Choreography: Kseniya Getman
Sunday, November 23, 2025
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Jamie Lee Curtis
Acting Appreciation
I was never a big fan of scary movies, but I always knew of Jamie Lee Curtis from the Halloween franchise. One of my favorite films of hers, however, is the 1994 action-comedy True Lies, in which she plays the wife of a spy who, midway through the film, undergoes a personal and comedic mid-life reckoning. Her turn in that movie shows real range — equal parts humor, vulnerability, and physicality.
Curtis’s journey into acting was serendipitous. Though her parents (actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh) were Hollywood fixtures, she says she never planned to be an actor — leaving college after a friend encouraged her to audition and landing a studio contract at 19. Her first major role came in the 1978 horror classic Halloween, which gave her the “scream-queen” label she later resisted, admitting in fact that she dislikes scary movies because life is scary enough.
In recent years, Curtis has described herself as thriving both personally and professionally. According to her cover profile for AARP at age 66, she credits her 26 years of sobriety for giving her clarity, community and a deep sense of purpose.
She has rejected Hollywood’s ageist expectations, noting that she is “more alive” now than at earlier benchmarks in her career.
She remains busy: after her Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All at Once and strong TV roles like her guest turn in The Bear, she is producing work that empowers others and embracing freedom in how she chooses roles.
Curtis’s path hasn’t been without challenge. On the podcast Depresh Mode she referred to Hollywood as a “show-off business,” underscoring the pressure of fame and appearance.
She has spoken frankly about her history of addiction (stemming in part from pain-killer prescriptions after surgery) and her path to recovery, emphasizing authenticity and self-worth over external validation.
Her long marriage to filmmaker Christopher Guest (since 1984) also anchors her, allowing her to face life and career on her terms. In many ways, what stands out is how Curtis has moved from legacy horror star to a full-fledged creator and voice in Hollywood who refuses to be pigeonholed.
Sources:
The Liberation of Jamie Lee Curtis, by Meg Grant, AARP The Magazine, August / September 2025
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jamie-lee-curtis-on-her-parents-parenthood-roles-that-made-her-career-60-minutes-transcript/
https://maximumfun.org/transcripts/depresh-mode/transcript-depresh-mode-jamie-lee-curtis-self-professed-dope-fiend-of-show-off-business-aired-august-1-2022/
https://people.com/jamie-lee-curtis-marriage-christopher-guest-amazing-blessing-11777076
https://www.rev.com/transcripts/jamie-lee-curtis-the-60-minutes-interview
https://people.com/jamie-lee-curtis-never-ever-thought-front-row-oscars-aarp-11777181
https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/celebrities/jamie-lee-curtis-profile
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/jamie-lee-curtis-has-never-worked-hard-a-day-in-her-life
Friday, November 21, 2025
Mick Rock
Photography Appreciation
Mick Rock, born on November 21, 1948, in Hammersmith, London, grew up in a time of cultural shifts and artistic awakenings that would shape his future path as a photographer. While he initially planned to study literature at Cambridge University, fate had other plans. He picked up a camera during his college years, and what started as a casual hobby quickly became a passion. Drawn to the raw energy and spirit of London’s counterculture, Mick was soon capturing the vibe of the people and places that defined this revolutionary time.
In the early 1970s, Rock’s journey into music photography began when he met and photographed the young David Bowie, whose star was rising with his Ziggy Stardust persona. This meeting wasn’t just a stroke of luck; it was the start of a lasting artistic partnership and a pivotal moment in Rock's career. His work with Bowie led him deeper into the world of rock and glam, allowing him access to icons like Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Freddie Mercury. Mick quickly became known as the “man who shot the ’70s,” capturing artists in ways that showcased both their charisma and vulnerability, forever linking his name with the rock and roll aesthetic.
In addition to still photography, Rock ventured into music videos, directing and producing memorable visuals for artists. His experience with photography gave him an eye for composition, while his rapport with musicians allowed him to draw out their personalities on screen. He directed videos for David Bowie and worked with other notable musicians, bringing the same energy to moving images as he did to his photographs. His videos often featured his signature style: raw, intimate, and unfiltered, capturing musicians in a way that fans hadn’t seen before.
Mick Rock’s contributions to music photography are legendary. He captured some of rock’s most iconic images, including Lou Reed for Transformer, Queen’s Queen II album cover, and the ethereal portraits of Syd Barrett. His work with Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust era remains some of the most enduring images in rock history, with Rock’s lens capturing the glitter, glamour, and grit of the era.
