4B - Thursday, February 4, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4B - Thursday, February 4, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom IMU BRAND From Page 3B ty that surrounds them. So it's important for them to give back and appreciate others," he said. The foundations of the IMU brand are really in its community service endeavors. Fashion is the perfect vehicle to spread this type of message, because fash- ion isn't just about clothing - it's about making state- ments. People convey their beliefs and values through their clothing. With his brand, Merritt hopes to con- vey the message of happiness and community service that he is so passionate about. "Through our community service projects, we hope to provide a direct impact on memories that will not be forgotten, but missed," Merritt said. Merritt views the brand as a challenge: Every IMU employee is required to put in eight to ten hours of community service per month. But he extends the challenge to customers as well, with each t-shirt rep- resenting and encouraging an hour of community service from customers. Customers who purchase an IMU T-shirt and then do an hour of community service receive 20 percent off their next purchase. While his company is involved in many projects in the Detroit metropolitan area, Merritt is most passionate about the convergence of arts and aca- demics in the educational system. Accordingly, IMU partnered with the educational organization Beyond Basics to host the Thirkell Elementary MLK Jr. Expressions Contest, in which both organizations helped young students write and illustrate stories. "Thirkell students and teachers were very touched by the MLK Expressions experience. They loved hav- ing the oportunity to bond with a group as diverse as the IMU Inc. team. Everyone left our room with ear-to-ear smiles," Beyond Basics Program Director Khadigah Alasry said. Eighteen semi-finalists will receive awards for both writing and art. Prizes include private coachingsessions with a professional author or artist, as well as a compi- lation of a book including work from each semi-finalist. Finally, in honor of Black History Month, the IMU team will travel back to Thirkell Elementary to host various prominent figures who lived during the Civil Rights Movement to share their inspiring experiences with students. Through these efforts, IMU is devoted to keeping the arts alive in schools. Cox, a Detroit native, finds the community ser- vice work to be especially meaningful, because IMU is ultimately working toward bettering the educational system that she went through. "Fashion is often solely superficial, but the IMU brand is focused on bettering the surrounding com- munity, especially in Detroit where you can really make a difference," Cox said. She also talked of the benefits of working under someone as modest and approachable as Merritt. "(Merritt) is young and is always interested in get- ting our input. You really feel like you're an integral part of the brand," Cox said. As long as the brand stays true to its altruistic, community service-oriented vision, Merritt hopes to expand the company. He views Ann Arbor as the ideal location for the foundation of the IMU brand and is looking for University students like Cox who are interested in internship opportunities. "We offer class credit for fashion students," Mer- ritt said. "From photography to economics to engi- neering, we want it all." As an intern, Cox works at IMU four hours a week, doing community service work, making fundraising schedules, writing blog posts and discussing ways to expand the brand. This month, IMU is unveiling IMUGrind with the new line, "IMU is reclaiming plaid." "We are taking what was once worn primarily by blue collar workers, lumberjacks and farmers, and making it our own." Merritt explained. Whether you're an artist, scholar, athlete or lum- berjack, IMU supports your grind and invites you to pursue your passions in style. " ho th ohdyss pen .e When [tort's sturs/starts sorving? *Who to call for a free meeting room? 0 The IMU Brand worked with Thirkell Elementary to educate children in the power of the arts. SYMPOSIUM From Page 2B frame of reference, while Soth leaves interpretation to the viewer. "In his books, Soth gives very little information about the envi- ronment of these photographs, and sort of allows the photographs to speak for themselves," Potts said. "Sekula takes a rather different view and says, 'Well the thing is, the photographs don't quite speak for themselves. You need some kind of contextual information in order for them to really deliver.'" However, 40-year-old Soth readily acknowledged that his best- known work has "struggled for narrative," and he is avidly devel- oping a new approach. "The work I've done exists in the fine-art context, and it's no different than me in a basement finger-painting in some ways," Soth explained. "While I con- tinue in that vein, I'm also really exploring how to tell photograph- ic stories actively." In his lecture, Soth, a member of the documentary photography group Magnum Photo, presents the four-billionth photograph uploaded on Flickr, illustrating how that image resembles a pho- tograph by William Eggleston, who Soth called "a contemporary master." Soth's lecture title, "The Democratic Jungle," plays off Eggleston's idea of a "democratic forest," in which everything can be made a subject of meaningful photography. "In the '60s and'70s, photogra- phers were realizing that the most mundane street corner could hold rich cultural information," Soth said. "In the digital age, these fragments, to me, mean less and less. The forest is overgrown - it's tangled with images and informa- tion. So, jokingly, I say that photog- raphy should provide a narrative machete. It's like cutting away the story to find your way through." His emerging strategy is thus a direct response to the metaphoric ocean of photographs. "Let the cell-phone people have the raw documentation - they're doing it," Soth explained. "But to tell a story is a whole different thing, and that requires a lot of skill." Yet, Soth does not agree with the notion that documentary photogra- phy should present objective truths about its subject or society. Rather, he is interested in documenting his movement through the world. "I equate this to the New Jour- nalism of the 1970s - Tom Wolfe and people like that who were cre- ating this new first-person jour- nalism, where they are getting rid of that authoritative voice, that sort of all-knowing voice, and say- ing, 'this is my experience,' " Soth explained. That denial of complete objec- tivity is of interest to Stein, who will present her research on female photographers from the '20s to the '50s. In an e-mail interview with the Daily, Stein wrote that she evalu- ates "strains of feminist thinking and viewing" in work from an age when "objectivity was most prized in photography," illustrating how bias always finds away to seep into expression. But Soth emphasized that his subjective approach to photog- raphy is still experimental. He is developing a storytelling slide- show blog for The New York Times that will be a "foray into proving my thesis or falling on my face." Soth's work accordingly dove- tails with the symposium's explor- ative purpose. "We really want a serious aca- demic discussion on the nature of photography in the contempo- rary world," Potts said. "And in order to get at this we want peo- ple who have direct experience and are key figures in the making of photography." 0