“Lucky” is a 2-minute animated short film by Yibi Hu, who describes his main inspirational idea as an enigmatic but riveting vision of the potential warmth of humankind. “Lucky” is an illustrative and evocative portrait of captivated animals, who suffer but ultimately survive in the gap between nature and humanity.
This piece includes a number of illustrations from the film, as well as the emotionally evocative animated short, “Lucky.”
To view the illustrations and this wonderful animated short film, please visit my website:
American’s are deeply saddened by the shooting tragedy at Fort Hood, an attack by Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan on Thursday that killed 13 people and wounded 30 others on the Texas base. Fort Hood is the largest U.S. military facility in the world and a major center for soldiers being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. It also also houses the Army’s Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program, which helps soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress when they return. In both cases, upon deployment and return home, soldiers attempt to deal with serious emotional issues and many seek tattooing as a way to express them or even see the process as therapy.
“Tattooed Under Fire” is a documentary that follows the young men and women at Fort Hood who seek solace at the tattoo studio, confessing fears, expressing anger, sharing secrets and relaying personal stories about the war. Watching clips from the film now, seeing young, buzz-headed men and women describe their motivations for getting inked with caskets and corpses, one can’t help but to begin getting a feel for the intense experiences that become material for their body art.
The film was created long before Thursday’s mass shooting; isn’t a retroactive explanation for the shootings on Thursday. But the film may nevertheless offer some insight into the tragedy in its depiction of the stress and anguish of military duty, of the horrors of war even in the relative comforts of home. As one soldier explains, “The more times I go over, the more of Iraq’s going to come back with me.”
This piece includes a number of color photographs from the film, as well as two videos from the documentary, “Tattooed Under Fire.”
To view the photographs and watch the two very powerful videos from the documentary, please visit my website:
“Times Square” is an ongoing project by John Aron, a photographer who lives near Times Square/Hell’s Kitchen. Aron uses both traditional and modern techniques to achieve his goal of narrowing the focus of his black and white photographs in order to show what is most important in the scene. Monochrome seems well-suited to the city; New York City is best described in black and white, which captures it in a way that’s simply more dramatic, perhaps romantic.
The infatuation of photographers with Times Square must be almost as old as the square itself, and no wonder. It’s been the perfect place for the dramas and encounters that make great pictures, whether in the happy honky-tonk of the area’s glamorous days, decades ago when the neon lights really were the brightest on Broadway, or more recently, when squalor and crime overtook the area and the facades of the great theaters of the 1890’s along 42nd Street disappeared behind porn parlor marquees.
This piece presents a number of John Aron’s striking photographs of people in Times Square, a slide show of his remarkable photographs and two short videos.
To view these wonderful photographs, slide show and videos, please visit my website:
“Starless Night” is a beautiful, inspiring 2-1/2 min. animated short film by Spanish filmmaker Carl Luc Campbell. This “tradigital” animation is about a cat, a dog and a long sleepless night. It tells the story of a cat who’s in love with the stars and becomes very sad when they suddenly disappear one night. Fortunately, her canine friend comes up with a plan to make the night sky shine for her once more. You see, even dogs and cats can find a way to help each other out on a starless night. Sweet.
This piece includes a number of colorful pictures from the film, as well as the very tender and moving animated short, “Starless Night.”
Please visit my website to view the illustrations from the film and this inspiring animated short:
To me, this is an amazing scene. First, it was a pleasant surprise to see this, since so many photographs are being taken right now of the beautiful, colorful fall foliage. So this one was unexpected and very enjoyable. Also, it captures a still moment of brief calm in the midst of the noise and crowds of Times Square. And the silhouette placed against the blue background and images of eagles gives this scene a sense of the iconic. It's just wonderful.
Please visit my website to view this remarkable photograph in stunning high-resolution:
OMG...that sure is a very tall, high wooden fence they built right there. Makes that Mr. Rogers type of guy be wondering why on earth he should be worrying about a little dog kept back in the yard behind such a big, tall fence. But that fellow had better watch out for himself. Why? 'Cause that little dog behind there is like super-dog, faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound! Yep, I'd tell that Mr. Rogers-guy that he sure better watch out!
This piece includes color illustrations and the very funny 15-second animated short film.
Please visit my website to watch this weirdly funny animated short:
“Un Tour de Manège” (A Ride on a Fairground Carousel) is an enchanting animated short film by Les Manèges, four young French filmmakers from Gobelins in Paris. The film is a metaphoric fairy tale in which a magical carousel takes a little girl on the ocean voyage of a lifetime. It’s a story about childhood fears of early separation from the mother, and of being thrust all alone into the vast ocean of life.
