so its finally happened! i am now the proud owner of an officially unlocked iphone 4, courtesy of at&t and apple!

one of the largest complaints the iphone has received since its release in the summer of 2007 is that was locked to a single carrier (in the US that carrier was at&t). this caused a huge problem for the many people that were on verizon, t-mobile or sprint. perhaps this is why months after its release George Hotz of New Jersey hacked the iphone for the first time, allowing it to be used on any carrier. since then, with constant upgrades and updates, keeping a phone “free” to be used on any carrier has been an uphill battle.

but that time has now passed. at&t has finally started allowing eligible iphones (those that have fulfilled their contract or those that have been freed from a contract via a buyout) to be officially unlocked via a code they push to apple’s servers so that the next time you plug your phone into itunes it will be… wait for it.. officially unlocked! you can find more details on the process here: at&t begins to officially unlock qualified iphones

this is especially fantastic for people, like myself, that travel often and would rather use pre-paid sim cards overseas that accrue the ridiculously high international fees. also, those of us who don’t want to be with at&t now have the option to use other carriers, like t-mobile.

proof that my iphone is unlocked

as you can see in the above picture, my carrier is currently t-mobile and since its an officially unlocked iphone any company that provides a sim card for their phones can be swapped in for the same result.

now then… with that said and done. time to plan a trip…

..ra

misfits aren’t misfits among other misfits..

- Barry Manilow

during the summer in new york city, union square park at 14th street has always been a fantastic place for both city natives and tourists alike. although surrounded by stores and shops of all kinds, it has always served as one of the few places in the city where one could hang around for an entire day and not spend a single dime if they didn’t want to. due to this, city natives, particularly those that grew up hanging out there, have affectionately named this area of the city, “the land of misfit toys”.

the land of misfit toys is nestled in a very interesting area of the city. it is surrounded by chelsea, gramercy, greenwich village and the flatiron district. NYU has its dorms in nearly every direction and the new school has a few of its school buildings nearby. within walking distance is every single train that runs through manhattan, save for the shuttle and 7-train which run on 42nd street. this makes the land of misfit toys a natural crossroads for the entire city. with people coming from all directions, the traffic is both unpredictable and diversified. more so than any other single area in the city, including times square.

as you can imagine, however, this non-stop traffic that continues well into the early hours of the morning is a beacon for any person or group that seeks an audience. from the street performers to the protestors to the misfits of the city looking for a place where they won’t stand out or those others that just want to get a peek at a misfit or two: union square park is a sight to behold. add to this the relocation of the remnants of the occupy wall street demonstration and what you have is a recipe that promises to have union square park earn its affectionate nickname.

its for this reason that this is one of my favorite places in the city to candidly make photographs. on any given day and at any given time, i am bound to find one or three things that will simply require immortalizing. here are collected some of the most insane, dirty, grungy, beautiful, talented, intelligent people one could hope to meet. no one outwardly judges anyone else. everyone can be themselves here in the land of misfit toys and here one can remain entertained for hours.

i would recommend that anyone visit during the suns hours and suggest only those native to the city visit in the evening. you’ll find no finer people watching in the city. also music, dancing and just an unusually enjoyable time.

..ra

true nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories..

- florence king

i realize now that this entire time i’ve been searching for nostalgia with my photography.

for the longest time i’ve been trying to piece together the words, ideas and of course images that i wanted to use for my book. each time my attempt seemed to be missing… something. my explanations of what i wanted seemed to be missing… something. my pending design of the book seemed to be missing… something. i was a little more than frustrated with the fact that a year later i was working on three or maybe four separate projects with no end in site for any of them. each project kind of touched on what i was looking for but not really as each one was missing something crucial.

and that thing was nostalgia!

the realization came to me recently when i was completing one of my shoots. it was for the then-called, “body series” and included a beautiful young model that had no issues with the intimacy of the scenario. what i got out of this shoot were images that were ripe with all of the elements i had been searching for this entire time. it was nostalgic, to use the word to death, of a simpler time in my life when things were more sensory and basic and honest. and that was it! this entire time, that’s what i had been searching for… nostalgia.

so as you can imagine i dissolved the other projects. “memories” “dreams” “the body series” and combined them all into one overlapping and all encompassing set of images that encapsulate all of these things. living memories, recreation of dreams… the celebration of the human body all come together in this set to express those things living inside of me and hopefully will be useful enough to print.

focus can be equally as calming as it is exciting and now that i know exactly what it is i am trying to “say”, the production is moving ahead full steam. updates with the shots may be shown on my facebook photography page, mostly for organizational purposes or on my actual portfolio page.

we’ll get there. you’ll see.

