Sam Rodriguez, a graphic designer and illustrator based in San José, USA, has released a small series named Visual Rhymes which started out from several rough concepts for a mural.
Talking about the pieces Sam Rodriguez said: “Some new pieces that originally started out as rough concepts for a mural but ultimately did not get used. I thought it would be fun to develop them anyway. They initially began as three figures throughout one canvas, but after that concept was declined, I decided to give each one their own space. Visual Rhyming, in this case, is having the same figure repeated through multiple canvas’, each with their own set of color, shapes, and skin tones. I thought the results were interesting and hopefully there will be time to further explore this approach.”
Gil Bruvel, an artist and sculptor based in the US, presented an eye-pleasing collection of sculptures named Flow Series. Originally from France, the tour de force that is Gil Bruvel began his artistic journey early on in his life. Bruvel began by working with his father, who was an artisanal carpenter. Bruvel’s artistic excellence has been showcased in the details of his work, but also in the consistency of quality that Bruvel delivers through each of his pieces.
You can find more work by Gil Bruvel here. Moreover, you can find the full Flow Serieshere.
Emilio Canton, a Mexican designer and art director, created a project named Music Makers. The project began as a small personal project for Women’s History month and now has expanded into a continuing project.
Writing about the project Emilio Canton wrote: “Started as a personal project for Women’s History month but is now an ongoing project highlighting the female music makers that I admire most.”
Ben Geier, an American-based photographer, has released a series of photos covering Southern California. The series covers and focuses on isolated and abandoned locations which are presented in warm climates.
You can find more work by Ben Geier on Behance and his website.
Olivier Bekaert, a Belgium-based photographer, has released an ageless series named Con Su Permisso. In this eye-pleasing series, Bekaert delivers a black and white journey through several locations around the world in an observational-like manner.
You can find the full collection and more work by Olivier Bekaert on his website.
Dillon Marsh, a photographer who currently resides in Cape Town, South Africa, has recently released a series of photos named Rain Maker. This feature showcases Nival Zone, a chapter of the bigger series.
Writing about the series Dillon Marsh said: “In the middle of the African continent, close to the equator, a mountain range rises from the Great Rift Valley with peaks so high they’re permanently covered in snow. Once rumoured to be the source of the Nile, the Rwenzori Mountains are made up of some remarkably varied landscapes, fed by year-round rain and glacial melt. From verdant forests to boggy valleys, up to the bare rocks and glaciers of its upper reaches, the slopes are divided into five overlapping vegetative zones.
This series of monochrome photographs catalogues the progression between these zones, showcasing the distinctive flora of the region. The result is often atmospheric, capturing oversized heather, lobelia and groundsels in the mist, with detail shots highlighting textural elements in each layer.
Compared to black and white images taken by Vittoria Sella as part of an Italian expedition to the area in 1906, the effects of global warming on the region are evident. Less than half of the 43 glaciers documented at that time still exist, and some of the remaining ones have lost as much as 90% of their mass already. At current rates, they’re expected to disappear completely within the decade. Rising temperatures also threaten the distinctive vegetation found on these slopes, continuously shrinking or shifting their potential habitat.
At its core, this series is a celebration of the extraordinary beauty of the Rwenzori Mountains, but it also highlights its precarious position in the face of rampant climate change.”
You can find more work by Dillon Marsh on his website and Behance.
Sigrid, a Norwegian born singer and songwriter, has released her latest single Sight Of You, today. The song comes after several successful songs including Don’t Kill My Vibe, Strangers and Don’t Feel Like Crying which is part of her upcoming album Sucker Punch. Sigrid will be releasing Sucker Punch on the 8th of March via Island Records.
Sigrid came onto our radar after the release of Strangers in 2017 where she showcased ear-pleasing voice control, that makes her the name to follow in the world of music in the coming years.
Island Records released Sight Of You via the major streaming platforms. You can stream the song via Spotify here.
