kayleighcapote-blog

[kayleighcapote-blog]

Positive Exposure

Photography captures the life of its subjects in some of their most beautiful moments. Whether showcased or candid, photographs reveal personal stories communicated by way of the creators of the world in which they are set. While scrolling through my Instagram, I am often stopped by a portrait of a model, a newly-wed couple, or a friendly face, all captured by the same talented young photographer, and my cousin, Natalia Wajda.

Operating under two respective handles, @nataliafries and @nataliawphotos, she has "two identities in photography," shooting both casually and professionally. She revealed to me that one half of her business comes from clients who hire her for weddings, engagements, baby photos, fashion photography, and "anything that comes [her] way."

The other half is collaborating with models who will seek her out "if they need photos for their portfolio for their agency or a test shoot." This includes getting a makeup artist and stylist. "Trade for Print," it's called. She explained that these collaborations, though not profitable, allow her to express her voice as an artist since it's "hard to be creative and do what you want with people who are paying you."

Initially establishing herself by putting posters up around her college campus, she now finds most of her clients through social media. "A lot of people will dm me and be like, 'hey, can we shoot? What are your packages?' or models will find my page and ask me to collab." Actively posting and reaching out to potential clients is all part of having a successful business. In an age where likes and follows determine the success of an artist, that artist has to be particular about the business she attracts. "It's not a collaboration to me if I'm doing all the work, so that person has to be able to bring their look, bring their style, and contribute."

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Follow Me

From the lush forests of Bali to the streets of Havana to the Taj Mahal, Natalia Osmann has been leading her husband to the ends of the Earth, their love captured within some of the most popular photos on Instagram. Murad Osmann and his now wife, Natalia Zakharova, became Insta-famous in 2012 after his photos went viral. The images depict her taking his hand, the most beautiful and iconic landscapes of the world beyond her, as his camera-work captures her from behind, dressed in accordance with the changing scenery and culture.

This journey, owed to a graffiti-coated door in Barcelona, reveals that impatience isn’t always a bad thing. Osmann divulged that the initial picture that started it all was an accident. He explained that "Nataly was a bit annoyed that I was always taking pictures of everything, so she grabbed my hand and tried to pull me forward." Despite her interference between the camera and the scene, he insisted on taking more photos and transformed the images into his Instagram identity and eventually into an entire brand.

Their’s is a story that proves how necessary accidents are in order to succeed, gaining a following of 4.4 million, attracting the attention of huge corporations hoping to collaborate, and of course, the imitation posts by fans. As a fellow follower, I am always intrigued by what destination they will visit next and manage to find other photographers and artists through reading the comments on these posts. 

Where to next?

Join the adventure.

[kayleighcapote-blog]

Rough Trade NYC

Tucked within a side street of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, between cafés and novelty shops, sits the largest of the Rough Trade stores, boldly making itself available to music lovers and artists alike. This location is the newest edition to the family with 4 other stores in England, the first opened in 1976 in West London during the emergence of punk. Since its opening in November of 2013, Rough Trade NYC has become a staple in the culture that surrounds the city.

I have identified such consumers by T-shirts, tote bags, and pins on my morning commute, the classic stark white letters against their black backdrop sparking my interest. Despite curiosity, I had not gotten the chance to see the store for myself until quite recently.

Let's just say, it did not fail to disappoint. I was welcomed with chaos and color, the walls coated in a thick layer of magazine clippings and graphic images that looked as though they were cut and pasted by a child. On the ground, life-sized stickers meant to guide guests toward their preference whether that be music, in all of its forms, books, merchandise, a game of ping-pong in the back room, a bite at the café, a private listening session in the Sonos sound room, and on the right night, a concert.

Fortunately, I was able to seek the assistance of a long-time employee who revealed to me the business end of the store. Going by various titles as head of security, used record buyer, and inventory manager, I didn't catch his real name, but "everybody calls me Ski."

"Essentially there are two different companies" that occupy the same building. There is "Rough Trade, who runs the store and then Bowery Presents who runs the venue." He explained to me how the concert booking works, that "whatever their [the band's] talent buyer does, sometimes she gets contacted, sometimes she goes out looking for bands to book on certain days." Though these two companies function as entirely separate entities, "we do in-store events, like if somebody wants to play. Albert Hammond Jr.'s album just came out from The Strokes yesterday, we did a signing with him this afternoon. My marketing manager books bands to do short performances that coincide with their record releases."

