Journal
Best of the Month - Vol. 3
We're nearing the end of 2017's fourth month already, but things are starting to heat up. With summer on the horizon we're finally approaching sunglasses season. It's been a busy month here at Tens HQ launching our 2017 campaign, but we've still been collating our favourite things from April. Here are our most-loved finds, photos, accounts & tunes from the past 4 weeks. Enjoy, and share if you're feelin' them! Best of the Web Although it's now sold out through June, the colourfully cool Museum of Ice Cream has been catching our eye from across the pond. The immersive experience hit Los Angeles last weekend and features 10 candy-coloured galleries with installations of ice cream-themed art and a little bit of science, and samples of sweet, sweet frozen goodness along the way. There are no tickets left but you can virtually taste the experience via their Instagram here. Minimalist Japanese home goods brand MUJI released their own pre-fab wooden huts. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, the huts also offer practical weekend getaway solutions for city-dwellers wishing to escape. Learn more here. "It’s not as dramatic as owning a house or a vacation home, but it’s not as basic as going on a trip." explains MUJI. "Put it in the mountains, near the ocean, or in a garden, and it immediately blends in with the surroundings, inviting you to a whole new life. This was the vision behind our radically new MUJI hut concept." This beautiful new video for Bonobo's 'Bambro Koyo Ganda' ft. Innov Gnawa transports you all over the world, showcasing shots and timelapses that subtly pulse with the beat of the song. Google Earth just released their most impressive update to date. Way more detail, a 'Voyager' feature, and collaboration videos with BBC Earth to explore the incredible natural diversity around the world. Set aside some time in your day to explore here. Also based in Scotland, the Solarcan by Sam Cornwell is a genius photographic invention allowing you to capture exposures of the sun's path over many months. Once set up the Solarcan will capture the Sun's path as it traverses across the sky. Every day the Sun will rise slightly higher or lower depending on the season and create a new path. Over weeks, months or even years, depending on your patience, a beautiful image will begin to form inside the Solarcan on photosensitive card. Check them out on Kickstarter here. Tens Soundtrack It's been a great month for new music! Here are some of our office favourites. A special mention to our friend mtbrd whose music you will have heard in our SS17 'Daydreamers' video. He's just made his album 'Smoovies' available on Spotify, and you can listen to the whole thing here. Who else should we be checking out? Who to Follow Here are some of our favourite accounts to follow on Instagram. If you know anybody that we should be following, let us know! This month we've got @simone_cihlar, @neilkrug, @pat_kay, @twintheworld & @jayzombie. Click on the photos to see more of their work. Best of #FilterYourWorld At Tens we put our community first, no matter what it is that we're up to. Here's where we share some of our favourite customer photos with Tens from the last month. We love seeing your tags with Tens, so be sure to tag us + #FilterYourWorld for your chance to be featured! Photos submitted (in order) by @gaaddison, @jordan.w.hay, @ilsignorfranz, @nclrnld & @afterthelaughtercomestears. ~ What things have you discovered this month? Are we missing anything? Message us on Facebook with suggestions!
The Land of the Rising Sun
Exploring Japan with Sam & Jess The six months of Winter in England’s Capital forces my girlfriend and I into spending copious nights in the deepest darkest depths of the year, plotting where we’re going to escape come Spring. This year, there was a particular draw to Japan. Having visited Tokyo for a severely short four days last year (we were on a RTW trip, it wasn’t a long weekend, that’d be bizarre) we knew we craved the land of the rising sun once again (any sun for that matter).Here’s some images from our 13 day trip that saw us re-visit Tokyo for just under a week, embracing the inspiration that it oozes, before travelling South to Kyoto to explore the city’s temples. Continuing down country on the much famed Shinkansen, we arrived in Okayama, hopping on a local train to the coastal town of Uno as we caught the short ferry to Teshima and Naoshima, or the ‘Art Islands’ as they’re more widely known. Follow @samsbowl & @jessicalew__
Good Things Never Die
A Visual Cuba Trip by Enzo Iriarte “If a person didn’t come to an end, if s/he didn’t dissolve, things would lose their capacity to touch and move ourselves. Indeed, it’s in its uncertainty where life’s most precious gift lies. “When one gives up love on someone else and that lack of pertinence comes to play, even if that person keeps being the same.” The tiny sorrow which goes with a flower drying up, the sense of ending which exists in all things.” I believe in the beauty of all ephemeral things, natural beauty and the implausible. I believe in love and death, do we love thus we’re loved to die OR do we die to love and be loved? Everything comes to an end, whatever the reason may be. A river is itself a river because it ends in the sea, and that’s always like that. It is that constant uncertainty which makes us feel alive. Good things never die.” Follow @enzoiriarte ~ via C-Heads Magazine.