..ra

an image from the series searching for nostalgia

the kodak company was established in 1881 by george eastman. he came up with the name with his mother during an anagram game, and like the letter ‘K’ as it seemed strong and incisive he wanted to adhere to the three concepts of a name being short, easy to pronounce and something that would only be associated with what it was. this he definitely achieved, with the name he created still being one of the major firms associated with photography.

however, it seems that the company is having trouble adapting to this new and rapidly changing age of technology. this is definitely something that is not easy to do, with almost everyone owning a digital camera that does not require film. the changes do not stop there either, with advanced computers that photographers can view their photographs on and print from, as well as do countless other things like communicate with friends, play partypoker and run websites. if a company is going to survive nowadays, it must be able to move with the times and it does not seem like kodak is able to flourish in this environment. companies like panasonic and sony are more in touch with people’s modern-day desires and are overtaking kodak.

the irony lies in the fact that there appears to be a subtle revival of film, with a number of camera shops opening up all over the place. photographers are slowly returning to the once-popular medium of developing film, and processing labs are beginning to notice a positive difference in their sales. hopefully kodak can be salvaged. it is one of the best-loved and most well-known names in the photography industry and it would be a shame to lose such a high-profile contributor.

..ra

a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.

- oscar wilde

for years i’ve had this recurring lucid dream. i am not sure how exactly how to translate it as i don’t see any inherent deeper meaning. i am not sure if it happens before, during or after major events or changes in my life and i am not sure if it represents a person, place or thing. what i do know is that i’ve been dreaming it for years and once again i dreamed that dream last night..

it starts simple enough with me fading into dreaming. it’s kind of like curtains being pulled away from a movie screen. i find myself bathed in light, glorious golden light and realize quickly that i’m laying on a bed or on a mattress and there is a flat sheet covering me. the sheet is either white or yellow because the light coming through is golden. i think realize that the light is warm and i am warm so i assume the light is sunshine coming through a window.

there is a woman laying on the bed or mattress with me. i cannot see her but i feel her. i feel her physically and actually and i am happy and i am warm. we are playing under the sheets. perhaps tickling or wrestling or tussling, and she is laughing. she is laughing and this laugh is booming and soft at the same time and so joyous and welcoming and it surrounds me the very same way the sheets surround me. i am warm and i am happy and i am bathing in this glorious, golden light along with her laughter.

the dream continues this way for what seems to be forever. or perhaps we aren’t moving. perhaps i am just laying still in the laughter that is so real it’s tangible and that warm, golden light. my heart is beating quickly and heavily. there is a weight in my chest, not a tension weight or from the effects stress… but the weight we tend to get from emotional buildup. its so heavy. then just when its so heavy and rich that i simply cannot bare it any longer the sheet slides back just a bit.

things move really quickly now as i am blinded by the revealed light and she tilts her head back in a fit of joy. i cannot see her face over the “lens flare” that the sun coming in through the window creates, but i can see her teeth and her smile and her lips. i am filled with a happiness i cannot explain, words do not exist in this place i am in for this brief moment where she is smiling and laughing and we are playing beneath the sheets in that sea of golden light. i feel like she is about to look at me..

..then i wake up.

i wake up and open my eyes and the golden light fades away. reality cycles in and the laughter echoes in my ear. it fades with each passing second and i shut my eyes to try to hold onto it. my chest heaves less and less and my breathing returns to its normal rhythm. i don’t know her, but i already miss her, severely… i miss her laugh and that smile. i miss that place of utter perfection that i know i’ve never been before. i am left wanting..

it’s important, i suppose, to note that i am not unhappy after the fact. truthfully i’m usually very very happy after the dream, though i am left wishing to return. there are never spectacular things happening at the moment and its never in the midst of a romantic change of sorts. the dreams come randomly, always with the same tempo, always leaving and inspiring the same feelings of happiness, warmth and wanting..

..ra

every passion borders on the chaotic..

