Habana Outpost

Prospect Park Zoo, Brooklyn

Very much neglected in the shadow of its siblings — the famous giant in the Bronx and the high profile zoo in Central Park — Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Zoo deserves much more credit than it gets. Sure, it’s small. But that just means you can see everything in a spare hour while taking a stroll in the park. And it only costs $6. I also really like that the snack bar and gift shop consist of a handful of vending machines ready to sell you a weird microwave pizza or a stuffed Meerkat. Read more

Done with New York

I’m going to catch a lot of flack for this, but I’ve got to say that I’m pretty fed up with New York City. Space and time constraints, prohibitively high rents, and the sheer density of the city crush the creative and generative spirit of even some of the most imaginative people I know, turning even idealistic artists into cut-throat opportunists and cynical sociopaths. Read more

Brunch at Brooklyn Label

I’ve been living in Greenpoint Brooklyn for a couple of years now and one of the highlights is brunch on the weekends. After living in Crown Heights for seven years, where your only choices are Tom’s Diner or Popeye’s Fried Chicken, it’s an amazing change of pace. Brooklyn Label is a classic, old Brooklyn style restaurant with a great menu and when you’re a regular, you get seated before the masses. It’s definitely worth the trip to Greenpoint. But beware of the long waits at around 1pm when the hipsters wake up.

Francesco Giusti’s Congo series

Francesco Giusti lives and works in Rome. Of this photo series, he says, ‘In Congo-Brazzaville, SAPE is an old passion that has never stopped, not even during war years. At the arrival of the French in Congo, the myth of elegance was born among young people working for the settlers. In 1922, Andre Grenard Matsoua, well-known for his resistance to the settlers, was the first Congolese to come back from Paris dressed like a true French “Monsieur”, and greatly admired by all his fellow citizens. Today’s members of the SAPE consider themselves as artists and are respected and admired by the whole community’. Read more

17 year-old photographer Leila Berney

Leila Berney was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and currently lives in Sydney, where she has just graduated high school. She uses Canon EOS 400D and does not yet have Photoshop, but she does have creativity, great ideas and concepts to unleash, and a passion for photography. Read more

Whoop Dee Doo this Halloween in Kansas City

Whoop Dee Doo is a performance art group based out of Kansas City, Missouri, and hosted by Jaimie Warren and Matt Roche, alongside fifteen or so other cast and crew members. They travel internationally to put on random shows that, visually at least, remind me of a G-Rated John Waters movie. The idea of Whoop Dee Doo shows is based upon kid-friendly faux public access TV programs (they are filmed but don’t actually air) that appear highly entertaining for adults as well. Last year, they performed at Deitch Projects’ holiday party, amongst other places. Read more