14 Jul Jorge and Tae

Last summer we had an intern named Ana.  She is the new york born niece of a good friend from Chapel Hill.   When she first came by our office we were just starting a project for Newyork.com in which we were going to profile interesting and creative New Yorkers.  Ana is a film student at NYU and she had made a short video about her parent’s friend Jorge Colombo, so she suggested him as a possible subject.  Her film was very similar to what we had in mind, and Jorge and his work were perfect, so we decided to do our first piece on Jorge.

When we met up I liked him immediately.  We chatted about shooting images with iphones, and he showed me the settings that he used for hipstamatic.  He had methodically tried out hundreds of combinations.  He had found the best settings so I “borrowed” them.  When I looked at his images on instagram I was surprised to see that shortly after we shot the piece with him he had shot an image of one of my favorite people on Earth, Tae Won Yu. The world grows every smaller as we grow older. In some ways its shocking to me that it took me so long to meet Jorge.

I don’t see Tae that much anymore, but his influence and support have had a profoundly positive effect on me.  When I first started playing in a band, and had a lot of self doubt, his enthusiasm lifted me up. He supported me as a photographer and a filmmaker which was so meaningful to me because I was bowled over by his creativity. I think he is one of the most innovative people I have ever met, and I am very excited about having him involved in our next film project.  He has been making paper cut out pieces that defy imagination and I think they will help open people up to new ideas when the are incorporated into our film.

a paper valentine from taewonyu on Vimeo.

Since shooting the piece with Jorge, he and I have interacted frequently over social media (i get inspired by his work, he expresses appreciation for mine etc), but we hadn’t actually seen each other.  Last month he sent me a message saying that we should meet.  So the last time I was in New York for 24 hours I met him in Brooklyn Heights and we talked non stop for a couple of hours.  Jorge is an inspiration to me.  He makes work all the time, and all of it is good.  It makes me feel less crazy about how much I make work, often without a direct purpose.  I make images, and posts, and short films because I thrive on being creative.  I’m inspired and supported by those who do the same.

Last week I felt compelled to explain why Letha’s work is so meaningful to me.  This morning I had the same impulse about Jorge.  As I write this I realize that one of the reasons that I appreciate their work so much is that they all help me to appreciate mine.