While walking down the aisles of vinyl and browsing through the stores' mass collection, I got the sense that Rough Trade was only as great as the sum of its parts and wondered how they maintained a full stock of such a variety. Ski revealed that they "buy from various distributors," he said. "We have accounts with 10 or 15 or 20 distributors for different things. We buy record-cleaning fluid, we have T-shirts, plus the vinyls, the cds, the dvds, the cassettes, the turntables… We don't have to go to one company at a time, we can go to one place and say get like 5 or 6 things altogether." 

He went on to say that the profits from this selection go back into the store and "not everything that [they've] bought even a year ago or two years ago [they] can bring back in. That's just the way the whole music business works. Something might be available for a little while and then after a year or two it might go out of press."

Ultimately, it's up to the label to decide what becomes available for sale. "They own the rights." That is why bands that have long-since broken up are still putting out new editions of their music.

In a store so invested in vinyl I wondered, is it worth it? "Yeah, I think it's back and here to stay. Mainly because younger people are now getting involved, even small children, and the downloads and the itunes and all that stuff, you don't necessarily own those… people nowadays like having something tangent. I've always liked being able to go through bins of music and picking things out, touching, feeling, listening while you're in the store, we're always playing music in the store. You never, know, you walk in and you hear something that you don't know and you're like, 'Oh wow, I like this.'"

"Vinyl sounds better. The artwork is bigger, liner notes, inner sleeves, it's like a toy." This aesthetic doesn’t stop at vinyl, but pervades the entire creative space. It’s safe to say I’m going to become a regular. 

https://www.roughtrade.com/stores

https://www.roughtradenyc.com/

[kayleighcapote-blog]

Living Art

An imprisoned woman surveys the street from behind bars, a goddess balances the life that walks beneath her gaze, a musician from every genre is immortalized by the corner they occupy, and I am caught between. Street Art, plastered upon walls and signs from Greenwich Village to Brooklyn, of all different scales, encapsulates the life from which it was born and ingrains itself into life yet to be established.

It's creators, rebels and anarchists, the artists that take their work beyond gallery walls, beyond exhibition spaces, and beyond permission. Rooted in counter culture and social and political activism, street art begs for a reaction within the public who views it. In many ways, becoming a more accesable way of absorbing an artist's work, there are no entrance fees, no artist profit, and no compromises.

The Bowery district of New York City is home to works of all different varieties. Each one acting as a memory or reminder communicated to the urban space from the artist. It's most recent attraction, a mural by Banksy, that extends the length of the building behind it covered in black tally marks. As I approached this wall, the marks enlarged until they were towering over my head, just one of them near the length of my stature.

In place of a signature, the bottom right of the piece reads "FREE ZEHRA DOGAN," a Turkish journalist and painter who was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months of jail for producing a painting depicting the destruction of a Kurdish town with Turkish flags flying over the debris.

Dogan, though trapped behind a set of marks, grasps onto a pencil, determined to continue spreading her message despite her restricted state. The creation of one controversial piece of art in reflection of another controversial work propels the conversation beyond just Dogan and the institutions imprisoning her, between Dogan, Banksy, and the public.

Walk a block away and another freshly painted work can be seen peering over a subway entrance. This work commemorating the #marchforourlives campaign, the movement to prevent gun violence that drove in over a million participants worldwide on Saturday, March 24. As I passed this work I couldn't help but feel the glare of the sorrowful yet stern eyes of the youth depicted in the mural staring back at me as if to say enough is enough. The statement made by this mural and others like it is not just powerful, it is reality-altering and revealing of a society determined to make change happen, art as just one outlet of doing so.

Viewing this piece, I couldn't believe how soon it was completed, the march occurring just a few days prior. "There are so many statements being made and they're all put up so quickly as if the moment people react to the issues being talked about is the moment they take to the streets and start working," one onlooker commented.

