Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 12th to mid-19th centuries. It was started in 1996 as a topical site of the Renaissance art, originated in the Italian city-states of the 14th century and spread to other countries in the 15th and 16th centuries. Intending to present Renaissance art as comprehensively as possible, the scope of the collection was later extended to show its Medieval roots as well as its evolution to Baroque and Rococo via Mannerism. More recently the periods of Neoclassicism and Romanticism were also included.
The collection has some of the characteristics of a virtual museum. The experience of the visitors is enhanced by guided tours helping to understand the artistic and historical relationship between different works and artists, by period music of choice in the background and a free postcard service. At the same time the collection serves the visitors' need for a site where various information on art, artists and history can be found together with corresponding pictorial illustrations. Although not a conventional one, the collection is a searchable database supplemented by a glossary containing articles on art terms, relevant historical events, personages, cities, museums and churches.
The Web Gallery of Art is intended to be a free resource of art history primarily for students and teachers.
http://www.wga.hu/index1.html
Saturday, June 27, 2009
One Thing
My friend, if I could give you one thing, I would give you the ability to see yourself as others see you... then you would realize what a truly special person you are.
-- Barbara A. Billings --
-- Barbara A. Billings --
FREEZE FRAMES
Well worth a Visual Visit!
Excellent article and photo series exploring Lyndon Wade: Freeze Frames
Source: Aftercapture.com, Sanra Ritten, June 2009
http://www.aftercapture.com/storage/articles/AC0609_Wade_Ritten.pdf
Excellent article and photo series exploring Lyndon Wade: Freeze Frames
Source: Aftercapture.com, Sanra Ritten, June 2009
http://www.aftercapture.com/storage/articles/AC0609_Wade_Ritten.pdf
The Secret Love Letters of Afghan Women
Expressing forbidden love.
"There is no room for love in Afghanistan," said a young teenage girl to me one day as we sipped tea in the sitting room of her family's apartment in Kabul. She said it as if it were true and had been true for years, for as long as she could remember. And not in that moment, but in the twilight of that evening and for several years after, her remark caused me to reflect on the kind of space that love itself can consume. An endless space without dimension, like a sketch without charcoal or a raindrop without water—more space than even the glorious mountains of the Hindu Kush could ever take up. Yet in the tiny precipice of this Afghan girl's heart, where love and all of its beautiful unknowns should have blossomed, it didn't, it couldn't.
The love that I felt in Afghanistan was a luxury. It was a luxury because I was an outsider and could afford to let Afghanistan enter me in a way that allowed me to recognize the beauty in all of its harshness. And although this land and its strife often, almost every day, brought me to feel defeat, loss, and compassion, I always had a great fluffy cushion to land on—a cushion provided to me by the love of my family and the memories of a life monumentally different than what I was witness to there.
From the moment I landed in Kabul, that love could have gone in several directions. It could have rested on the landscape or the children or the poetry that existed in the tired sighs of the people. But I was unequivocally drawn—as one is to light in utter darkness—to Afghan women. For them I had passion and energy. For them my emotions had no boundaries. For them I gave in wholeheartedly in order to show them to others as I saw them for myself, the most intricately designed butterflies stripped of their wings.
And then one day, a surprise. A young man I had known brought to me a stack of letters. More than 600 pages. It was a secret correspondence of love, one that allowed the imaginations of him and his love to wander, for it was only in those pages and in their dreams that they could walk together. To disclose their love would mean the end and perhaps worse. That day I realized that love existed in Afghanistan—in a single glance, a certain tone, the shadow of a school yard—but not without grave risk or consequence.
For me this complicated intertwining of love took shape and form in the darkness of an old Afghan box camera. It was there as I peered into a space not larger than a small treasure chest, isolated from the rest of Afghanistan, that I could fully express how I felt for these women.
This is an excerpt of a larger project by Slezic.
http://www.motherjones.com/photoessays/2009/05/afghan-women
Source: Photo Essay and Text by Lana Slezic, Mother Jones News, May/June 2009 Issue
"There is no room for love in Afghanistan," said a young teenage girl to me one day as we sipped tea in the sitting room of her family's apartment in Kabul. She said it as if it were true and had been true for years, for as long as she could remember. And not in that moment, but in the twilight of that evening and for several years after, her remark caused me to reflect on the kind of space that love itself can consume. An endless space without dimension, like a sketch without charcoal or a raindrop without water—more space than even the glorious mountains of the Hindu Kush could ever take up. Yet in the tiny precipice of this Afghan girl's heart, where love and all of its beautiful unknowns should have blossomed, it didn't, it couldn't.
