Travel

TOKYO ROCKABILLY CLUB: A PROJECT BY PHOTOGRAPHER DENNY RENSHAW

TOKYO ROCKABILLY CLUB: A PROJECT BY PHOTOGRAPHER DENNY RENSHAW

  When photographer Denny Renshaw decided to travel to Japan as a self-photo assignment, he knew he wanted to shoot street fashion with a focus on “fashion tribes” in Tokyo.  Born and raised in Jackson, TN, the birthplace of Rockabilly, Renshaw was naturally attracted to the “Rockers” in Yoyogi park. “They are called many names: […]

Road Tripping

Road Tripping

Launching this week, The Manifest Destiny Billboard Project is a series of artist-produced billboards that will unfold along the Interstate 10 Freeway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This cross-country art project will map out the American fantasy of Westward expansionism by moving through and punctuating the narrative of the landscape itself. Initiated by artist […]

The Virtues of Fine in the Age of Awesome

The Virtues of Fine in the Age of Awesome

An excellent article on the competitive sport that travel has become made me long for the simple pleasures of a trip to the Harmony. “We now live in a world of capitalized extremities: the Ultimate Experience now poses a threat to the kind of small revelations that can make us happy. Travelers, by which I […]


ARTIST SPREADS GOOD WILL IN FUKUSHIMA

ARTIST SPREADS GOOD WILL IN FUKUSHIMA

Last month, artist, surfer and all-around great guy Ty Williams was asked to travel to Fukushima to paint fish on the boats of fishermen who lost everything in the devastating tsunami.  The project was both a gesture of good will (fish are symbol of good luck) and a way of hearing and acknowledging the fishermen’s […]

Plantastic Hotel

Plantastic Hotel

Never thought too much about Singapore until I recently read about this beautiful hotel that has combined futuristic architectural design with organic details and yes, a four-story tall sky-garden with cascading vertical greenery. WOHA architectural firm executed the “hotel-in-a-garden” concept within a city that is striving to be “a city in a garden.” Who knew?

Surf SurvivalNicaragua

Surf SurvivalNicaragua

Still time to sign up for the Harmony Hotel’s Surf Survival Camp that begins August 3. Another great beat down story from the contest. This past October in Nicaragua I had an experience that will stay with me forever, literally! It was early morning & the surface was already choppy with menacing clouds overhead. Even […]


Wassaic Arts Festival, August 2-4

Wassaic Arts Festival, August 2-4

For a good many of us just itching to get out of the city on a hot weekend, once July 4th has passed we feel ready to get excited about the Wassaic Arts Festival. Each year the a nearby field. The Festival is accessible by taking the Metro North to Wassaic and walking to the […]

Surfing in Habushi-ura, Japan

Surfing in Habushi-ura, Japan

The NYT recently published a compelling profile by James Nestor on surfing in Niijima, a small island 100 miles southeast of Tokyo. Here’s an excerpt: Niijima, one of nine inhabited islands in Japan’s Izu archipelago, has been a place of many faces. Around the 18th century, during Japan’s Edo period, it served as an island prison for […]

Surf SurvivalLake Michigan

Surf SurvivalLake Michigan

Send in your best surfing beat down story here for a chance to win a free spot at the Surf Survival Camp and a 7-night stay at the Harmony Hotel. Here’s another great entry from the contest: Have you ever heard of a beat down on a lake? There I was watching perfect overhead lines […]


Forecast.io

Forecast.io

The most handsome way to check whether the day will bring surf-worthy weather is data from more than a dozen sources and presents it in a clean, easy-to-use format. Bookmark the URL!

