London police launched on 25th of February a new advertising campaign. Posters and TV ads are urging Londoners to turn in people who might be taking pictures of CCTV cameras.

"Thousands of people take photos every day.

What if one of them seems odd ?

Terrorists use surveillance to help plan attacks, taking photos and making notes about security measures like the location of CCTV cameras.If you see someone doing that, we need to know.

Let experienced officers decide what action to take." 

Other posters target households:

"you see hundreds of houses every day. What if one has unusual activities and seems suspicious"

as well as mobile phone users :

"Thousands of people have mobiles. What if someone with several seems suspicious?"

What's going on in London ? Is the Metropolitan police not busy enough ? did they become completely paranoiac ? or do they need some budget increase ?

Where is this so famous British phlegm ?

As a response, many people have already redesigned the posters to point out the absurdity of them. Some samples are available on BoingBoing.

Tags: 2008, advertising, ATT, attack, blog, camera, civil liberties, counterterrorism, CTU, design, february, fon, ia, ict, im, King, lan, launch, location, london, mobile, mobile phone, nomadcom.net, officer, paranoia, PDF, phone, photo, photographers, Photography, picture, police, post, posters, public, security, snitch, suspect, terror, terrorism, uk, USA, user, wp, www, XP

As part of the various and numerous initiatives taking place in Thailand this year, a multimedia event names "Thailand: 9 Days in the Kingdom" marking the 80th birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on 5 December has now been revealed to public.

‘Thailand: 9 Days in the Kingdom’ project invited in January 2007, 55 of the world’s leading photographers for a photo shoot throughout Thailand over a nine-day period. Result of captured images shows different facets of Thailand: its peoples, traditions, landscapes and cityscapes, commerce and industry.

‘Thailand: 9 Days in the Kingdom’ is now completed and released to public in three parts:

• A wonderful 304 pages large-format pictorial book which portrays Thailand today (50 USD).
• A multimedia exhibition of photographs taken during the shoot held at CentralWorld Event Gallery.
• Two documentary films on the project.

‘Thailand: 9 Days in the Kingdom’ includes seven photos-essays made by some of world famous photographers on various themes:

• reverence for the King (Anuchai Secharunputong, Thailand)
• the ongoing events in the south (Abbas, France; Charoon Thongnual, Thailand)
• Thai boxing (Greg Gorman, USA)
• the harvesting of birds’ nests (Éric Valli, France)
• the care and treatment of AIDS patients by a Catholic priest (James Nachtwey, USA)
• and the country’s colourful cabaret scene (Greg Gorman, USA)
• aerial views of Thailand (Yann Arthus-Bertrand).

In short, if pass by Bangkok before the 5th of December, don't miss the exhibition. For the others, if you like Thailand, the book and its DVD is a must have (available in English and French).

More : 9 days in the Kingdom, A glimpse of the exhibition

Tags: 2007, 9 days in Thailand, art, Bangkok, Bhumibol Adulyadej, blog, book, event, exhibition, Flickr, HP, ia, ict, im, industry, King, lan, launch, LED, nomadcom.net, photo, photographers, Photography, project, public, release, Thailand, Thailand: 9 days in the Kingdom, theme, upa, USA, world, wp, www

I found yesterday an ad about another product made to shield your face (or at least the face of these "beautiful people")… this make me laugh as I'm not sure how they will convinced large amount of users to apply them.

• The first spray is the"expertise 3P" made by Clarins which protects skin from the ageing effects of Artificial Electromagnetic Waves (sic!). The Magnetic Defense Complex (Rhodiola Rosea + Thermus Thermophillus) – Reinforces skin's resistance to the harmful effects of Artificial Electromagnetic Waves.

  Apparently it's a large frequency spectrum product as they do not precise the frequency range which is concerned but it works according Clarins on artificial radio waves…but will certainly not refrain your cellphone to warm your brain cells…as the lotion seems to be done for facial usage only.

• The second spray intends to guarantee your privacy while facing photographer. Blur anti-photography spray and its highly reflective nanoparticles reflect the flashbulbs of peeping and stalking photographers. They blind camera sensors and whiten part of the image.

  The description speaks for itself, but I wonder if both can be used together as our friends "The Stars" may become totally addicted to both lotions.

  If not, they may use an older product, widely available and invented more that Century ago which surely protect from both paparazzi and electromagnetic waves. The Aluminium foil

Sources : We Make Money not Art, Clarins, Snoops

Tags: 2007, arc, art, artificial, blog, bulb, camera, cellphone, ces, Clarins, Electromagnetic Waves, expertise 3P, flash, Fun, Gadgets, HP, ia, ict, im, King, lan, Magnetic Defense Complex, money, nomadcom.net, phone, photo, photographers, Photography, plugin, press, privacy, protection skin effects, Rhodiola Rosea, space, Thermus Thermophillus, uk, USA, usage, user, wordpress, wp, www, XP

The Musée de l'Elysée, a museum for photography, in Lausanne, Switzerland proposes from February to May an exhibition about "The rapid mutation of amateur photography in the digital age" called "We are all Photographers Now!".

The events wants to be interactive and invites people from all over the World to submit their photos on the exhibition's web site. A selection of pictures received will be publish then on exhibition's walls. Participants will get an email with a new photograph (what museums call an "installation view") with their photo such at it was shown on the galeries of our museum.

The event will explore and try to answer some of the following sensitive issues, such for example :

• Does the digital shift constitute a revolution, or merely an evolution?
• Does the shift represent a real democratization of photography?
• Is citizen photojournalism worthy of its name?
• Does the shift threaten the livelihood of professional photographers in fundamental ways?
• Does the shift represent a shift towards more authenticity or truthfulness — or less?

Sources :  Textually.org, About:Photography

Tags: 2007, api, arc, art, blog, ces, citizen, CTU, digital, elysée, event, example, exhibition, february, Fun, HP, ict, im, install, ITU, lan, lausanne, LED, live, manipulating, MIT, museum, nomadcom.net, Our World, photo, photographers, Photography, photojournalism, picture, sharing, shift, switzerland, threat, USA, web, world, wp, www, XP