reflections on the world
It is a result of a competition of varying forms of art by students (graduate and undergrad) of this university. The winner gets a thousand dollars as price for buying the artwork off him/her by the university. Here are a few of the shortlisted artworks on display in the student university centre, yesterday.
One of the artworks has a picture of a pair of fancy women’s shoes and a bottle of perfume. The title reads “How To Kill a Man.”
A bright day on a Midwestern campus. Brightness: erratic coming outs of a reclusive sun delights, and occasionally surprises. The campus yard fills up with half naked men and women doing the Naked Mile. The small Canon camera creaks now, almost packed up – a cat with seven lives. One often wonders about the resilience of the poor little thing. A few months ago, it fell down and lost its digital viewfinder so one has to look through the old viewfinder to take pictures. A few weeks ago, it fell down again and the digital viewfinder came back to life. Then went off again after a few days.
Until it finally succumbs to the inevitable laws of nature, one hears the creaking trudging of a new tool of the modern age. Switch, view, click. One more day in the life of the Canon explorer.
Check out these time-lapse photos of the Cougar Lake behind my apartment from 2009 and how it has undergone some changes along with the seasons. Enjoy.
August 23, 2009
August 31, 2009
November 4, 2009
November 4, 2009
December 27, 2009
December 27, 2009
April 10, 2010
April 12, 2010
April 24, 2010
Yesterday...
“No one can ever know for sure what a deserted area looks like.” – George Carlin
I honestly, honestly have nothing to blog about today. Ask me, I can’t wait for January to be over with. It’s the longest month of the year, especially because it follows an already long festive one of December. February however is the shortest month, which is nice, except you are a compulsive blogger who has to write up to fourty-six interesting articles in a month.
What I intend to do in this short post then is to tell you the response to my so called “Charity Work”. It is interesting to see the responses so far, which is to me quite encouraging. We already have $100 pledged to Jos, Nigeria; I think. And today, Thursday, I will be making out the said photograph to send to the said donor who lives in Dolton, Illinois but wants to remain anonymous as soon as I receive the proof of said donation. There are two other pledges from contributors to this blog, and I thank them, Yemi and Tayo. Needless to say, it’s not sufficient. It is not the best we can do.
In a similar vein, I wrote a letter to the Fulbright Organization yesterday informing them of the project, and to the coordinator of the Haiti relief effort at my University. I haven’t received a response from either of them. What I hope to do in the next week is to hold an exhibition, if possible, of some of these photographs on campus. What I’m afraid of is that students may not have that much money to spare, adults who can spare may have already donated to Haiti. So for all its worth, if that ever happens, it will be more of my opportunity to showcase my work rather than to raise money. In any case, I’d be glad to explore the opportunity. Day by day, the pictures look better and better to me. I didn’t know that I’d taken so many shots in this little period of time.
If you’re interested in buying the works in this effort to raise money for Jos, Nigeria; and the country of Haiti, please head here for more information. I will try to keep the offer open until the end of my Fulbright Programme in May, if I can. From then on, you will have to pay heavily to buy them, by which time they would have become a collector’s item, even if I say so myself 
SOMETHING ELSE: I heard that Apple has finally come out with it’s new tablet, and they have chosen no other name to call it than the iPad. The obviously flawed marketing strategy has now spurned so many spoofs and parodies on twitter since yesterday. The product was actually called the iTampon by pranksters in the extreme of it. What worried me the most why Mr Jobs hadn’t considered the fact that the iPad uses the very same sound patterns as the iPod, at least in Americans English. How will listeners be able to tell them apart? This may as well be a failure of language sensitivity as it is a failure of marketing. My two cents.
Here is my promised post about my short project to raise money for the victims of the Earthquake in Haiti, and the senseless ethnic pogrom in the Nigerian city of Jos. I know that many of you want to donate money but haven’t found the time or the way. Here is an opportunity to do so, and get something back for it. This is how it goes:
1. Choose one of my photographs that you want to receive on a 20×16 inches high quality photoprint paper (frame is optional, depending on where you live). It comes with a postcard and an autograph from ktravula.com. (You can tell me which of the photos you want by going to the page where the photos are posted, and starting your bid in the comment section. See the bottom of this post for a list.)
