turned-English-teachers can inspire each other into producing some work and not just giving up. This is all to say, I came across this wonderful illustrator, Ismay Ozga that I wanted to document for future reference. Her illustrations are gorgeous and I really love the simplicity of her line and color. Her photography also reminds me of my work, in the way that she photographs women in very dramatic ways. Fashion-y, but also really emotional.

Anyway. Another rainy Friday. Me and Ai are gonna go to dinner and then I wanna visit Akira at the bar. Hopefully tonight can be entertaining even though I'm not dragging my ass all the way into the city.

One of my Senior Art Exhibition photos. Man, I miss photo shoots...