On the other side of the bridge, a vibrant Brooklyn is booming with art. Shepard Fairey, famed graphic designer and founder of OBEY Clothing, is perhaps most notable for his work as a street artist, and one that gets government approval no less. Though he had made his name through "OBEY Giant" stickers as a college student, his art has since been featured in contemporary art museums worldwide and representative of immigration reform and even the campaign of president of the United States. One of his most famous street pieces, the Lotus Woman Mural, was introduced to the side of the BQE in August of 2012 and has attracted the attention of residents, tourists, and the neighborhood itself ever since.

As I stood before the Lotus Woman, I was saddened to see that her once omnipotent image had faded. Her striking portrait, manifested in Fairey's signature deep red and off-white, bruised and buffed from age. Once was her maternal image, upholding "peace" and "justice," the guide and protector of all who entered Dumbo. At present, the first piece people see when they exit the F train at York Street, a worn version of her former self.

Still, Dumbo, or the district under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, has embraced the image of the Lotus Woman despite her current condition. Fairey's influence, as well as the influence of other street artists, is revealed through flags, shops, and even the style of the resident's themselves, it's establishment as one of New York City's most beloved art districts. Dumbo is certainly not what it used to be. This area has become increasingly gentrified as the attraction to its bohemian vibe and art scene has risen over the past decade.

Fairey explained his choice in location as being a public space, "owned by the people," intending to make spectators think and create controversy without crossing any lines that don't need to be crossed. He believes that "everything is in flux," and encourages those against his change to go "pioneer the next neighborhood."

"I think it's [the art] great, it gives color to the neighborhood and helps define it. It's all so diverse and really represents the community,” a resident responded to the Dumbo artwork. 

Sometimes the art is in reaction to some great issue that our society is currently grappling with, sometimes it's just a reflection of life in general. Either way the images depicted need to be communicated somehow and this is an impactful way of doing it, of having people speak to each other about what's real.

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A Semester Abroad Interview

Colleges today are offering more and more study abroad and exchange programs for their students, some even accepting first-year applicants and making it affordable with scholarship opportunities. Similarly, students are seeking out alternative travel programs in place of an academic semester. In this interview, I speak with a friend of mine, about her experience taking a semester off to travel abroad in Australia under the program “Gapforce.” 

Subject: Cara Girardi, student at the University of Vermont

So you took a semester off after high school before attending UVM, where did you go? I went to Australia and I backpacked on the East coast, so I started in Sydney and I ended in the city Cairns.

What program were you a part of? It was through the program Gapforce and that’s just a program that connects people that want to do gap year programs and do the same types of things while they’re traveling.

What does this program offer? Where do you stay? We stayed in hostels the whole time except while we were volunteering, we stayed on the volunteer site. It offers a package price of the hostels and all of the activities and transportation fees besides airfare.

What were the conditions of these hostels? What did they look like? The hostels were pretty gross. A lot of them didn’t have air conditioning so it got very hot. It’s pretty much just a big room and with a bunch of bunk beds in it. Usually at least four bunk beds. The bed comes with one blanket and one pillow. Most of them have shared bathrooms. Some of them have co-ed bathrooms, that’s pretty common too.

Having to co-exist in a crowded room, a lot of people, how did you find making friends and getting along with the other kids? Making friends was easy because you’re so on top of everyone, you were living with them so it was very easy to talk to people.

Where did these kids come from? What countries? There were people from the states…There was someone from Canada, someone from South Africa, and a couple people from England too.

What was the work like there? What did you do? For work, we did a two-week volunteer program for conservation work where we replanted trees to help with the oxidation level of the Great Barrier Reef.

What areas did you travel to? We traveled up the East Coast. About every 3 or 4 days we moved to another hostel, all hostels along the beach of the East Coast.

What were travel times like? What kind of transportation did you use? We got around mostly by Greyhound buses, that’s how we got from hostel to hostel. Some of them were just a couple of hours long and others were up to 16 hours long, but it wasn’t that bad because we took overnight ones and slept on the buses.

How did you find out about this program? I was looking for programs that gave you a group of people to travel with that had all of the activities that I wanted to do.

How long was it for? A little over 2 months.

Approximately how much was the trip? For the program and the travel? The trip altogether, I believe, was about 5,000 dollars but I paid for it through the program, about 2,000 for my airplane ticket and when I went there I spent about 1,500 on food and activities and other excursions.

