View allAll Photos Tagged AS
As I sat there, I became intently aware of the differences between the loud group of friends on the left, and the solitary older gentleman on the right.
A journey we must all travel.
Hello ladies, welcome to the third panel for Cycle Six of The Aspiring!
I would like to start by saying to any new viewers, I’m Ruby Lowe… The host & head judge.
And as you may know, I am joined with our marvellous judge; Bella Smith. She is a modelling icon & my very own best friend.
I am also joined by another one of my good friends. Rising super model, and popular social media star; Seulgi!
This cycle has some amazing prizes! The prizes include…
Cover of MOOD Magazine + 6 page spread
3 Year Contract with QX Model Management
Cover of various magazines such as:
Starr Magazine
Triad Magazine
Become a brand ambassador for Nike
Campaign with MAC
For your third shoot, you had to pose in editorials with bright backgrounds that were either fire or water.
Let’s get right into the scores!
Ada: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692120798/in/datepo...
Ruby: 7.5/10
Bella: 9.5/10
Seulgi: 6/10
Fan Vote: 7.6/10
Octavia: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692965577/in/datepo...
Ruby: 10/10
Bella: 8/10
Seulgi: 9/10
Fan Vote: 8.7/10
Noah: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692663021/in/datepo...
Ruby: 8.5/10
Bella: 9/10
Seulgi: 7/10
Fan Vote: 7.8/10
Lennox: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692120993/in/datepo...
Ruby: 8/10
Bella: 7/10
Seulgi: 4/10
Fan Vote: 8.2/10
Bebe: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692121358/in/datepo...
Ruby: 7.5/10
Bella: 6.5/10
Seulgi: 8.5/10
Fan Vote: 7.2/10
Ximena: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692965502/in/datepo...
Ruby: 8/10
Bella: 8/10
Seulgi: 8/10
Fan Vote: 7.1/10
Kya: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692663196/in/datepo...
Ruby: 6/10
Bella: 8.5/10
Seulgi: 3/10
Fan Vote: 5.7/10
Kiana: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692965972/in/datepo...
Ruby: 9/10
Bella: 9/10
Seulgi: 6.5/10
Fan Vote: 8/10
Charlie: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692121188/in/datepo...
Ruby: 7/10
Bella: 8.5/10
Seulgi: 5/10
Fan Vote: 7.3/10
Yuri: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692965432/in/datepo...
Ruby: 9/10
Bella: 8/10
Seulgi: 10/10
Fan Vote: 10/10
Casey: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692121268/in/datepo...
Ruby: 5/10
Bella: 6.5/10
Seulgi: 1/10
Fan Vote: 6.2/10
Nova: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692120853/in/datepo...
Ruby: 9.5/10
Bella: 8.5/10
Seulgi: 7.5/10
Fan Vote: 7.8/10
Leah: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692121033/in/datepo...
Ruby: 9/10
Bella: 8.5/10
Seulgi: 7.5/10
Fan Vote: 8.8/10
Ikki: www.flickr.com/photos/156141566@N08/49692121433/in/datepo...
Ruby: 7.5/10
Bella: 6/10
Seulgi: 6.5/10
Fan Vote: 6.8/10
We will now go and add up the scores, then will be back to reveal the girl who has the FCO.
Remember, Yuri has immunity from getting FCO last week.
………….
Top photo this week is…
1. Yuri: 37/40
Congratulations, Yuri! Second FCO in a row, keep it up!!
2. Octavia: 35.7/40
3. Leah: 33.8/40
4. Nova: 32.8/40
5. Kiana: 32.5/40
6. Noah: 32.3/40
7. Ximena: 31.1/40
8. Ada: 30.6/40
9. Bebe: 29.7/40
10. Charlie: 27.8/40
11. Lennox: 27.2/40
12. Ikki: 26.8/40
BOTTOM TWO:
KYA & CASEY
This week both of you have two of the worst scores I’ve seen in this competition in a while. Especially the girl who’s going home, whose score dips below 20. It’s unacceptable. You both gave lifeless and dull photos, and I need much better. However, the girl who gets to stay and prove that she deserves to be here is…
Kya! Congratulations, you are still in the running to become the next The Aspiring winner. You need to step it up next week.
Score: 23.2/40
Casey (Score: 18.7), your score was honestly, disgustingly low. I expect much better from all of my models, and honestly this felt like you didn’t even try. Now, you must return to the model house, pack your bags & leave. Thank you.
13 girls remain.
Who will be eliminated next?
Holland as it looks like in my imagination... Haven't been home in autumn for a few years now... So when I think of my home-country in autumn I only see the beautiful colors on sunny days (and forget the storms, the rain and cold)..
On the history of women's studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
1897
Conservative journalist A.F. Seligmann founded the art school for women and girls and taught there as a single teacher 16 students in the "Curs for head and act". 1898 expands the school: Tina Blau, a former teacher of the Munich artists association conducts 1.1.1898 a "Curs for landscape and still-life", which she held until 1915. Richard Kauffungen was nominated for sculpture, Ludwig Michalek led the "Curs for head and act" as well as an Radierkurs (etching course), Adolf Böhm the course for decorative and applied arts, Fabiani teaches ornamentation and style of teaching as well as "Modern home furnishings", Georg Klimt taught metalwork, Friedrich King wood cutting art and Hans Tichy from 1900 the drawing and painting from the living model. In all these teachers are moderate modern artists from the area of the Secession. The theoretical lectures are held in the company founded by Emil Zuckerkandl and Julius Tandler 1900 "Association of Austrian university lecturers Athenaeum", which had the task to be "an educational institution for members of the female sex". The first school year was completed with 64 students, the school is rapidly expanding, so that it forms 200-300 students annually within a few years. The steady growth is due to the restrictive attitude of the public schools of art (especially the academy) towards women, but also from the indiscriminate admission of which have been blamed all the private schools also on the part of women harshly, and just by women.
1904
The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna is one of the many requests for opening the Academy for students once again putting the old arguments against that women are rarely equipped with creative spirit in the field of great art and the other a "proliferation of dilettantism and a pushing back of male members" is to be feared. Just the idea of a joint education had "abhorred" the College. The Academy therefore advocates for the financial support of the art school for women and girls, and rejects the application for opening the academy for women unanimously. The main argument for the impossibility of the joint Aktzeichnens (nude drawing) and the need for a second Aktsaales (nude hall) is increasingly mentioned, which cannot be realized because lack of space and lack of money. Henni Lehmann (Artistic studies of women, Darmstadt 1913) countered the same argument in Germany: "The common nude studies of women and men can not be described as impossible as it is done in many places, without having shown any grievances". The objection of the Quorum of the Berlin University professors that no teacher could be forced to teach women at all in such delicate subjects is countered that the problem was easily solved by entrusting a lady the Aktunterricht (nude drawing) in ladies. Suitable artists were plentiful present. That the life drawing for a long time (until 1937) remained problematic, shows the application of the renowned sculptor Teresa F. Ries of 1931, in which she was offering the Academy her services for the purpose of the management of a yet to be affiliated department, where young girls separated from the young men could work under the direction of a woman. The application was not even put to a vote.
1912
The rector of the Munich Academy also does not believe in the inclusion of students (female ones): "... it is impossible, even with regard to the space conditions, apart from that that the aspirations of the artists who devote themselves to the arts especially are usually others than that of women..."
1913
No significant change in attitude can be found between the opinions of the Academies from 1904 and those of 1913.
1919
In the report from the College's meeting of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna to the State Office of Internal Affairs and Teaching is communicated that against the requested admission there were no fundamental objections, but that the Academy is so limited in spatial relationship, that after the experiences of the last entrance exams not even the majority of gifted young artists, capable of studying, could be included, and therefore, in case of the admission of women to the study initially had to be made a considerable expansion. The State Office counters that a further delay in the admission of women to the academic study could not be justified and that approval is to allow at least temporarily in a narrow frame.
1920
The State Office for the Interior and Education officially approved the admission of women to study at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (since 1919 women were admitted to all faculties of the University of Vienna, with the exception of the Catholic and Protestant Theological Faculty).
A committee consisting of the professors Bacher, Delug, Schmutzer, and Jettmar Muellner claims that the Academy has never pronounced in principle against women's studies but have always only expressed reservations because of the cramped space and financial situation. As a complete novelty proves that no more concerns are raised with regard to coeducation. Men and women should compete in the entrance examination. In the winter semester 1920/21 will be included 14 women, of course, representing only a small minority in relation to the 250 male students.
1926/1927
In the new study regulations are for the first time mentioned Schüler (M) and Schülerinnen (F).
