the essence of the American Culture

Richard Avedon (1923-2004) was an American Photographer and pioneer in the field of fashion and portrait photography. He brought new life to the portrait genre with his highly defined black and white portraits in which the very essence of his subjects seemed captured. He was notorious for his famous subjects: Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, The Beatles, President Eisenhower and long etcetera.

But he was also a cultural anthropologist. In his exhibits you can see decades of American culture pass through your eyes as if he had also captured the essence of the American culture.

You can enjoy the work of this master at the current SFMOMA exhibit or here

your own personal Otaku

Here is something I heard at a Barbecue party this weekend "There were more units sold solely in Japan than in the rest of the world combined". This was said referring to thousand dollar snowboarding boards but it could be easily applied to a number of things.

Japanese are known because of their fanatic obsessions anywhere from Anime, Hello Kitty's,high tech cell phones to the 6 million Nintendo Wii units sold in less than 2 years. (yes, someone is been doing some video game research). Otaku is a term used to refer to people's obsessive interests and it is used at times with a pejorative connotation ("geek"). Particularly it is often used referring to anima and manga but it can be applied to anything: music otaku, martial arts otaku, cooking otaku, you-name-it otaku.

The truth is that we all are otakus and have our own obsessive little things. Here in the U.S it might be Hollywood celebrities. Sports. Fuel prices. How is this obsessive behavior different in the Americas or Asia? What are the different codes that these cultures undermine? On this note I am currently reading The Culture Code which explores root cultural differences and how these affect the way we perceive brands and consume. Truly fascinating.

My own personal Otaku lately is MUJI無印良品 (having recently received 2 shirts as an early Birthday present)



MUJI translates as No brand quality goods. Ignore those who compare the brand to Ikea, this company is an excellent showcase of Japanese minimalist high quality design, and continues to feed my love for this culture. I have resolved that I must visit this country next year at the latest.