Category: Art and Photography

Okuda San Miguel, the spanish artist that turned an old lighthouse into a vibrantly colored work of art

Robin

Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel turned a regular lighthouse in northern Spain’s Cantabria region into an eye-catching work of art. Literally inspired by the “natural wealth of the region by representing local fauna and, with its textures, the cultural diversity of a modern and open Cantabria, which is connected to the world,” he turned the Faro de Ajo lighthouse into a technicolor work, featuring more than 70 vibrant hues. His signature style comprises vibrant geometric patterns that integrate animals, skulls, and religious iconography. He started work on the 16-meter-tall lighthouse…

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KNOxOUT, the mural in Warsaw that absorbs as much pollution as 780 Trees

Adam

Who would have though that simply painting a mural on the side of a regular building would have the same pollution-cleaning effect as planting 780 trees? Organized by the sportswear company Converse as part of their City-Forests campaign, the latest mural in Warsaw, Poland, is not only an aesthetically pleasing artwork, but also an ingenious way to tackle a hot-topic as urban pollution. Painted using photocatalytic paint with titanium dioxide, on a building that faces the busy metro station Politechnika, the ingenious mural reportedly attracts airborne pollutants before converting them…

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Vintage photographs from a 1930s Halloween

Pavel

By now we know that Halloween is a festival with ancient origins that is celebrated on October 31st. Traditionally linked to the Anglo-Saxon world, westernization and globalization have now led it to become the cultural heritage of all. The genesis of the festival is controversial, but it is probably common to Celtic and Roman festivals, in that mix of celebrations that coincided with Samhain, the Celtic New Year, and the Latin festivals dedicated to Pomona and the celebration of the departed, the Parentalia. Here are some 1930s photographs, with costumes,…

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Around the world in pandemic Street Art

Pavel

Throughout the ages, artists have taken their messages to public spaces, from Pompeii’s walls in Roman times to New York City’s subway cars in the 1980s. Driven by the current pandemic and its unique and unusual aesthetic, made of knobby viruses, face masks and messages of solidarity, creatives around the world have continued to express themselves publicly. During lockdown, cities and not only were studded with love for healthcare workers, cynicism for politicians, frustration at the crisis, or simple encouragement. We have collected some of these messages, depicted in street…

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Ravi Hongal, the Indian photograher that has built his house in the shape of a camera

Pavel

Can a passion become almost an obsession? Yes, apparently it is possible, and this Indian man confirms it: he is so fond of photography that he named his three sons after iconic camera brands, Canon, Nikon and Epson, and, if this wasn’t enough, he live on a three-story villa shaped like a giant camera! Probably you hear the phrase “passionate about photography” a lot among photography enthusiasts and among all those who consider themselves (unjustly) photographers only because they hold a camera in their hand, but Ravi Hongal, a 49-year-old…

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Scaf: the French artist whose realistic graffiti art seems to Jump off the walls

Robin

As lockdowns loosen, people start wandering into the streets to appreciate fresh air, open spaces, but also some more or less decent graffiti on the walls. But there is an artist really incredible: his stage name is scaf, or scaf_oner on Instagram and, moreover, he isn’t a mere “vandal”. “I love to paint in all of these abandoned places. Above all, I like abandoned houses, manors, castles and factories,” he said. By doing so, he transforms them and adds extra value to them, rather than the opposite and the work…

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Allegory of “The Tree of Life” in Segovia – Spain

Ivan

We are in Segovia, Spain. In the local Cathedral, among the colors of the stained glass windows and the splendid Gothic architecture, there is also a curious painting hanging on the wall. It is called The Tree of Life, locally El Arbol de la Vida, and is one of many that hangs in the Immaculate Conception Chapel (Capilla de la Concepción) in Segovia Cathedral. A riotous party is taking place in the bough of a tree symbolizing life, complete with food, live music, and merriment. Meanwhile below, a sinister skeleton…

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The images of a Venice free of tourists transformed by COVID-19

Anya016

In addition to being one of the most beautiful cities in the world, either with the snow, or with the high water, or during its magnificent carnival (and did you know that seen from above, its shape resembles that of a swan?), Venice is one of the full-of-tourist places in the Italy, maybe in Europe. Thousands of people flock to its narrow streets every day, up to the splendid Piazza San Marco, strictly passing through the Rialto Bridge, as the piercing chatter of tourists, in all the languages of the…

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Quarantine in Milan: here’s what it’s like in a coronavirus red zone.