March 1927
Report of the Academy of Fine and Applied Arts about the experiences regarding the access of women to universities: ..."in past years it was thought for the education of women and girls by the Academy of Women for Liberal and Applied Art, which is also equipped with academic classes and by the State subsidized, sufficiently having taken precautions: during a period of almost seven years of study, it was probably possible to get a clear picture about the access applications of women, and about the degree course ... Of course, the number of female candidates in the painting is strongest, weaker in sculpture, and very low in the architecture. As much already now can be said, that in no way in terms of education in the new admissions the women are left behind the male candidates. During the study period, the female students are not in diligence and seriousness of studying behind their male colleagues. Particularly gratifying can be emphasized that because of the co-education of both sexes in common rooms in the individual schools a win-win situation for everybody was. In the master schools the College was repeatedly able also honouring women with academic prices. Subsuming, it should be emphasized that our experiences with the study of women in the Academy of Fine Arts were quite favorable."
The number of students (Studentinnen) increased from 5 % in the winter semester 1920/1921 till 1939/1940 to about 25 %. After the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany, the number of students (Studentinnen) decreased. The proportion of female students rose after 1940 naturally, reached during the war years up to 70 % and amounted 1945/1946 to 65%. From 1946/1947 the number of students (Studentinnen) fell sharply again, so 1952/1953 only 20% of the students at the Academy were women. 1963/1964 there were, however, already 41% (278).
2002
Students (Studentinnen): 570 of 936 students
University professors (Universitätsprofessorinnen): 9 out of 29
Ao Univ. (extraordinary female professors) 2 of 12
Univ.Ass. (female university assistant) 18 of 41
Contract teachers (Vertragslehrerinnen): 3 of 7
Lecturer (Lehrbeautragte): 32 of 46
Almut Krapf
www.akbild.ac.at/Portal/akademie/uber-uns/Organisation/ar...
Henry John Collett, known as Jack by the family, was born on 02.04.1903 at Ampney St Peter, although it was given as Ampney Crucis on his death certificate. His mother Eliza died during the birth. He joined the army on 4th September 1922 when he enlisted at Warley in the West Midlands and became Private 6003325 with the Essex Regiment. His military record states he was born at Ashbrook which was another name for Ampney St Mary, and is no longer used today. The record also states he was a labourer, the son of Ebenezer William Collett of Ashbrook near Cirencester, and was five feet six and a half inches tall, weighed 115 pounds, had a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.
During his military career, which lasted until he was discharged on 3rd September 1929, he served in East India for three week in December 1923 with the 1st Battalion followed by five years and four months in India with the 2nd Battalion. His military conduct was exemplary and he was only discharged with a disability pension when he ceased to fulfil army medical requirements. This was as a result of wounds he received whilst in action in India which left him with only one lung.
He married Violet Bridges on 03.08.1931 at Ducklington just south of Witney in Oxfordshire and according to the marriage certificate was a clothier living at Ampney St Peter. Violet was born midway between Faringdon and Witney at Langford on 28.03.1905 and at the time of the marriage was living with her shepherd father Albert Bridges and her mother Ada nee Whittock at Home Farm in Cokethorpe south of Witney. Prior to the wedding she was in service at Hatherop Castle and later took up the role of cook at Burford Cottage Hospital.
Henry later became a baker at Scott’s in the High Street at Burford. He died from a heart attack on 31.12.1975 while living at 3 Wydom Way in Burford. The death certificate records he was a retired baker.
His wife Violet passed away on 09.04.1988 at Widford midway between Burford and Asthall.
As seen at Gold King Mine, Jerome AZ. THis is an old dentist office, that is on the grounds.
I used my self-made RGB LiteGun to do this shot. It produces each of the colors by pressing a specific button, all on one gun, with no filter/gel changes required!
It has a spooky look when shot like this!
As part of their officer training, Greater Manchester Police’s newest recruits took part in an engagement week (27-31 Marsh 2017) to get know the communities that they will be serving.
During the week the recruits met a number of local community groups, attended briefings from current officers who could pass on their experience, and discovering the priorities for their area.
New officers who will be based in Bolton visited the charity Urban Outreach to look at their work helping the homeless.
To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit our website. www.gmp.police.uk
You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
The so-called Tempietto (Italian: "small temple") is a small commemorative tomb (martyrium) built by Donato Bramante, possibly as early as 1502, in the courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio. Also commissioned by Ferdinand and Isabella, the Tempietto is considered a masterpiece of High Renaissance Italian architecture.
After spending his first years in Milan, Bramante moved to Rome, where he was recognized by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the soon-to-be Pope Julius II. One of Bramante's earliest commissions, the "Tempietto" is one of the most harmonious buildings of the Renaissance. It is meant to mark the traditional exact spot of St. Peter's martyrdom.
Given all the transformations of Renaissance and Baroque Rome that were to follow, it is hard now to sense the impact this building had at the beginning of the 16th century. It is almost a piece of sculpture, for it has little architectonic use. The building greatly reflected Brunelleschi's style. Perfectly proportioned, it is composed of slender Tuscan columns, a Doric entablature modeled after the ancient Theater of Marcellus, and a dome. According to an engraving in Sebastiano Serlio's Book III, Bramante planned to set it in within a colonnaded courtyard, but this plan was never executed.
Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pietro_in_Montorio
Miscellaneous Pics from a big bundle i sent off for scanning, unfortunately he cropped to much off the photo, neg, slide ruining a good half of the pics i sent.. Also he rushed through them all so the quality is crap! Only uploading as i'm deleting the files now.
Krishna Bazaar
-----------------
Krishna Bazaar is a relatively newly excavated site in Hampi. As the name indicates this Bazaar is associated with the Krishna Temple. Basically this was the car street for the temple. The sacred tank (Pushkarni) of the temple too is located next to the Krishna Bazaar.
Unlike the many car streets associated with other large temples in Hampi, Krishna Bazaar is bit low laying with respect to the relatively elevated site of the temple. So you’ll find a series of broad steps in front of the Krishna Temple to reach the bazaar street.
Thanks to the low laying terrain the whole bazaar got buried in silt over the time. This area later turned into thickets of banana plantations. Before the excavations it was impossible to tell that it was a marketplace once.As you enter from the Krishna Temple side,
Hampi
-----------
The city of Hampi bears exceptional testimony to the vanished civilization of the kingdom of Vijayanagar, which reached its apogee under the reign of Krishna Deva Raya (1509-30). It offers an outstanding example of a type of structure that illustrates a significant historical situation: that of the kingdoms of South India which, menaced by the Muslims, were occasionally allied with the Portuguese of Goa.
The austere, grandiose site of Hampi was the last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. Its fabulously rich princes built Dravidian temples and palaces which won the admiration of travellers between the 14th and 16th centuries. Conquered by the Deccan Muslim confederacy in 1565, the city was pillaged over a period of six months before being abandoned.
As the final capital of the last of the great kingdom of South India, that of the Vijayanagar, Hampi, enriched by the cotton and the spice trade was one of the most beautiful cities of the medieval world. Its palaces and Dravidian temples were much admired by travellers, be they Arab (Abdul Razaak), Portuguese (Domingo Paes) or Italian (Nicolò dei Conti).
Conquered by the Muslims after the battle of Talikota in 1565, it was plundered over six months and then abandoned. Imposing monumental vestiges, partially disengaged and reclaimed, make of Hampi today one of the most striking ruins of the world.
The temples of Ramachandra (1513) and Hazara Rama (1520), with their sophisticated structure, where each supporting element is scanned by bundles of pilasters or colonnettes which project from the richly sculpted walls, may be counted among the most extraordinary constructions of India. In one of the interior courtyards of the temple of Vitthala, a small monument of a chariot which two elephants, sculpted in the round, struggle to drag along is one of the unusual creations, the favourite of tourists today as well as travellers of the past.
Besides the temples, the impressive complex of civil, princely or public buildings (elephant stables, Queen's Bath, Lotus Mahal, bazaars, markets) are enclosed in the massive fortifications which, however, were unable to repulse the assault of the five sultans of Deccan in 1565.
Indonesta. Central Java.
Prambanan temple complex.
1989 slide scan
Prambanan is a ninth century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, dedicated to Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Sustainer (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). The temple compound located approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta city on the boundary between Yogyakarta and Central Java province.[1]
The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, currently is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia, and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.
The inner zone or central compound is the holiest among the three zones. Its the square elevated platform surrounded by square stone wall with stone gates on each four cardinal points. This holiest compound is assembled of eight main shrines or candi. The three main shrines, called Trimurti ("three forms"), are dedicated to the three gods: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Keeper, and Shiva the Destroyer.
The Shiva temple is the tallest and largest structure in Prambanan Loro Jonggrang complex, it measures 47 metres tall and 34 metres wide. The Shiva temple encircled with galleries adorned with bas-reliefs telling the story of Ramayana carved on the inner walls of the balustrades. To follow the story accordingly, visitors must enter from the east side and began to perform pradakshina or circumambulating clockwise. The bas-reliefs of Ramayana continued to Brahma temple galleries.
