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After a childhood scarred by bullying and dark family secrets, Michael Paul Smith found himself working in a series of dead-end jobs and battling depression. Seeking catharsis, an escape, or both, Smith embarked on a photography project that combined the iconography of his mid-20th-century childhood with clever visual trickery. The result, Elgin Park, is a beguiling photography series featuring 1/24th-scale models of quintessential Americana that Smith describes as a ‘dreamlike recreation’ of his past. In Elgin Park, Smith describes how he’s found redemption through the project after bouts with suicidal spells, creating a world that has pockets of darkness, but where he is never lonely.
Director: Danny Yourd
Website: Animal
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Rituals and celebrations
A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle
8 minutes
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Music
The peculiar beauty of a song caught between composition and improvisation
3 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
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Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
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Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes
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Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes
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Architecture
West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?
12 minutes
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Work
A Swedish expat in the Philippines wonders: what’s up with people sleeping at work?
14 minutes
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Biography and memoir
The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands
29 minutes