On the little girl’s voyage she’s cast adrift in the ocean where other carousels abound, some inhabited by boys with threatening wolves, and where she must navigate dangerous whirlpools with the assistance of fluttering insects. In the end, the girl is magically saved and returned to the soothing arms of her mother, at which point she secretly turns to the audience and mischievously winks to let us know that in spite of the dangers, she had quite enjoyed herself.
This piece includes a number of pastel watercolor illustrations from the film, as well as the enchanting animated short, “Un Tour de Manège.”
Please visit my website to view the colorful illustrations and this wonderful film:
“Kicks 4 Cranes” is a hauntingly lovely short film by Seattle-based filmmaker Matt Cibelli, a film that’s sure to please both crane lovers and shoe fetishists. Cibelli’s work shifts between narrative and experimental styles with a beguiling sense of simplicity, contrasting beautiful scenes of construction cranes with a bemused audio track of women talking about their collections of shoes.
“Kicks 4 Cranes” is a hypnotic piece of work, and like all good experimental films, in the end its subjects are even more mysterious than before. However, it also evokes considerable attention to the way in which beauty often needs to be constructed and maintained, not unlike a giant office building. And the film does the obverse as well, showing us that a giant, gleaming construction crane against a sky can, in its own way, be as enticing as a pair of fashionable pumps.
This piece includes a number of colorful photographs from the film, as well as the amazingly hypnotic short, “Kicks 4 Cranes.”
Please visit this website to view the photographs and wonderful short film:
“Between” is a 4-minute short experimental film by the German filmmaker Tim Bollinger. The film has been described as a dark, surreal piece that travels through grounds and walls and into moments stuck in time. As Bollinger describes it, “It’s a journey through worlds of the subconscious, allowing us to catch sinister glimpses of the human psyche’s ambivalence.” Its complex combinations and the resulting visions evoke a stroll in between different senses, caught up in an endless loop within our inner life, where the exit is the only entrance.
This piece includes a number of color photographs from the film, as well as the surreal experimental short, “Between.”
To view the photographs and the short film please visit:
This scene is just wonderful, absolutely beautiful and peaceful. The photographer has captured the colors and the reflections in the water with such amazing clarity. Now, this is autumn as I like it. And the way the arch of the bridge leads you down to the heron. Yes, this is really gorgeous.
Please visit here to view this beautiful photograph in great high-resolution:
Woweee, I certainly didn't expect to run across such a scene like this right in downtown New York City! I mean, I've heard about some of the big high roller whales in some of those big casinos, like in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. And even read about ever-so-richly-rich peoples, who spend crazy-freely and extravagantly for all kinds of luxuries and weird entertainment. But I never actually saw a high roller like this one, right smack-dab in the middle of Manhattan. Nope, never did...'til now. So I just had to put a music video in here, to go along with this picture of the incredible city-guy high roller.
And you can take a big looky-see and also hear it all for yourself right here:
“George Washington” is David Gordon Green’s acclaimed impressionistic Southern Gothic debut film, which one reviewer described as “within a heart-shot of William Faulkner.” Green won the Best First Film prize from the New York Film Critics, the Discovery Award at Toronto and the Best Director Prize at The Newport Film Festival.
Green’s feature debut is a seamless blend of subjectivity, pseudo-documentary, evocation of childhood and mythopoeia. In an impoverished small town in North Carolina, various misfit and poor children converse. “Look at this place,” one boy says to another. “It looks like two tornadoes came through here.” The town is dilapidated; one of the “tornadoes” may have been the Great Depression. Shots of railroad tracks suggest dreams of getting out. But during the course of the film, death hovers: a boy dies; as a result, another boy feels that God’s judgment is close; another boy almost dies; a boy’s dog dies. The underlying theme of “George Washington” is clearly “the loss of all things.”
This piece presents a number of color photographs from the film and three videos. The videos include the hypnotic opening sequence of Green’s auspicious debut film “George Washington,” another video from the film described as an influential scene in modern cinema and an interview with Charlie Rose, where Green talks about his film “George Washington.”
“Skhizein” is a humorously strange animated short film by the French filmmaker Jérémy Clapin. The film has earned several awards, including The Cannes’ Kodak Prize for Best Animated Short and Animafest’s Best Film; it was a 2008 Oscar nominated animated short film.
What would happen if a 150-ton meteorite fell on you? “Skhizein” tells the very sorrowful story about sad little Henry, who did experience the terrible misfortune of being struck by a 150-ton meteorite, which resulted in the poor fellow being “split” away from himself, forever having to live precisely ninety-one centimeters from himself. If Harry wants to move or do anything like answer the phone or sit in a chair, he has to measure his distance 91-centimeters (3 feet) away, because he always exists 91-centimeters from where he used to exist. And if insanity is measured in centimeters….
