Martin Luther’s King’s famous “I have a dream” speech is as moving and meaningful today as it was 46 years ago.

If you do nothing else on this MLK Civil Rights Day, watch this video and embrace MLK’s message.

You’ll find the complete text of the speech here.

What is the nature of creativity? Where does it comes from? Where does it go?

In PixSylated’s Best Web Video for February, Elizabeth Gilbert (author of  Eat, Pray, Love which unexpectedly became a runaway international bestseller) talks about the creative genius and life after the “creation of her best work, ever.” Gilbert’s insights and anecdotes are drawn from around the globe and throughout history. She shares stories of her creative journey along with those of other creatives.

I know that when I’m at my most creative, I’m not fully in charge. Apparently I’m not alone in that thought.

You Must Meet TED – Ideas worth spreading

TED, the source of Gilbert’s video, is a treasure trove of great ideas and fantastic video. Forget about cruising YouTube for laughs. Do something constructive while you practice yours skills as a professional procrastinator – watch TED.

from TED.com

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free.  More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week.

TED has published over 390 talks with more being released each week. So, if you watch one each day, you’ll need well over a year to watch them all. You can search TED’s talks by theme here and by release date here. Better yet, you can join millions of people around the globe with a free TED membership.

Need something a bit closer to the world of photography? Check out David Griffin’s talk at TED2008. Griffin is the Director of Photography at National Geographic. He spoke on the power of photography as a means to connect our world.

Fate has a funny way of reminding me that someday I will have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up (right now, I’m thinking that I want to be a sage). It was impossible for me to ignore the coincidence that the winner of this month’s Best Web Video was sent to me on the day after I stepped just within two years of qualifying for membership in AARP.

It only took 1:44 for me to realize that I’d found January’s Best Web Video winner. ‘The Lost Generation’ was created by Jonathan Reed (a twenty-something film studies major at Georgia State University). It won second place in the AARP U@50 video competition last year – in which filmmakers under 30 were to describe their life at 50 (the age when you’re eligable for membership in AARP). I checked out the other entries – none are worth even mentioning. ‘The Lost Generation’ is so creative… I had to play it twice just to be sure I understood what was happening. And then I just kept playing it… Enjoy.

This month’s “Best Web Video” is actually an entire series — the Genius Of Photography produced by the BBC (site here). If you are trying to figure out how to be a photographer today, I think it’s essential to expose yourself (pun intended) to a bit of the 170 years of our collective history. Consider this 6-part series to be a must watch.

Outside the UK, the Genius Of Photography appears periodically on Ovation (USA), ABC (Australia), Knowledge Network (Canada) and elsewhere. Fortunately for the impatient and impulsive, the entire series has been posted on YouTube in 10 minute installments. To make things easy, I’ve collected all 37 links below.

Enjoy. Learn. Pass it on.

The Genius of Photography Series

1. Fixing the Shadows – Tracks the first attempts to make images permanent and the mass appeal that the invention of Kodak created. Featuring: Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Eadweard Muybridge, Andre Kertesz and others.
Ep 1 – Part 1
Ep 1 – Part 2
Ep 1 – Part 3
Ep 1 – Part 4
Ep 1 – Part 5
Ep 1 – Part 6

2. Documents for Artists – After World War One the potential of photography attracted the attention of artists and governments alike. Featuring: May Ray, Dorothea Lange, Alexander Rodchenko and others.
Ep 2 – Part 1
Ep 2 – Part 2
Ep 2 – Part 3
Ep 2 – Part 4
Ep 2 – Part 5
Ep 2 – Part 6
Ep 2 – Part 7

3. Right Time, Right Place – Examines the photographs of D-Day, the Holocaust and Hiroshima raising questions about history as seen through the viewfinder. Featuring: Henryk Ross, W Eugene Smith, Robert Capa and others.
Ep 3 – Part 1
Ep 3 – Part 2
Ep 3 – Part 3
Ep 3 – Part 4
Ep 3 – Part 5
Ep 3 – Part 6

4. Paper Movies – Charts the golden age of ‘photographic journeys’ and how the use of colour slowly became a credible medium for ’serious’ photographers. Featuring: Stephen Shore, Tony Ray Jones, Ed Ruscha and others.
Ep 4 – Part 1
Ep 4 – Part 2
Ep 4 – Part 3
Ep 4 – Part 4
Ep 4 – Part 5
Ep 4 – Part 6

