Last weekend I went to the Butterfly House at Faust Park in Chesterfield, Missouri. I'd never been before and didn't know what to expect. Some guy suddenly yelled "show me some leg!!!" You do know Missouri is known as "the show me state," but even I couldn't believe what happened next....
The little hussy obliged as she dangled her leg off the leaf.
Yesterday was just glorious in St. Louis...
All sorts of best buds were at the park.
]]>Just realized that I have never sent a post to my neighbors prior to this...I did today in hope for your feedback, thoughts, critiques, ideas, etc.
Today is the submission for the Winter Juried Art Exhibition. Each artist can submit up to three works in any medium. I selected and submitted these three photos (8X10 matted & framed) - with the advice/counsel/assistance of a couple of important people.
Delicate Balance:
Part-Time:
Broken Home:
Although they are now in the hands of the juror..I want to know what you all think. I'm not fishing for compliments here...that's not what it's about. I am intrigued by people's perceptions. This came up in conversation last night while trying to choose which ones to enter...
So...if you'd be so inclined tell me your thoughts. They by no means have to be 'good' and no I won't hold it against you or stop reading your posts. :) Everyone interprets art differently and I understand and respect that. In order to improve my work, I want to know what other's see when they look at it.
some questions to think about...
which one do you favor, if any? why?
what do these images evoke?
is there one or more that you wouldn't have submitted? which and why?
WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU? A prize of course. All you awesome neighbors who leave feedback will be entered into a little drawing to win an 8x10 copy of one of the above photos (the winner chooses the photo they want). Drawing will take place on Tuesday.
=)
]]>
If you happen to be in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday, 20 November 2009 – then save the evening for this one
. Watch out for more information on this!
]]>
fatih on his bike.
spontaneous visit last year...
what a good looking biker... :-)
photos taken by susan.
robert capa. shot taken by gerda near sergovia fronture. may/june 1937.
"I hope I stay unemployed as a war photographer until the end of my life".
"The pictures are there und you just take them".
Robert Capa
Robert Capa at Magnum Photos.
more of robert capa.
Born of Jewish parents in Budapest, Austria-Hungary in 1913, Capa left the country in 1932 after being arrested because of his political involvement with protestors against the government (his parents had encouraged him to settle elsewhere).
Capa originally wanted to be a writer; however, he found work in photography in Berlin and grew to love the art. In 1933, he moved from Germany to France because of the rise of Nazism, but found it difficult to find work there as a freelance journalist. He adopted the name "Robert Capa" around this time because he felt that it would be recognizable and American-sounding since it was similar to that of film director Frank Capra. (In fact, "cápa" is a Hungarian word meaning 'shark'.)
From 1936 to 1939, he was in Spain, photographing the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, along with Gerda Taro, his companion and professional photography partner, and David Seymour.[2] In 1938, he traveled to the Chinese city of Wuhan to document the resistance to the Japanese invasion. [3]
In 1936, he became known across the globe for a photo (known as the "Falling Soldier" photo) presumably taken in Cerro Muriano on the Cordoba Front of a Loyalist Militiaman who allegedly had just been shot and was in the act of falling to his death. There has been a long controversy about the authenticity of this photograph. A Spanish historian identified the dead soldier as Federico Borrell García, from Alcoi (Alicante). This identification has been disputed; in fact there is a second photograph showing another soldier falling exactly on the same spot.[4][5] According to the Spanish newspaper El Periodico, the photo was taken near the town of Espejo, at 10 kilometres from Cerro Muriano, proving that the photo was staged [6][7]. In 2009, a Spanish professor published a book titled Shadows of Photography, in which he alleged that the photograph could not have been taken where, when or how Capa and his backers have alleged.[8]
Many of Capa's photographs of the Spanish Civil War were, for many decades, presumed lost, but surfaced in Mexico City in the late 1990s.[9] While fleeing Europe in 1939, Capa had lost the collection, which over time came to be dubbed the "Mexican suitcase".[9] Ownership of the collection was transferred to the Capa Estate, and in December, 2007, moved to the International Center of Photography, a museum founded by Capa's younger brother Cornell in Manhattan.[9][10]
At the start of World War II, Capa was in New York City. He had moved there from Paris to look for new work and to escape Nazi persecution. The war took Capa to various parts of the European Theatre on photography assignments. He first photographed for Collier's Weekly, before switching to Life after he was fired by the former. He was the only "enemy alien" photographer for the Allies. On October 7, 1943, Robert Capa was in Naples with Life reporter Will Lang Jr. and photographed the Naples post office bombing.[11]
His most famous work occurred on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) when he swam ashore with the second assault wave on Omaha Beach. He was armed with two Contax II cameras mounted with 50 mm lenses and several rolls of spare film. Capa took 106 pictures in the first couple of hours of the invasion. However, a staff member at Life in London made a mistake in the darkroom; he set the dryer too high and melted the emulsion in the negatives in three complete rolls and over half of a fourth roll. Only eight frames in total were recovered.[12] Capa never said a word to the London bureau chief about the loss of three and a half rolls of his D-Day landing film.[13]
Although a fifteen-year-old lab assistant named Dennis Banks was responsible for the accident, another account, now largely accepted as untrue but which gained widespread currency, blamed Larry Burrows, who worked in the lab not as a technician but as a "tea-boy". [14] Life magazine printed 10 of the frames in its June 19, 1944 issue with captions that described the footage as "slightly out of focus", explaining that Capa's hands were shaking in the excitement of the moment (something which he denied).[15] Capa used this phrase as the title of his autobiographical account of the war, Slightly Out of Focus.
