One of the most fascinating shots I have encountered on Flickr in recent weeks. The silhouettes themselves are great, the reflections make it even better and those fabulous colours make it into a masterpiece - courtecy of fellow flickrite TJ Scott.
And a logical follow-up of that post.... One of the best tracks of the eighties' chart huggers, a world-wide top five hit in 1984. Wild Boys is based on a book by William S. Burroughs about renegade homosexual boys. Director Russel Mulcahy wanted to make a film based on the book, and Duran Duran was going to do the music (or at least the title song). The movie fell through, so Russel decided to direct the video for the song they had made - and produced one of the most notorious and artistic videos of the decade! The song is heavier than most from this band, and has been highlighted as one of the main inspirations of the heavy metal movement that originated shortly thereafter. The video is the extra long version. Enjoy!
And as a follow-up of the previous post, here is Patrick Nagel's art in its probably best known form: the cover of the 1982 Duran Duran abum Rio. Quintessential eighties' music and art.
More photoshop brilliance taken from the advanced photoshop contest section of Worth1000. Here is an original shot created by their member SkunkDuster for the Modern modren 2 contest. This theme asks for contemporary celebrities set in modern art - in this case actress Helen Hunt in the style of Patrick Nagel, known for his Playboy illustrations and Duran Duran album cover designs in a modern Art Deco style. An exquisite result.
We stay in this part of the Netherlands for the next entry - moving to Lelystad, about 20 minutes by car from Almere. This new theater building was constructed in 2005 after a design by the UN Studio under Ben van Berkel. The building does not feature yet in wikipedia, but more information can be found on the site linked to below.
One of my own favourite architecture shots. This intriguing building, The Wave, is in the Dutch city of Almere, 15 minutes walking from our home. I caught it one early morning with really great light.
Self portraits constitute an intriguing photographic theme, and this is one of the best I have ever seen. My Flickr friend The0d0ra has not featured yet in my blog, because she had taken an extended time-out from Flickr. Glad to see her back, and certainly with stunning shots like this one.
Another great vintage poster, this one dating back to some time in the thirties I guess. An attempt to get tourists on the Paris-Orleans railway connection and then visit this idyllic town in the Auvergne.
More fractal art by nomm de photo - to me this suggest science fiction movies or indeed at the other end of the scale molecular reactions.
Today nine years ago we got married - and our marriage is still going strong. To celebrate, I post this painting especially for my laopo - white tulips, just like in her bridal bouquet. This 1912 painting is an early work by American photographer and painter Charles Sheeler (1883-1965), whose style later helped defined the precisionism genre. More on Sheeler in the wikipedia article linked to below.
The French singer Nicolas Peyrac, born in Brittany as Jean-Jacques Tazartez, is one of the greatest singers of all time from his country. His strength lay in subtle ballads, which he could deliver in an honest style reminiscent at times of Jim Croce. By far his best song is So far away from L.A., which in spite of the title is mainly sung in French - only the short refrain is in English. He reminisces about a girl he met in the USA and fell in love with, interspersed with images of California.
Small things like this still delight me. My shot Winter wonderland 2 got the first place in the very first themed composition competition of the Flickr site Learn composition by example (the theme being winter).
David Bowie has always been an artistic artist, and his covers more often than not reflect this attitude as well. One of the best is the cover of the 1980 album Scary monsters (also one of his best albums by the way), designed by Brian Duffy.
American photographer Steven Meisel (born 1954) obtained popular acclaim with his work for Vogue and his photographs of Madonna in the 1992 book Sex. He is now widely considered one of the most successful fashion photographers in the industry. An example is the above retro style shot of pop music queen and fashion idol Gwen Stefani. More on him in the wikipedia article linked to below.
Since my photographs (either as such or as imagined album covers) feature frequently in my blog, I thought it might be interesting to say a bit more about my gear.
Perhaps the quintessential American composer of light classical music: Ferde Grofe (1892-1972). When he was not busy playing jazz, arranging Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue for orchestra, or composing movie scores, he found inspiration in typical American landscapes and themes for a series of concert suites that are well worth exploring. By far the most famous is the 1931 Grand Canyon suite, which has been recorded by most major labels - and Naxos is doing a fine job here as well. Less famous, but interesting as well, are the Huckleberry Finn inspired 1925 Mississippi suite and the 1961 Niagara Falls suite. The nickname he gave to the Mississippi suite (Tone journey) fits all three compositions like a glove. Excellent performances by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under William Stromberg. A highly enjoyable disc of an underrated composer.
Otto Dix (1891-1969) was one of many German expressionists who fought at the front in the Great War, but in spite of a series of serious injuries he managed to survive. Later his style developed further and he became one of the leading exponents of the Neue Sachlichkeit (new business-like approach) movement. This elegant 1925 portrait of Anita Berber is my favourite in his repertoire. More on Dix in the wikipedia article linked to below.
The third time that my Flickr friend Il malmostoso features in the blog, and it will not be the last. In all its apparent yet deceiving simplicity, this is such a strong and emotional shot.
One bird deserves another. This shot of mine dates back to January 2008. On a short bicycle trip we encountered a flock of geese, and fortunately I had a camera at hand. The trick here is to shoot from a really low angle. Birds, and inparticular water fowl, occur frequently in my photo stream, but this is one of my own favourites.
More photoshop brilliance taken from the advanced photoshop contest section of Worth1000. Here is an original shot created by their member rasiresi for the Fire! 5 contest. An image worthy to be used at a poster for Stravinsky's ballet.
What do you do to beef up a rather dull bridge? Well, just create massive waterfalls on both sides. That's what the city of Seoul in South Korea did with the Banpo bridge in 2008. They installed a 10,000-nozzle fountain that runs all the way on both sides, pumping out 190 tons of water per minute using the water from the river below. I can't find information on wikipedia, but below is a link to a web site that also includes a video.
Another great vintage poster, this one dating back to 1910. Amazing to realize that at that time flight was already sufficiently advanced to organize meetings of pilots.
One of the most spectacular designs I have come across recently. This is the Gas Natural headquarters building, designed by architects Enric Miralles (1955-2000) and Benedetta Tagliabue, and completed in 2005. Its full name is Torre Mare Nostrum - torre is Spanish for tower and Mare Nostrum is the latin name for the mediterranean sea. Its height (86 m) is not that impressive but the design surely is. The building does not feature yet in wikipedia, but more information can be found on the site linked to below.
The second of two of the best portrait photographs I have seen on Flickr. This one is by my Flickr friend macaz1977. A self portrait, with added effects created by means of a laser pen. Highly creative and a great result.
A Flickr set collecting my 100 best.
