very real gucci

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peace is… what I hope for.

a dream is… just the first step to creating- anything. [pauses] Or not.

fear is… what holds you back.  What keeps you from trying the things that aren’t guaranteed to succeed.

power is… self-assurance.  And the freedom to speak your mind.

style is… Style if effortless.  If you try too hard, it’s not style.  It’s conformity.

sex is… always changing. [laughs big] Sometimes it matters and sometimes it just doesn’t.  And that can go for many things, both the meaning behind it, and the necessity to have it. [laughs more]

‘self’ is… a constant evolution.  It’s reflective and kind of an opportunity to decide how you wanna’ be in the world.  I don’t think that our identities are static in any way.

in 5 years, i will… I have no idea what I’ll be doing in 5 years.  But I’m excited by that.  I hope that I’ll be doing something that changes the world in a tangible way. And I have ideas of what shape or form that might take, but I’m kind of open to whatever happens.

the world is ending. i would… probably try to gather as many people that I care deeply about as possible.  It’s kind of morbid to think about dying with all the people that you love the most. [laughs] But if the world is ending, I would want to spend my last moments with those people.

my generation is… creative.  Progressive.  We’re full of change-makers that are thinking about affecting change in a different way than our predecessors.

life is… fast.

art is… many things.  I think it’s both a physical creation, but also there’s art in moments, in lived experiences, in things that you can’t necessarily wrap up in a piece and hang in a gallery. 

WWJD today? I think that, today, he would tell all the crazy religious people that they’re crazy.  And that people should all be friends, and not let religion get in the way.  And I don’t know anything about Jesus ‘cuz I’m Jewish.  So I have no idea what he would do. 

FIN

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Personal Work:

Her Site

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Daria is an artist.  She also works with kids at the Future Project.  She shoots her subjects with a straightforward intimacy – enough to make you uncomfortable.

what did you eat this morning?  I had homemade granola with Greek yogurt and dried fruit from the Smile on Bond St.  And an iced coffee.

a woman is… This is a tough one.  A woman is strong, independent, and beautiful.  Not physically, maybe also physically, but definitely more about what’s inside.

a man is… evil.  Just kidding. [laughs] I think a man is used to his place in the world.

$ is… a means of sustaining the lifestyle that you choose to live.

if i had a spare $100, i would… probably buy some piece of photo equipment that I’ve been waiting to purchase.  But $100 doesn’t get you too much so it would probably just be something like a better flash or more memory cards.  A new hard drive- I need that.

if i had a spare $10K, i would… travel to South America.  And do a tour through several different countries.

if i had a spare $250K, i would… make a documentary.  And actually hire the people that were able to do it right.  I don’t think you need a ton of money in order to make a documentary film.  But there’s so much pre-production and post-production and so much work just beyond the mission of the film, and beyond the ideas of the directors and participants.  Actually having the money to make a documentary film is really important.  I also don’t have any of the skills to make one on my own.

youth today… are more creative and empowered than even when I was in high school or younger.  I’m excited by how much more open youth are now with who they are, and at a younger age.  There’s less of a need to conform to what you’re supposed to be like as a teenager, as someone growing up in a specific area, or socioeconomic setting.  I think there are boundaries to that, but it’s apparent when you talk about something like sexuality in youth now.  Just how much more open kids are even in high school specifically around coming out, or being open about what gender you’re attracted to.  That wasn’t even an open dialogue when I was in school.

idealism is/means… means seeing the world in the way that you want it to exist.  I don’t think idealism equates with being naïve, or to dreaming up things that will never happen.  I think it’s a source of empowerment and encouragement.

b.s. is… making excuses when you don’t actually know what you want from life.  And when you don’t see the effects that your decisions have on others.

the best is… this is gonna’ get cheesy.  Okay.  The best is the moments when you can’t stop laughing and you don’t know why you’re laughing.  You’ve forgotten what you started laughing about, but you’re laughing with someone else and there’s a moment there that can’t ever really be replicated.  That’s the best.

the worst is… feeling like you’re alone even when you know that you have so many people around you that support you and love you.  It’s kind of a helpless feeling that you can’t explain.

‘real’ is… I think real is whatever you want it to be.  I think we all create ideas in our heads everyday and craft our experiences based on the way we would like them to be, or the way we would like to see them, and in that way create realities for ourselves.

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peace is… a woman in a white dress.

a dream is… meant to be woken up from.

fear is… a figment of your imagination.

power is… false.  I think we base power on things like money, or a title.  Power is the man that is quiet about his actions.  How about that?  ‘Man’ meaning mankind, man, woman- whoever’s doing something, whatever it may be.  It’s usually not the person who’s talking the most who has the power.

style is… personal.  Individual.  Thoughtless.

 sex is… [pauses for a long time] a good time.

‘self’ is… whatever I want myself to be.

in 5 years, i will… probably not be doing the same thing I’m doing now.

the world is ending. i would… write some kind of letter of endearment to whatever lady I’m thinking about at the time.  The first one who comes to mind, that’s who gets the letter. 

my generation is… lost- like sheep, sheep needing a shepherd.  Goats do, too.  It’s just with this new internet age.  It goes to books like Fahrenheit 451.  Technology has really altered the way we think.  We’re living dual lives. We’re on the internet- that’s a different life… on Facebook.  And you have Instagram.  And none of us are really who we are on those things.  So, like, everyone’s confused about who they are.  Everyone thinks that they’re something that they’re not.  That they just wanna’ join the new things.  It’s like this new wave of artists now, right?  There’s all these young 19-year-old’s, and 20-year-old’s…There’s always gonna’ be somebody in that bunch who’s an artist for real.  But there’s this new wave where everyone thinks they’re a stylist, everyone thinks they’re a designer, everyone thinks they’re photographers.

life is… sweet.

art is… life.

WWJD today? Slap me for not believing in him. [belly laughs]

FIN

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Personal Work:

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He’s a mini media mogul.  Check out his syndicate.  He’s a trans-medium tinkerer, and an all-around cool guy.

 what did you eat this morning? Chocolate almond croissant, mini fruit Danish, large pot of ginger tea.

a woman is… poetry.

a man is… strength.

$ is… meaningless.  I think it comes down to the whole happiness question.  I think that people equate money with being happy, you know?  It’s a tool that society has put [there] to control us even more.

if i had a spare $100, i would… rent a car and take a road trip- probably hiking upstate.

if i had a spare $10K, i would… buy all the camera equipment I need.

if i had a spare $250K, i would… buy a studio instead of renting.  And then, the rest, I would probably take and would just live off it and travel, actually.  I wouldn’t even buy a studio.  I would probably live off it like a nomad for the rest of my life.  And try to build on top of it, of course.  But I would probably just couch hop, and hotel hop- with a lady, of course.

youth today… They don’t know how to make phone calls.  All they know how to do is text.

idealism is/means… goes beyond the actual, basic meaning.  It’s really just people wanting an ideal situation for their life at all times.  I think that idealists, what usually happens with them, they look at a situation that may not be so ‘ideal’ and they look at it as a bad situation.  Everything that’s not ideal is bad.  Maybe they want $200 in their check instead of $198.

b.s. is… comical- a waste of time.  I think it’s funny, people that spend their time bullshitting.  They think they’re bullshitting you but really they’re bullshitting themselves.

the best is… never the best.

the worst is… always better than you think.

‘real’ is… [eats croissant with spoon] whatever you make.  Whatever you want it to be.  Everyone creates their own reality, I believe.  I really, strongly believe that.  Real is belief in your own imagination.  How about that?  There we go- that’s what it is.