The love that I felt in Afghanistan was a luxury. It was a luxury because I was an outsider and could afford to let Afghanistan enter me in a way that allowed me to recognize the beauty in all of its harshness. And although this land and its strife often, almost every day, brought me to feel defeat, loss, and compassion, I always had a great fluffy cushion to land on—a cushion provided to me by the love of my family and the memories of a life monumentally different than what I was witness to there.
From the moment I landed in Kabul, that love could have gone in several directions. It could have rested on the landscape or the children or the poetry that existed in the tired sighs of the people. But I was unequivocally drawn—as one is to light in utter darkness—to Afghan women. For them I had passion and energy. For them my emotions had no boundaries. For them I gave in wholeheartedly in order to show them to others as I saw them for myself, the most intricately designed butterflies stripped of their wings.
And then one day, a surprise. A young man I had known brought to me a stack of letters. More than 600 pages. It was a secret correspondence of love, one that allowed the imaginations of him and his love to wander, for it was only in those pages and in their dreams that they could walk together. To disclose their love would mean the end and perhaps worse. That day I realized that love existed in Afghanistan—in a single glance, a certain tone, the shadow of a school yard—but not without grave risk or consequence.
For me this complicated intertwining of love took shape and form in the darkness of an old Afghan box camera. It was there as I peered into a space not larger than a small treasure chest, isolated from the rest of Afghanistan, that I could fully express how I felt for these women.
This is an excerpt of a larger project by Slezic.
http://www.motherjones.com/photoessays/2009/05/afghan-women
Source: Photo Essay and Text by Lana Slezic, Mother Jones News, May/June 2009 Issue
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Look into a whale's EYE
A self-taught underwater photographer who wants to share the wonder of whales with the world has taken it upon himself to be the first to capture the expressions of the great animals up close, while they are relaxing, and in full dimension.
"I wouldn't say I'm obsessed by whales, but if I am, it's an obsession of sharing with others," said Bryant Austin.
Austin, 40, is inventing new techniques, photographing the great whales of the world in life size by waiting for their approach. This is unique.
"Photographing whales has remained basically unchanged for 40 years," Austin explained. "I'm the only person in the world producing life-size high-resolution composite photos of whales."
The founder of a nonprofit in 2005 called Marine Mammal Conservation Through the Arts; Austin taught himself how to photograph marine animals in the wild, including otters. He worked as a volunteer in a number of jobs including the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, Calif., and eventually the California Department of Fish & Game Sea Otter Research Lab. It was there he conceived a unique mission, to photograph and produce photos of whales in the ocean, life size, in full detail, just as they would be seen in the water.
"This kind of photography allows large-size photos," Austin said. "I'm floating in the water less than 6 feet from a whale. I turn the camera on its side. I remain motionless. The pictures I take result in a high-resolution-scan series of composite photos, of the whole whale."
Austin's unique approach is to put the whale completely at ease. He doesn't use an oxygen tank and dive gear, but simple snorkel equipment. He only photographs whales that are resting or socializing, never those who are migrating or calving or engaged in courtship. He consistently wears the same wetsuit to gain their trust.
"I remain stationary," he said. "About 50 feet away, the whales are curious. They'll eventually approach, come up to within 5 feet of me. One time a whale reached over with a 10-foot pectoral fin and placed it under my body. They're very gentle animals."
Other photographers sometimes chase or harass whales because of their limited budgets and time schedules (they have to come up with a picture quick), resulting in an agitated-looking response from the whale.
Austin's patience has produced remarkable moments captured on film.
Sperm whales up to 35 feet long weighing 25 tons displaying, if not affection toward him, then something akin to relaxed tolerance.
"I get right up next to the eye," Austin said. "If the whale is harassed, you get a wide eye, the white of the eye. But if it's relaxed, the eye is heavy-lidded, calm and mindful."
Austin added that whales, highly intelligent animals, sometimes use their built-in eco-location ability to do a scan of his body, to check out what kind of being he is.
"Whales can inflict serious injury on you with these powerful sounds if they wanted to," he said. "They can use them to see inside you, like in three dimensions. You can feel your entire body vibrating."
One time Austin said he was lining up a shot of a whale and felt a tap on his shoulder. It was another whale, gently prodding him with a 15-foot pectoral fin.
"Our eyes locked," he recalled.
Another time, off the Island of Tonga, a smaller calf came up behind Austin and rested its jaw on his back.
Source: By JOHN SAMMON, Santa Cruz (Calif.) Sentinel, SCOTTS VALLEY, CA
"I wouldn't say I'm obsessed by whales, but if I am, it's an obsession of sharing with others," said Bryant Austin.
Austin, 40, is inventing new techniques, photographing the great whales of the world in life size by waiting for their approach. This is unique.
"Photographing whales has remained basically unchanged for 40 years," Austin explained. "I'm the only person in the world producing life-size high-resolution composite photos of whales."
