DVRSTY/MAG

DVRSTY is a online blog where we share & feature different genres of music, art, fashion, events, lifestyles, ‘yummy’ food and individuals that i find interesting or ‘cool’ you can say. Feel free to ask us any questions, If you would like to contribute or submit anything please send me a email at [email protected] and ill get back to you shortly - thank you! +INTERVIEWS +PHOTOGRAPHY +MUSIC +FASHION +EVENTS

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Photography by Dahahm Choi

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Dynamic Duo Feat. HyoLyn from Sistar "Hot Wings" I am happy for the much success Dynamic Duo has been having for the past two years, even though they have been killing the Korean Hip-Hop scene in a non-commercial way for the past 10 years or so. This year was the first time they ever won a award since their debut, for another great song titled "BAAAM".

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Photography by Jinyong Kim

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Photography by Ellen Rowles

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Words & Photos by Daniel Wooden

A few lucky winners that won a contest got to get a free 1-hour tattoo session from the man himself Hiroshi Harakawa. 

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Photos & Words by Daniel Wooden

Friday night was the private release of the UBIQ x Vans collaboration with Hiroshi Harakawa, who created the artwork for the collection.

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Photos by Darren Burton, Interview by Daniel Wooden

What did you want to be growing up ? I wanted to be a Power Ranger until I was like 12. By my teenage years I became interested in being a chef and owning a restaurant.

What is photography to you ? Photography is life & visual memories. Theirs tons of things people tend to forget, and overlook. With photography you can capture all of those moments that you never want to forget. Its great looking back at photos. Sometimes I feel like I'm reliving the moments. It's invigorating to see life turned into an art form. It makes you look at things differently.

What was your favorite concert you photographed so far and why ? My favorite concert ever shooting was during the Hostile Take Over tour. There was one instance where Machine Gun Kelly hopped off stage and reached up for me to grab him and pull him up to a balcony I was standing on.

When you don't feel photographing, what do you do on your spare time ? When I'm not taking random photos on my spare time you could most likely catch me trying to find inspirations from other photographers and graphic designers. I also listen to tons of music on a day to day basis.

Who and what is currently inspiring you right now that you would like to share with others ? In all honesty, I get inspired by music & other photographers. Every artist I listen to tends to spark my imagination. I tend to listen to lots of Chillwave & Indie music. In regards to photographers. I stalk people like Jodi Jones, Rog Walker, Matt French, and Daniel Seung Lee.

What is one thing you believe you overcome and accomplished so far this year ? One thing that I believe I've overcome would have to be the fear of "what is great". I used to be afraid to create the way I wanted to because I felt like a lot of the people in my area wouldn't like it. Now that I'm more transparent with my style of shooting it has helped me gain a lot more, clientele actually appreciate it more.

Who are you currently listening to on your iTunes or music playlist ? I listen to TONS of Washed Out, Little Dragon, Chronovalve, Disclosure, The Foreign Exchange, Phoenix, and Phantogram.

What's next for you ? I'm looking into getting my work published in magazines like Kinfolk, Hello Mr., Cereal, 01 Mag. I want to still shoot special events, but my passion is doing lifestyle, and fine art photography. +Portfolio +Twitter +Instagram

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Brandon Svarc owner of Naked & Famous Denim will be at P's & Q's next Friday for a lecture and Q&A. For more information and updates please click here.

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Artwork by Jocelyn Tsaih, Interview by Daniel Wooden What did you want to be growing up ? Ironically I wanted to be a spy/detective, and I say ironically because I am scared of many things and wouldn't last a day.

I see that you are originally from Taiwan and lived in Shanghai a city that is consistently growing. Why New York City ? I think I'd be completely bored if I didn't live in a city! This is probably because I was spoiled by Shanghai for 16 years. New York City is definitely never boring, but I also chose to come here because the city is full of creative influence and opportunities. Like Shanghai, it's another culturally diverse city, which is a type of environment that I really value.

From your point of view, what are the comparisons of the two from experiencing both major cities ? Sometimes I feel like New York is a fake city, like I'm on the set of a film all the time. I think I feel this way because crazy shit is happening here all the time and it's always jam packed with people. Shanghai is much bigger and a lot more spread out, so in that sense, it's easier to breathe and relax. But I feel lucky to have experienced both cities because otherwise I wouldn't be able to appreciate them in the same ways. What do you think you gained from growing up in China and now living in America, how is it shaping you ? Growing up in Shanghai, I was able to interact with people of all different backgrounds because I went to an international school. On top of that, I was also immersed in Chinese culture, and being part of both worlds was personally somewhat conflicting/confusing. At times I felt like a foreigner in a place where I called home, because I was living in China, but many aspects of my life were "Western." Experiencing the contrast between the two taught me how to approach things with an open-mind and has led me to be eternally curious about everything else that's out there.