The Shiva shrine located at the center and contains five chambers, four small chambers in every cardinal direction and one bigger main chamber in central part of the temple. The east chamber connect to central chamber that houses the largest temple in Prambanan, a three meter high statue of Shiva Mahadeva (the Supreme God). The statue bears Lakçana (attributes or symbol) of Shiva such as skull and sickle (crescent) at the crown, and third eye on the forehead, also four hands that holds Shiva's symbols: a prayer beads, feather duster, and trisula (trident). Some historians believe that the depiction of Shiva as Mahadeva also meant to personify king Balitung as the reincarnation of Shiva. So, when he died, a temple was built to commemorate him as Shiva.[9] The statue of Shiva stands on lotus pad on Yoni pedestal that bears the carving of Nāga serpents on north side of pedestal.
The other three smaller chambers contain statues of Hindu Gods related to Shiva; his consort Durga, the rishi Agastya, and Ganesha, his son. Statue of Agastya occupy the south chamber, the west chamber houses the statue of Ganesha, while the north chamber contains the statue of Durga Mahisasuramardini depicting Durga as the slayer of Bull demon. The shrine of Durga is also called the temple of Lara Jonggrang (Javanese: slender virgin), after a Javanese legend of princess Lara Jonggrang.
Norm Stannard presents yet another stunning year of hometown holiday Memorial Day goodness at Norm's River Road House in far West Nashville, TN. Saturday, May 24, 2008 - David Olney & Sergio Webb w/ Jack Irwin; Jeff & Vida; Jon Byrd & Byrds Auto Parts; Tommy Womack Band; Davis Raines & Mark Robinson; John Scott Sherrill & The Flat River Band; The Limitations; Warren Wilken, Nornan Earl; and Tony Laiolo as MC.
Antarctica: as remote as it gets on Earth. Concordia research station is a collaboration between the French Polar Institute and the Italian Antarctic programme. It is one of only three bases that is inhabited all year long, and is located at the mountain plateau called Dome C. Pictured in this image is the astronomical observatory near the base.
As well as offering around nine months of complete isolation, Concordia’s location at 3233 m altitude means the crew experience chronic hypobaric hypoxia – lack of oxygen in the brain. During the Antarctic winter, the crew of up to 15 people also endure four months of complete darkness: the sun disappears from May and is not seen again until late August. Temperatures can drop to –80°C in the winter, with a yearly average of –50°C.
As a station set in Earth’s harshest space, Concordia is an ideal stand-in for studying the human psychological and physiological effects of extreme cold, isolation and darkness.
Credits: IPEV/PNRA/ESA–S. Thoolen
Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz addresses members of Team USA as he and his fellow U.S. Presidential Delegation members - including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry - visit the Brazilian Naval Academy in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, on August 5, 2016, to meet U.S. athletes training at the facility. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]
A rather graphic and prominent skull on a memorial in the church of St Edward King and Martyr in Cambridge. Despite this reminder that we are only here briefly, St Eds is a calm, leafy oasis in the middle of the city, though its history is associated with key figures in the English Reformation, a number of whom, such as Hugh Latimer, met gruesome ends for their beliefs.
Southwark Cathedral, Southwark, London
A cathedral since 1905, formerly the Augustinian Priory of St Mary Overie and rededicated as St Saviour after the dissolution. Overie means 'over the water', and Southwark is London over the water, a few hundred yards from the City on the other side of London Bridge. Southwark is second only to the City in antiquity - there was a town here long before Westminster rose from the marshes. Southwark has had a long and curious relationship with the City of London, the liberties of the former allowing the theatres, brothels and markets patronised by the citizens of the latter, even during the days of the Commonwealth.
South London has always seemed different to north London, and even today, with the Dubai-ification of Southwark apace in the wake of the ridiculous Shard, there is still a shock in the contrast found by the ten minute walk from prosperous, purposeful Bishopsgate, with its glass-cliff banks, hedge funds and insurance companies, across the bridge to the southern bank with its railway viaducts and market stalls that hem in what is left of the Cathedral churchyard.
On a weekday morning, London Bridge station disgorges a tide of thousands of commuters into the shadow of the Cathedral who then make their way northwards to the City, a tide described memorably by Henry Williamson in The Dark Lantern, and famously by T S Eliot in the first part of The Waste Land, a soul-wrenching Dante-esque vision: Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.Flowed up the hill and down King William Street, To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine. I like to imagine that on the return journey across the bridge in the evening they would have lifted their eyes to the cathedral tower, their hearts similarly lifted by the prospect of their Kentish home.
The Diocese of Southwark covers most of south London, the parishes of what were north Surrey and west Kent before Greater London was created in 1965. No English cathedral is closer to the edge of its Diocese than this one, because Southwark Cathedral is closer to the river than St Paul's Cathedral in the Diocese of London. Less than a mile separates the two cathedrals. Before being raised to cathedral status, Southwark Cathedral was by far the biggest parish church in London, cruciform with a central tower. Ian Nairn criticised the Frenchness of its Early English architecture, copied in the nave by the Victorians from the original in the chancel, calling the design crowded and heartless, French lack of feeling done in an English way, but Pevsner disagreed, finding a harmony in the fusion.
The cathedral is open every day, and you don't have to pay to go in - this is worth saying, because several large Anglican churches in London now charge an entrance fee - St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, obviously, but also the likes of the Temple Church and St Bartholomew the Great. Instead, you can pay £2.50 for a photography licence, which is the right way round I think. There's not much to the exterior - apart from the chancel it looks all of its 19th Century restructuring and rebuilding under the eye of Arthur Blomfield. In any case, it is hard to get far enough away to really appreciate it, and without a wide-angled lens you will struggle to photograph it.
Most cathedrals are entered from the west, but here you step in through the insignificant south door into what instantly feels like the purposeful gravitas of a cathedral rather than a parish church.
The view to the east through the crossing is of the 13th Century chancel, ingeniously rejigged as a choir and ambulatory. Beyond it, out of sight, the the beautiful retrochoir was fitted out in the early 20th Century by Ninian Comper, the four chapels containing one of the largest collections of his furnishings. To the west is Henry Holiday's lively west window, and below it some 13th Century wooden bosses set on the wall. They were rescued when the nave roof was demolished in the early 19th Century.
The cathedral suffered the happy accident of losing most of its 19th Century glass to bomb blasts, and so much of what survives is early 20th Century, the work, among others, of Ninian Comper, Lawrence Lee, Christopher Webb, Carter Shapland and Alan Younger. The surviving older glass, which is generally less good, includes a scheme by Kempe of memorial glass in the north aisle to writers and artists associated with Southwark, most notably Geoffrey Chaucer.
Across the nave from this is a memorial to the other great writer associated with Southwark, William Shakespeare. He reclines on his elbow, holding a fresh sprig of rosemary in his other hand. It used to be a quill which was replaced annually, but it was regularly stolen. This memorial is probably the single biggest draw in the cathedral, despite, as Ian Nairn observed, it being made from some astonishing stone which looks exactly like frozen aspic or frog-spawn, very creepy. Further west is a more moving memorial to the 51 victims of the 1989 Marchioness disaster, which happened a few hundred yards off under Southwark Bridge.
To the south of the cathedral sprawls Borough Market, ancient in foundation but currently very trendy. The hideous Shard overtowers all.
Caught as she was getting seated in near the music stage at the 2006 Sausalito Art Festival, this woman's hair appears ordinary from the front: she's a greying, middle-aged person on the hippie side of the aisle (no fancy salon 'do). From the back you get the connection to the animal world - the grey gives way to medium-brown; the straight (or slightly wavy hair) has grown together. Is this a Caucasian's answer to dreadlocks? Who knows something more about her hair or other examples like it?
Earth Designs Garden Design and Build were asked to created a landscape and propose garden design in Harlow, Essex. Here are the details on the project
The Perspex Garden in Harlow, Essex
BRIEF:
The clients bought the property from new and had lived at the house for several years. Whilst they had made the interior just as they wanted it, the garden was as it was when the property was built, with some tired lawn and a concrete slab patio that did not provide an appealing environment in which to entertain or relax. The garden is quite shaded and overshadowed by a large brick wall along the back boundary which is part of a car park beyond. The slope also made the garden difficult to use.
SOLUTION:
The design aimed to provide a low maintenance extension of the fresh and breezy style of the interior of this family home. The area level with and adjoining the house was paved with light grey sandstone to give enough space for the client to bring their large dining room table out into the garden when they wish to entertain.
The remainder of the space was floored with softwood decking, raised at one end to combat the slope and unite the garden as a continuous level surface. A slate tile edging separates the sandstone and decked areas. An ‘L’ shaped flush bed containing 4 box balls and a stainless steel water sphere creates a focal point from the house through the double patio doors.
