Last week, I had the chance to meet and chat a little bit with RICK KLOTZ,founder of FRESHJIVE, one of the pioneers of this clothing industry.
He was invited to Montreal by Angelo & Harry of Off The Hook. He was here to present his 21 year career in a seminar/art exhibit format called :
” WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP IT’S BEEN : A 21 year disfunctional history of my life with Freshjive ”
One of the most interesting interviews I had. We discussed the origin of his company to what it is now. He has lived alot from the beginning of the brand to what it is now. Here is the result :
Not to long ago I put out a small teaser of a few screen grabs of my latest collaborative work with HUMMEL & THE RINGLEADERS FC.
Hummel recently expanded to North America not to long ago. A brand that has been around since 1923. is now available here. I have been working closely with the Ringleaders FC for the past 3 years making videos and throwing in my 2 cents on ideas. Angelo always has something up his sleeves for the club. This opportunity was a last minute phone message that Angelo sent me asking me to shoot their game versus PANTHERS FC. If you didnt know, the RFC is sponsored by Hummel. They have provided them with a full kit from jerseys to shorts to socks & cleats. I pretty much had freedom on the direction of the video.
I shot as most shots possible that night from the us making our way to the pitch to the players leaving the pitch. I honestly did’nt know what I was gonna do until I finished filming that night. It was a hard one to pull through but I managed to find my way. after late nights and 4 different edits.
I shot with my GH1 hand held and tripod steady shots. Used 3 different types of lens from the 14-140 zoom lens to fixed 28mm & 50mm. I enjoyed shooting from the ground perspective also with that camera because of the swivel LCD screen. The night was perfect and the lighting on the pitch was great gave it this kinda eerie look.
Hummel and The Ringleaders FC are very happy with the end result. I hope you enjoy it to!
I have been on and off the Kahnawake reserve almost every week for last 2 years now and it is a place that I enjoy going everytime. Many friendly people.My girlfriend has been very kind to have taught me some part of her culture. A culture that is very rich. Anyways, this was my first ever attendance to the Kahnawake POW WOW. A gathering of the Native American.
From the first stroll onto the Pow Wow site, I can hear the sound of the drums pounding. The native chant and a crowd has gathered around the dancing grounds. For those who don’t know Kahnawake is the Mohawk Territory. And to be clear they are Native Americans and not indians. Christopher Columbus got lost, you all know the story…
The Pow Wow offers many shopping booth for Native crafts, art, sculptures,etc… And the food stands are beyond amazing. You can find your regular fast food or get some more i’d say traditional fast food…For instance, I had the oppurtunity to taste the Indian Taco. A taco with ground deer meat served on fry bread. There was also the delicious walleye nuggets. The food was definitely worth the trip.
After the delicious meal, my girlfriend brought us to the dancing grounds to watch a few of the dancing competitions. Before each competition they invite non-natives to join in the dance. The competition was categorized in different dancing styles. From the smoke dance to the warrior dance. Points were given for the dancing but also for the regalia.
The regalia is the traditional Native American outfit. Every participants regalia was different from the other. The colors, the weaving, the material chosen, etc…It was a way to distinguish themselves from other tribes. The cost and work onto these regalia’s are outstanding. They can cost between 2000$ – 10 000$ depending on the material use. From rabbit fur to turtle shells and eagle feathers. Many of these regalia’s go through a blessing by a spiritual man during the creation process. Here is some pictures and footage of my experience.
I recently caught up with the managing editor of Hypebeast : Eugene Kan. As you may all know Eugene and the Hypebeast staff have been feeding us with information on art/culture/fashion/music and anything that is “cool” for the past 5 years now. I got the chance to ask him a few questions about himself and things that I consider more interesting and inspiring than the latest sneaker release.
How is life in Hong Kong at the moment?
I really can’t complain about life in Hong Kong… we’ve had un-seasonally cool temperatures meaning none of that instantaneous sweat. But just as it gets hotter and hotter, I’m on my way back to Canada soon.
Anything you miss about Canada?
Tons of things I miss about Canada like more space, a less hectic lifestyle… people that generally have respect for others, haha…things like that.
You probably get this asked a bunch of time. But tell us your main role at Hypebeast at the moment?
My role at Hypebeast is to serve as the managing editor. Basically I dabble in a bit everything from daily blogging to more behind the scenes organizational procedures.
You probably didn’t stumble into this job. How did you get there?
I started at the root of it all as a contributor. Eventually I got hired as an editor and through time I ended up as the managing editor. As cliche as it sounds, I never did think this could turn into a full-time gig but it did.
Some people recently had the chance to attend a photo exhibit curated by you at the Above Second Gallery in Hong Kong. Tell us about it and how it went down?
For a minute I had been throwing around the idea of doing a photo exhibition amongst industry friends and people who were in some way in a creative occupation but not professional photographers. How creativity transcended one medium to another was ultimately my main theme.
The title itself is very interesting. DAY JOB? Was the question mark put there on purpose for any reason?
I had a lot of corny names I had put to paper and maybe people think this one is wacky too haha, but the question mark signifies the fact that no, none of the participants maintain an occupation as a photographer and of poses the question what IS their regular job.
I also noticed that our homie NEEK was part of the photographers exhibiting. Tell us how you know him and what do you think of his contribution to the culture.
I really think that in his formative years, he really had a defining role in things that are now common within the “Internet landscape”. From cheap Levi’s STF 501′s to continually going out and shooting as a relatively early adopter with a DSLR, these are things that eventually became more mainstream.
Last thursday, I was invited by my good friend JP Bernier from Le Matos to shoot the making of their new concept photoshoot.
The shoot was down at Made of Stills studio up in Outremont. The photographer was Simon Duhamel . A local photographer that distinct himself with a illustration approach to his photography. Some of his stills that I had the chance too see looked as if they were either drawn or painted. He has as good retouching skill and knows how to create an atmosphere for his photos. He has a very impressive portfolio that cannot be overlooked.
Being invited to the studio was a very good learning experience for me. Getting the chance to look at a real photographer work is very inspiring & motivating.
In the midst of it all, I still kept focus on shooting content for the making of LE MATOS photoshoot.
The photos came out so rad. You can view the final product in the video feature. The portraits looks like if it was an IMAGE comic book. That whole John Carpenter & The FOG concept was on point.
Le Matos will be using those photos for their site and also push their upcoming european tour.