Anya016

First Easter and Easter Monday. Then, Italy’s Liberation Day on April 25, a national Italian holiday commemorating the end of Nazi occupation during World War II and the victory of the Resistance in Italy, and May 1, international workers’ day. In any case, the “quarantine” in Milan and not only, facing the Coronavirus emergency, continues. The emergency has imposed restrictions all over Italy and, as a result, the cities have completely emptied. These are the squares and streets of Milan on a day in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic. Deserted…

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“Faces of Century”: the same people photographed as young and centenarians

Pavel

Youth is a phase of life that is (almost) always remembered with happiness and, indeed the period flows quickly, especially if you look with your eyes turned to the past. So many things change when a person ages. Wrinkles, graying hair, are only some examples. But one thing that always stays the same is a person’s identity. In his series, Faces of Century, photographer Jan Langer from Opava, Czech Republic, visually presents the inevitable changes that accompany aging. With 100-year-old Czechs as his muses, he composed of several pairs of…

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Paris through a Nazi’s lens: Propaganda pictures of Occupied France in 1940’s

Robin

André Zucca (1897-1973) was a French photographer and Nazi collaborator, popular thanks to his work with the German propaganda magazine Signal. Born in 1897 in Paris, son of an Italian tailor, André spent part of his youth in the United States before returning to France in 1915. After the outbreak of World War I he enlisted in the French army, where he was wounded and decorated with the Croix de Guerre, and after the conflict he became a photographer. Much later, during the 1930s, he made several reports in countries…

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A splendid collection of rare color Photos of Paris taken about 100 Years Ago

Robin

For most of us are normal to see historical photographs in black and white, due to the diffusion of monochrome films during the early years of photographic technique. The color images, however, were almost contextual to the invention of photography itself, and it was only the difficulty of creating the supports capable of resuming the different colors that changed over the years, making the spread of colour photograph more and more common. Tired of the endless series of black and white photos that were popular in that days, French banker…

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Julia Margaret Cameron: the greatest Victorian-era portrait photographer

Pavel

Julia Margaret Cameron (11 June 1815 – 26 January 1879 ) was an English photographer considered one of the most significant portraitists of the 19th century, who managed to make a vast production of images during her very short career (she made around 900 photographs over a 12-year period). She is known for her soft-focus close-ups of famous Victorian men and for illustrative images depicting characters from mythology, Christianity, and literature. She also produced sensitive portraits of women and children. Born in India in 1815, after showing a keen interest…

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“The Ugly Duchess”: the Enigma of the portrait of a woman deformed by a rare disease (or not?)

Adam

Probably, before devoting himself to painting, Quentin Matsys (1466-1530) was a blacksmith. However, perhaps to conquer his future wife, who was seeing a painter more romantic than a blacksmith, or perhaps because of a much more prosaic illness that prevented him from being at the forge, Quentin devoted himself to art, and his stupendous realism often slipped towards a satirical and grotesque representation. His best known work (although not the most important) is a portrait called “An Old Woman Grotesque”, more commonly known as “the ugly duchess”, painted in 1513…

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The “Hidden Mothers”: macabre portraits of children in the Victorian era

Pavel

In a technological age like the one in which we live, characterized by the constant sharing on every social networks of photos and selfies of ever-increasing quality, it is probably difficult to imagine how the world could have been at the origins of photography, in the Victorian age. And not the world of photography in general, or the post-mortem photography we have already talked about, but that of photography that depicted nineteenth-century English children. Have you ever had difficulties trying to get a baby to sit down and pose for…