Who and what is currently inspiring you right now that you would like to share with others ? I really admire artists that are doing their own thing in Asia. I think it's hard to really gain recognition as an artist, especially in Asian culture. But I think the art scene in Asia is growing, and there are people that make such awesome work, regardless of success or recognition. The creative agency I worked at in Shanghai over the summer, NeochaEDGE, showcases a lot of amazingly talented artists in China. I go on their website a lot to check out what's happening in that world. It's also inspiring to see how specific cultures shape the kind of art that is created.

What is one thing you believe you overcome and accomplished so far this year ? I used to dislike voicing my emotions or personal thoughts. Now, whenever I actually want to express something, I think about how I can translate that into a drawing, instead of how to say it vocally. The process of trying to come up with the right combination of words to accurately represent how I feel is too excruciating and impossible! It is much easier to draw my feelings. I hope this counts as an accomplishment haha.

After finishing SVA, where would you like to be next and what would you like to be doing ? Ahh tough question... I think I'll just say that I would like to be in a good place in life, and to be doing something that I enjoy. Very ambiguous, but I think what's important is just to work hard at what I'm doing now, and to see where it leads me.

Who are you currently listening to on your iTunes or playlist ? D33J, Stwo, Ta-ku, Shlohmo, Mr. Carmack, Sango, Drake etc etc. All I ever use is Soundcloud, it's so perfect for finding new music.

What's next for you ? Getting through the school year... Hahah but actually, I don't know! Trying to create more personal work but always open to whatever comes along my way.

+Portfolio +Behance +Tumblr

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NINObrand by Daniel Wooden

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Photography by Ren Xinyu

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'Get Lost - Be Found' - the Travel Journal Across the States "Get Lost - Be Found" is the photos and journals book about the life in the States in the eyes of three Vietnamese girls living away from home.

We are three high-school friends from Vietnam: Rio Lam, Zi Nguyen, and Iris Le. We are currently following different paths in the United States: Rio continues with her writing career started in Vietnam, Zi takes Fashion Photography as her life-time goal, and Iris aims to work for non-profit organizations.

Back in November 2012, while chilling out at White Rock lake, it came to our mind that we should write and capture the American life in the eyes of us as three Vietnamese girls living away from home. We decided to name that book “Get Lost – Be Found” as a symbol for what we have been going through during the time of our youth in the States. As many other abroad students, we have got a handful of happiness and sadness, wild moments on the road and hard time in everyday life, culture shocks, and, the most precious one- finding out who we are. Thanks to this big adventure, we learn who we want to be and what we want to do at a quite early age.

Everything will be told by words and photos in “Get Lost – Be Found”.

I love this project and i've been following one person from the group for quite some time, she takes great photographs! If you would like to know more about this project, get updated on it and want to support these three friends click the link down below - thank you! http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/get-lost-be-found-the-travel-journal-across-the-states

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Photo & Words by Daniel Wooden

Yesterday evening i was invited by Little Giant Media to sit, listen and participate with other creatives in the Philadelphia-area. Harry Philbrick the director of PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts) and Jane Golden founder of the Mural Arts Program were also in the room.

We all contributed and shared our idea's in this discussion on how we will engage the youth and older civilians of Philadelphia to know more about what's going on that involves art, murals, upcoming events and art work being exhibited at PAFA. Please stay tuned as i will continuously keep you guys updated on what will be coming in the upcoming weeks and months at PAFA. If you would like to be updated on PAFA's monthly calender please feel free to view it here for upcoming workshop, classes and exhibits.

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PARTYNEXTDOOR "Break From Toronto" OVO's newest artist PARTYNEXTDOOR recently released new visuals off his first self-titled mixtape PARTYNEXTDOOR. He's just a young kid rising from Mississauga, Toronto - 2014 is his year to shine! View more from the kid here.

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Hello Tumblr/Interwebz,

My name is Daniel Wooden, i'm currently a photography student at The Art Institute of Philadelphia working on my associates degree. I've been living in the city of Philadelphia for the past three years, Montréal is my hometown that i miss very much. I photograph concerts here and there, more of my photographs can be viewed here. DVRSTY will be a platform that I (+ future contributors) hope to create by breaking and sharing, up & coming artist that are either new or well established. I also wan't to share & feature different genres of music, art, fashion, events, lifestyles, 'yummy' food and individuals that i find interesting or 'cool' you can say. In the long run i hope this can be a quarterly or biannually paperback book produced locally or globally by myself and hopefully a great team of people. I hope you guys will enjoy what you will see in the long run, feel free to ask me any questions or give some supportive feedback. If you would like to contribute or submit anything please send me a email at dvrstymag [at] gmail.com and ill get back to you shortly - thank you ^_^