- walter benjamin

the realities of our life are usually more entertaining than our fictions. the ways we choose to negotiate our versions of good, bad, right and wrong are often comical at best. we take great care of our self-delusions and seek out that place where we can just float.. or maybe i’m speaking about myself again and this has nothing to do with any of the observations i’ve made..

the image resonates with me. buzzfeed released their 45 most powerful images of the year 2011 and it was number 25. i stared at it for a while as i attempted to figure out what about it was so compelling. it took a while but i began to understand that it was the semblance of beauty amidst chaos, the sheer passion of the moment. a grain of calm totally enshrouded by anger and rage and many other emotions.

i found myself smiling and comparing the photograph to a thousand different concepts, both metaphorical and actual, where powerful emotions such as passion push back the darkness we tend to inflict upon ourselves. i think about all the people i hold dear and how they’ve systematically triumphed over their personal demons in one way or another and how, in general, i’ve done the same. the photograph, which should be credited to Getty Images / Rich Lam, reminded me why i have this lasting love affair with people and humanity and why my chosen medium of expression is the frozen moment.

there is a quote by terry pratchett that suggests that darkness is faster that light because wherever light travels the darkness is there waiting for it. what pratchett fails to explain is that the light, once it arrives, pushes back the night with ease and extreme prejudice. maybe i’m over-thinking things again. or maybe it is a comfortable reminder that contrary to what people say, this life is long, very long, and while sometimes it seems the bad days just keep stacking up – there will always be days of respite.

passion in the middle of a riot. how perfect.

..ra

moving fast is not the same as going somewhere..

- robert anthony

i love pictures. doesn’t really matter who took them or with what equipment they were taken.. i love captured images. these days with so much going on in my life – like the looming possibility of moving across the country or the more immediate issues of maintaining paying work, training for the miami marathon and trying to get into law school, its damn near impossible to get myself into a studio or to work on the gazillion imaging ideas i have in my head..

..truth be told, even though i always have a camera on me in some capacity (be it the rebel or my film camera), i’m usually moving so quickly i don’t get a chance to pull it out: and a camera that isn’t in the hand is essentially useless. luckily, however, my iphone is always in my hand and that has been serving as my photo capture and editing solution.

lets be clear, as far as cameras go, the iphone’s is pretty subpar. but the illusion of the package and the illusion of the compression is damn good and truthfully, sometimes what you get turns out to be quite interesting. though i only post a few images here and there on my facebook page: Robert Billings Photography, a lot of the images that i take and really enjoy on my iphone don’t get much play.

i usually use the instagram application (get it here: instagram) because its really clean and i’m a huge fan of both the social possibilities there and the filters and designs. simple, easy and fun. so i’ve linked a few of the images i’ve taken to this blog to kind of have them somewhere and perchance i’ll add to them as time goes on. hopefully soon these busy days will become only half busy days and then i’ll be able to slow down, look around, take out my camera and capture.

until then..

..ra

we fear doing too little when we should do more. Then atone by doing too much, when perhaps we should do less.

- robert trout

so apparently there is a downside to this “follow your bliss” stuff i’ve been selling. there is so much that moves me, so much i am interested in that i find some things being put to the wayside as i move from topic to topic, person to person, place to place. i’m being split into so many pieces that i am not giving my all to any of these things i love. that has to change immediately..

its been forever since i’ve edited a single photograph. this is mainly due to the fact that i’ve found an interest in law and have been studying for the upcoming LSAT exam on october 1st. i’ve touched my guitar exactly two times in the last three months (still can’t hit an F chord properly) and that is due to the fact that i’ve been working with the team at Hop the Rail Productions to get the few projects we’ve been involved with off the ground. i’ve slowed down on the filming lately due to the fact that i’ve joined a running team to prepare me for the Miami Marathon this upcoming January in honor of my mother and a young lady named Risa, both of whom have survived cancer.

anyone seeing a pattern?

there just aren’t enough hours in my day. i’m so easily distracted lately. i’ve quit world of warcraft for good, absolutely for good… but then i purchased a PS3 and am re-addicted to old games like kingdom hearts, god of war and grand theft auto! wtf man!!

but i’m sure its only a minor hitch. a slight need for organization is required i’m thinking. come october 1st, the LSAT studying will cease… since i’d have taken the exam and that will definitely free up time for either some serious editing or perhaps a guitar strumming or two. the running occurs in isolated pockets that i can build the rest of my world around and well the socialization will deal with and erase the time wasted in videoland.

yes. that sounds like a fine solution. oh… did i mention i’m thinking of returning to france/spain for another camino next summer?

dammit.

ra..

for the 10-year anniversary of the events of september 11th many people have come together to pay homage to the tragedy in their own way. my brother, kahleem poole, put together a wonderful tribute video along with the help of the people at the fight nerd.

the video entitled, “the fighting spirit” (found here: The Fighting Spirit) stars several luminaries from the NY-based martial arts community, including veterans like Renzo Gracie and TUF finalist Pete Sell who share their stories and experiences from that day ten years ago.

a special thanks goes to the people at the fight nerd and a big kudos goes out to kahleem.

..ra