Surfing Double Island Point
A Day Dream by Dom Stuart With a surf festival happening at our local haunt, we finally decided its time to venture to Double Island Point. A more remote point break 60 kilometre drive up the beach from Noosa. After being kept awake by a stormy Queenstown night we were in two minds about the trip but decided to go for it despite the forecast of heavy rain all day. Whilst at the Gas station fuelling up and letting tyre pressures down we bumped into another local crew also en route to D.I, 2 cars became 3. As it was our maiden voyage onto the beach in our borrowed car (1997 Suzuki Vitara) we were a little nervous at first but soon realised it could take it in its stride. As always, the forecast was wrong. We spent the next 12 hours in beautiful sunshine. Cruising down the beach, windows down, surfing the wind with our hands in anticipation of what lies ahead. After we leave the sand, a short burn down a 4x4 track winding over the headland and we are popped out facing North West overlooking a concertinaed ocean. Lines and lines of waves floating towards us in a beautiful blue hue, hardly distinguishable from the sky. Everybody was stoked. Like kids with an unexpected day off school. We surfed, we surfed again, I shot photos, I surfed again. We found time to shovel some food into ourselves before the drive back. Racing the tides down the beach, we made it home, back to reality, back from our day dream. For more images from the trip, follow Dom on Instagram here.
Shooting Our 2017 Campaign in Mexico
For our 2017 campaign, we went to Mexico for two weeks. Why Mexico? Because it was December and Mexico was (mostly) sunny... Five of us from Tens (Kris, Tom, Iain, Taylor & Marty) flew out to the east coast of Mexico, meeting up with the most incredible team out there to help us pull together the campaign. We worked with an old friend Bex from Luna Negra, photographer Omar Coria, his assistant Izack, and Frank & Esperanza on hair and makeup. We could not have asked for a better crew! We landed in Cancun, and picked up our rental for the duration - a 15-seater V8 bus that was definitely the largest thing we'd ever driven. Vehicles in the Americas are just on another level of huge. Adjusting to the automatic gearbox, reverse parking the thing, and driving on the other side were the first of many, many challenges. These included, but were not limited to stolen plates, various cop pull-overs / searches (we had a LOT of kit), mosquito bites, painfully spicy hot sauce, tequila, tropical downpours and our lack of Spanish lingo. For our scouting and shooting days, we set up headquarters at an Airbnb in Playa del Carmen. The location was ideal as we were right in between Tulum (where we were filming), and Cancun airport. Having to pick models up and drop them off there everyday meant having to find a suitable midpoint. Once we had adjusted to the time difference, and our stomachs adjusted to the (super) spicy cuisine, we called up our friend Bex, and started off the trip with 4 days of location scouting around the truly incredible Tulum. We explored the beaches, resorts, jungles, cenotes, highways & the Caribbean Sea - mapping out our spots for each of the six models we were shooting with over the next week. Once we had a rough idea of where we were shooting, we got started. Despite the 30ºC heat for most of the day, we didn't have as much sunlight as we thought. Each shoot day we were up at 5am to head down the highway to catch the sunrise and get the most out of the daylight. Luckily the team, and our models (from Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia & Holland), were incredibly easy to work with - making even the toughest moments feel effortless! View our BTS 'Handycam' movie above, and take a look into how we created our 2017 film. The kit: Sony FS7 Sony A7Sii Bolex S16 Sony RX100iv Zhiyun-Tech Crane 3-Axis Gimbal Devin Graham Signature Series Glidecam Vintage Russian Prime Lenses ~ Visit our Kickstarter page here to pre-order our new collection.
Best of the Month - Vol. 2
Welcome to March's edition of 'Best of the Month'. The clocks have gone forward, the days are getting longer and summer looks to be finally on its way. We're celebrating the warmer, brighter days by sharing some of our favourite finds, photos and music from March. Enjoy! Best of the Web Ice, driftwood, foamy waves and … skateboards? Four skaters head north to the cold Norwegian coast in this film by Jørn Nyseth Ranum, applying their urban skills to unusual conditions. Here, they trade concrete, stairs and rails for beach flotsam, frozen sand and pastel skies. The film was shot using RED Dragon with Zeiss Ultra Primes, and you can watch the full length documentary about the project here. Photographer Daniel Soares presents this beautifully moody collection of neon-soaked stills of New York. The set truly captures a city that never sleeps as the ultra-bright fluorescence pours onto the streets at night. View more on c-heads magazine. 'Huis Ten Bosch' is a Dutch-inspired park in Kyushu Nagasaki Sasebo city, Japan. One upcoming attraction is this floating hotel room that takes you to a deserted island less than 4 miles away. As you fall asleep in the panoramic top floor bedroom and gaze at the stars, the capsule will transport you slowly to the island overnight. This slo-mo footage of Bottlenose Dolphins chasing a speedboat is the most relaxing thing we've ever seen. Shot on a Sony F5 by Bevan Crothers & Damian Christie. During Art Basel Miami in December, artist John Margaritis presented “Hoop Dreams” with New York Sunshine, blending basketball with the beach and ocean. The installation consists of a sunken basketball hoop with a chain link net, creating an unusual juxtaposition as the standing sports equipment breaks up the vast serenity of the view. Just last week, the creators found a piece of mirrored plexiglass in a vacant lot nearby and updated the backboard, reflecting the Florida sun down onto the waves. Tens Soundtrack This month featuring new music from Little Dragon, Thundercat, Drake, Jacques Greene & more. Hit the Spotify logo in the player below to open in the app. Be sure to follow the playlist, and save out any favourites! Best of Instagram Check out some of our favourite accounts we've come across on Instagram recently. We're always on the hunt for more inspirational feeds, so tag us in a comment if you'd like us to check you out. This month we're featuring @erikmarthaler, @space.ram, @jasonjko, @sophiachang & @ilkinkaracan. Best of #FilterYourWorld At Tens we put our community first, no matter what it is that we're up to. Here's where we share some of our favourite customer photos with Tens from the last month. We love seeing your tags with Tens, so be sure to tag us + #FilterYourWorld for your chance to be featured! Photos submitted (in order) by @eastcoasthealth, @domstuart (x2), @nclrnld & @marciaskints. ~ What things have you discovered this month? Are we missing anything? Message us on Facebook with suggestions!
