What’s new at Okara Video? >>>

Okara Video is now renting standard definition video production equipment by the day or weekly, and in a variety of package deals that are camera-, audio- and editing-centric. Prices are competitive, and the gear is top-of-the line quality. See for yourself by clicking here for more details. Post-production is based on Final Cut Pro running on the Macintosh platform.

PINOY JAZZ: The Story of Jazz in the Philippines made its worldwide debut on ABS-CBN’s overseas networks, TFC and PCTV in July and August, 2006. PINOY JAZZ is now available at www.filmbaby.com for $16.95 + shipping. Click here for more information on this first-ever video on jazz in the Phil.

he art work which graces this page is the work of Japanese Zen master, Sesshu Toyo (1420-1506). Introduced to me by my drawing teacher, Prof. Junkins of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the mid-1960s, this artwork is considered to be one the best examples of “splash-ink” (haboku) landscape painting. Often executed in a “swift, eruptive style”, this work can be seen as the Asian equivalent to the American jazz performance, improvised, intuitive yet unified in terms of form.

This piece of art represents a central Zen tenet--that man can attain enlightenment in sudden flashes, in moments of “exaltation”, and, therefore, serves as a kind of standard for me as an artist in both static- and time-based media.

Sesshu Toyo. 148.6 x 32.7.
Muromachi Period, 15th century.
National Treasure, Tokyo National Museum. Click for close-up view.

Collis Davis

Older pages for Davis at this URL: www.okara.com/portfolio

BLASTS FROM THE PAST: This poster was created by Collis Davis for an exhibition of his jazz photography  which was dedicated to Chuck Stewart, Jazz Photographer Emeritus.



The late Lester Bowie and his 59-piece Sho’ Nuff Orchestra performing at the Symphony Space, New York City, mid-February, 1979. This was Davis’s first photograph to be published in Downbeat Magazine. Click image above for more details and the Downbeat story, including the Program and personnel.

A turn-of the-century illustration by W. A. Rogers, left, depicts U.S. expansionism into the Philippines as symbolized by Uncle Sam riding a carabao. (Courtesy of the Rodulfo Leitz Collection, Manila, Philippines). This magnificent illustration, which is emblematic of the U.S.’s former dominion over the Philippines (1898-1945), will appear in a new coffee table book, Corregidor in Peace and War, authored by Charles M. Hubbard and Collis H. Davis. Published by the University of Missouri Press, this pictorial and textual history of the famed Corregidor Island will feature color pages throughout the 216 page volume. Now available at Amazon.com, this volume will be distributed world-wide. Click here for more details. To read this review immediately below, first click on this image, then click on the magnifying cursor or Control and + keys repeatedly to enlarge page until it is legible (Firefox browser only). From the Amazon.com page for Corregidor in Peace and War: ***** Many Excellent Photos November 3, 2007 by R. Beckman I give this book 5 stars for it's many photos. There are many excellent 7x9 inch full page color glossy photos and many nice B&W photos from WWII and earlier. Also nice color reproductions of paintings, illustrations, and maps from the 1800s and the turn of the century. I think it's a beautiful book. I like that the book starts out with historical background info, but the keeps the bulk of it's focus on WWII and the prior US fortification of the Island. If you're interested in Corregidor I'd highly recommend this book along with Corregidor: The American Alamo of World War II by Eric Morris. For more book reviews, click here.

Okara: What’s in the word? It’s a West African term referring to the
                 "vital spirit or breath". We try to breath the same into our images.

Want to know more about Haiti? Conditions in this beleaguered country, that gave rise to the voyages of the “boat people” and this film, have not changed significantly since 1983 when Voyage of Dreams was completed for WNET-TV/13 of US Public Television.

VOYAGE OF DREAMS tells the story of the Haitian boat people and the reasons for their exile--injustice and political repression, widespread economic stagnation, a lack of educational opportunity, and the absence of free speech. This video pioneered one the first uses of extended computer graphic animation sequences in service of the documentary. Directed by Collis Davis and Raymond Cajuste 30-minutes, NTSC DVD. Click here for more information.

Best Video Award San Francisco Film Festival
"...compelling...timely."--Booklist (American Library Association)

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  use this e-mail address: chdavisjr@pldtdsl.net