Lou Reed (1972)
David Bowie (2002)
Madonna (1980)
Iggy Pop and The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)
Life on Mars? (1971)
Sources:
Wikipedia
https://www.mickrock.com/
https://pitchfork.com/news/mick-rock-photographer-who-captured-1970s-glam-has-died/
https://loudwire.com/mick-rock-photographer-death/
https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/legendary-music-photographer-mick-rock-dies-6141/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-59344065.amp
https://www.nme.com/news/music/legendary-music-photographer-mick-rock-has-died-aged-72-3099649
https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-arts-and-entertainment-media-europe-e1186ad4542b4e0deb24b1797dff555c
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/mick-rock-photography-rock-obituary-death-b1963683.html
https://www.rockarchive.com/photographers/mick-rock
Thursday, November 20, 2025
Miroslav Tichý
Photography Appreciation
Miroslav Tichý was born on November 20, 1926 in Nětčice (then part of Kyjov in Moravia, Czechoslovakia). He grew up in a provincial setting, the son of a tailor, and after World War II he traveled to Prague to enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts, pursuing a path in painting and drawing. But his time at the Academy proved fraught: after the Communist regime took power in 1948, the art establishment shifted toward socialist realism, and Tichý resisted its constraints. He left formal training, returned to Kyjov, and lived a largely solitary life under surveillance and occasional psychiatric confinement, keeping mostly to his own artistic impulses.
Tichý’s photographic method was unconventional, intimate, and (by design) technically “imperfect.” Between the 1960s and mid-1980s, he roamed his hometown and neighboring areas photographing women—often unaware of the camera—using devices he built from cardboard, tin cans, plexiglass, rubber bands, and other found materials.
Tichý ground and polished makeshift lenses with toothpaste and cigarette ash, cut shutters and frames from scrap wood, and sealed housings with tar or asphalt. The resulting images are often soft, blurry, spotted, under- or overexposed, and subject to processing flaws or dust artifacts—effects Tichý embraced rather than avoided, seeing “mistake” as poetic.
He frequently trimmed, collaged, or drew into prints to heighten contours and expressiveness. Recognition for Tichý’s work came late, often shaped by curators who framed his life as outsider art. His photography remained little known until the early 2000s, when Roman Buxbaum, a former neighbor, helped preserve and promote his works.
In 2004, Tichý’s works appeared at the Biennial of Contemporary Art in Seville; soon after, he won the 2005 Rencontres d’Arles New Discovery Award, and major exhibits followed in Zurich, Paris (Centre Pompidou), and New York (ICP). Critics often interpret his photographs as a subversive aesthetic of imperfection, merging eroticism, voyeurism, and decay.
Couple on Beach
Untitled, 1950-80
4-091
6-9-31
Sources:
Wikipedia
https://brooklynrail.org/2010/06/artseen/miroslav-tich
https://www.icp.org/news/in-memory-of-miroslav-tich%C3%BD-1926%E2%80%932011
https://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artists/88-miroslav-tichy/
https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/miroslav-tich%C3%BD
https://bordercrossingsmag.com/article/miroslav-tichy
https://journals.openedition.org/etudesphotographiques/3430
https://tichyocean.com/en/miroslav-tichy/biography/
https://christianberst.com/en/artists/miroslav-tichy
https://www.smith-davidson.com/artists/222-miroslav-tichy/biography
https://saint-lucy.com/essays/miroslav-tichy
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Igo = Better Be Alive
Music Appreciation
Released on November 18, 2022, “Better Be Alive” marks a standout single from IGO’s debut solo album. Written by Igor Walaszek and Jakub Jaworski, the track captures the dynamic energy and genre-blending style that has come to define Walaszek’s work.
Best known as one half of the electronic duo Bass Astral x Igo and for his collaborations across Poland’s music scene, IGO uses this track to further shape his solo identity—balancing rock vocals with electronic textures that feel urgent and reflective.
The accompanying music video, directed by Michał Oziewicz, brings the song’s spirit to life through a surreal and visually striking narrative. Featuring Polish freestyle dance duo Nicole Hoff and Oskar Szymkowski—known as LOCZNIKI—the video follows Nicki, a video game NPC who wakes up to the unexpected messiness of the "real" world.
What begins as an isolated journey gradually transforms into a liberating experience of movement, culminating in a final dance sequence that includes LOCZNIKI, IGO, and a cast of dancers. The choreography, rooted in the popping style, conveys both disconnection and awakening—mirroring the track’s emotional arc.
Sources:
https://iglorecords.com/
https://loczniki.com/
https://youtu.be/OeZxVdOzgb8
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