I promised myself after restarting this site, that I would post daily. Turns out trips have a funny way of making this hard to do. Also the fact that I didn’t plan ahead. Lesson learned. 

First time to London, to actually see something, and turns out we saw a lot. At one point we took a 5 mile hike across a big part of it. Felt good, though I sit here now having returned with a scrambled head. I liked London…a lot. More than I expected. Living here in Spain and it’s monoculture of foods, and at times wines, London was a small large wake up call to something I knew about myself, but seem to have forgot, I like variety. London is pluralistic, in food, people, wines, beers, though maybe not weather.

During our all too brief visit we ate sushi, steak pies, fish and chips, some of the best steaks I’ve ever had, and a few real breakfasts, full of grease! I drank beers that had complex flavors, came in a pint glass and did not need to be chilled to death to mask their rancidness. I drank wines from Italy, Austra, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Madeira, England, Germany, Alsace, and more. I meant new people, many new friends. Had conversations that I’m still trying to figure out in my head, and stayed with a good friend, whose family makes a nice substitute when ours are so far away. 

This picture I’m going to title, “Dali and Big Ben meet under a Street Light”. It sums up the trip for me, I think.  I’m still trying to figure out what happened in London. It might be that I just miss the ability to communicate flawlessly in my native tongue. Though I think it was something much deeper. I’ll be trying to figure out here and over at Catavino, stay tuned.

I really liked London. I need to digest it a bit, then I might start to make sense. But first some beer and a dram of scotch…till soon r.

I have recently joined a group on flickr called “Delete me Uncensored”. I did it because I wanted some honest feedback on my photos. Great idea, right? Well, I’m not so sure. Having been in art school I’m a big fan of  the tough no holds barred critique. That said, in art school that critique came with some constructive criticism.  I have seen people leave critiques in tears, and in school I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Now here’s the problem. This group encourages fast critiques of photos with what ends up being most people’s first gut reaction. Great. But comments like “<sarcasm>Come on</sarcasm>” really don’t do much for me. Nor do they help. Every picture I have submitted is one that I find interesting, but that is not worth anything, since I”m emotionally attached to them. And in fairness I love the group because it has shown me some things in my pictures that I didn’t notice, making me aware of how I can make them better. For this I am thankful. 

Yet in the end, I’m not sure how much longer I will post there. I feel like as the group grows the comments are becoming less helpful. I have had pictures pass the test and move on to the “winners” group, so I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m whining. I really love the toughness, I just don’t think it’s constructive anymore.

This picture, something that I freely admit is not for everyone, recieved no positive feedback or “positive votes”. No worries, I understand. That said I really like this picture, why? Well it feels like India to me. Things are a bit off kilter at times, and the colors are varied, and unpredictable. The people standing whereever they want also adds to that feel. I might have rated it poorly too if it had not been my own, but that’s the best part of taking pictures. It’s first all about you.

My latest attempt to entertain, personally I’m bored…but heck it’s not half bad. Well, maybe half bad, and the other half, is just so-so.

La Boqueria from ryan opaz on Vimeo.

A quick look around this famous market in Barcelona, Spain.

I figure this might get me some hate mail, i hope. But it’s just such a great pic, and sentiment.

We came across these sheep when out for a walk, away from Terrassa. Slowly we left the city and it was strange to feel the buildings behind us, as we wathced to shepards wander alongside the flock. City shepards I guess you could call them…and uptown sheep.

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Khoda on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Khoda on Vimeo.

Khoda from Reza Dolatabadi on Vimeo.

My graduation film Khoda.
Description:
What if you watch a film and whenever you pause it, you face a painting? This idea inspired Reza Dolatabadi to make Khoda. Over 6000 paintings were painstakingly produced during two years to create a five minutes film that would meet high personal standards. Khoda is a psychological thriller; a student project which was seen as a ‘mission impossible’ by many people but eventually proved possible!

Director and art director: Reza Dolatabadi
Written by Reza Dolatabadi & Mark Szalos Farkas
Animation by Adam Thomson
Music by Hamed Mafakheri

Winner of the Best Animation Canary Wharf Film Festival (London) Aug, 2008

Winner of the Best Student Animation Flip Festival (Birmingham) 2008

Winner of the Best Student Animation, Royal Television Society Award, Scotland (rts) 2009

Official selection for the “Best Short Film Program” at Waterford Film Festival (Ireland) November 2008

Official Selections
16TH FILM FESTIVAL CONTRAVISION (Berlin) Sept 2008
Marbella International Film Festival (Spain) Oct 2008
Encounter Film Festival (Bristol, UK) Nov 2008
Exposures Film Festival (Manchester, UK) Nov 2008
Renderyard Short Film Festival (London)
Flip Animation Festival (Birmingham) Nov, 2008
Animated Dreams (Tallinn) Nov, 2008
Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival? (Toronto) Nov 2008

Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF) (Alaska, USA) December 2008

Enjoy!

Reza Dolatabadi
www.RezaArt.com

Adam Thomson
www.adamthomsonanimation.com

http://www.illegaladvertising.com. A repository for commercials that are too risque, violent, full of bad humor or otherwise. Some should have never been shown, others like the one below, sadly should have been seen.