Cloud 9 in Siargao Island

Cloud 9 in Siargao Island

Ondine Cohane recently profiled “a teardrop-shaped island that’s just one of the Philippines’s 7,000-plus, and the southernmost refuge for travelers before the less politically stable region of Mindanao”: Siargao. She writes: [T]he island is known to surfers, largely because of its fabled break, endearingly called Cloud 9. It stands in the firmament of the best rides […]

Surf SurvivalSan Diego

Surf SurvivalSan Diego

A great entry in our Surf Survival Camp Contest: Recently in San Diego, two dolphins appeared through a glass walled wave heading straight for me. No way to duck dive the six foot wave in fear of colliding with the dolphins who had just dove a little deeper to just grazing level I had to […]


Surf Survival: A Boot Camp for Aspiring Watermen

Surf Survival: A Boot Camp for Aspiring Watermen

ER Doc and author, Andrew Nathanson, tells the Harmony Blog about the surfing injury that inspired him to write a book on how to survive fin cuts, sting ray barbs to the shin and related big wave beat downs that can come with surfing.   Andrew Nathanson, an ER doctor and avid waterman, is probably […]

Michael Fordham on California's Coast

Michael Fordham on California’s Coast

Yesterday the some of the famous shops, beaches and individuals that make up the west coast surfing community, as well as a revealing portrait of Fordham himself and how easily he falls into step with his wave-bound peers. California road trip: surfing the perfect wave

Poor Air Quality on Northeast Coast

Poor Air Quality on Northeast Coast

According to Boston’s Business Journal, The EPA has predicted unhealthy air quality for many coastal beaches in the Northeast region this weekend. Children and adults with respiratory conditions are especially advised to avoid strenuous activities as elevated ozone levels can lead to breathing problems. Though it’s going to be this year’s first hot weekend since […]


Unlocking Malibu's Beaches

Unlocking Malibu’s Beaches

Malibu hosts some of the most beautiful beaches in this country, and apparently many of the residents in the area have been putting up fake signs for years, discouraging the public from accessing them. USA Today reports that despite recent legislation put into action to protect the rights of the public to use the beaches, […]

Sebasti?o Salgado's "Genesis"

Sebasti?o Salgado’s “Genesis”

This past Sunday, The New York Times’ Sunday Review section featured a portfolio of images from photojournalist Sebastião Salgado, who has long documented human suffering and its causes around the world. But for his latest project, he has turned his lens on Earth itself, in order to document the beauty it retains despite its own destruction […]

Solar Plane Flies over San Francisco

Solar Plane Flies over San Francisco

On Wednesday afternoon the Solar Impulse, a plane that relies entirely on energy from the sun, made its third and final test flight above San Francisco Bay. Soon it will fly across the length of the United States, ending its trip in New York come the end of June or July. According to the Guardian, […]


Sámi-Walking with Reindeer/ Photos by Erika Larsen

Sámi-Walking with Reindeer/ Photos by Erika Larsen

Erika Larsen knew she wanted to photograph the reindeer herders who live as nomads throughout northern Scandinavia and Russia, known as the Sámi. In order to truly immerse herself in their culture, Larsen initially worked as a housekeeper for a Sámi family. She cleaned bathrooms and learned to cook reindeer while earning the trust and […]

Scenes From Salone del Mobile, Milano

Scenes From Salone del Mobile, Milano

Every spring, Milan plays host to one of the world’s largest furniture fairs.  Equal parts convention and party, the fair (called the Salone del Mobile) brings over 300,000 visitors to the city to wander, look, buy and party. Most of the official business is housed at the large convention center just outside the city center, […]

Upstream Color

Upstream Color

Following up on Kathleen’s post, and since I am currently in Austin taking in as many films as possible during the SXSW Film Festival, I’d like to highlight one film in particular, a remnant from Sundance in January but with enough staying power that the talk about the film has continued into March. In fact, […]


Michael Gaillard (Harmony Artist-In-Residence)

Michael Gaillard (Harmony Artist-In-Residence)

Below are some more of the images taken during my residency at the Harmony, once again, all of these images were taken with my 8×10 film camera.

East Coast Surf-Inspired Brands

East Coast Surf-Inspired Brands

The temperatures have turned frigid here on the East coast and that means a lot of people (including me) are planning their winter getaways.  Here are a few East Coast brands, recommended via Foam Magazine, to help get you inspired.  I will say that my Salt bag is my favorite for overnight trips and that […]

India's Solar Power

India’s Solar Power

Yesterday the New York Times published an interesting article on how India aims to use its solar power effectively. The use of solar power could help reduce India’s reliance on coal, slow the effects of climate change, and perhaps reduce the frequent and sudden blackouts you’d find in every city. In a country where it is […]