My good friend is travelling the world again, and I’m a little envious. He invited me to tag along for some of it, but my job and its limited vacation made it impossible. I swear, one day, I’m going to take a couple of months and just go. There’s just so much world to see and new things to experience.
And one more of Railay, a long exposure of about five minutes, taken just after sunset at the tall island. Next we move on to Ko Phi-Phi!
Possibly, this is one of the most bizarre and awkward photos I’ve seen in a long time. It seems like there’s a punchline that I’m missing. It’s part of These Americans.
These Americans is a project by American Suburb X. It has a Facebook page, too, which I follow and have for a long time. The role of the project is to show American photographs of the American experience - in all its forms. It doesn’t shy away from hot button issues such as racism or exploitation, it just serves up the photographs in their honest and often ugly glory. This is the unedited visual portrait of the American People. Some people are good. Some are bad. Some of the photographs are frightening and on another site would be heavily censored. There are also plenty of celebrities, ceremonies, happy times and nostalgia for the “good old days”. These Americans does only a very simple kind of editorialising where you can see that these photos are not posted simply to gratify our curiosity for the salacious, or promote hate, but to open our eyes to the many facets of human behaviour. Although many people comment on the Facebook page because they feel that the site glorifies crime and prejudice, lust and sensationalism, These Americans posted a policy for commenting, which is actually more of a mission statement or mandate (quoted below).
Certainly, an element of its audience may enjoy that aspect, but I would like to think that the majority can view these images and recognise those aspects for the negative, hurtful, or sinister human failings that they are. In some cases, they are a product of their time in history, and I’d like to think the majority of Americans (and others) realise that the “good old days” have their dark sides, too. This is an incredible archive, drawn from public and private collections, serving up an unedited photographic history of a country’s turbulent past, which is in many ways, no so different from any other countries’ history.
From the Facebook page:
Any form of racist comment will be deleted. If repeated, the FB user will be deleted from the T.A page. T.A.’s decision to show our nation’s heinous history of racism is a strong condemnation of this past (and present). Blackface, lynching and other pictures are here to shine a glaring spotlight on these actions and the history, not to validate it in any way shape or form.
Please use tact in general and be consider of other users. Although the photographs here of men and women can be loaded in nature, they are a reflection on our complex culture, not solely a means to an entertainment end. Humour is welcome but use common sense.
Ya, that’s pretty nice. Now that I’ve found my battery charger, I’m going to start shooting again. I have to send in my big awesome lens for cleaning, but I have a 50mm I can have some fun with.
This is where I live. Driving home from work today, I thought Rundle (top) looked glorious, so I stopped to take a photo of it. Then I turned around and saw Cascade (bottom) didn’t look too bad either.
I’m blessed to be living where I am, blessed I say! And not only is it a beautiful little mountain town, it’s a cultural mecca. There’s live music every night; and at least once a week there’s dance, theatre, poetry, sports, politics. And (considering the small size of the community), a greater diversity of cultures than anywhere else I’ve encountered.
These were both taken with the 50mm lens. The more I get into it, I am utterly happy with this 50mm project I’ve undertaken.
Lions (and Elephants) Captured in the Wild by Beetlecams
Wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas prefers to take close, wide-angle shots of animals from the ground.
Usually he’d quietly crawl up to them, but that would be too dangerous.
So he started building a prototype for a mobile camera called a “BeetleCam.” It resembles a large beetle as it moves and offers a beetle-like perspective.keep reading for more images and more details on Will Burrard-Lucas’ camera
Images of Atlin, British Columbia, from over 10 years ago.
These were taken with Agfa Scala, a form of black and white slide film. Unlike all the fake b&w we see today, these are the real deal.
Atlin is a magical place. Today it’s a tiny, smouldering village of about 500. A century ago, it was a bustling gold rush city of 20,000. The people may be gone, but the memory lingers on. The history of the place is overwhelming.
Atlin also sits on the edge of the most beautiful lake in the world and is surrounded by stunning, glaciated mountains.
What an incredible portrait ! Early photographs are not known for portraying character, but this one certainly does. It is reminiscent of fine 17th century portraits, which maybe hints at the photographer’s knowledge of fine art and its influence.
Coco Pearl taken by Andre Disderi. 1854.
This photograph just stood out to me; it just has such character. Boy did Coco too! She was a legendary courtesan during the mid to late 19th century. For the most part in France where she managed to bring many of the wealthy elite come under her spell.
