View allAll Photos Tagged Entitled
Mural entitled "Bird Song 3" by Joshua Coffy aka @giftprolific, seen at 1500 Market Street in San Francisco, California.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Assassin with Son" by "Gamma" Acosta aka @gammagallery seen at 36th and Brighton Boulevard in the RiNo area of Denver, Colorado.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Ledania" by Thomas Evans aka @detour303 for Bright Walls 2022, seen at 148 East Courtland in Jackson, Michigan. The mural depicts the Columbian artist Ledania who was painting a mural entitled "Soy Nervioso" next to him.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled “Rainbow Brite and the Permanent Peace of Mind” by Nicholas Zimbro aka @mr.zimbro, seen at 505 NW 20th Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Africa Hi Fi Part 2" by Rahmaan Statik aka @rahmaanstatik and Stash Maleski aka @icuart1 with assistant artists P. Chuck, Gape one, Uprize, and Dwane Wriddly; seen at 1125 West Lake Street in the Fulton Market area of Chicago, Illinois.
Entitled: Young Mother Carrying A Child On Her Back In The Market, Hong Kong Island [c1946] H Morrison [RESTORED] Minor spot and scratch touch up, contrast and tonal adjustments, with a purposeful lower contrast background to provide better visual separation, and a final sepia tone.
Hedda Morrison was a tremendous resource for images from the latter part of the Republican China years, photographing extensively with a 2 1/4 Rolleiflex Twin Lens (my personal roll film favorite) during her 13 year stay in China (from 1933 - 1946). Coincidentally, she then married into the family of and bears the name of another very famous China photographer; she married George Ernest Morrison's son, Alastair in 1946. Besides photography in China, she was also known for a large body of image work in Malaysia and Australia (where she died in 1991). Her husband, generously donated her life's work, divided between Harvard University and Australia's Power House Museum of Science & Design.
One of Morrison's most iconic photographs, this image was found on Harvard University's VIA (Visual Information Access) Search Engine under Record Identifier olvwork351276.
Mural entitled "Red Tails" by Marcus Grab aka @grabster, seen at 767 NW 5th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
This artwork, entitled Mad Mile Hughes RIP is painted on the side of Roy's in Amboy, California. You may remember this nutter from the news. He killed himself while trying to prove the Earth is flat when his self-built steam powered rocket malfunctioned and he cratered into the Mojave desert.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hughes_(daredevil)
Mural entitled "Contemporary Culture" by @joramroukes seen at 2201 Central Avenue in St Petersburg, Florida.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Ok so … everyone makes a speech no? After all this work I’m entitled to one… mine is so long it’s almost silly… so sit back, relax and if you feel like it… read about my journey…
About my 365 Project…
At the beginning this project to me was just about photography, about learning… I seriously started this expecting nothing but later it turned into a place where I could open my heart and share my world, my fears, my happiness, my thoughts, my life… shortly I also discovered I was involved on many people’s lives… This is a project about “hearts connecting through an image” … and I’m thankful for the chance I got to share mine with you and the chance I got to get to know yours…
365 pictures? Yes... And I am proud….
I did not miss a day … some days I was really inspired and took a shot I was really proud of and some days, even when I felt I could not do one more shot, I stepped up and took a crappy one… so here’s to great pictures and to the courage it takes to post a crappy one. (here, here!!) The past month I kept my stream “friends only” … I faced some really hard times and didn’t feel the need to share my work with the whole fickr community … 12 of the pictures of this project will remain “private” … believe me they are crap so you’re not missing out on anything… they were just about me, not wanting to fail myself, trying to persevere even in the hardest of times…I’m going public for the first time in a while now… so if anyone would like to see the past month of my work FM and I’ll let you in… I took some nice pictures ;)
About comments and faves:
I remember I was so happy when I received my first comment… I could not believe someone would actually stop, take a moment, look at your picture and say something…. so I thank you for the time you gave me by looking at my stream.