This piece includes a number of colorful illustrations from the film, as well as the award-winning animated short, “Skhizein.”“Skhizein” is a humorously strange animated short film by the French filmmaker... more
This is an amazing picture! It has such graphic power, nifty use of a slight lens distortion, and some nostalgia too. Checkers were once synonymous with taxis, but they're very rare these days. Such a shiny Checker, it looks brand new! But really, this is a nicely restored very old Checker for sure; the last year that Checker cabs were made with chrome bumpers like this was 1972.
When I first looked at the picture, I personally found it hilarious, seeing it as a big yellow face. But then, when I thought of it again as the shiny taxi, I saw the man in the shadows back there getting into the car. And that reminded me of Joni Mitchell's sad environmental song, “Big Yellow Taxi.” This photograph is beautiful in and of itself, and there are so many things in here.
This wonderful photograph is accompanied by a vintage video of Joni Mitchell singing, “Big Yellow Taxi.”This is an amazing picture! It has such graphic power, nifty use of a slight lens... more
Steven Wiltshire (born in 1974) is an accomplished architectural artist who has been diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder. Wiltshire’s work has been the subject of many television documentaries; neurologist Oliver Sacks praised his artistic work in the chapter “Prodigies” in his book “An Anthropologist on Mars.” Stephen Wiltshire’s many published art books include “Cities” (1989), “Floating Cities” (1991) and “Stephen Wiltshire’s American Dream” (1993).
Wiltshire is presently working to complete his last drawing in a series of city panoramas, this time of his spiritual home, New York City. Wiltshire’s collection of already completed works depicting some of the world’s most iconic cities already includes London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Rome, Madrid, Frankfurt, Dubai and Jerusalem. A 20-minute fly-over Manhattan this past weekend provided the memory for a 20-foot panorama of the city that he’s drawing throughout this week at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute. Viewers can watch his progress on a live web cam or by visiting the Institute while he works from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday, Oct. 26 to Friday, Oct. 30, 2009.
This piece includes a number photographs, a slide show of Stephen Wiltshire's work, a video of Wiltshire's current work drawing the panorama of New York City and a live web cam of him at work on the panorama.Steven Wiltshire (born in 1974) is an accomplished architectural artist who has been... more
From time to time photos of child soldiers in Africa holding AK-47s or some other kind of weapon appear here and there provoking outrage and compassion from the Western public. But just a few decades ago, during World War II, there were often occasions of Russian kids fighting in the regular army against the Nazis.
Generally speaking, children were not allowed to join the combat army—but many exceptions were made. Many kids tried to run away from their homes “to the War” but most such cases were eventually captured by military police and returned back to their homes. While some did succeed in joining the army, it was often the case for these runaways to get lost in the woods or shot along their journey.
Also, from time to time, soldiers found children in the devastated and burnt down villages of the Soviet Union. While there was a directive for them to send such children to established orphanages, still sometimes such boys were simply incorporated into the active combat units. Specially sized uniforms were tailored for them and they were entrusted with guns. Some of those boys joined the army at nine or eleven, and stayed with their regiment through all the war front, from Russia to Germany, until the war ended and they were discharged at fourteen or sixteen, often with medals of honor.From time to time photos of child soldiers in Africa holding AK-47s or some other kind... more
“Knock-on Effects (Dominoes)” is a humorous, but serious 2-minute animated short film created by Yann Benedi and Celine Desrumaux for the World Wildlife Fund. Have you ever wondered to yourself “What can I do….?” You’re not alone! We all have more power than we think, especially if we act together. Your actions can make all the difference, and you could be the decisive link in a chain that has important impacts across the world.
In this animated short film, while going about his daily life Colin begins to have concerns about the environment that he wants to express. By the simple act of writing, Colin and many others like him end up being able to make far-reaching changes in the wider world.
This piece includes a number of colorful illustrations from the film, as well as the animated short, “Knock-on Effects (Dominoes).”“Knock-on Effects (Dominoes)” is a humorous, but serious 2-minute animated short... more
This is a great shot, with exceptional DOF. Yes indeed, even city cats have attitude...and it looks like this one's saying, “Yeah, it's you that I'm lookin' at. MEOW!”
And looking at this, I can make up a weird story about this cat, goes something like this: “Cats, as we all know have come to our planet from another galaxy and are constantly making new unconditional demands on us. This photographer has managed to to capture one of these aliens as it hides from its natural enemy, the vacuum cleaners, which have followed the cats to earth and are intent on swallowing them up and bringing them back to the home planet.”
You know, that could be true.This is a great shot, with exceptional DOF. Yes indeed, even city cats have... more
