commerce & culture portfolio

Commerce & Culture is a social enterprise, connecting creative people from the global south to the global market aiming to dramati-cally improve their opportunities.To Pursue this goal we currently working to support the invigora-tion of the creative sector in the global south within the framework of international development. Our focus is the development of cul-tural programs where we have been working as a consulting firm, providing education, and facilitat-ing exchange since spring 2010.In the context of cultural pro-

AFRICA CALLINGLocation: Bamako, Mali

Brief;

“A smartphone is not just a phone—it’s a potential revolution.Culture is being formed online as well as on the street: for the fore-seeable future, the African voice is going to get louder, while the voice of ageing Europe quietens.”

IDEA: Lifestyle shoot, teens hanging out using modern technology, being plugged in to technology, and to each other. MODELS: Group of teenage friends (girls only, boys only and mixed group)LOCATION: In the street, on the go or after school hangout. TREATMENT: Natural light, real people, fun and appealing.CONCEPTS: Fun, New Technol-ogy, Achievement, Friendship, Connection, Creativity, Joy.

The modern city is also remarkable for its split personali-ty. On one hand its growth is turbulent and aimless, on the other, cities are planned down to the tiniest detail.“Tiger Cit-ies” is the name given to these upstarts that have taken a huge leap onto the world stage and caught up on three hundred years of European urban development in just one generation.“The Asian metropolises are megacities not because they are enormous (…), but because they continue to break new re-cords of technological innovation each year. According to the American author Bruse Sterling, mega-projects are not build because they are economically effective, but due to the fact that they create a feeling of “pure, pulsating awe”.“a futuristic urban wonderland, where you feel you are part of a stage design for Blade Runner…which is incredibly fas-cinating and with all its contradictions makes you think.”While more than half of the urban world still lives in cities of less than 500,000, the top 25 megacities account for more than half of the world’s wealth. The growth of urban populations is quickly leading to the rise of

Mega City,

Futuristic,

Built Structure,

The modern city is also remarkable for its split personali-ty. On one hand its growth is turbulent and aimless, on the other, cities are planned down to the tiniest detail.“Tiger Cit-ies” is the name given to these upstarts that have taken a huge leap onto the world stage and caught up on three hundred years of European urban development in just one generation.“The Asian metropolises are megacities not because they are enormous (…), but because they continue to break new re-cords of technological innovation each year. According to the American author Bruse Sterling, mega-projects are not build because they are economically effective, but due to the fact that they create a feeling of “pure, pulsating awe”.“a futuristic urban wonderland, where you feel you are part of a stage design for Blade Runner…which is incredibly fas-cinating and with all its contradictions makes you think.”While more than half of the urban world still lives in cities of less than 500,000, the top 25 megacities account for more than half of the world’s wealth. The growth of urban populations is quickly leading to the rise of

Mega City, Cityscape,

Futuristic,

Built Structure,

TIGER CITYSLocation: Bangkok, Thailand

Brief;

“Bangkok remind you of the di-alectic between the old and the new, a world that no longer seems real but appears instead as a series of dream-images of an eccentric film architect or com-puter-game producer.”

IDEA: mood board - The clash between the individual and the Asian megacities a fu-turistic urban wonderland, where you feel you are part of a stage design for Blade Run-ner.MODELS: young urban adultsLOCATION: Bangkok TREATMENT: moody, staged, natural light.CONCEPTS:Mega City, Innova-tion, Futuristic, Architecture, Cityscape, Lifestyles, Built Structure,

the property for this Aspen house is located along the crest of Wild-cat Ridge at an elevation of 9,200 feet. The design incorporates three major elements responding to its spectacular site: a dramat-ic folded plate roof, an immense moss rock wall marking the divi-sion between the east and west wings of the building, and large expanses of exterior glass. The transparency of the building allows for maximum views of the surrounding mountains without compet-ing with their scale. The design evolved by following the longitudinal parallel of the crest of the mountain with the public rooms, study, and master bedroom oriented west toward Snowmass Village. The house is two hundred feet in length. Its renewable energy source is sixty geothermal wells, such that it virtually functions indepen-dently of outside support services. The wells heat the driveway, pool, and house during the coldest winter months and cool during the summer without depleting fossil fuels. The home, designed by Voorsanger Architects, has a dramatic folded plate roof and a large moss rock wall dividing the east and west wings of the building.