2. Make an offer in cash that you’ll like to pay for the said artwork. Bidding starts at $50, and has no upper limit. All you have to do is write something like this in the comment box on said page: “I want pic number 4, and I’m bidding to pay $80 for it.” or “I want the pic with the filename IMG_0114 for $500″. As soon as you do, your comment will show up on the comment bar on the right side of this blog, and anyone who has a higher bid will see it. In 24hours, and in the absence of a higher bid, you will be confirmed winner of the said artwork which will be sent to you by post as soon as you make the donation promised to the either of the following sources.
3. Donate 50% of the amount (or whatever percentage suits you) to facilitate relief for the homeless victims of the Jos crisis through this link, and ask for a proof of said donation either through email or through a written letter. (Read more about the Jos crises here on Jerremy’s Blog).
4. Donate the rest % via Yele Haiti,the American Red Cross, UNICEF or PlanUSA to the relief efforts in Haiti. When you do, you will be sent a confirmation email. Keep the email safe.
NOTE: You can make all your payments to either of these two causes, Jos or Haiti. You don’t necessarily have to split your donation, except you want to.
5. Send said proof of donation to me via JosHaiti@ktravula.com, with your name and postal address. You may also need to pay $50 for handling and postage of said artwork to you wherever you are all over the world. Residents of the United States will get their artwork within one week. For those overseas, it might take a few days later.
Now, here are the pages where you can find my photos all taken since August in locations in the United States. (Note: photo quality is better in print than on the computer screen):
In actual fact, you can ask for any photo on this blog, as long as it is the one I took myself.
Alright, let the bidding begin. I hope it’s simple enough. If not, please let me know.
I heard that singer Lionel Richie is assembling a new cast to remake the 1984 hit We Are The World to raise money for Haiti. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was praised today by the President Bush/Clinton Haiti relief funds for his personal donations. Singers Beyonce, Twista, Rihanna and Wyclef Jean are doing all they could in their capacities as musicians. I can’t sing, unfortunately. This is all I have. I hope that you find the pictures good enough for you to spend your money on, especially with the aim of saving lives in some other part of the world. Cheers.
NOTE: This is totally not-for-profit!
For everyone who voted for my images, THANK YOU! Here is what the photos look like in a 16×20 frame that will now rest on the walls of my apartment. I’m also going to make postcards out of them to send to a few interested folks. Thank you again.
Q: Would I consider selling any of these framed artworks if anyone made a good financial offer?
A: Yes, I would. I definitely would. Definitely.
So if you are interested in buying the artworks, or you know someone who wants to…
Or you just want to contribute something to support this blog while getting something back for it…
Or you want a piece of KTravula through his photographic arts, which are good gift items for keepsake, even if I say so myself…
Make me an offer, and let me consider it.
It also comes with a photo postcard and a special KTravula autograph.
***End of KTravuladvertisement***
What I wish I could do really, looking at the artwork today in my room, is to auction them to both and others for the relief efforts in Haiti but I am afraid that I don’t have the energy and time it would require to make the needed noise. I made a contribution yesterday through the Unicef Website, but I wish I could do more. I hear that the rescue efforts have finally stopped after about twelve gruesome days of looking through the rubble for bodies. Nevertheless, if I get to sell any of these soon, 50% of the profits made from selling them will go to Unicef Website from ktravula.com. It may not be much, but it will help put food one some children’s table for more than one day. Meanwhile, you can still go to the Unicef Website to make your donations. Save a life today.
50% will go to the victims of the recent crisis and restlessness in the Nigerian city of Jos where religious and ethnic unrest has raised its ugly head again. I spent one year in that now not-so-peaceful state in the Nigerian midbelt for my National Youth Service in 2005/2006. So what are you waiting for? Make your bid here. Make me an offer, and have a KTravula keepsake. Going, going…!
More information is here.
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