The decked area was enclosed by a softwood timber pergola. This was half-roofed with timber joists onto which blue Perspex panels were fixed. Suspended from the pergola frame is the main feature of the garden – a large, deep, timber swing seat ready for the client to dress with an array of cushions, mattresses and throws.
Aluminium chain curtains hang down either side of the pergola structure to add definition and help to create the illusion of ‘a room in the garden’, a theme re-enforced by three globe lights hanging from the pergola cross beam. Along the left side of the back wall three 90cm high illuminated planters featuring box balls add day- and night-time interest to the space.
This was mirrored on the right side of the back boundary with three non-illuminated white fibreglass planters. The left hand planters were framed by three 3 outdoor canvas fixed to the wall (200cm x 40cm), whilst the right hand planters benefit from a backdrop of backlit blue Perspex panels.
If you dig this and would like to find out more about this or any of other of our designs, please stop by our web-site and have a look at our work.
Earth Designs is a bespoke London Garden Design and build company specialising in classic, funky and urban contemporary garden design.
Our Landscape and Garden build teams cover London, Essex and parts of South East England, while garden designs are available nationwide.
Please visit www.earthdesigns.co.uk to see our full portfolio. If you would like a garden designer in London or have an idea of what you want and are looking for a landscaper London to come and visit your garden, please get in touch.
Follow our Bespoke Garden Design and Build and Blog to see what we get up to week by week, our free design clinic as well as tips and products we recommend for your garden projects www.earthdesigns.co.uk/blog/.
Earth Designs is located in East London, but has built gardens in Essex , gardens in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire and all over the South East. Earth Designs was formed by Katrina Wells in Spring 2003 and has since gone from strength to strength to develop a considerable portfolio of garden projects. Katrina, who is our Senior Garden Designer, has travelled all over the UK designing gardens. However we can design worldwide either through our postal garden design service or by consultation with our senior garden designer. Recent worldwide projects have included garden designs in Romania. Katrina’s husband. Matt, heads up the build side of the company, creating a unique service for all our clients.
If you a not a UK resident, but would like an Earth Designs garden, Earth Designs has a worldwide design service through our Garden Design Postal Design Vouchers. If you are looking for an unique birthday present or original anniversary present and would like to buy one of our Garden Design Gift Vouchers for yourself or as a present please our sister site www.gardenpresents.co.uk. We do also design outside of the UK, please contact us for details.
Call me OCD but I like my zentangles to have a hidden meaning, so I try to work in words as part of the string or use words on the actual string. Can you see the word here?
✓ For More Pictures Like And Share!
www.facebook.com/pages/Al-Hussein-Ibn-Ali/635362896582247
The Prophet (s) said:
“Fatima is the joy of my heart, and her sons are the fruit of my soul.”
Yanabi Al-Mawadda, v. 1, ch. 15, p. 243
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
As of today.
Made by this guy.
I think it works quite well.
A bit too web 2.0 with the bright colors, round corners and shadows? Nah, I like it.
Note: This new map is not directly comparable with the old version, as there is a wide version of this one as well. I'll try to find it...
Source: www.sporveien.no/
CSXT 216 sledges through the snow still on the streets of West Brownsville, Pa. on a frigid January day. N52, the symbol of the train, is about to clear CP Street and also exit the famous WB street running.
This building was originally built in 1897 as a department store and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From 1898 through the late 1930s the store was "Arendt's Emporium.” The grandfather of the present owner purchased the building in the late 1930s and moved his grocery store into it. The present antique store was established in 1996. In 2002 the building had a major structural renovation, including a new front and anchoring.
Todas as Pesquisas e Fotos Anexas obtidas via Internet
13 de Setembro Homenageamos o Dia da Cachaça
***
All Researches and Attached Photos obtained via the Internet
We honor the September 13th Day of Cachaça
***
Toutes les recherches et les photos ci-jointes obtenus via l'Internet
Nous honorons la 13ème Journée Septembre de Cachaça
***
***
***
YOUTUBE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce7t5FyfYOI
Por Deus, Amigos Queridos assinem por MISERICÓRDIA de nossas FLORESTAS...
Por tudo que já SUPLIQUEI e que posto novamente!!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/O-que-fazemos/Amazonia/Pagin...
CONTINUO SUPLICANDO, QUANTAS VEZES FOREM NECESSÁRIAS!!
ASSINEM ESTAS PETIÇÕES, POR FAVOR...
- PARA SALVAR A AMAZÔNIA,
www.avaaz.org/po/belo_monte_people_vs_profits/?vl
- PARA SALVAR AS FLORESTAS DO BRASIL,
- PARA VETAR AS MUDANÇAS DO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL !
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/Participe/Ciberativista/Codi...
www.avaaz.org/po/save_the_amazon_sam/?cl=1419482907&v...
VAMOS LUTAR POR NOSSO PLANETA, PELAS NOSSAS FLORESTAS, PELOS INDÍGENAS (NOSSOS IRMÃOS), PELOS NOSSOS FILHOS, NETOS, BISNETOS...PELAS PRÓXIMAS GERAÇÕES...POR UM MUNDO MELHOR...
O PLANETA TERRA PEDE SOCORRO!!
TUDO OU NADA ESTÁ EM NOSSAS MÃOS,... BRASILEIROS!!
Muito obrigada,
Celisa
***
By God, Dear Friends sign of our forests for mercy ...
For all that ever I pleaded and put it back!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/O-que-fazemos/Am azonia/Pagin...
CONTINUOUS Sulpice, as often as necessary!
Sign these petitions, PLEASE ...
- To save the Amazon,
www.avaaz.org/po/belo_monte_people_vs_profits/?vl
- TO SAVE THE FORESTS OF BRAZIL
- To veto FOREST CODE CHANGES!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/Participe/Ciberativista/Codi...
www.avaaz.org/po/save_the_amazon_sam/?cl=1419482907&v...
WE FIGHT FOR OUR PLANET, FOR OUR FORESTS, INDIGENOUS BY (OUR BROTHERS), for our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren for generations to come ... ... ... FOR A BETTER WORLD
ASKS HELP THE PLANET EARTH!
ALL OR NOTHING IS IN OUR HANDS, ... BRAZILIAN!
Thank you so much,
Celisa
***
Par Dieu, Chers Amis signe de nos forêts pour la miséricorde ...
Pour tout ce que j'ai plaidé et le remettre!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/O-que-fazemos/Am azonia/Pagin...
Sulpice CONTINUE, aussi souvent que nécessaire!
S'il vous plaît signer ...
- Pour sauver l'Amazonie,
www.avaaz.org/po/belo_monte_people_vs_profits/?vl
- Pour sauver les forêts du Brésil
- De mettre son veto CHANGEMENTS Code forestier!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/Participe/Ciberativista/Codi...
www.avaaz.org/po/save_the_amazon_sam/?cl=1419482907&v...
Nous luttons pour notre planète, pour nos forêts, AUTOCHTONES PAR (NOS FRÈRES), pour nos enfants, petits-enfants, arrière petits-enfants pour les générations à venir ... ... ... POUR UN MONDE MEILLEUR
DEMANDE AIDE LA PLANETE TERRE!
Tout ou rien est entre nos mains, ... Brésilienne!
Je vous remercie,
Celisa
***
Por Dios, queridos amigos: signo de nuestros bosques por la misericordia ...
Por todo lo que he declarado y poner de nuevo!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/O-que-fazemos/Am azonia/Pagin...
CONTINUA Sulpice, cuantas veces sea necesario!
Firmar estas peticiones, por favor ...
- Para salvar el Amazonas,
www.avaaz.org/po/belo_monte_people_vs_profits/?vl
- PARA SALVAR LOS BOSQUES DE BRASIL
- De vetar los cambios Código Forestal!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/Participe/Ciberativista/Codi...
www.avaaz.org/po/save_the_amazon_sam/?cl=1419482907&v...
LUCHAMOS POR NUESTRO PLANETA, PARA NUESTROS BOSQUES, POR INDÍGENAS (NUESTROS HERMANOS), para nuestros hijos, nietos, bisnietos para las generaciones futuras ... ... ... POR UN MUNDO MEJOR
PIDE AYUDA AL PLANETA TIERRA!
TODO O NADA ESTÁ EN NUESTRAS MANOS ... BRASIL!
Gracias,
Celisa
***
Per Dio, cari amici segno delle nostre foreste per pietà ...
Per tutto ciò che mai ho supplicato e rimetterlo!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/O-que-fazemos/Am azonia/Pagin...
Sulpice CONTINUO, ogni qualvolta sia necessario!
SIGN queste petizioni, PER FAVORE ...
