The Big Picture Blog is simply AWESOME. Almost every posting is a complete stunner. Like this series of pictures shot from the space shuttle.
Stumble it!
Click image to pop a hotter and bigger Gemma!
That is a unique look.
Yummy Gemma - I love that old school hotness pictured above much more than your usual modern porn look below.
There is a gazillion of babes that look like that.
I think a good style can add some substance - even to bimbos. Show some courage and go for style baby!
Click image for a stronger woman.
Another brilliant Mapplethorpe moment - with all the power, beauty and grace almost all his snaps posses. For me it’s also a perfect expression of the 80’s - and a new feminine strength showing in art that is neither weak nor overdone.
Click image for more channels.
I love Maestros Friedlander’s art. He is such a great observer and social commentator at the same time.
This modern view is know to any traveling business men and woman. Your lousy hotel room and a TV. Nothing else. I like that there is a kid on TV - suggesting the far away family and being away from your loved ones.
Today we would see a notebook with a webcam - talking to your family or watching crappy clips on YouTube.
Click image for a larger version.
Madame Lamarr is not your usual silverscreen beauty - she had brains and lots of it. How many Hollywood actresses do you know that hold an U.S. patent?
What a fascinating woman!
Photographer: Does anyone know the artist behind the camera?
Simplicity often is the best way to let beauty speak for itself. Robert Mapplethorpe was the Master of reduction - he had a keen eye for just capturing the essence of his subjects.
Here is an excellent article about “Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition” in relationship to Mannerism.
Most amusing side note: here we see the God Apollo - who was also the patron of the Arts.
The Fake
Bert Stern shot in June 1962 the last session with Madame Monroe - the famous last sitting (there is a great book out there with all the shots).
The New York Magazine tried to recreate this great series (click Slideshow to see it) with less desirable Lindsay Lohan - and again Bert Stern as the Master of Light.
Sure Lohan and Marilyn are both addicts in their own way. But Miss Lohan is hardly in the same class as the great MM.
Please: if you can’t come up with great ideas for your own photo shot - don’t fake classic images. Remakes are usually weak and only show your own lack of creativity. Classics are simply classics. Leave them alone.
Alexander Rodchenko started out as a painter and later became a brilliant photographer. He was one of the greatest Russian photographers of his time …
The Leica is equally legendary - it was the first 35mm camera in wide use. Rodchenko is credited being the first artist to make her use popular in Russia.
It is always easy as a westerner to be charmed by Asian art, because it is to our eyes and mind different - and exotic. Images, analogies and compositions that are normal in Asian culture are new and exciting for western art lovers.
Madame Yoshida certainly plays with a lot of Asian elements - but I like her global and intimate approach to her art. Very fascinating.
More? Official Site
Simplicity in Beauty can be most powerful.
This is one amazing collection of images. Bring a lot of time and dive into this incredible gallery.
Mister Leping Zha you are a genius!!!
All I can say: bloody brilliant! Maestro Minkkinnen has many great shots in his portfolio - but this one really made me laugh out load. But he seems in general to have a great sense of humor - and a very unique and enjoyable point of view!
More? Official Homepage
A great photographer always catching the right moments for history. I love his work.
Click image for a bigger stone.
If you click the image and feel small by what you see - you are correct. Compared to nature’s awesome monuments we are small and short lived. That’s why our admiration should be huge and timeless.
Afghanistan - he is 40, she is 11. She was sold by her parents, because they needed the money. Still girls are treated like a commodity in many countries or simply sold as sex slaves. (Photo by Stephanie Sinclair)
Chechnya - the world seems to have forgotten Putin’s terrible war on these people? War is terrible for adults, for kids is sheer hell. (Ohoto by Musa Sadulayev)
America - even living in a rich country can’t save you from serious illness. Still most kids all over the world don’t have universal health care. This little guy is already dead - he died 2006. (Photo by Renée C. Bayer)
Bangladesh - many kids have to work hard to survive. Although child labor has decreased in recent years it’s still there and needs to be abolished. It my sound cynical: but I think it’s better when kids have work and can feed themselves - instead of starving to death. (Photo by Akash)
Philippines - every place can be a playground, even this landfill outside Manilla where the poorest of the poor scavenge for food. Hunger and starvation are still with us - even in developing nations or economic superstars like China or the USA. (Photo by Hartmut Schwarzbach)
Rich Nations - while kids in poor countries struggle to get education, food and healthcare in high-tech nations they are slowly turned into brain washed zombies. This is the typical brain dead TV stare. (Photo by Wolfram Hahn)
All the images are taken from here: unicef.org. Go there and read more in detail about the stories behind each kid.
After watching all that pain porn you should be ready to give some money and not just a sentimental sigh in front of your computer. Do something!
I highly recommend SPONSORING a kid all year long - and not just for that special Christmas feel good moment. How about five Euros or Dollars each month? That’s not much - but already some REAL money in many poor countries. Have a look at the video on this page for some insight or more motivation: www.plan-uk.org
There are many charities for kids out there: www.children.org, www.sos-childrensvillages.org, www.worldvision.org and www.unicef.org.
Thank you!
Although shot just over 50 year ago - this image looks like from another century. Life has changed so rapidly in many countries it’s amazing. But we need people like Bresson to remind us of where we came from …
Everything is just perfect in advertising. Everything isn’t perfect in real life. But it seems to me that more and more people have lost the grip and reality - and think that their life’s should be more like advertising?
I find most fashion and advertising photography pretty boring, predictable and soulless.
But in the case of Maestro Thierry le Gouès it’s different. Sure he does all the stylish shots in the right poses with all these hot models. But he has that extra special bit soul and excitement left.
His work ranges from spiritual fashion porn to almost graphical erotica (like the above pictures Soul series).
Most art postings are about the painting / art itself and the artists. Rarely do we get a glimpse at the process, inspiration, model or muse behind it. Jane was a muse for many British painters of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
Jane Morris was one of Rossetti’s favorite models after the death of his beloved wife. She was married to his great fellow painter William Morris.
Click me for a bigger kiss!
Wet lips are made for long and dramatic moments of sheer ecstasy.
Photographer: unknown - can anyone help?
A great shot with mystical qualities. Train stations had always a certain magic for me - like an ant hill, the pulse of any city and a social parade ground. I could spend hours and hours there - watching people and sucking in the atmosphere. Make sure to also visit the Grand Central Terminal Pool on Flickr.
Click here to visit to visit ladies from Israel on their Tour of Duty. It is an unusual look inside the military world - usually filled with guys and testosterone. Hardly a showcase for military nuts - but more a documentation that woman can do the job as well as any guy. Plus it documents very well the camaraderie between the soldier girls. Intimate, personal and very real.
I love this look behind the scenes.
Madame Modotti had a keen eye for beauty. Her gentle photos of people and flowers always touch my heart …
Wow, what an amazing portrait from 1957 - you can literally feel all the testosterone ooze out of the image. They don’t make guys like that anymore …
Click image for closer look.
Apart from the many unsolved questions of 9/11 and mysteries surrounding this even - this is one amazing image.