Sound of Sorry

Having the courage to say sorry can be one of the hardest things to do. Especially if you have wronged someone you care(d) deeply for. The Sound of Sorry is a Ray-Ban documentary that reunites 9 people with the person they have hurt. Are these 9 people brave enough to own up to their mistakes and right their wrong?

The first 3 videos of this series focuses on two brothers, ex-lovers and former friends.

Jay and Brendan are two brothers who reunite after Jay apologizes for being so hard on his younger brother. Jay feels that he had a huge part in shaping his brother’s self-confidence and wants to make up for any wrong doing in the past in order to be closer to his brother.

Lily and Matthew are two ex-lovers who broke up after mutually deciding to focus on themselves. Lily apologies to her former flame about being inconsiderate toward the end of their relationship.

Erik and Susie were good friends in high school until Erik tarnished her reputation after a party. Erik claimed to have hooked up with Susie causing her to lose her reputation and friends. Even when asked to come clean by Susie, he said no. Erik apologies for the lies and any affects it had on Susie.

Eye to Eye

Finding the courage to open your heart isn’t easy. It makes you vulnerable and that is often seen as a weakness in society. However, it should been seen as a strength. Your experiences, and opinions are the very things that make you, you.

Studies have shown that looking into someone’s eyes for just 4 minutes can create a deeply emotional and meaningful connection. In this series complete strangers answer 36 questions and open their hearts to one another.

Walter is a NYC paramedic with a traditional upbringing and Daniella is a transgender woman who bounced from home to home as a young teen. The two sit in front of each other and ask the questions provided to them. We learn that Daniella was dumped from her foster home because she came out to her foster mother as transgender. From there she lived in the subway for a long period of time because she didn’t want to have to go into a home where there was no love. Luckily for her, she found her biological mother who loves and accepts her. We learn that Walter has also faced hardship.  He had a partner, Jeremy, shoot himself in the head due to the stress of being a paramedic.

Miles is a man who had two alcoholic parents; he and his brother were forced to raise themselves and Lorelei is a woman who was raised by her young father, uncle and grandma. We learn that Miles discovered his dying mother at age 13 after coming home from soccer practice. Around the same age, Lorelei discovered she had crohn’s disease and went to the hospital in the nick of time. Had she stayed home another day she probably would have died.

Mustafa is a boxer who escaped life on the streets and Victoria is small town girl from Upstate NY who braved tragedy at a young age. Victoria tells Mustafa that her parents died when she was young and that her caretaker, her grandmother, died shortly after. This death really messed her up and affected her into adulthood, however she is still grateful to have the capacity to love after all the tragedy she faced at such a young age.

The #ITTAKESCOURAGE campaign features a total of 6 acts: Open Your Heart, Push Yourself, Fight Perfection, Face Critics, Do Your Part and Unplug (not yet available).

You can view all videos and articles featured in the campaign here:

http://www.ray-ban.com/usa/courage

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The post Social Experiments in Change – A Ray-Ban Film Series [WATCH] appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

RESPECT. Mag: Tell us a little about yourself and your brand.
‘Oh Snaps‘ is the name of my company. I started using social media to get my name out there and I got Jose Reyes’ attention who wanted me to make hats for his brand and that started the entire thing off. Ever since I’ve been doing well.

Have you always been into designing?
I always liked custom work; to bring a vision to life. I love working with custom stuff. So yeah in a way, I love to design. It’s my passion.

How long you’ve been doing this?
Today marks a year that I’ve been officially in business.

What was the inspiration behind starting ‘Oh Snaps?’
The inspiration behind the brand was pretty much the passion of making custom work for other brands. I enjoy that type of work and that is exactly what I wanted to do.

‘Oh Snaps’ is mostly based around snapbacks, beanies and fitted hats correct?
Yeah we do embroidery. As far as that goes we can stitch up pretty much anything and everything, from athlete jerseys to hats and t-shirts. We do it all!

Right now, you guys are mostly working with snapbacks. Do you plan to add more items to your existing line-up?
I’m known as the hat king; making other brands’ hats. I cook up for others and make their brands hot. So in terms of items, the ideal is to work with more brands and to do it for them. It’s just what we specialize in.

How about collaborations then?
I would love to do something with New Era. Hopefully I get to do that one day and execute a project with them.

What kind of feedback do you get from your clients?
Ever since I started, every client that I work with comes back because I help them make money to the point where people in their vicinity are buying their hats instead of the bigger brands. I’ve got pretty big names under my belt so it’s a bit of a mystery where I’m going but I definitely know it’s in a great place.

There is always a mission statement that backs up our brands and our visions. What is your vision for your brand?
I would love to open up a storefront where I can help bring people’s dreams to life. Work with bigger names like J-Lo. Have my own customized hat.

2015 is right around the corner. Do you have any set goals in mind for next year?
I don’t think that far. As for now, I’m focused on what I’m doing. I’m loved for my custom work and I just tend to extend on my business. That is pretty much my main goal so far. As long as I keep on bringing that quality product my customers keep coming back for more. That makes me excited about the future and it’s definitely what I’m looking forward to next year.

Any plans to extend your work to other cities?
I’m doing well on the internet so it’s sort of like, I’m already in other places without needing to do a physical project in other places.

Show some love and check out their hat operation in it’s entirety at OH SNAP HATS.

The post Interview: Jay Talks About His Oh Snap Hats That Got Everyone Buzzing In NYC appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.