Spectacular,

Elevation 9.200 feets,

the property for this Aspen house is located along the crest of Wild-cat Ridge at an elevation of 9,200 feet. The design incorporates three major elements responding to its spectacular site: a dramat-ic folded plate roof, an immense moss rock wall marking the divi-sion between the east and west wings of the building, and large expanses of exterior glass. The transparency of the building allows for maximum views of the surrounding mountains without compet-ing with their scale. The design evolved by following the longitudinal parallel of the crest of the mountain with the public rooms, study, and master bedroom oriented west toward Snowmass Village. The house is two hundred feet in length. Its renewable energy source is sixty geothermal wells, such that it virtually functions indepen-dently of outside support services. The wells heat the driveway, pool, and house during the coldest winter months and cool during the summer without depleting fossil fuels. The home, designed by Voorsanger Architects, has a dramatic folded plate roof and a large moss rock wall dividing the east and west wings of the building.

Spectacular,

Aspen,

Elevation 9.200 feets,

WILDCAT RIDGELocation: Aspen, US

Brief;

“Wildcat Ridge has 11 bed-rooms is perched at an elevation of 9,200 feet, offering views for miles.The home gets its energy from 60 geothermal wells so that it is virtually self sufficient”

IDEA: highlight the architec-tural features, essence and mood of the building and en-vironment. LOCATION: wildcat ridgeTREATMENT: natural light, clean, simple composition. CONCEPTS:home Interior, Lux-ury, Architecture, Rural Scene, Mountain Range, Snow,

envision a world where all people ,even in the most remote ar-eas of the globe - hold the power to create opportunity for them-selves and others. success in microfinance may be linked to the capital and financial market correlation of development in Asia ver-sus Africa. In India, for example, the host country has been very successful in building their capital markets; and there exist many champions of microfinance–and this may be said of Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh, obviously. Yet, I struggle to find the iden-tify of a finance champion in Africa, although I’m sure many ex-ist. Moreover, Africa’s capital markets are not fulfilling their vision for finance and investment, yet the global financial crisis may be more to blame for the slowed reality of economic development. i’d place a lot of future hope for Africa’s success in microfinance in its youth employment and entrepreneurship programs which are now being addressed more realistically. The discussion earlier in this blog about microsavings vs. microlending made me think that I should borrow from the expertise of you readers out there.

Small Business,

Microfinance,

Opportunity,

MICROFINANCELocation: Bamako, Mali

Brief;

“Envision a world where all peo-ple - even in the most remote ar-eas of the globe - hold the power to create opportunity for them-selves and others.”

IDEA: staged portrait shoot - Africa is all about small busi-ness - make an updated ver-sion of Seydou Keita’s work from the 1950’s posed, old-fashioned portraiture style adding more story using sim-ple prop.MODELS: real people from the street.LOCATION: on the street TREATMENT: Clean, simple and graphic.CONCEPTS:Craft, Happiness, Skill, Small Business, Real People, Work Tool.

Are these real live people, are they shop-window dummies, or wax models from Madame Tussaud’s?On taking a closer look, going beyond the fixed bright stares, the beads of sweat beneath the make-up betraying movement, signs of stage nerves, you realise that these competition dancers have chosen to cocoon them-selves for the occasion in the smoothest, most perfect image so that jury and audience may devote all their attention to body line, the simple colours of the clothes, and the measured and regulat-ed steps placed amongst twirling dresses, somewhere between sensuality and gymnastics, by these icons of eternal youth.They are in performance, photographed in situ as witnessed by certain clues, a half-opened curtain, the scratches on a wall or the ribs on a wooden panel, contrasting with the smooth artificial appear-ance of the faces striving for perfection.Going beyond appearanc-es and has captured the fallible yet touching side of humanity, like previously: a clumsy movement, an evasive worried look, a rath-er direct flash shot, a misbehaving hairdo or make-up in need of repair.A bang-up-to-date world of performance and identity. Danc-ers becomes a sort of metaphor of the Western world, of con-sumerism and appearances, of conformity and private emotions.

