Photograph like a Painter!

Henri Cartier-Bresson with his famous Leica Camera

The 20th Century French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson is generally recognized as the first master of candid photography. Shooting exclusively with a 35mm Leica and a 50mm lens, his images often have a informal, almost casual feeling that doesn't seem like the work of a professional photographer.

At the same time, his best work shows an understanding of story-telling and balanced composition that many professional photographers would benefit from studying. Cartier-Bresson studied oil painting and classical literature at the Lhote Academy in Paris and Cambridge University before deciding to work primarily in photography. The influences of the classics as well as the cubists and surrealists can often be seen in his images.

Image by Henri Cartier-Bresson

He described his approach in these terms, "For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression."

In addition to his body of images, Cartier-Bresson also developed the concept of "The Decisive Moment" to describe the instant when the photographer recognizes when it is time to click the shutter. In the introduction to his book, which carries The Decisive Moment title, he explains it this way: “Photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression.”

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Apple's Push Into Augmented Reality

Image from Patently Apple

There have been several news items recently that indicate the Apple has decided to play a leading role in the new medium of augmented reality. Augmented reality applications provide digital information that is synchronized in time and location with the real world. Since smartphones are the one digital device that people have with them constantly in the real world, they are an obvious platform for augmenting that world.

In February, the US Patent and Trademark office published 45 new Apple patents that had been granted including an invention relating to flexible displays that have openings designed in the display. One or more openings in the display may form a window through which a user of the device may view an external object. Display pixels in the portion of the display in which the window in formed may be used in forming a heads-up display.

This type of display would be ideal for building an augment reality headset or creating the dashboard and windshield of an automobile.

On May 17th, Apple announced the acquisition of Coherent Navigation, a Bay Area global positioning company that has developed a commercial navigation system that is more accurate than consumer grade GPS systems. Positioning is critical to synchronizing the augmented reality experience with the actual location in the real world.

On May 29th, Apple purchased Metaio, one of the leading companies developing augmented reality authoring tools and customized applications of the technology for advertising and training. Metaio also created the popular Junaio augmented reality browser which pulls data from multiple sources and overlays it on the view from your phone or tablet camera.

These technology additions in the fields of display, mapping and content development put Apple firmly in the race with Microsoft's Hololens, and Google's Glass, Cardboard and Magic Leap investments.

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Are You Divergent?

In Veronica Roth's dystopian Divergent trilogy, set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago, the people are sorted and separated into factions based upon their primary modes of thinking and acting. The objective is allow each group to use their strengths to maximize their contribution to the community as a whole.

The system ultimately degenerates into war between the factions due to mistrust and lack of respect for the values and skill of the members of other factions. The focus on communal thought and behavior is also a mental straitjacket for some of the more creative thinkers in each faction.

The heroine and hero of the books are Tris and Four whose methods of thought don't fit neatly into the factional categories. Labeled as "Divergents" by the factional leaders, they are feared and considered threats to society. Their ability to approach situations using a broader skill set makes them unpredictable, uncontrollable and disruptive.

I believe that Tris and Four are good role models for business leaders. The market respects and rewards those who can create disruptive business models. The probability of building a disruptive business is much higher if you can look at situations differently than others.

How divergent are you?

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What is augmented reality?

Augmented Reality in Mini Cooper.
Image from Car and Driver

Last December, when I predicted the top technological stories of 2015, I overlooked augmented reality. In the last few weeks however, there has been an explosion of news stories featuring this futuristic medium.

Augmented reality is a media experience that adds digital information to the world that you can interact with in the same manner that you interact with the physical world.  According to Dr. Alan Craig in his book Understanding Augmented Reality Concepts and Applications, there are four key aspects of an augmented reality experience:

• The physical world is augmented by digital information superimposed on a view of the physical world.
• The information is displayed in registration with the physical world.
• The information displayed is dependent on the location of the real world and the physical perspective of the person in the physical world.
• The information displayed is interactive in a way that allows the user to sense the information and make changes to the information if desired.

While there are many mobile applications that provide supplemental information about the real world based upon the location of the user, most do not meet the definition of augmented reality because they do not display that information in registration with the physical world.

At the Shanghai Auto Festival a few weeks ago, the Mini Cooper division of BMW demonstrated in an interesting application of augmented reality where a driver wearing a special pair of glasses can "see through" the blind spots caused by the car's roof and sides.  When the driver looks in the direction of the blind spots, the system replaces the roof and sides with views from cameras located at the exterior of the car.

Many of the early augmented reality applications were designed to add information to printed material. When the user aimed a device's camera at selected content on the printed piece, the content was replaced with a video or a three dimensional representation that added information to the printed content. This is an interesting use case because the "reality" being augmented is itself a two dimensional representation of a different reality. In my opinion, most of the print applications of augmented reality have been mostly gimmicks and not very useful.

Beyond print enhancement, digital augmentation of the real world has tremendous value in entertainment, transportation and many other fields. Some of the most useful applications will be in automotive safety where the systems can highlight potential dangers before the driver might see them without the augmentation.

What part of your reality would you like to augment?

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The Price is Wright

Before Terri and I left Bartlesville, Oklahoma, we stopped to see the Price Tower which is the only realized skyscraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We found it to be an unusual and uniquely beautiful structure.

In designing the Price Tower, Wright was inspired by the shape and structure of a tree. Like a tree trunk, the central elevator shaft supports the entire structure. The 19 floors of the building branch out from the central core and the outer walls are clad in patinated copper which creates an effect similar to leaves.

The tower currently houses the Price Tower Arts Center which focuses on art architecture and design. It is was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior in March of 2007.

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Science and Serendipity

Hula Hoop Image by Eren Emre Kanal

While returning home from the Oklahoma Festival of the Arts, we decided to visit the Phillips Petroleum Museum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. In the museum, we learned a wonderful story about the discover of crystalline polypropylene and high-density polyethylene that beautifully illustrates the role that serendipity sometimes plays in scientific discovery.

In June of 1951, Phillip's researchers Paul Hogan and Robert Banks were looking for a better method to convert natural gas into gasoline. While experimenting with catalysts, they noticed a solid white powder that was clogging up their instruments. After looking closely at the newly discovered substance, they immediately switched the focus of their research and developed the plastics that would help transform the latter half of the 20th century.

Phillips introduced high-density polyethylene in 1954 under the brand name Marlex. While the new plastic would eventually be used in everything from baby bottles to automotive bumpers, it was the Hula Hoop which brought widespread popularity to the new material.

What will you discover today?

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Oklahoma Festival of the Arts 2015

Double-fired raku pot by Barry Bernstein Raku

Last Friday, Terri and I attended the Oklahoma Festival of the Arts in downtown Oklahoma City. This is an outdoor festival in a beautiful setting at the city's Festival Plaza and in the Myriad Gardens. 

It is fun to visit an art show in another community because you see different art than you do at the shows in your hometown. The 144 visual artists were selected from more than 540 applicants and the level of creativity and craftsmanship was extremely high.

There were twelve photographic artists exhibiting and I was able to talk with most of them. In addition to beautiful landscapes, many of the photographers focused on a a specialized type of subject which made each booth unique. Beyond the content, the printing quality was outstanding including film images hand enlarged to silver halide photo paper, canvas gallery wraps and prints on aluminum. Some of the metal prints on aluminum had been printed by Black River Imaging.

Our only acquisition at the show was a beautiful double-fired Raku pot with a dragon's tail cutout from Barry Bernstein Raku. Barry showed us a  fascinating video on his phone on how he achieves such intense color saturation on his pieces.

Are you planning to visit an art festival this Spring?

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