- Per salvare l'Amazzonia,
www.avaaz.org/po/belo_monte_people_vs_profits/?vl
- PER SALVARE LE FORESTE DEL BRASILE
- Per veto modifiche al codice FORESTA!
www.greenpeace.org/brasil/pt/Participe/Ciberativista/Codi...
www.avaaz.org/po/save_the_amazon_sam/?cl=1419482907&v...
Lottiamo per IL NOSTRO PIANETA, PER I NOSTRI BOSCHI, indigene da parte (NOSTRI FRATELLI), per i nostri figli, nipoti, pronipoti per le generazioni a venire ... ... ... PER UN MONDO MIGLIORE
CHIEDE AIUTO DEL PIANETA TERRA!
Tutto o niente è nelle nostre mani, ... BRASILIANO!
Grazie,
Celisa
***
***
***
Dezenas de milhões de câes e gatos são ASSASSINADOS BRUTALMENTE, com INSTINTOS de CRUELDADE na CHINA !!
Amigos Queridos eu suplico, assinem esta PETIÇÃO, é um PEDIDO de Ativistas e Protetores de Animais que estão se mobilizando no MUNDO INTEIRO, em favor das vidas destes MÁRTIRES!!
Em DOIS MINUTOS pode-se assinar!! São seres INDEFESOS, eu ROGO, por Deus!!
www.change.org/petitions/the-chinese-government-stop-the-...
Muito obrigada,
Celisa
***
Tens of millions of dogs and cats are brutally murdered, with instincts of cruelty in CHINA!
Dear Friends, I beg, sign this petition, it is a request for Activists and Animal Protectors who are mobilizing around the world, in favor of the lives of Martyrs!
In two minutes you can sign up! They are helpless, I pray, by God!
www.change.org/petitions/the-chinese-government-stop-the-...
Thank you,
Celisa
***
Des dizaines de millions de chiens et de chats sont brutalement assassinés, avec des instincts de cruauté en Chine!
Chers amis, je vous prie, signez cette pétition, et une demande pour les activistes et les protecteurs des animaux qui se mobilisent autour du monde, en faveur de la vie des martyrs!
En deux minutes, vous pouvez vous inscrire! Ils sont impuissants, je prie, par Dieu!
www.change.org/petitions/the-chinese-government-stop-the-...
Je vous remercie,
Celisa
***
Decenas de millones de perros y gatos son brutalmente asesinados, con los instintos de crueldad en China!
Queridos amigos, os ruego, firmen esta petición, y una petición de activistas y los protectores de animales que se movilizan en todo el mundo, a favor de la vida de los mártires!
En dos minutos se puede firmar para arriba! Están indefensos, te ruego, por Dios!
www.change.org/petitions/the-chinese-government-stop-the-...
Gracias,
Celisa
***
Decine di milioni di cani e gatti vengono brutalmente assassinati, con istinti di crudeltà in CINA!
Cari amici, vi prego, firmare questa petizione e una richiesta di attivisti e protettori degli animali che si stanno mobilitando in tutto il mondo, a favore della vita dei martiri!
In due minuti puoi iscriverti! Sono impotente, io prego, per Dio!
www.change.org/petitions/the-chinese-government-stop-the-...
Grazie,
Celisa
***
***
***
Que Deus abençoe a todos os Queridos Amigos, principalmente nossas Queridas Amigas @rtbene, Blankita e Mag, e alivie o sofrimento daqueles que tanto necessitam.
Beijos em seus corações,
Celisa
***
May God bless all the Dear Friends, mainly our Dear Friends @rtbene, Blankita and Mag, relieve the suffering of those who so desperately need.
Kisses in your hearts,
Celisa
***
Que Dieu bénisse tous les chers amis, en particulier notre cher ami @rtbene, Blankita et Mag, et soulager la souffrance de ceux qui ont si désespérément besoin.
Bisous dans ton coeur
Celisa
***
Que Dios los bendiga a todos los queridos amigos, en especial nuestro querido amigo @rtbene, Blankita y Mag, y aliviar el sufrimiento de aquellos que tan desesperadamente necesitan.
Besos en tu corazón
Celisa
***
Che Dio benedica tutti i cari amici, soprattutto il nostro caro amico @rtbene, Blankita e Mag, e alleviare le sofferenze di coloro che così disperatamente bisogno.
Baci nel tuo cuore
Celisa
The Ajanta Caves (Ajiṇṭhā leni; Marathi: अजिंठा लेणी) in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting", which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. The caves were built in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period of 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā 20°31′56″N 75°44′44″E), about 59 kilometres from Jalgaon railway station on the Delhi – Mumbai line and Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometres from the city of Aurangabad. They are 100 kilometres from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu and Jain temples as well as Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghur, and although they are now along and above a modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below.
The area was previously heavily forested, and after the site ceased to be used the caves were covered by jungle until accidentally rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer on a hunting party. They are Buddhist monastic buildings, apparently representing a number of distinct "monasteries" or colleges. The caves are numbered 1 to 28 according to their place along the path, beginning at the entrance. Several are unfinished and some barely begun and others are small shrines, included in the traditional numbering as e.g. "9A"; "Cave 15A" was still hidden under rubble when the numbering was done. Further round the gorge are a number of waterfalls, which when the river is high are audible from outside the caves.
The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting; other survivals from the area of modern India are very few, though they are related to 5th-century paintings at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The elaborate architectural carving in many caves is also very rare, and the style of the many figure sculptures is highly local, found only at a few nearby contemporary sites, although the Ajanta tradition can be related to the later Hindu Ellora Caves and other sites.
HISTORY
Like the other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta had a large emphasis on teaching, and was divided into several different caves for living, education and worship, under a central direction. Monks were probably assigned to specific caves for living. The layout reflects this organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected through the exterior. The 7th-century travelling Chinese scholar Xuanzang informs us that Dignaga, a celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived at Ajanta in the 5th century. In its prime the settlement would have accommodated several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished their first training may have returned to Ajanta during the monsoon season from an itinerant lifestyle.
The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct periods, separated by several centuries.
CAVES OF THE FIRST (SATAVAHANA) PERIOD
The earliest group of caves consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. According to Walter Spink, they were made during the period 100 BCE to 100 CE, probably under the patronage of the Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE – c. 220 CE) who ruled the region. Other datings prefer the period 300 BCE to 100 BCE, though the grouping of the earlier caves is generally agreed. More early caves may have vanished through later excavations. Of these, caves 9 and 10 are stupa halls of chaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A are vihāras (see the architecture section below for descriptions of these types). The first phase is still often called the Hinayāna phase, as it originated when, using traditional terminology, the Hinayāna or Lesser Vehicle tradition of Buddhism was dominant, when the Buddha was revered symbolically. However the use of the term Hinayana for this period of Buddhism is now deprecated by historians; equally the caves of the second period are now mostly dated too early to be properly called Mahayana, and do not yet show the full expanded cast of supernatural beings characteristic of that phase of Buddhist art. The first Satavahana period caves lacked figurative sculpture, emphasizing the stupa instead, and in the caves of the second period the overwhelming majority of images represent the Buddha alone, or narrative scenes of his lives.
Spink believes that some time after the Satavahana period caves were made the site was abandoned for a considerable period until the mid-5th century, probably because the region had turned mainly Hindu
CAVES OF THE LATER OR VAKATAKA PERIOD
The second phase began in the 5th century. For a long time it was thought that the later caves were made over a long period from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE, but in recent decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE, during the reign of Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty. This view has been criticized by some scholars, but is now broadly accepted by most authors of general books on Indian art, for example Huntington and Harle.
The second phase is still often called the Mahāyāna or Greater Vehicle phase, but scholars now tend to avoid this nomenclature because of the problems that have surfaced regarding our understanding of Mahāyāna.
Some 20 cave temples were simultaneously created, for the most part viharas with a sanctuary at the back. The most elaborate caves were produced in this period, which included some "modernization" of earlier caves. Spink claims that it is possible to establish dating for this period with a very high level of precision; a fuller account of his chronology is given below. Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly widely accepted, at least in their broad conclusions. The Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the traditional dating: "The second phase of paintings started around 5th – 6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries". Caves of the second period are 1–8, 11, 14–29, some possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29 are chaitya-grihas, the rest viharas.
According to Spink, the Ajanta Caves appear to have been abandoned by wealthy patrons shortly after the fall of Harishena, in about 480 CE. They were then gradually abandoned and forgotten. During the intervening centuries, the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed, although the local population were aware of at least some of them.
REDISCOVERY
On 28 April 1819, a British officer for the Madras Presidency, John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tiger, accidentally discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 deep within the tangled undergrowth. There were local people already using the caves for prayers with a small fire, when he arrived. Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more than birds and bats and a lair for other larger animals, Captain Smith vandalized the wall by scratching his name and the date, April 1819. Since he stood on a five-foot high pile of rubble collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-level gaze of an adult today. A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional, all but unique paintings. A number of large projects to copy the paintings were made in the century after rediscovery, covered below. In 1848 the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson, as president. In 1861 this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. Until the Nizam of Hyderabad built the modern path between the caves, among other efforts to make the site easy to visit, a trip to Ajanta was a considerable adventure, and contemporary accounts dwell with relish on the dangers from falls off narrow ledges, animals and the Bhil people, who were armed with bows and arrows and had a fearsome reputation.