Tens 2017 Has Arrived
Pre-order now We’re super proud to present our brand new video, lookbook and five new styles - all featuring our signature lens tint to make life look happier. We’re hugely grateful for your support and hope you’ll love and share what we’ve been working on. In addition we’ll be giving a limited edition Tens t-shirt to the first 100 backers of our all-new collection. We really do hope that you like it and whether you’re a new backer of Tens or have been with us since the beginning, we’re hugely grateful for your support.Watch our new film below, and browse our 2017 lookbook here. All shot in Tulum, Mexico. Visit our Kickstarter campaign page to pre-order your pair, thank you so much for pledging if you've already supported the campaign!
Crowdfunding Our New Collection
The eyewear industry has long been dominated by a handful of multi-billion dollar companies, making the landscape very difficult for smaller brands like Tens to thrive in. It is a fiercely competitive market, both online and offline. Whilst the story of Tens so far has been a success; the reality is that we still face the daily challenge of being up against the giants. We’re launching our all-new 2017 collection as a pre-order on Kickstarter at a special discounted price. We work hard to constantly deliver a high-quality product, and this year we’ve been able to source improved materials across the range. This includes the finest-grade Mazzucchelli acetate, originating from the renewable resources of wood pulp and natural cotton fibres. Essentially, we are able to launch our finest product to date via Kickstarter, whilst keeping the price tag even further below that of the giants. We’ve worked to keep the cost to you, the backer, as low as we can without ever jeopardising quality. Kickstarter allows us to do this as we can accurately predict quantities when we place our order with the supplier. We’re passionate about the product experience that we’ve got to offer and we can’t wait to share it with you all. In addition, we’ll be giving a limited edition Tens t-shirt to the first 100 backers of our all-new collection. We really do hope that you like it and whether you’re a new backer of Tens or have been with us since the beginning, we’re hugely grateful for your support. Want to be notified as soon as we go live? Click here.
Desert X: Bringing Illusion to Coachella
Running until April 30th, the Coachella Valley and 45 miles of its surrounding desert landscape is being disrupted by 16 contemporary art installations. The free event, curated by Neville Wakefield serves as the perfect bridge between Palm Springs Modernism week and Coachella music festival. "What excites me about this project is it’s an opportunity to see how art behaves outside of institutional walls," says Wakefield. "To see what it does to communities and how it draws different people in." 'Mirage', by Doug Aitken is modelled on a typical California-style family ranch, only the building is an empty shell that's fully clad in mirrors. The effect camouflages the building against the horizon from afar, but serves to internally ricochet the light of the desert valley from the inside. This creates a fractured, kaleidoscopic effect which adds an angle of discomfort within the empty family home. "After World War II, the ranch style's streamlined simplicity gained popularity as commercial builders employed a simplified assembly line approach to create this efficient form, matching the rapid growth of the suburbs," said the artist. "The mass-produced ranch home became a familiar sight across the country, the style filling the American landscape as quickly as each new subdivision was built." Aitken describes the Desert X experiment as “a vast sprawling parkour” and “puzzle of pieces that are all different within the land”. “I wanted to be here to see where suburbia ends and the landscape begins. This location was kind of perfect in a way. You have the seductive beauty, and then you have the wind farm, and suburbia.” Another display, created by Jennifer Bolande features billboards with snapshots of the mountains behind. Driving slowly down the desert road through Palm Springs, the billboards satisfyingly 'click' into place in front of their backdrops. The artwork was birthed from classic 'Burma-Shave' style sequential billboard ads, which told a story that could only be experienced in motion. Desert X will disappear from the valley after April 30th, however Aitken's mirrored house will remain through 'til October later this year. If you're in the area or travelling there, visit the Desert X website for information on how to / when to attend. View more works below from Claudia Comte, Phillip K Smith III & Glenn Kaino. All images by Lance Gerber.