In 1947 Capa traveled into the Soviet Union with his friend, writer John Steinbeck. He took photos in Moscow, Kiev, Tbilisi, Batumi and among the ruins of Stalingrad. The humorous reportage of Steinbeck, A Russian Journal was illustrated with Capa's photos. It was first published in 1948.
In 1947, Capa founded Magnum Photos with Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Vandivert, David Seymour, and George Rodger. In 1951, he became the president.
Capa toured Israel after its founding, and supplied the copious photographs for a book on the new nation written by Irwin Shaw, Report on Israel.
In the early 1950s, Capa traveled to Japan for an exhibition associated with Magnum Photos. While there, Life magazine asked him to go on assignment to Southeast Asia, where the French had been fighting for eight years in the First Indochina War. Despite the fact he had sworn not to photograph another war a few years earlier, Capa accepted and accompanied a French regiment with two other Time-Life journalists, John Mecklin and Jim Lucas. On May 25, 1954 at 2:55 p.m., the regiment was passing through a dangerous area under fire when Capa decided to leave his jeep and go up the road to photograph the advance. About five minutes later, Mecklin and Lucas heard an explosion; Capa had stepped on a landmine. When they arrived on the scene he was still alive, but his left leg had been blown to pieces and he had a serious wound in his chest. Mecklin screamed for a medic and Capa was taken to a small field hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He had died with his camera in his hand.
Personal Life
In 1934 "André Friedman", as he called himself at that time, met Gerda Pohorylle, a German Jewish refugee. The couple lived in Paris where André taught Gerda photography. Together they contrived the name and image of "Robert Capa" as a famous American photographer. Gerda took the name Gerda Taro, becoming successful in her own right. She traveled with Capa to Spain in 1936 with the intention to document the Spanish Civil War. In July 1937 Capa went on a short business trip to Paris while Gerda remained in Madrid. She was killed near Brunete during a battle. Capa, who was reportedly engaged to her, was deeply shocked and never married.
In February 1943 Capa met Elaine Justin, the beautiful young wife of actor John Austin. They immediately fell in love and the relationship lasted until the end of the war, although Capa spent most of his time in the frontline. Capa lovingly called the redheaded Elaine "Pinky," and their romance became the topic of his war memoir, Slightly Out of Focus. In 1945, Elaine broke up with Capa and married her friend, Chuck Romine.
Some months later Capa became the lover of actress Ingrid Bergman, who was traveling in Europe at the time entertaining American soldiers. In December 1945, Capa followed her to Hollywood, where he worked for American International Pictures for a short time. Bergman tried to persuade him to marry her, but Capa didn't want to live in Hollywood. The relationship ended in the summer of 1946 when Capa traveled to Turkey.
]]>Pour faire le portrait d'un ange, il faut... un ange ! J'ai donc cherché parmi les anges peints par les artistes au fil du temps et j'en ai choisi un. J'ai découpé son image et je l'ai épinglée au coin de mon châssis. Comme ça:
Bon, il a le nez jaune et une main moche... à retoucher. Ensuite, il ne restera "plus qu'à" faire son portrait. J'ai commencé à mettre le dessin en place. Il reste encore bien à faire, c'est l'état dans lequel j'ai laissé mon tableau hier soir... et il y a du boulot avant que ça ne ressemble à ce que j'ai en tête. ça me donne l'impression de ces poupées russes qui s'emboîtent les unes dans les autres ! Etrange !
Ce matin, on a eu la surprise de découvrir la neige un peu plus haut, sur le sommet du Géant. Il y avait quelques fumeroles qui montaient des combes. La légende dit que lorsque les combes fument, c'est que le dragon qui y habite se réveille... Pour nous protéger, je l'espère, et non pas pour nous effrayer.
Et , pour celles qui s'inquiètent de notre petite Carla, elle va beaucoup mieux. Très bien, même, je dirais. Le souci, c'est la fragilité de son dos. L'idée de cette menace constante: chaque fois qu'elle saute, court comme une dingue, joue avec Lilah, aide Chéri à rentrer les poules et autres gymnastiques à sa façon, elle risque l'accident. Mieux vaut ne pas trop y penser. Elle n'a que deux ans ! La photo a été prise hier juste avant que je ne mette la soupe du dîner sur la table.