Today, fairly easily combined with Ellora in a single trip, the caves are the most popular tourist destination in Mahrashtra, and are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings. In 2012, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI visitor centre at the entrance complete replicas of caves 1, 2, 16 & 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to receive a better visual idea of the paintings, which are dimly-lit and hard to read in the caves. Figures for the year to March 2010 showed a total of 390,000 visitors to the site, divided into 362,000 domestic and 27,000 foreign. The trends over the previous few years show a considerable growth in domestic visitors, but a decline in foreign ones; the year to 2010 was the first in which foreign visitors to Ellora exceeded those to Ajanta.
PAINTINGS
Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of caves. Several fragments of murals preserved from the earlier caves (Caves 9 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of court-led painting in India from this period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painter had mastered an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars".
Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which "have come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-specialist", and fall into two stylistic groups, with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and apparently later paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a century or more later than the others, but the revised chronology proposed by Spink would place them much closer to the earlier group, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style, or one reflecting a team from a different region. The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet plaster.
All the paintings appear to be the work of painters at least as used to decorating palaces as temples, and show a familiarity with and interest in details of the life of a wealthy court. We know from literary sources that painting was widely practised and appreciated in the courts of the Gupta period. Unlike much Indian painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal compartments like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all directions from a single figure or group at the centre. The ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture. The paintings in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as an animal or human commoner, and so show settings from contemporary palace life.
In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in the cave, as shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular. According to Spink's account of the chronology of the caves, the abandonment of work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of painting in caves such as 4 and 17, the later being plastered in preparation for paintings that were never done.
COPIES
The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were rediscovered, and a number of 19th-century copies and drawings are important for a complete understanding of the works. However, the earliest projects to copy the paintings were plagued by bad fortune. In 1846, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras presidency and a painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to replicate the frescoes on the cave walls to exhibit these paintings in England. Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863 (though he continued to be based there until his death in 1875, writing books and photographing) and made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on display.
Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths, then principal of the Bombay School of Art, to work with his students to make new copies, again for shipping to England. They worked on this for thirteen years and some 300 canvases were produced, many of which were displayed at the Imperial Institute on Exhibition Road in London, one of the forerunners of the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in 1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred paintings that were in storage. The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets, though none have been on permanent display since 1955. The largest are some 3 × 6 metres. A conservation project was undertaken on about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria. Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI.
A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose. The copies were published in full colour as the first publication of London's fledgling India Society. More than the earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to recreate the original condition rather than record the state of the paintings as she was seeing them. According to one writer, unlike the paintings created by her predecessors Griffiths and Gill, whose copies were influenced by British Victorian styles of painting, those of the Herringham expedition preferred an 'Indian Renascence' aesthetic of the type pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore.
Early photographic surveys were made by Robert Gill, who learnt to use a camera from about 1856, and whose photos, including some using stereoscopy, were used in books by him and Fergusson (many are available online from the British Library), then Victor Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published 1930–1955).
ARCHITECTURE
The monasteries mostly consist of vihara halls for prayer and living, which are typically rectangular with small square dormitory cells cut into the walls, and by the second period a shrine or sanctuary at the rear centred on a large statue of the Buddha, also carved from the living rock. This change reflects the movement from Hinayana to Mahāyāna Buddhism. The other type of main hall is the narrower and higher chaitya hall with a stupa as the focus at the far end, and a narrow aisle around the walls, behind a range of pillars placed close together. Other plainer rooms were for sleeping and other activities. Some of the caves have elaborate carved entrances, some with large windows over the door to admit light. There is often a colonnaded porch or verandah, with another space inside the doors running the width of the cave.
The central square space of the interior of the viharas is defined by square columns forming a more or less square open area. Outside this are long rectangular aisles on each side, forming a kind of cloister. Along the side and rear walls are a number of small cells entered by a narrow doorway; these are roughly square, and have small niches on their back walls. Originally they had wooden doors. The centre of the rear wall has a larger shrine-room behind, containing a large Buddha statue. The viharas of the earlier period are much simpler, and lack shrines. Spink in fact places the change to a design with a shrine to the middle of the second period, with many caves being adapted to add a shrine in mid-excavation, or after the original phase.
The plan of Cave 1 shows one of the largest viharas, but is fairly typical of the later group. Many others, such as Cave 16, lack the vestibule to the shrine, which leads straight off the main hall. Cave 6 is two viharas, one above the other, connected by internal stairs, with sanctuaries on both levels.
The four completed chaitya halls are caves 9 and 10 from the early period, and caves 19 and 26 from the later period of construction. All follow the typical form found elsewhere, with high ceilings and a central "nave" leading to the stupa, which is near the back, but allows walking behind it, as walking around stupas was (and remains) a common element of Buddhist worship (pradakshina). The later two have high ribbed roofs, which reflect timber forms, and the earlier two are thought to have used actual timber ribs, which have now perished. The two later halls have a rather unusual arrangement (also found in Cave 10 at Ellora) where the stupa is fronted by a large relief sculpture of the Buddha, standing in Cave 19 and seated in Cave 26. Cave 29 is a late and very incomplete chaitya hall.
The form of columns in the work of the first period is very plain and un-embellished, with both chaitya halls using simple octagonal columns, which were painted with figures. In the second period columns were far more varied and inventive, often changing profile over their height, and with elaborate carved capitals, often spreading wide. Many columns are carved over all their surface, some fluted and others carved with decoration all over, as in cave 1.
The flood basalt rock of the cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous, is layered horizontally, and somewhat variable in quality, so the excavators had to amend their plans in places, and in places there have been collapses in the intervening centuries, as with the lost portico to cave 1. Excavation began by cutting a narrow tunnel at roof level, which was expanded downwards and outwards; the half-built vihara cave 24 shows the method. Spink believes that for the first caves of the second period the excavators had to relearn skills and techniques that had been lost in the centuries since the first period, which were then transmitted to be used at later rock-cut sites in the region, such as Ellora, and the Elephanta, Bagh, Badami and Aurangabad Caves.
The caves from the first period seem to have been paid for by a number of different patrons, with several inscriptions recording the donation of particular portions of a single cave, but according to Spink the later caves were each commissioned as a complete unit by a single patron from the local rulers or their court elites. After the death of Harisena smaller donors got their chance to add small "shrinelets" between the caves or add statues to existing caves, and some two hundred of these "intrusive" additions were made in sculpture, with a further number of intrusive paintings, up to three hundred in cave 10 alone.
A grand gateway to the site, at the apex of the gorge's horsehoe between caves 15 and 16, was approached from the river, and is decorated with elephants on either side and a nāga, or protective snake deity.
ICONOGRAPHY OF THE CAVES
In the pre-Christian era, the Buddha was represented symbolically, in the form of the stupa. Thus, halls were made with stupas to venerate the Buddha. In later periods the images of the Buddha started to be made in coins, relic caskets, relief or loose sculptural forms, etc. However, it took a while for the human representation of the Buddha to appear in Buddhist art. One of the earliest evidences of the Buddha's human representations are found at Buddhist archaeological sites, such as Goli, Nagarjunakonda, and Amaravati. The monasteries of those sites were built in less durable media, such as wood, brick, and stone. As far as the genre of rock-cut architecture is concerned it took many centuries for the Buddha image to be depicted. Nobody knows for sure at which rock-cut cave site the first image of the Buddha was depicted. Current research indicates that Buddha images in a portable form, made of wood or stone, were introduced, for the first time, at Kanheri, to be followed soon at Ajanta Cave 8 (Dhavalikar, Jadhav, Spink, Singh). While the Kanheri example dates to 4th or 5th century CE, the Ajanta example has been dated to c. 462–478 CE (Spink). None of the rock-cut monasteries prior to these dates, and other than these examples, show any Buddha image although hundreds of rock-cut caves were made throughout India during the first few centuries CE. And, in those caves, it is the stupa that is the object of veneration, not the image. Images of the Buddha are not found in Buddhist sailagrhas (rock-cut complexes) until the times of the Kanheri (4th–5th century CE) and Ajanta examples (c. 462–478 CE).
