Strands of Genius: To Be Moved, Love The Fig, The School of Life 100 Questions: Love Edition Cards
Guest curated by Wesley Verhoeve, Photographer and Curator
Each year we aim to highlight 50 creative thinkers that have inspired us by giving them the opportunity to guest curate this newsletter, Strands of Genius. This edition is guest curated by Wesley Verhoeve, Photographer and Curator.
:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, WESLEY VERHOEVE ::
LOCATION: Amsterdam
I met Rosie many years ago in New York City and was inspired by the intensity of her spark. When I learned about how Rosie and Faris were living nomadically it planted a seed inside of me that would later turn into a nomadic period of two years living in a different city for three months at a time, including Tokyo, Mexico City, and Amsterdam which is where I live full -time now after twenty years in New York City.
One of those cities was Vancouver, British Columbia, where I ended up "stuck" during the first five months of covid when returning to New York City wasn't really a smart move. While I wasn't able to find work as a freelance photographer, which was very challenging, I was able to lean into my photographic practice by slowing down to explore new ways of seeing during my daily photo walks.
Without much of a plan I ended up walking the same quiet suburban neighborhood for 123 days in a row, totaling more than 1200km/800mi, and creating a body of work of nearly 35,000 photos. This process resulted in the creation and publication of my first photo book, NOTICE, a collection of meditative observations of the small bits of beauty and wonder we usually rush right past in our busy lives. I love hearing from people that it inspires them to stop and smell the roses a bit more and find beauty in their immediate surroundings.
So thank you Rosie and Faris for starting me off on a journey that resulted in this book. NOTICE is now available in a limited edition second print from my website www.wesley.co
Editor’s Note (Rosie): Awww, we’re happy to have played any small part in the creative journey! As Wesley wrote, we met in NYC (back in the day, as they say) and he was one of those people that was easy to chat to, and always working on something interesting. We hadn’t kept in touch, but when we both appeared on a Substack recommendations page (his newsletter Process here), he reached out to say hi and shared that he, too, had been nomadic. We always love hearing from more fringe-dwelling freedom seekers and we’re excited to have Wesley here today!
:: THE LINKS ::
TO BE MOVED
Perhaps the most touching snippet of conversation I ever heard on the radio was between NPR's Terry Gross and author/illustrator Maurice Sendak of Where The Wild Things Are fame. It turned out I wasn't the only one who was moved, to tears even. Illustrator Christoph Niemann heard the interview while driving to pick up one of his kids and the way it moved him inspired him to create an animation for the New York Times magazine that took the most beautiful part and set it to music and drawings. Take a few minutes to be inspired and moved. (YouTube)
LOVE THE FIG
I read this New Yorker article once or twice a year for it's delightful descriptions, it's elegantly educational notes, and as a reminder that for every fig we eat there is a mummified wasp we also eat. This is science writing at it's most entertaining and fun. (New Yorker)
THE SCHOOL OF LIFE 100 QUESTIONS: LOVE EDITION CARDS
I am a fan of what The School of Life has done to elevate conversations around many important topics that might be seen as stuffy (philosophy) or too personal (love/sex). I would gift this set of questions to any group of friends or couples who are just getting to know each other. A wonderful, gentle, interesting, and emotionally intelligent set of questions with depth and humor that opens up conversations and helps us explore all kinds of important topics in life. Also it's really fun. (Amazon)
Looking for more from Wesley Verhoeve? Coming Friday, look for an interview from him in your inbox!
:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::
:: Game :: Charades
:: City :: New York City in 2012, Tokyo, Amsterdam
:: Book :: Today: Stoner by John Williams
:: Podcast :: Questlove Supreme
:: Album :: Illmatic by Nas
:: STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS ::
I publish Process, a weekly substack newsletter about photography and finding your creative voice. My goal is to encourage and empower people to tell stories they care about through photography. I'd love for you to join me there www.readprocess.co
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)
@ Wesley what watch are you wearing on that photo?