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Vintage Photographs and customs from a 1920s/30s Halloween

Pavel

Today, we associate October 31 with candy, costumes, and creepy decor. But, have you ever thought about the origin of Halloween and how the ghoulish holiday has evolved over the years? Halloween has very ancient origins. Traditionally linked to the Anglo-Saxon world, Westernization and globalization have now led it to become everyone’s cultural heritage, even in other parts of Europe. The genesis of the holiday is controversial, but it is probably common to Celtic and Roman festivals, in a mix of celebrations that coincided with the Samhain, the Celtic New…

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The wonder of change of the seasons on the island of Kotisaari in Lapland

Pavel

Lapland, especially the territory that belongs to the extreme north of Finland, evokes typically winter images: expanses of snow and reindeer herds, Santa Claus and his village, and then the magical Northern Lights and the long and icy arctic night. Jani Ylinampa is a nature photographer based in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland. He‘s a real master of capturing the dancing Northern Lights, breathtaking sunsets, beautiful forests, lakes and other wonders of nature, and he‘s been doing it for almost 15 years. The splendid nature of the country is an inexhaustible source…

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Portraits from Bedlam: 17 photographs from one of the most infamous mental hospital of the 19th Century

Pavel

It was called Bethlem Royal Hospital, but it was nicknamed “Bedlam”, London’s famous horror hospital. Founded in 1247, It was the first mental health institution to be set up in Europe, and reaches up to the present day, resulting still active today in the heart of the English capital. Among the most famous treatments are the “rotational” treatments, invented by Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of the most famous Charles, which involved positioning the patient on a chair suspended in the air that was turned for hours, with the declared aim of…

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Far from Civilization: portraits of the Modern Hermits from all over Europe

Pavel

The French photographer Antoine Bruy has embarked on a long hitch-hiking journey across Europe, which lasted from 2010 to 2013, penetrating between the remote mountainous regions not normally reached by the main roads. Bruy first developed the idea for the project after traveling from the north of France to the south of Morocco in 2006. Along the way he met people living in the wilderness who intrigued and fascinated him. Why did they choose to live away from major populations and what philosophies lay behind their lifestyle choices? So In…

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The macabre beheaded portraits of the Victorian era

Danijel90

It’s true: the Victorians beated the internet taking bizarre pictures which show 19th Century Photoshop! My personal opinion: for many graphic designers (I humbly beg your forgiveness, but I can’t defining them photographers) it is not easy to remember the world before Photoshop and digital photo editing. Despite this, probably some people believe that, before the advent of technology, photographs were simple representations of reality at the time of shooting. However, these amusing pictures show how the Victorians were the first to edit photographs to create some rather bizarre images.…

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Tsuneko Sasamoto: the first Japanese Photojournalist who still works at 105 years

Pavel

Tsuneko Sasamoto was born in Tokyo on September 1st 1914. Although photography had been invented the previous century, it was still a not very common practice, mostly a studio work. World War I had begun a little over a month, television was far in the future and some of the inventions that would have characterized the 20th century, such as airplanes, telephones or cars, were in the early stages of dissemination. Tsuneko grows in the Japanese capital, and manages to become the first female photojournalist in her country, shortly before…

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Ariduka55: the japanese illustrator and his world where humans live among giant animals.

Nathan

A super creative mysterious illustrator from Japan, imagines the world like no other. On social media, the artist is known as Ariduka55, or Monokubo, and it seems artist loves cats the most, even if there are a lot of other cuddly animals like pandas, rabbits, raccoons and others, and they are all giant creatures! “A world where you can surrender yourself to sleep on a giant ball of fur is a world where you wouldn’t be able to get any work done. A perfect world.” In this world people are…

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The disturbing Victorian fashion of very long hair in 35 Photos

Pavel

The Victorian era technically spanned from June 20, 1837, until Queen Victoria’s death on January 22, 1901. This was a rather peaceful time in the United Kingdom, a change from the highly rational Georgian period that preceded it. Many people, including myself, are fascinated by this historical era, from the architecture to the etiquette, and right down to the way they dressed and spoke. Photography was also on the rise, and was much more accessible than previous years. Because of this, we have some very beautiful portraits and pictures from…

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25 best photos of working cats!

