Face 1 - Jane Long Australian artist Jane Long transforms cracked and faded black and white photographs into colorful works of fantasy, giving the subjects a new, and entirely surreal context. The images she uses for her series were captured over a half century ago by a Romanian war photographer who documented WWI. The glass-plate photographs capture the straight faces and intense eyes of the subjects taken long before smiling was common in images. “I wanted to change the context of the images,” says Long. “Photographic practices at the time meant people rarely smiled in photos but that doesn’t mean they didn’t laugh and love. I wanted to introduce that to the images.” By altering the images Long imagines the subjects as characters, letting the audience decide whether they are bad or good. Long says, “I wanted people to see these figures as real people, more than just an old photograph. Adding color completely changes our perception of images.”
CREATIVE THINKING SKILL: MODIFY Take something already created and modify or change it give it a new look.
Face 2 - Michael Binder What happens when some of the best dancers of yesteryear are combined with one of the greatest hits this year? A completely fun mash up that will have you wanting to dance along with them! Clips from nearly 66 movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood were mashed together to the wildly popular hit "Uptown Funk."Featuring dancers such as Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Shirley Temple among others, there moves coincide perfectly with the beat of the music. Michael Binder scanned through hundreds of movies from 1953 and earlier and edited them perfectly without speeding up or slowing down any of the original footage. The hours he spent are incredible – but the result is so fun to watch it was worth every second! So... for those who think the old ways of dancing are boring --take a look at this!
CREATIVE THINKING SKILL: IMAGINE Imagine bringing together the past and the present to create something new.
It is never too late to fulfill a dream. As people get older, they usually forget about what they hoped to do when they were younger, however, Anthony Hopkins realized his dream thanks to someone who loved him --his wife. The story according to Anthony Hopkins: "I have been writing music and composing for many years, but I never did anything with it – I'd wanted to be a musician when I was younger, but I wasn't a good student as a kid, so I just dabbled around and wrote this piece, 'And the Waltz Goes On,' in 1964. I was watching one of André's concerts on TV, years later, and said to my wife, 'I'd love to have that waltz played in Vienna.' Some time later I got a call from André and he said, 'I got your waltz.' I said, 'What?' He said, 'I've just performed it with my orchestra in rehearsal.' I didn't know it, but my wife had sent him the score. So in April 2011, I flew to the Netherlands where Andre lived and went to his house, where he played the recording – I thought it was beautiful. He named his album after it, too. I was honored when we took it to play in Vienna, in one of the palaces there, and took my bow afterwards. Did I cry? I don't emotionally respond to things like that. People may cry at the drop of a hat in Hollywood, but I'm not like that.
CREATIVE THINKING SKILL: DREAM Hold on to your dreams --make them happen no matter how long it takes.
Face 4 - Richard Renaldi Since 2007, Richard Renaldi has been working on a series of photographs that involve approaching and asking complete strangers to physically interact while posing together for a portrait. Working on the street with a large format eight-by-ten-inch view camera, Renaldi encounters the subjects for his photographs in towns and cities all over the United States. He pairs them up and invites them to pose together, intimately, in ways that people are usually taught to reserve for their close friends and loved ones. Surprisingly, Renaldi discovered that once the strangers posed they actually warmed up to one another and acted kind to each other. He believes his project "Touching Strangers" shows us that taking the initiative to show kindness to someone we don't know may just find us a new friend.
CREATIVE THINKING SKILL: REVEAL HUMANITY Find ways to bring people together.
Face 5: CONNIE AND GORDON HANKINS Connie and Gordon Hankins, who have grandchildren of their own, are on a mission. In their basement workshop, they transform tricycles, adding high seat backs with seat belts, custom handlebars and Velcro foot clips so that children with disabilities can ride. "This is not just a toy," Gordon Hankins said. "It builds strength they need, and then they get that confidence that they can do other things." Connie Hankins is a retired nurse; her husband, a retired telecommunications worker. Together, they now run the Therapy Oriented Tricycle TOT project. Since 1999, they've given away more than 900 free bikes to children nationwide. Connie Hankins' file cabinet is filled with photos of every one of them. "I never get tired of it," she said of the smiles of children perched behind the handlebars. Each of the custom-built tricycles costs nearly $200, and the couple rely on donations. "We've exhausted our budget this year. We've extended it already," said Connie Hankins, "but I just can't tell them no." The couple has spent thousands of their own dollars delivering the bikes to children across the country and the world.
CREATIVE THINKING SKILL: HELP OTHERS Use your creativity to make someone's life better.