Prospa, an electronic duo from Britain, have released a music video for their dance hit Prayer. The music video was directed by João Retorta and was shot in Ukraine. The music video itself reminds us of striking dancefloor visuals and Gosha Rubchinskiy’s fashion shows with its Soviet-like locations. Much like the song, the music video itself feels like it’s always on the move with pumping energy, constant camera movement and rave dancing.
Talking about the music video to The Fader, the duo said: “The Prayer video is a vivid emotional journey navigated by genius director João Retorta. It tells a raw story of youth, euphoria and love.”
Davison Carvalho, an art director, graphic designer, and illustrator who is currently residing in the US, has released a series of illustrations named The Search. It’s a beautiful series that reminds us a little of Blade Runner and cinematic-like illustrations with it’s mysterious theme.
Talking about the series Davison Carvalho said: “Made this ages ago and forgot about it. I just wanted to take a quick break from experimenting with Ui and practice some techniques for concept art, by mixing painting, matte-painting, 3D blockage, Kit Bashing, and photo manipulation. It was fun to try, I made a theme, of search parties looking for a person of interest, starting at at a snowy research facility, passing through a industrial zone and going all the way to a restricted and abandoned part of the city.
I tried to use connecting visual elements on all 3 concepts, like those spheres, weather, some color treatments and architecture. But still having enough variation that they look different.”
You can find more work by Davison Carvalho on his Behance and Website.
The 91st Academy Awards are happening today (Monday morning for us UK viewers), and it will surely be an interesting one with no official presenter since 1989 due to Kevin Hart’s dismissal. The last time the Academy Awards were without a presenter they had this…
The Academy Awards haven’t had the best year with the news of introducing a ‘Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film’ category not going down well (eventually overturned); the choice to exclude three of the Best Original Songs performances at the ceremony… quickly undone; to their decision to not include four categories (Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Live-Action Short and Best Hair & Makeup) which was also, eventually reversed.
Photo by David Torcivia
All in all, The Oscars are still the biggest and (seen as) most important awards given to motion picture, whether you have a strong hate for them or disagree with their decisions (which seems to happen a lot apparently) there is still some cheer in watching your favourite movie, actor, actress, song, writer or director win and stand on the stage holding an iconic award.
We at Our Culture Mag have decided to give our predictions this year and although we admittedly have not seen every film nominated, neither have the Academy Voters and they’re literally voting for who wins. So anyway, let’s crack on…
Best Picture:
Modestas Mankus: Roma
Elias Michael: Roma
Eric Ng: Roma
Christopher Stewardson: BlacKkKlansman
Best Director:
Modestas Mankus: Alfonso Cuarón – Roma
Elias Michael: Alfonso Cuarón – Roma
Eric Ng: Alfonso Cuarón – Roma
Christopher Stewardson: Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman
Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Modestas Mankus: Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody as Freddie Mercury
Elias Michael: Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody as Freddie Mercury
Eric Ng: Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody as Freddie Mercury
Christopher Stewardson: Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody as Freddie Mercury
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Modestas Mankus: Olivia Colman – The Favourite as Anne, Queen of Great Britain
Elias Michael: Glenn Close – The Wife as Joan Castleman
Eric Ng: Olivia Colman – The Favourite as Anne, Queen of Great Britain
Christopher Stewardson: Olivia Colman – The Favourite as Anne, Queen of Great Britain
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Modestas Mankus: Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman as Philip “Flip” Zimmerman
Elias Michael: Mahershala Ali – Green Book as Don Shirley
Eric Ng: Mahershala Ali – Green Book as Don Shirley
Christopher Stewardson: Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman as Philip “Flip” Zimmerman
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Modestas Mankus: Emma Stone – The Favourite as Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham
Elias Michael: Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk as Sharon Rivers
Eric Ng: Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk as Sharon Rivers
Christopher Stewardson: Rachel Weisz – The Favourite as Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Best Original Screenplay:
Modestas Mankus: Roma – Written by Alfonso Cuarón
Elias Michael: Green Book – Written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly
Eric Ng: The Favourite – Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
Christopher Stewardson: Roma – Written by Alfonso Cuarón
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Modestas Mankus: BlacKkKlansman – Screenplay by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
Elias Michael: BlacKkKlansman – Screenplay by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
Eric Ng: BlacKkKlansman – Screenplay by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
Christopher Stewardson: BlacKkKlansman – Screenplay by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