The caves of the second period, now all dated to the 5th century, were typically described as "Mahayana", but do not show the features associated with later Mahayana Buddhism. Although the beginnings of Mahāyāna teachings go back to the 1st century there is little art and archaeological evidence to suggest that it became a mainstream cult for several centuries. In Mahayana it is not Gautama Buddha but the Bodhisattva who is important, including "deity" Bodhisattva like Manjushri and Tara, as well as aspects of the Buddha such as Aksobhya, and Amitabha. Except for a few Bodhisattva, these are not depicted at Ajanta, where the Buddha remains the dominant figure. Even the Bodhisattva images of Ajanta are never central objects of worship, but are always shown as attendants of the Buddha in the shrine. If a Bodhisattva is shown in isolation, as in the Astabhaya scenes, these were done in the very last years of activities at Ajanta, and are mostly 'intrusive' in nature, meaning that they were not planned by the original patrons, and were added by new donors after the original patrons had suddenly abandoned the region in the wake of Emperor Harisena's death.
The contrast between iconic and aniconic representations, that is, the stupa on one hand and the image of the Buddha on the other, is now being seen as a construct of the modern scholar rather than a reality of the past. The second phase of Ajanta shows that the stupa and image coincided together. If the entire corpus of the art of Ajanta including sculpture, iconography, architecture, epigraphy, and painting are analysed afresh it will become clear that there was no duality between the symbolic and human forms of the Buddha, as far as the 5th-century phase of Ajanta is concerned. That is why most current scholars tend to avoid the terms 'Hinayana' and 'Mahayana' in the context of Ajanta. They now prefer to call the second phase by the ruling dynasty, as the Vākāţaka phase.
CAVES
CAVE 1
Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped scarp, and is now the first cave the visitor encounters. This would when first made have been a less prominent position, right at the end of the row. According to Spink, it is one of the latest caves to have been excavated, when the best sites had been taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship by the dedication of the Buddha image in the central shrine. This is shown by the absence of sooty deposits from butter lamps on the base of the shrine image, and the lack of damage to the paintings that would have been happened if the garland-hooks around the shrine had been in use for any period of time. Although there is no epigraphic evidence, Spink believes that the Vākāţaka Emperor Harishena was the benefactor of the work, and this is reflected in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave, with those Jakata tales being selected that tell of those previous lives of the Buddha in which he was royal.
The cliff has a more steep slope here than at other caves, so to achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far back into the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite containing fine carving, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river, from where they have been lost, presumably carried away in monsoon torrents.
This cave has one of the most elaborate carved façades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells on both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggest that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become a necessity and norm. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain, especially on the ceiling. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors.
Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 12 m long and 6.1 m high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls, though due to rock fault there are none at the ends of the rear aisle. The walls are covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation, though the full scheme was never completed. The scenes depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from the Jataka stories of the Buddha's former existences as a bodhisattva), the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration. The two most famous individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-life size figures of the protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see illustrations above). According to Spink, the original dating of the paintings to about 625 arose largely or entirely because James Fegusson, a 19th-century architectural historian, had decided that a scene showing an ambassador being received, with figures in Persian dress, represented a recorded embassy to Persia (from a Hindu monarch at that) around that date.
CAVE 2
Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar to Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation.
Cave 2 has a porch quite different from Cave one. Even the façade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The cells on the previously "wasted areas" were needed to meet the greater housing requirements in later years. Porch-end cells became a trend in all later Vakataka excavations. The simple single cells on porch-ends were converted into CPVs or were planned to provide more room, symmetry, and beauty.
The paintings on the ceilings and walls of this porch have been widely published. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. Just as the stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasize kingship, those in cave 2 show many "noble and powerful" women in prominent roles, leading to suggestions that the patron was an unknown woman. The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior.
The hall has four colonnades which are supporting the ceiling and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine forms.
Paintings appear on almost every surface of the cave except for the floor. At various places the art work has become eroded due to decay and human interference. Therefore, many areas of the painted walls, ceilings, and pillars are fragmentary. The painted narratives of the Jataka tales are depicted only on the walls, which demanded the special attention of the devotee. They are didactic in nature, meant to inform the community about the Buddha's teachings and life through successive rebirths. Their placement on the walls required the devotee to walk through the aisles and 'read' the narratives depicted in various episodes. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research since the site's rediscovery in 1819. Dieter Schlingloff's identifications have updated our knowledge on the subject.
CAVE 4
The Archeological Survey of India board outside the caves gives the following detail about cave 4: "This is the largest monastery planned on a grandiose scale but was never finished. An inscription on the pedestal of the buddha's image mentions that it was a gift from a person named Mathura and paleographically belongs to 6th century A.D. It consists of a verandah, a hypostylar hall, sanctum with an antechamber and a series of unfinished cells. The rear wall of the verandah contains the panel of Litany of Avalokiteśvara".
The sanctuary houses a colossal image of the Buddha in preaching pose flanked by bodhisattvas and celestial nymphs hovering above.
CAVES 9-10
Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya halls from the first period of construction, though both were also undergoing an uncompleted reworking at the end of the second period. Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also date from the second period, and were commissioned by individuals.
The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early period, many from an incomplete programme of modernization in the second period, and a very large number of smaller late intrusive images, nearly all Buddhas and many with donor inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-painting the "official" programme and after the best positions were used up are tucked away in less prominent positions not yet painted; the total of these (including those now lost) was probably over 300, and the hands of many different artists are visible.
OTHER CAVES
Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it was begun right at the end of the final period of work and soon abandoned. Caves 5 and 6 are viharas, the latter on two floors, that were late works of which only the lower floor of cave 6 was ever finished. The upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive sculptures, and a shrine Buddha, but is otherwise unfinished. Cave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos but, perhaps because of faults in the rock, which posed problems in many caves, was never taken very deep into the cliff, and consists only of the two porticos and a shrine room with antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in.
Cave 8 was long thought to date to the first period of construction, but Spink sees it as perhaps the earliest cave from the second period, its shrine an "afterthought". The statue may have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has now vanished. The cave was painted, but only traces remain.
SPINK´S DETAILED CHRONOLOGY
Walter M. Spink has over recent decades developed a very precise and circumstantial chronology for the second period of work on the site, which unlike earlier scholars, he places entirely in the 5th century. This is based on evidence such as the inscriptions and artistic style, combined with the many uncompleted elements of the caves. He believes the earlier group of caves, which like other scholars he dates only approximately, to the period "between 100 BCE – 100 CE", were at some later point completely abandoned and remained so "for over three centuries", as the local population had turned mainly Hindu. This changed with the accession of the Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka Dynasty, who reigned from 460 to his death in 477. Harisena extended the Central Indian Vakataka Empire to include a stretch of the east coast of India; the Gupta Empire ruled northern India at the same period, and the Pallava dynasty much of the south.
According to Spink, Harisena encouraged a group of associates, including his prime minister Varahadeva and Upendragupta, the sub-king in whose territory Ajanta was, to dig out new caves, which were individually commissioned, some containing inscriptions recording the donation. This activity began in 462 but was mostly suspended in 468 because of threats from the neighbouring Asmaka kings. Work continued on only caves 1, Harisena's own commission, and 17–20, commissioned by Upendragupta. In 472 the situation was such that work was suspended completely, in a period that Spink calls "the Hiatus", which lasted until about 475, by which time the Asmakas had replaced Upendragupta as the local rulers.
Work was then resumed, but again disrupted by Harisena's death in 477, soon after which major excavation ceased, except at cave 26, which the Asmakas were sponsoring themselves. The Asmakas launched a revolt against Harisena's son, which brought about the end of the Vakataka Dynasty. In the years 478–480 major excavation by important patrons was replaced by a rash of "intrusions" – statues added to existing caves, and small shrines dotted about where there was space between them. These were commissioned by less powerful individuals, some monks, who had not previously been able to make additions to the large excavations of the rulers and courtiers. They were added to the facades, the return sides of the entrances, and to walls inside the caves. According to Spink, "After 480, not a single image was ever made again at the site", and as Hinduism again dominated the region, the site was again abandoned, this time for over a millennium.
Spink does not use "circa" in his dates, but says that "one should allow a margin of error of one year or perhaps even two in all cases".
IMPACT ON MODERN INDIAN PAINTINGS
The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet and Sri Lanka.
The rediscovery of ancient Indian paintings at Ajanta provided Indian artists examples from ancient India to follow. Nandlal Bose experimented with techniques to follow the ancient style which allowed him to develop his unique style. Abanindranath Tagore also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration.
WIKIPEDIA
As mentioned in my previous post, after clearing the birch woodland from on top of the Bickerton Hills the tree fellers left behind various excellent examples of other species, primarily, pine, mountain ash, oak etc. The above two trees stand on the edge of the Sandstone Ridge, but as to what species they are I've yet to find out, I think they're a couple of old mountain ash. Thanks to the clearance of the birches these two gorgeous trees now stand proud and loud, and will provide, I think, many future photo ops in a variety of weather and light.