Après, elle a fait la sièste avec Lilah, comme presque tous les jours. Le petit machin noir coincé entre l'armoire et la petite Lilah... ben, c'est Carla !!!
Très beau dimanche à vous qui passerez par là, et prenez bien soin de vous, surtout !
The Secret History of the American Empire by John Perkins New York: Dutton (Penguin Group Inc.) June 2007 John Perkins writes out of guilt. Carrying on in the tradition of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, The Secret History of the American Empire is a form of atonement for the author to right his wrongs after what he feels were years of exploiting the weak as an employee of major corporations. However, this time around, he aims to do more than merely confess. His purpose is to effect change. Perkins maintains a positive perspective, despite the fact that the bulk of his account revolves around a depressing theme of the destruction of the earth and its inhabitants, perpetrated largely by the greed and materialism of the United States. In the Prologue he states, “I want to emphasize that you will not find gloom and doom in these pages” (2). He stresses optimism and the necessity of positive action. While his work has the potential to inspire would-be movers and shakers, it is somewhat weighed down by the blurring of the timeline of events and a heavy reliance on his own memory that leaves a question mark in the area of credibility. Still, the book carries enough weight to be a powerful tool for advocates of economic, social and environmental responsibility as it is both a history of American imperialism and a resource for how people can begin to change the existing system. Perkins purpose in writing this book is outlined in both his Prologue and his concluding chapter. The author expounds on his previous work, which was a biography of his years as an “Economic Hit Man” (EHM), to include confessions from other EHMs and members of corporations, governments, NGOs and the Peace Corps. These reports are linked to the history of how the United States has used the developing world as an extension of their own resources, and the violence, unrest, and extreme poverty in developing countries that have occurred as a direct result. In doing so, Perkins hopes that he can spread the idea that things must change, and that every individual has a responsibility to do his or her own part to effect this change. In order to accomplish his aims, Perkins organizes his account into four regions, with Part 5, entitled “Changing the World,” being reserved for his main message. The regions include nations in Asia, Latin America, The Middle East and Africa. Most of these are former European colonies, now developing countries who have struggled economically under loans from the IMF and World Bank. Each section covers both the history of economic colonialism in the area, as well as his personal accounts of his own sins and those of other “Economic Hit Men” and jackals. While EHMs use their influence to pave the way for Western corporations to exploit resources, jackals employ threats, violence and assassination to enforce the West’s economic empire. Perkins employs all forms of writing-narrative, descriptive and expository- in order to give us a complete picture of the history, setting, and problems of the regions he describes. He is a gifted storyteller, and as such uses every tool in his arsenal to appeal to both the emotions and intellect of his readers. The first section (Asia) sets the tone for the rest of the book. Perkins describes Asian cities where the population is ravaged by either a foreign government or foreign investors who mould their country into one which forces them into either unemployment or work in one of Asia’s notorious sweatshops. Against this backdrop, corporate executives and corrupt government officials live lives of shameless opulence, chuckling to themselves at their own fortune and cunning. Near the end of the section, Perkins describes an encounter with the Dalai Lama that informs both his decision to become an author, his work with non-profits, as well as the content of the rest of the book. The Dalai Lama’s encouragement to, “practice compassion,” (65) shows in Perkins’ willingness to treat even the greatest economic offenders with respect and forgiveness. The next section on South America continues the trend, but with the addition of what Perkins refers to as “Maya killers,” men who are either bodyguards of the corporate elite or part of a dictator’s military, mainly trained at the School of the Americas (now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, or WHINSEC) and whose main role is to subjugate an oppressed population. It is in the South American division of the book that Perkins’ fascination with and sympathy towards indigenous cultures comes through. The author of several books on aboriginal cultures, Perkins lauds the indigenous movements of Latin America, praising political leaders who take pride in their heritage. He points to men like Che Guevara, Hugo Chavez, and Evo Morales who rose from the indigenous community and stood up to Western imperialism as being the forces of unity in the continent that have inspired people groups all over the world to hope for change. The importance of the earth to indigenous cultures also becomes a theme, contrasting sharply with the lack of environmental responsibility most foreign companies in Latin America display. The Middle East is where Perkins really channels the post WWII spy thrillers, which he alludes, may not have been so far from the truth with their back alley deals and silent assassinations. Espionage plays a big part in this section, as Perkins essentially attributes the creation of EHMs to CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt Jr., a precursor for private sector employees sent to create favourable conditions in developing countries for Western corporations. The story of the Middle East in Perkins’ account is mainly one of a race for oil, a race that has caused rampant unrest and war in the area, as well as the kind of culture clash Samuel Huntington described between the Christian West and the militant Islamic parts of the Middle East. The next section (Africa) is closely linked to the Middle East, but adds