Would you recommend taking any time off or any time to travel to someone about your age? I would always recommend taking time off to travel or doing any travel. I found it really beneficial and I really enjoyed my experience.

What do you plan to study in school? Right now, I’m on the pre-vet course so I’m studying animal sciences.

Do you think that taking a semester off makes it harder to go back to school? It definitely made it harder to go back because once you see how easy it is to life the travel lifestyle, you see that people’s plans don’t always include college and when you’re on the college track that’s all that’s around you so you don’t really see outside of it.

Would you go back to Australia? Yeah, I would definitely go back to Australia but I definitely want to go some other places first.

Here is the link to the Gapforce website…

https://gapforce.org/us 

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Portugal. The… Grammy Winners?

“Who’s opening again?” I ask my friend as we wait for the set to start.

“Portugal. The Man.”

“Oh yeah, I think you played me one of their songs, they’re good. Strange name though.”

Impatiently waiting in a gated corner of Central Park, legs already stinging numb from the walk over, the crowd becoming more and more claustrophobic with us packed in the center, the sacrifices we make for music. We came to see the headliner, Cage the Elephant, but left with the impression that we may hear more from their opening act in the coming years. Still, like most supporting bands, their set was comprised of a couple of amps strewn about the stage in front of the headliner’s equipment, displayed to get the crowd excited for the ‘real band,’ the band that would open for The Rolling Stones in the following year.

Little did we know that just like that band, Portugal would win a Grammy less than two years later. As they are announced the winner for best pop duo/ group performance, I consider the other acts sharing the stage that night and catch myself thinking something my father would, maybe there is hope for music today.

“I LIKED PORTUGAL. THE MAN BEFORE THEY SOLD OUT,” a t-shirt hung behind the merch table reads at Brooklyn Steel, one of their first shows back as Grammy winners. If “selling out” means refining style and improving performance, I pray for a world of sell-outs. Though the ticket prices went up, I figured this would be the last time I’d get to see them in an intimate setting, always the Indie music lover’s remorse. The opening riff of Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” rings out throughout the clouded air and the static of the hundreds behind me turns to a single holler, followed by “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2,” the hype shrouded in these numbers indicative of what’s to follow. “All I wanna do is live in ecstasy,” the singer pronounces as a montage of projected psychedelic colors seep down the wall behind him. His wish is his own command, the entire venue echo’s his lyrics back at him as they throw their arms into the air. All I can think about is how they must feel as the possessors of so much power. I close my eyes and feel the vibrations. This young band certainly has a full life ahead of them.

They start playing their hit, “Feel it Still,” and iPhone cameras from radio listeners and Vitamin Water commercial viewers everywhere begin to surface above the crowd.

If it counts for anything, I can proudly say I liked them before they “sold out.”

photos from: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/portugal-the-man-topaz-jones-played-brooklyn-steel-pics-setlist/ 

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Prolonged Disgusting Power

As I look foward to the start of this year’s winter olympic games, I find myself thinking of one man who has corrupted this exciting experience for its participants and viewers alike. Larry Nassar, now ex-doctor of the USA Gymnastics team and of Michigan State University, is finally being confronted for years of sexually abusing his patients. Among these victims are the household olympian names of Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney.

However, the list of names does not begin with olympians, rather it begins with Kyle Stephens, a family friend of Nassar who he had begun taking advantage of at 6 years old. Like many young victims, her truth took several years to reveal and even then was denied by family, rendering her helpless.

Abuse like this damages lives, ruins family relationships, and sometimes, kills. The latter was the case of Chelsey Markham who commited suicide after years of trying to heal her trauma with drugs and struggling with depression, and of Stephens’ father who took his life after discovering his daughter’s accusations were correct.

It is only within the last 2 years that a coach had spoken up to the USA Gymnastics association and a month since Nassar has taken responsibility for his crimes. How has it taken to long for all of these women to knock down one man? Is this association responsible for prolonging his power? 

In a society, and even world, that has yet to coexist peacefully, respectfully, and morally, movements such as the #MeToo and #TimesUp social media movements represent those who are sick of tolerating these acts. Along with these voices are those personally afflicted by Nassar, screaming that “little girls don’t stay little forever,” as Stephens had in the latest trial. 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/us/larry-nassar-sentencing-gymnastics/index.html