5. We Are Family – Having conquered the street and the road, photographers approached the final frontier: the home, the self, and private life. Featuring: Larry Sultan, Cindy Sherman, Richard Billingham and others.
Ep 5 – Part 1
Ep 5 – Part 2
Ep 5 – Part 3
Ep 5 – Part 4
Ep 5 – Part 5
Ep 5 – Part 6

6. Snap Judgments – Shows how photography has become part of the art world where a single image can cost $2.9m and, in the digital world, where all images are possible. Featuring: Martin Parr, Gregory Crewdson, Seydou Keita and others.
Ep 6 – Part 1
Ep 6 – Part 2
Ep 6 – Part 3
Ep 6 – Part 4
Ep 6 – Part 5
Ep 6 – Part 6

Our world needs creatives and the new ideas they create. Creatives live well beyond the realms of art, music and design. I’m convinced that the greatest thoughts in science, medicine, economics and so on are sparked by bursts of creativity. Many discoveries are made through accidents. For me, the creative part is when someone recognizes the value of the unexpected result. 

So, this year I give thanks for creativity. Whether experienced as small flashes in an otherwise mundane job or lived as a lifestyle, the products of creativity are essential for our future.

Witness The Birth Of A New PixSylated Tradition… The Monthly Best Web Video

A month ago, I wrote about how my spirits were lifted from the abyss of the October meltdown by a web video of a guy named Matt who danced his jig with people from around the world. If you’ve not seen it yet, definitely click here.

For Thanksgiving, I’m offering this video up as a testament to the power of thinking beyond the boundaries of the normal. As a photographer, I have never seen anything like this. It’s live-action, graffiti animation. The images were not created in post-production. They were painted and photographed frame by frame. No powerful message. Just raw creativity. Enjoy!

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

You can learn more about the artist and find links to download hi-res versions of MUTO on BluBlu.org. If you really dig it, click on his link to make a donation. Hey, just go there. It’s an incredibly creative website.

Thanks to Ed Z, who commented on my article about RadioPoppers, I came upon the video in Ed’s blog – which is worth checking out.

In the midst of all this, the following came to me quite innocently. Amy received the link in an email. Call me tired. Call me emotional. The first time I watched it, goose bumps covered my arms. I’ve watched it a  dozen two dozen times since. Smiles break out whenever I show it to friends.

I’ve been lifted up and reinvigorated. Our world truly is an amazing place filled with people of all shapes, colors and sizes. I believe (again) that our current tribulations will pass. Thanks to a guy named Matt and his friends in 43 countries.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

If you have fast broadband, click here to watch a High-Def version.

Like many great movements, it started as a simple idea and spread like wildfire. Read the story here. If you want to download a legit personal copy for free, click here.

What’s this have to do with being a photographer? Nothing and everything at the same time.

Dove’s Evolution of Beauty video was released just over 18 months ago. By my tally of the various posts on YouTube, it has been downloaded by more than 10 million viewers. I’ve watched it at least 30 times. If you’ve not seen it, think of it as an hour-long documentary rolled up into 60 seconds. Click on the screen below to watch it now.

As a digital photographer, I’m captivated by the process that transforms the girl-next-door into a billboard princess. Make-up, hair, lights, camera, Photoshop. The video shows it all.

As a husband, brother of four sisters and father to three sons, I’m haunted by the same process. Does driving pixels in this manner, bring us closer together or dull our perception of what’s really meaningful?

Evolution was produced as part of Dove’s campaign for real beauty – which promotes self-esteem among young girls, older women and people of all ages in between.

The next time around Dove was less subtle with its social commentary (and they left out the Photoshop tutorial). Check out Onslaught.

As a testament to the power of the original Evolution, the piece has been produced in other languages, parodied ala ‘The Man Show’ and roasted ala ‘Saturday Night Live’. Onslaught had been used as canon fodder for environmental commentary and social commentary against Dove/Unilever. Without diminishing the impact of Evolution or Onslaught, I think all of this side-commentary is healthy and useful as well.

As for The Evolution Of Beauty… it all started with the magic of Photoshop and a large team of willing professionals. The photographer in me remains enchanted, the husband/sibling/parent haunted and the intellectual provoked. How about you?