diamonds, gold, copper, tantalum (coltan) and uranium to the list of resources that the United States aims to control. Perkins links the modern exploitation of Africa to two events: the rise of independence movements searching for a way into the new world economic system and the OPEC embargoes of the 1970s that left the United States and other Western Nations searching for new sources of oil. Africa had what the West wanted, and in many cases African leaders were willing to give in the demands of the United States in order to either fill their own pockets, or make a misguided attempt at jumpstarting their country’s economy. Including Africa as the last region is also strategic in terms of his message. Africa’s history of slavery, colonial exploitation and genocide is a useful springboard to ensure we are paying attention to the last part of the book, the one Perkins fittingly titles, “Changing the World”. In the last chapter, Perkins attacks what he feels is the main detractor to people standing up to corporations: fear. He describes the social justice exploits of everyone from college and high school students to reformed executives to prove that it can be done. Perkins relies largely on the actions of the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), an organization he is intimately involved in, as inspiration for how NGOs are forcing corporations to become more environmentally and socially responsible. The last chapter concludes with a call to action that assures readers that they have the necessary tools to start making a difference. The division of the book into these regional stories is the main reason that the dates of events get lost in the shuffle. Perkins jumps from one decade to another depending on which story best suits his theme at the time. For those to whom the sequence of events is important, this structure can be off-putting. The jumble of history, personal encounters and second-hand accounts can become confusing if you are attempting to take the book as a true historical work. However, this tactic also gives Perkins an air of world-worn wisdom as it emphasizes the scope of his work as a Peace Corps volunteer, EHM, non-profit worker and public speaker. Despite the organization of how they are interspersed in the work, Perkins’ addition of well-known historical facts, public figures, and big-name corporations lend credibility to his work. If his experiences are indeed as he says, Perkins is an authoritative source for telling the story of American economic imperialism. The main detractor from this writing tactic is his penchant for recreating entire conversations, some of which occurred thirty or more years ago. Although he says in the prologue that he has attempted to recreate these events using his own personal correspondence and notes, as well as historical records, one has to wonder how much has been lost to the passage of time. While the dialogues have the benefit of making the book a more interesting read, recounting them complete with facial expressions and pensive silences take away any chance of this work being accepted as a true history of events. As a best-selling author, Perkins ensures that The Secret History of the American Empire has something for everyone, both the older generation, worried about their future, as well as the younger generation, worried about their present and the responsibilities they now must shoulder. The author understands the American public well. For more critical readers, he lays down cold hard facts and statistics. It is difficult to fault his critique of the brutality of sweatshops and the intervention of the United States in foreign governments, as these are views that are held by a large percentage of the world, including many academics who have written extensively on both subjects. However, he also makes sure that the average reader, picking his book off the shelf at a Coles on whim, is not easily bored. Using cliff-hangers at the end of each chapter, much like a best-selling work of fiction, Perkins style reads like a suspense novel about the shady history of our modern Western affluence. His final chapter also goes beyond the boundaries of age and race and speaks to readers from the developing world in order to mobilise and encourage them towards living more sustainable lives. A list of ideas for how to do so and appendices of charities, NGOs and advocacy groups dominate the end of the book. Perkins leaves no room for excuses of ignorance from his readers. While The Secret History of the American Empire may not be useful as a credible academic source, it is a powerful interpretation of the experiences of individuals and countries that have come into contact with the ruthless greed of American imperialism. Despite the content, Perkins keeps his promise of maintaining optimism throughout the book, and ends with an assumption that we are going to answer his call to action. His urgency is effective. If we take anything away from his account, it is that the corporations of the United States, in collusion with the American government, have been allowed to use the earth and the people in it as they please for far too long, and that some kind of change is necessary. John Perkins has made, and continues to make his change with speaking tours, his non-profit the Pachamama Alliance, and notably, his written works. “Today is the day,” (329) for us to decide what ours will be.
I've just deleted a tirade of frustration. However I think travelling along rocky roads with a positive view equips one with better chances of noticing the turning onto the smooth scenic route. Therefore to keep the spirits up and lubricate the creative channels I will embark on a retrospective of Tree's art.
One
day, while going to the store, I passed by a nursing home. On the front lawn
were six old ladies lying naked on the grass.
I thought this was a bit unusual, but continued on my way to the store.
On my return trip, I passed the same nursing home with the same six old ladies lying naked on the lawn. This time my curiosity got the best of me, & I went inside to talk to the Nursing Home Administrator.
'Do
you know there are six ladies lying naked on your front lawn?'
'Yes,'
she said. 'They're retired prostitutes, - they're having a garage sale.'