We went to London the other weekend. This annual trip started as a ladies one day shopping trip, intended to raise funds for Slaithwaite Brass Band. Jayne’s family have a long association with the band. Thirteen years ago I started going on this trip, one bloke amongst, around, 50 women. Eight years ago we persuaded Debbie Booth to organise it as an overnight trip. I’m still the only bloke beside the driver, Richard, from Stotts, who has taken us many times. We stay at the Cumberland Hotel at Marble Arch, very central and very nice. It’s a fantastic value trip and once you have a place you don’t give it up. After a clear run down we were at the hotel around 11.45am and we were soon off on foot with the camera gear. The light was terrible, light grey sky bordering on white, rubbish for the daylight shots.
We didn’t have an agenda, we just meandered, no evening show, we just kept walking. For the first time I had taken a small tripod, a bit of a cheap thing but it’s light. We walked on the South Bank as darkness fell, the trouble is you can only target one place in the best light, before total darkness. We were by tower bridge at the time, I wanted to shoot the buildings around City Hall, curious if I could get anything worthwhile. It’s been done to death but I don’t look at other photos before I go, I like to just give it my best shot. It would require a bit of luck to have a situation that produced something out of the ordinary – or more skill than I have.
We worked our way in the dark across to The City. The Lloyds building was another target, again I gave it my best shot – for a first attempt. I had a good time and had a chat with a few curious onlookers. . On our way back to Marble Arch I photographed the big department store window displays and the Christmas lights, trying to find some colour in a drab day. I think it was John Lewis that had the Penguins in every window, very funny. Jayne knew about them from a TV ad, I don’t watch telly so they were new to me.
We were out early on Sunday but again the light was awful. We should count our blessings really, we have had dry and generally nice weather most years on this trip. Dotted around London are the Paddington Bear models which we had read about on our way down. We came across quite a few, mostly with a queue of people wanting their photos taken with Paddington. There were also a lot of model, new shape Routemaster buses, dotted around. It’s the Year of the Bus apparently, they have been painted by well-known or aspiring artists. The added a splash of colour to a very grey day. We walked out to Elephant and Castle, never having been before. It’s a bit run down but I was aiming at a tall building which turned out to be the Strata Building. I had to do the best I could but as you can see, the light was crap. The Strata has three, token gesture windmills built into the roof but you have to be a distance away to see them.
The northern gannet (Morus bassanus) is a seabird and the largest member of the gannet family. It has the same colours as the Australasian gannet and is similar in appearance. Nesting in colonies as large as 60,000 pairs on both sides of the north Atlantic this bird undertakes seasonal migrations and is a spectacular high-speed diver.
Old names for the northern gannet include solan and solan goose.
Adults are 81–110 cm (32–43 in) long, weigh 2.2–3.6 kg (4.9–7.9 lb) and have a 165–180 cm (65–71 in) wingspan.
Before fledging, the immature birds (at about 10 weeks of age) can weigh more than 4 kg (8.8 lb). Each wing measures between 47 and 53 cm (19 and 21 in) when outstretched and the beak measures between 9 and 11 cm (3.5 and 4.3 in) (measured from the head). The two sexes are a similar size.
The plumage of the adults is white with dark wing tips, with colours that range from brown to black. The colour of the head, cheeks and side of the neck depends on the season and the individual; during breeding, the head and neck are brushed in a delicate yellow, although this colouring may not be evident in some individuals. The feathers are waterproof, which allows the birds to spend long periods in water. A water-impermeable secretion produced by a sebaceous gland covers the feathers and the birds spread it across their body using their beak or their head. The eye is light blue, and it is surrounded by bare, black skin, which gives the birds their characteristic facial expression.
Young birds are dark brown
Fledglings are brown with white wing tips. They have white spots on their head and on their back and a v-shaped white area underneath. The plumage of one-year-olds can be almost completely brown. In the second year the birds’ appearance changes depending on the different phases of moulting: they can have adult plumage at the front and continue to be brown at the rear. They gradually acquire more white in subsequent seasons until they reach maturity after five years.
Newborn chicks are featherless and are dark blue or black in colour. In the second week of life they are covered in white down.[8] From the fifth week they are covered in dark brown feathers flecked with white.
Their beak is long, strong and conical with a slight downward curve at the end. The front part has a sharp edge. In adults, the beak is blue-grey with dark grey or black edges. It is brownish in immature birds.
The northern gannet’s eyes are large and point forwards, and they have a light blue to light grey iris surrounded by a thin black ring. The four toes of their feet are joined by a membrane that can vary from dark grey to dark brown. There are yellow lines running along the toes that continue along their legs; these lines probably have a role in mating. The rear toe is strong and faces inwards allowing the birds to firmly grip onto vertical cliff faces.
When feeding, these birds are spectacular high-speed divers. They can locate their prey from heights of up to 45 m (148 ft), but they normally search from a height of between 10 and 20 m (33 and 66 ft). When they see a fish they will dive into the water. They dive with their bodies straight and rigid, wings tucked close to the body but reaching back, extending beyond the tail, before piercing the water like an arrow. They control the direction of the dive using their wings. Just as it is going to hit the water a bird will fold its wings against its body. A bird’s head and neck are stretched out in front of the body and the beak is shut. Birds can hit the water at speeds of up to 100 km/h (62 mph). This allows them to penetrate 3–5 m (10–16 ft) below the surface, and occasionally they will swim down to 12–15 m (40–50 ft).
They usually push their prey deeper into the water and capture it as they return to the surface. When a dive is successful, gannets swallow the fish underwater before surfacing, and never fly with the fish in their bill. Larger fish are swallowed headfirst, smaller fish are swallowed sideways or tail first. The bird’s subcutaneous air bags aid their rapid return to the surface.
Their white colour helps other gannets to identify one of their kind and they can deduce the presence of a shoal of fish by this diving behaviour; this in turn facilitates group foraging, which makes capturing their prey easier. Northern gannets also forage for fish while swimming with their head under water.
Some studies have found that the duration and direction of flights made while foraging for food are similar for both sexes. However, there are significant differences in the search behaviour of males and females. Female northern gannets are not only more selective than males in choosing a search area: they also make longer and deeper dives and spend more time floating on the surface than males.[
Every spring i take home some fur from the horses and put it on the hedge.
So the birds can take it and use it for there nest......it so nice to see how they collect al the fur and fly away !
Well, started my day as usual driving a rigid. Then after a short break, I got told to drive this. First semi I've driven for Croft's, and the first I've actually hauled a load with full stop. Tested my nerves to start with, and except for reversing (still need LOTS of practice) just fell back into the hang of it in no time.
Such a great way to end a great week.
As borboletas são insectos da ordem Lepidoptera classificados nas super-famílias Hesperioidea e Papilionoidea, que constituem o grupo informal Rhopalocera.
As borboletas têm dois pares de asas membranosas cobertas de escamas e peças bucais adaptadas a sucção. Distinguem-se das traças (mariposas) pelas antenas rectilíneas que terminam numa bola, pelos hábitos de vida diurnos, pela metamorfose que decorre dentro de uma crisálida rígida e pelo abdómen fino e alongado. Quando em repouso, as borboletas dobram as suas asas para cima.
As borboletas são importantes polinizadores de diversas espécies de plantas.
O ciclo de vida das borboletas engloba as seguintes etapas:
1) ovo→ fase pré-larval
2) larva→ chamada também de lagarta ou taturana,
3) pupa→ que se desenvolve dentro da crisálida (ou casulo)
4) imago→ fase adulta
_______________________
A butterfly is any of several groups of mainly day-flying insects of the order Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, butterflies' life cycle consists of four parts, egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. Butterflies comprise the true butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea), the skippers (superfamily Hesperioidea) and the moth-butterflies (superfamily Hedyloidea). All the many other families within the Lepidoptera are referred to as moths.
Butterflies exhibit polymorphism, mimicry and aposematism. Some, like the Monarch, will migrate over long distances. Some butterflies have evolved symbiotic and parasitic relationships with social insects such as ants. Butterflies are important economically as agents of pollination. The caterpillars of some butterflies eat harmful insects. A few species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts.
Installation of concrete tunnel elements as part of bike route in Dutch coastal town of Katwijk. Part of plan to alleviate pressure and accomodate the flow on traffic intense Zeeweg (Sea road) and to guarantee safe crossing by Holland's numerous bikes. Even more necessary now that people have taken an even more liking towards (E-)biking since Covid-19 outbreak.
Fascinating cooperation between Strukton engineering (primary contractor), Jos Blom (mobile hoisting), Romein Beton (concrete tunnel elements) and the Municipality of Katwijk.
Special thanks to my dear friend Jeannet Koomans (iMedion) for inviting me to register the operation.
Fuji X-T3 | Fujinon XF 50-140 F2.8
Capture One 20
For best View: Press L
©2020 | Leon Harting - Credit MUST be given AT ALL TIMES