Best Animated Feature Film:
Modestas Mankus: Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
Elias Michael: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Eric Ng: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Christopher Stewardson: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Best Best Foreign Language Film:
Modestas Mankus: Roma (Mexico) in Spanish and Mixtec – Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Elias Michael: Roma (Mexico) in Spanish and Mixtec – Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Eric Ng: Roma (Mexico) in Spanish and Mixtec – Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Christopher Stewardson: Roma (Mexico) in Spanish and Mixtec – Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Best Documentary – Feature:
Modestas Mankus: Of Fathers and Sons – Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
Elias Michael: Free Solo – Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill
Eric Ng: Free Solo – Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill
Christopher Stewardson: Of Fathers and Sons – Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
Best Documentary – Short Subject:
Modestas Mankus: End Game – Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
Elias Michael: Black Sheep – Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
Eric Ng: Black Sheep – Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
Christopher Stewardson: Black Sheep – Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
Best Live Action Short Film:
Modestas Mankus: Skin – Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman
Elias Michael: Detainment – Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon
Eric Ng: Fauve – Jérémy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon
Christopher Stewardson: Detainment – Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon
Best Animated Short Film:
Modestas Mankus: One Small Step – Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
Elias Michael: Bao – Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb
Eric Ng: Bao – Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb
Christopher Stewardson: Bao – Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb
Best Original Score:
Modestas Mankus: Isle of Dogs – Alexandre Desplat
Elias Michael: Black Panther – Ludwig Göransson
Eric Ng: If Beale Street Could Talk – Nicholas Britell
Christopher Stewardson: BlacKkKlansman – Terence Blanchard
Best Original Song:
Modestas Mankus: Shallow from A Star Is Born – Music and Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt
Elias Michael: Shallow from A Star Is Born – Music and Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt
Eric Ng: Shallow from A Star Is Born – Music and Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt
Christopher Stewardson:
Best Sound Editing:
Modestas Mankus: A Quiet Place – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
Elias Michael: A Quiet Place – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
Eric Ng: Roma – Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay
Christopher Stewardson: A Quiet Place – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
Best Sound Mixing:
Modestas Mankus: Bohemian Rhapsody – Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
Elias Michael: Bohemian Rhapsody – Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
Eric Ng: Roma – Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay
Christopher Stewardson: Bohemian Rhapsody – Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
Best Production Design:
Modestas Mankus: The Favourite – Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Elias Michael: The Favourite – Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Eric Ng: The Favourite – Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Christopher Stewardson: The Favourite – Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Best Cinematography:
Modestas Mankus: Cold War – Łukasz Żal
Elias Michael: Roma – Alfonso Cuarón
Eric Ng: Roma – Alfonso Cuarón
Christopher Stewardson: Cold War – Łukasz Żal
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Modestas Mankus: Mary Queen of Scots – Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks
Elias Michael: Vice – Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney
Eric Ng: Vice – Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney
Christopher Stewardson: Vice – Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney
Best Costume Design:
Modestas Mankus: The Favourite – Sandy Powell
Elias Michael: The Favourite – Sandy Powell
Eric Ng: The Favourite – Sandy Powell
Christopher Stewardson: Black Panther – Ruth E. Carter
Best Film Editing:
Modestas Mankus: The Favourite – Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Elias Michael: Vice – Hank Corwin
Eric Ng: The Favourite – Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Christopher Stewardson: BlacKkKlansman – Barry Alexander Brown
Best Visual Effects:
Modestas Mankus: First Man – Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J. D. Schwalm
Elias Michael: First Man – Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J. D. Schwalm
Eric Ng: Avengers: Infinity War – Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
Christopher Stewardson: First Man – Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J. D. Schwalm
We’d love to know your predictions, so comment below who you think will win or tweet us at @OurCultureOC
The 91st Academy Awards will be televised for UK viewers on Sky Cinema Oscars at 12:30 am Monday 25th February. OC will be tweeting live updates on our Twitter at @OurCultureOC throughout the ceremony.