The founder of a nonprofit in 2005 called Marine Mammal Conservation Through the Arts; Austin taught himself how to photograph marine animals in the wild, including otters. He worked as a volunteer in a number of jobs including the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, Calif., and eventually the California Department of Fish & Game Sea Otter Research Lab. It was there he conceived a unique mission, to photograph and produce photos of whales in the ocean, life size, in full detail, just as they would be seen in the water.
"This kind of photography allows large-size photos," Austin said. "I'm floating in the water less than 6 feet from a whale. I turn the camera on its side. I remain motionless. The pictures I take result in a high-resolution-scan series of composite photos, of the whole whale."
Austin's unique approach is to put the whale completely at ease. He doesn't use an oxygen tank and dive gear, but simple snorkel equipment. He only photographs whales that are resting or socializing, never those who are migrating or calving or engaged in courtship. He consistently wears the same wetsuit to gain their trust.
"I remain stationary," he said. "About 50 feet away, the whales are curious. They'll eventually approach, come up to within 5 feet of me. One time a whale reached over with a 10-foot pectoral fin and placed it under my body. They're very gentle animals."
Other photographers sometimes chase or harass whales because of their limited budgets and time schedules (they have to come up with a picture quick), resulting in an agitated-looking response from the whale.
Austin's patience has produced remarkable moments captured on film.
Sperm whales up to 35 feet long weighing 25 tons displaying, if not affection toward him, then something akin to relaxed tolerance.
"I get right up next to the eye," Austin said. "If the whale is harassed, you get a wide eye, the white of the eye. But if it's relaxed, the eye is heavy-lidded, calm and mindful."
Austin added that whales, highly intelligent animals, sometimes use their built-in eco-location ability to do a scan of his body, to check out what kind of being he is.
"Whales can inflict serious injury on you with these powerful sounds if they wanted to," he said. "They can use them to see inside you, like in three dimensions. You can feel your entire body vibrating."
One time Austin said he was lining up a shot of a whale and felt a tap on his shoulder. It was another whale, gently prodding him with a 15-foot pectoral fin.
"Our eyes locked," he recalled.
Another time, off the Island of Tonga, a smaller calf came up behind Austin and rested its jaw on his back.
Source: By JOHN SAMMON, Santa Cruz (Calif.) Sentinel, SCOTTS VALLEY, CA
Monday, June 22, 2009
Kodak retires Kodachrome
Kodak will discontinue the color film after 74 years.
"They give us those nice bright colors. They give us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world's a sunny day," Paul Simon sang in the 1973 song "Kodachrome."
It looks like Simon will have to come up with a new song now that Eastman Kodak (EK) is retiring its Kodachrome color film after a 74-year run.
Kodachrome sales have plunged since the introduction of both new films and digital technology, and the product now makes up less than 1% of Kodak's still-picture-film sales, the company said. About 70% of Kodak's revenue now comes from its commercial and consumer digital businesses.
"It was certainly a difficult decision to retire it, given its rich history," Mary Jane Hellyar, president of Kodak’s Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group, said in a statement. "However, the majority of today's photographers have voiced their preference to capture images with newer technology -- both film and digital."
Hellyar said current supplies of Kodachrome will likely last until early fall. Dwayne's Photo, in Parsons, Kan., is the only photofinishing lab that still processes the complex Kodachrome film, Kodak said, and it will continue to do so through 2010. Photojournalist Steve McCurry's famous National Geographic cover of an Afghan refugee girl was shot on Kodachrome in 1985.
McCurry will shoot one of the last rolls of Kodachrome film and donate the images to the George Eastman House museum, which honors the company's founder, in Rochester, N.Y. Kodak will also compile other iconic images and post them on its Web site.
Shares of Kodak stock closed down 8.1% to $2.62 this afternoon. The stock has plunged more than 76% over the past year.
"They give us those nice bright colors. They give us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world's a sunny day," Paul Simon sang in the 1973 song "Kodachrome."
It looks like Simon will have to come up with a new song now that Eastman Kodak (EK) is retiring its Kodachrome color film after a 74-year run.
Kodachrome sales have plunged since the introduction of both new films and digital technology, and the product now makes up less than 1% of Kodak's still-picture-film sales, the company said. About 70% of Kodak's revenue now comes from its commercial and consumer digital businesses.
"It was certainly a difficult decision to retire it, given its rich history," Mary Jane Hellyar, president of Kodak’s Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group, said in a statement. "However, the majority of today's photographers have voiced their preference to capture images with newer technology -- both film and digital."
Hellyar said current supplies of Kodachrome will likely last until early fall. Dwayne's Photo, in Parsons, Kan., is the only photofinishing lab that still processes the complex Kodachrome film, Kodak said, and it will continue to do so through 2010. Photojournalist Steve McCurry's famous National Geographic cover of an Afghan refugee girl was shot on Kodachrome in 1985.
