Hasta La Gadget!

One of Alabama-born photographer Yuki James’ first interactions with a camera was when his grandparents bought him a red 35mm while he was visiting them in Japan.

“I took photographs of everything, and even had my grandmother take photographs of me, nude,” he said in an email to HuffPost.

These unorthodox beginnings aptly foreshadow James’ later works, which explore the limitless ways people can surprise one another, regardless of age, appearance or background. A series of James’ portraits, now on view at the the National Arts Club, invite the viewer into close proximity of strangers to revel in just how strange they, and by proxy we, really are. 

“I am interested in shooting people […] who are in some way outside the realm of convention,” James told HuffPost. “I’m not interested in those that everyone calls beautiful. I find it’s harder to get something authentic with conventionally beautiful people because they are used to the attention and thus more systematic in how they respond to the camera.”

James mostly shoots his friends and family, along with people he recruits through chance encounters or on social media. The artist shows his potential subjects his past work, to make sure they know what they’re in for. He then visits their home and, together, artist and subject look through their environment to find the items and spaces that stand out. 

“We then decide on the styling together,” James said. “What feels most comfortable. Aside from the lighting, which I tailor to each shot, I alter the environment very little.”

In one photo, James captures a woman called “Granny” wearing a red, long-sleeved robe at her sewing machine. She meets the camera with a cartoonish look of surprise, alerting the viewers to the intimate nature of their vantage point. In another, “Willie,” dressed in leather, stares at the camera, his expression neither confrontational nor bashful. “This is who I am, this is what I like,” the photos communicate one after the other, without stereotyping, oversimplifying or apologizing. 

In James’ world, expectations and reality often collide within the frame. Perhaps you wouldn’t expect Okachan, a middle-aged Japanese woman, to accessorize with a silk headscarf and a ball gag. Or Tawan, a young black man eating popcorn in bed, to do so enveloped in sable fur. These small surprises, James hopes, help to unite subject and viewer through “evoking some sense of empathy,” and embracing the contradictory forces we all possess.

“The only assumption I care to challenge is the belief that we are inherently, vastly different from each other,” James said. “Aside from that, I don’t go into my work wanting to prove any point, nor do I have a desire to make political statements. I shoot people I am interested in, and that just happens to cover a broad spectrum.”

With influences including Richard Avedon, Philip-Lorca diCorcia and Deana Lawson, James creates straightforward portraits that speak to the humanity inside us all. Instead of photographing moments of sameness, James prefers instances of subtle surprise, showing that difference is the quality all of his subjects share. 

“My only agenda is to make beautiful images that make people feel something,” he said. “But if I boiled it down to a message, it would probably be that we are not alone in our loneliness.”

”Yuki James: Portraits” is on view until June 3, 2017 at The National Arts Club.

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11 years after its release, Sony has finally stopped shipping the PlayStation 3 to retailers in Japan. We all knew this day was coming, with the country ceasing production on the 500 GB standard model in December last year. Now, however, a recent upd…

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Dell unveiled its new Inspiron 27 700 all-in-one PC at Computex 2017 in Taipei, Taiwan today. It’s the first product of its kind from Dell that’s powered by AMD’s latest Ryzen processors. It also strays from the locked-down nature of conventional AiOs by offering customers the ability to upgrade the internal components as and when required.

It has been a while since all-in-one PCs powered by AMD processors have his the market. The company has got OEMs interested again with its Ryzen processors so it’s not surprising to see Dell follow through with such a product. Another key selling point is the machine’s 27 inch InfinityEdge display, it has narrow bezels which give it a really upscale look.

The base Inspiron 27 7000 model features a Ryzen 5 1400 processor with 4GB Radeon RX 560 graphics. Prices for this model start at $1000.

Those who want more power can opt for the 8 core Ryzen 7 1700 model that comes with 8GB Radeon RX 580 graphics, it costs $1,300. There’s also a $1,500 option for those who want a 4K HDR display. Both of these models have support for full VR.

Dell has made it a point with this product to make it easily upgradable. Customers only need to get through two screws to access the storage and an additional three screws to reach the motherboard.

Customers will be able to upgrade the Inspiron 27 7000’s processor if they so desire. AMD will be supporting the AM4 motherboard platform in this device through 2020 at least.

Dell Inspiron 27 700 will be available for purchase in the coming weeks.

Dell Unveils Ryzen-Powered Upgradable Inspiron 27 7000 PC , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

The co-founder of Android Andy Rubin runs his own company called Essential and it was confirmed last week that the company will finally unveil the smartphone that it has been working on. The Essential Phone has been officially unveiled today, it brings flagship-level specifications with a price tag to match.

The Essential Phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It’s going to be available in the United States initially and will work with all major carriers.

The display itself is very interesting. It’s an edge-to-edge display with minimal bezels. It even wraps around the front camera to maximize the screen-to-body-ratio. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen from conventional Android flagship smartphones.

Essential Phone is build using a combination of titanium and ceramic so it’s going to be durable. It’s also going to have a magnetic connector which will make an entirely new modular ecosystem possible. Essential is going to sell a 360-degree camera which will click in place using this connector, and other modules will eventually arrive in due time.

This device features a dual 12 megapixel camera system with f/1.8 aperture on the back as well as an 8 megapixel front camera. It’s going to cost $699 when it launched in the United States soon in Black Moon, Stellar Gray, Pure White, and Ocean Depths colors.

Andy Rubin’s Essential Smartphone Price And Specs Confirmed , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.