Nathan

Although this might seems incredible, some cats don’t shy away from getting their paws dirty! And to prove that they got more important things to do than enchanting their human friends with their purrs, below there are some of the best pictures of the most hardworking felines. There have been numerous cats who held real jobs as well. For example, when Empirical Brewery in Chicago noticed that their grain is being eaten by rodents and insects, they started thinking about the best way to solve this problem and decided to…

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Nikita Golubev, the artist who turns dirty cars into works of Art

Nathan

In his Moscow’s neighborhood, Russian artist Nikita Golubev aka Pro Boy Nick uses dirt found on trucks and vans to draw with his fingers incredible artworks. However, it seems that the owners love them so much that they now refuse to wash their trucks! Art is decidedly unconventional, and many have uploaded photographs of Gobulev’s works on the web. The artist’s “canvases” are cars, trucks or vans, and result is a work that looks like a charcoal drawing, beautiful in its simplicity. ProBoyNick’s Instagram account has become very popular, and…

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Street artist Megx painted german bridge to look like giant LEGO Bricks

Pavel

While driving through the outskirts of Wuppertal in the Rhine-Rhur metropolitan region of Germany, drivers are wont to stare in disbelief the a giant multicolored cluster of Legos hovers from a bridge overhead. Although the visual effect is exactly this, in reality the bridge is (obviously) made of concrete and steel. These Legos are actually the product of more than a century of locomotive history: the Wuppertal Northern Railway was constructed in 1879 to compete with the adjacent BME line for train passengers crossing through Wuppertal, Germany. But the BME…

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983 Followers: the spooky mural in an abandoned house in the countryside of Scotland

Leo S

Spanish artist and illustrator Daniel Munoz, aka “SAN”, made a mural in Scotland, where he spent a few days working in an abandoned building somewhere in the Scottish countryside. Entitled “983 Followers”, this beautiful piece of work was painted on concrete using acrylic and brushes, a different way of painting than the traditional spray-cans murals, and it is showing hundreds of monochrome silhouettes giving a rather impressive effect. The mural covers three of four walls of an abandoned building and portrays the images of a large number of men (really…

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Prisons in comparison: 35 images from cells throughout the world.

Nathan

All over the world, more and more people are being sent behind bars. According to the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, over 10.35 million people are being held in penal institutions throughout the world, either as pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners or having been convicted and sentenced. In comparison to the year 2000, the total number of women serving time has increased by about 50% while the male prison population has grown by about 18%. However, prison inmates rates vary considerably all around the world: for instance, the United States has 698…

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Inside Costa Concordia: the photographic book of an Italian drama.

Nathan

These extraordinary images of the cruise ship was taken by Jonathan Danko Kielkowski and published in his book Concordia. The German photographer swam out to where the ship, which ran aground off Tuscany in 2012 with the loss of 32 lives, was moored. The photographs of the interior of the Costa Concordia depict a drama almost always observed only from the outside, a tragedy that we have only imagined for what may have happened between those corridors and large halls to those who, on the evening of 13 January 2012,…

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The history of photography of a woman buried alive in a chest in the desert of Mongolia

Pavel

Despite this photo, taken in July 1913, became popular under the name of Albert Khan and if you look for it on the Internet, the first results you find will present him as the author of the image, if you dig up a little bit, you’ll find out that the actual man who pointed his camera towards this scene in Mongolia was Stéphane Passet. But why this confusion? Stéphane Passet, and several other photographers were commissioned by Albert Kahn to travel the world and take pictures of the cultural traditions…

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