McCurry will shoot one of the last rolls of Kodachrome film and donate the images to the George Eastman House museum, which honors the company's founder, in Rochester, N.Y. Kodak will also compile other iconic images and post them on its Web site.
Shares of Kodak stock closed down 8.1% to $2.62 this afternoon. The stock has plunged more than 76% over the past year.
Source: Market Dispatches, Elizabeth Strott, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Cyber Canvas
Internet gives rise to a new genre of artist - and major concerns
Is there anything that isn't available on the Net?
Encyclopedias, cheat-sheet term papers, Mediterranean cruises, naked ladies, bomb-making instructions, old TV shows, yard-sale junk, job offers, recipes, the New York Times - and cutting-edge art.
The Internet has become the new frontier in the art world, with trendsetting artists working not only online but using the materials of the cyberworld the way traditional artists use canvas and pigment.
http://http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/galleriesmuseums/articles/2009/06/16/20090616webart0621.htmlby Richard Nilsen - Jun. 16, 2009 08:07 PMThe Arizona Republic
Is there anything that isn't available on the Net?
Encyclopedias, cheat-sheet term papers, Mediterranean cruises, naked ladies, bomb-making instructions, old TV shows, yard-sale junk, job offers, recipes, the New York Times - and cutting-edge art.
The Internet has become the new frontier in the art world, with trendsetting artists working not only online but using the materials of the cyberworld the way traditional artists use canvas and pigment.
http://http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/galleriesmuseums/articles/2009/06/16/20090616webart0621.htmlby Richard Nilsen - Jun. 16, 2009 08:07 PMThe Arizona Republic
NOMENUS QUARTERLY... More than an It Bag
NOMENUS QUARTERLY, a limited-edition folio of original or previously unpublished images, typically costs more than your average It bag. (Each issue differs in price, but the rate, until now, was around $2,500.)
So, given the current economic climate, it’s a little cheeky that Erik Madigan Heck, the publication’s founder and editor in chief, has slashed the print run to 10 copies from 50 and raised the price to $6,500. For the cost of an entry-level Birkin, the new issue includes work by the artists Anselm Kiefer and Lucian Freud, the photographer Adam Fuss and a tribute to Ann Demeulemeester men’s wear (above) — shot, by Mr. Heck, in the style of the Italian photographer Mario Giacomelli’s studies of young priests. Bless.
Source: New York Times, Art & Commerce, Fashion & Style, June 21, 2009
Photo by: HORACIO SILVA
$74,000 for Einstein Photo
NY Man Buys Iconic Photo From NH Auctioneer
The photograph was taken in 1951 while Einstein was celebrating his birthday at Princeton University. Photographer Arthur Sasse tried to convince Einstein to pose with a smile for the photo, but Einstein instead stuck out his tongue, producing one of the most recognizable images of the irreverent physicist.
Einstein ordered nine copies of the photograph and signed a print for news anchor Howard K. Smith, writing in German, “This gesture you will like, because it is aimed at all of humanity. A civilian can afford to do what no diplomat would dare. Your loyal and grateful listener, A. Einstein ’53.”
Although Einstein was amused by the photograph, his tongue gesture was more than joke, according to RRAuction.com marketing director Bobby Livingston. McCarthyism was reaching a high point in the United States, and scientists like Einstein were being asked to report on the activities of their colleagues.
“This photo of Einstein is incredibly iconic, and for the first time Einstein explains why he stuck out his tongue,” said Livingston. “You can tell by his inscription that (Einstein) fully understood the power of the image, and that what he was doing was quite dangerous, considering that the government was forcing intellectuals to name names.
Einstein ordered nine copies of the photograph and signed a print for news anchor Howard K. Smith, writing in German, “This gesture you will like, because it is aimed at all of humanity. A civilian can afford to do what no diplomat would dare. Your loyal and grateful listener, A. Einstein ’53.”
Although Einstein was amused by the photograph, his tongue gesture was more than joke, according to RRAuction.com marketing director Bobby Livingston. McCarthyism was reaching a high point in the United States, and scientists like Einstein were being asked to report on the activities of their colleagues.
“This photo of Einstein is incredibly iconic, and for the first time Einstein explains why he stuck out his tongue,” said Livingston. “You can tell by his inscription that (Einstein) fully understood the power of the image, and that what he was doing was quite dangerous, considering that the government was forcing intellectuals to name names.
The photograph was purchased by David Waxman, the owner of a New York store specializing in scientific books and autographs, Livingston said.
News Source: Boston News Online, June 21, 2009
Photo by: Arthur Sasse
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
