} Faces of Addiction

I really can’t explain precisely what the Faces of Addition set of photographs by Chris Arnade do to me. It’s part fascination, part ache. Part troubled, part amazement.

Part amazement that these people have lived thru SO much, and are still standing. Because of the fight in them, perhaps.

Part ache and troubled, for obvious reasons. Each picture taken (mostly in Hunts Point, Bronx) by Chris comes with a text. Each text is more heart-wrenching than the next.

Part fascination, because well, I don’t understand it. For example, you know that show Intervention? I’ve seen most of them. Why? Well, it is SO far from myself that it fascinates me in a weird way. What is the opposite of ourselves is sometimes very intriguing. And so I keep on trying to understand. Understand something that perhaps can’t be understood, I don’t know…

That said, I suggest these pictures and these stories to anyone and everyone. Whatever is your own story, as close or as far as it is to theirs, if there is even just one single bone of empathy in you, then there are lessons to be read, learned, and thought about.

Go, now.

* For a more in dept view of Chris’ own opinion on it all, also visit his Tumblr.

Advertisement

Nest

Have you visited Nest recently?

I had blogged about Nest a while back in French, but it’s such a wonderful site with great goals, can’t pass up blogging about it again!

“Nest is a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the lives of women in developing countries. The mission of Nest is to support women artists and artisans in the developing world by helping them create sustainable entrepreneurial businesses. To do this, Nest provides micro-credit loans to be used for the purchase of the supplies and materials necessary to begin and/or maintain art or craft-based businesses.”

Once on the site, you can purchase handmade goodies from Loan Recipient Designers, as well as from Domestic Designers. You will find everything from bags to yarn to letterpress to bath&body products.

Loan recipients are located around the World, like India, Tanzania, Israel and Turkey.

I couldn’t say it better that this t-shirt: Shop to save the World!

15 Below

Wow! Une superbe nouvelle positive ce matin dans le newsletter d’Infopresse!

L’agence Taxi a récemment dévoilé ses manteaux 15 Below, destinés aux sans-abri.

“Les manteaux 15 Below sont décrits par Taxi comme étant “isothermes, légers, imperméables et remplis de poches”. Une fois leurs poches bourrées de papier journal, les manteaux aident les personnes de la rue à se protéger du froid.

[…]

Les manteaux 15 Below seront distribués à des sans-abri au Canada et aux États-Unis.

[…]

Le tout a été financé en grande partie par Taxi. L’agence a utilisé des sommes autrement destinées aux fêtes de Noël ou aux célébrations du 15e anniversaire, comme le soulignait Paul Lavoie dans une entrevue en juin dernier.

[…]

Ce dernier a d’ailleurs séjourné dans un congélateur à viande afin de tester sa création.”

Une superbe initiative qui réchauffe le coeur en ce temps des Fêtes qui s’annonce vraiment mais vraiment frisquet!