Competition,

Identity,

Performance,

DANCERSLocation: Rotterdam, Holland

Brief;

“A clumsy movement, an evasive worried look, a rather direct flash shot, a misbehaving hairdo or make-up in need of repair.A bang-up-to-date world of performance and identity”

IDEA: conceptual shoot – Dancing a world of dreams, achievements and competi-tion wrapped in classic time-less clothing. It is all about the “mask”, not the person be-hind it. MODELS: competitive dancers, Formation groups and individ-uals. TREATMENT: clean, stylized ap-proach, ringflash. CONCEPTS: Competition, Am-bition, Performance, Team-work, Cooperation, style.

Are these real live people, are they shop-window dummies, or wax models from Madame Tussaud’s?On taking a closer look, going beyond the fixed bright stares, the beads of sweat beneath the make-up betraying movement, signs of stage nerves, you realise t When, at the beginning of this year, Elle magazine in France gave actress Marion Cotillard the chance to edit the magazine, she de-voted 60 pages to how we might change our habits and treat our-selves and the planet better. The idea of The Simple connects two other image trends, Goodness (both health and ethics) and Sus-tainability/Nature. Cotillard delivers a manifesto in pictures, dou-ble-page spreads of her on a farm thinking aloud. The world truly want to change things,” her animal spirit pictured as a duck, which shadows her stride on the other half of the picture. Another spread shows her sitting in an undecorated rustic kitchen, a loaf of farm-house bread cut on a breadboard as she meditates on her own green activism. Her absorbed, thoughtful, contemplative look is the expression of The Simple. It’s the pause, the time-out from the life that has been overcomplicated by too much of everything. Na-ture imagery has always been a visual sign of The Simple, the idea of nature as a refuge from the stress of everyday life, emphasiz-ing the oneness and harmony of humanity and the natural world. One of the biggest sellers on the Getty Images website is an im-age of a dandelion seed blowing in the wind. The dandelion seed is nature’s own thought bubble, a dream of the future, of purity, used in ads for anything picturing serenity, from Carefree Body Shape Liners to the Co-Operative bank, which uses the image of the seeds floating in the wind as an image of connectedness. hat these competition dancers have chosen to cocoon themselves for the occasion in the smoothest, most perfect image so that jury and audience may devote all their attention to body line, the sim-

Refuge,

Time-out,Nature,

Are these real live people, are they shop-window dummies, or wax models from Madame Tussaud’s?On taking a closer look, going beyond the fixed bright stares, the beads of sweat beneath the make-up betraying movement, signs of stage nerves, you realise t When, at the beginning of this year, Elle magazine in France gave actress Marion Cotillard the chance to edit the magazine, she de-voted 60 pages to how we might change our habits and treat our-selves and the planet better. The idea of The Simple connects two other image trends, Goodness (both health and ethics) and Sus-tainability/Nature. Cotillard delivers a manifesto in pictures, dou-ble-page spreads of her on a farm thinking aloud. The world truly want to change things,” her animal spirit pictured as a duck, which shadows her stride on the other half of the picture. Another spread shows her sitting in an undecorated rustic kitchen, a loaf of farm-house bread cut on a breadboard as she meditates on her own green activism. Her absorbed, thoughtful, contemplative look is the expression of The Simple. It’s the pause, the time-out from the life that has been overcomplicated by too much of everything. Na-ture imagery has always been a visual sign of The Simple, the idea of nature as a refuge from the stress of everyday life, emphasiz-ing the oneness and harmony of humanity and the natural world. One of the biggest sellers on the Getty Images website is an im-age of a dandelion seed blowing in the wind. The dandelion seed is nature’s own thought bubble, a dream of the future, of purity, used in ads for anything picturing serenity, from Carefree Body Shape Liners to the Co-Operative bank, which uses the image of the seeds floating in the wind as an image of connectedness. hat these competition dancers have chosen to cocoon themselves for the occasion in the smoothest, most perfect image so that jury and audience may devote all their attention to body line, the sim-

Refuge,

Time-out,

Simple,

GETTING REALLocation: Trondheim,Norway

Brief;

“It’s the pause, the time-out from the life that has been overcomplicated by too much of everything. Nature imagery has always been a visual sign of The Simple”

IDEA: lifestyle shoot - captur-ing fun and real slice-of-life moments between friends, high energy, upbeat, loose. MODELS: 8 –10 models, a mix of men and woman (25 – 30 ish)LOCATION: scenic locations, wild nature. TREATMENT: authenticity is key, natural light, lens flare. CONCEPTS: fun, Togetherness, Friendship, Nature, On The Move, Casual Clothing, Hap-piness, Love.