… It’s because of that that I completed this project, as simple as that…
Thank you time:
I’ll thank that girl/friend/sister who found flickr, made me do this and helped with many of my pictures (Shelby), I’ll thank my family and friends who helped with costumes, stage, equipment, patience, encouragement and love… (Papi, mami, Nita, Miau, Joe, Pancho, Guayo, Nena, Haya, Nati, Jose, Toño….),I’ll thank a man who was a huge part of my flickr experience… he gave me themes, was patience enough to hear about flickr drama, cheered me up and even played part of some of my favorite shots of this year (Bas)
Now to my flickr friends :
I was fortunate enough to grab your attention at some point during this year… and you came back a second time, and a third time and after that you stood by my side… not only as contacts but as real friends who always had words of love and encouragement for me… Thank you for stopping by, for leaving a comment, for just viewing, for clicking “fave”, for sending a FM to see if I was OK, for inviting me to a group, for adding me as a contact, and for having me as a friend.
I can only hope to meet you guys one day for real… I’m sorry if I don’t say something special for each one of you – even though I know exactly what I would tell you – but I would literally never finish this …
I’ll mention you by your real name and not your flickr nickname cause by now you are real friends to me: Jordy, Henry, Sarah, Mike, Brad and Patricia, Abe and Liina, Ernie, Charlie, Kim, Eva, Vanessa, Jonathan, Rebecca, Lenna, Maite, Amanda, Anna, Rodrigo, Andrés, Julie, Grace, Billie, Sarah B, Amy, Ana Belén, Jonh and Charlotte, Scott, Deven, Christine, Kevin, Hannah…. Thank you guys I really grown to love each and every one of you…
And to all of you who I didn’t mention … but in one way or another were part of this journey… thank you so much ….
About what’s next?:
A year 2 for Maria? I don’t think so… my camera needs a break from me, but I’ll keep on taking pictures and I’ll keep on sharing them with you… I do have LOADS of pictures I want to try… and many things I need to learn, but I’ll do it at my own time, without the pressure of posting every day… Photography is my passion and that will not change… I’m planning on attending more serious photography courses and who knows maybe I’ll turn into a pro one day…I’ll take a much needed fickr vacation….but I’ll visit your streams…
If you stay here I’ll stay here… that much I can promise…
Last but not least... thank you God for one more year of life I was able to document in such a lovely way...
Bet if this was a speech for the Oscars the band would have started the music long ago to shut me up so I’ll just say goodbye… see ya guys soon!!!
My love to each and every one of you….
Maria
Mural entitled "Float Lady" by @fabcrewart seen at 1026 Shelby Street in the Fountain Square area of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Taken from a photograph album entitled 'War Activities,' Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Company Limited’s Collection.
Date: 1914 - 1918
Reference no. DS.WS/143/3 (pg 35)
This photograph was selected by Charles Bell as part of the 'Uncovering Archives Photography' Workshop held at Tyne and Wear Museums and Archives in November 2012. See Charles' response to this image here: www.flickr.com/photos/thistoowillpass/8365535382/in/pool-...
Find out more about the project here: www.flickr.com/groups/uncoveringarchivesphotography/
(Copyright) We're happy for you to share this digital image within the spirit of The Commons. Please cite 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email archives@twmuseums.org.uk
Mural entitled "Boy Samurai - Shin" by JUURI aka @juuriart83 for Titan Walls 2022, seen at the District Brew Yards, 417 North Ashland Avenue in the West Town area of Chicago, Illinois.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled Like Fire, Like Water by Mark Deleon aka @ghose_one, seen at 4201 North Loop East in Houston, Texas.
The artist states: "The image I wanted to portray through this piece is that we can be both on fire ready to ignite and we can also be as calm as the water. Balance."
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled “I Am a Man” by @72and10, @eazywork_akbar, @nyc_artcantara, and @artbydiaz seen at 1391 North Wolcott Street in the Wicker Park area of Chicago, Illinois. The mural is based on a photo by Bob Adleman c1968.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled “I AM HERE” by Darius Dennis aka @72and10, Patrick Kane McGregor aka @patrickkanemcgregor, Jasper Patch aka @jasperpatch, and Esteban Sanchez, seen at 4654 North Broadway in Chicago, Illinois.
The mural is based on a photo by Danny Lyon aka @dannylyonphotos2 from the 1960s civil rights sit-in at the Toddle House diner in Atlanta, Georgia. Lyon identifies the following people: "John Lewis cleverly turned the back of his head to the camera, Charles Neblett, Judy Richardson, Joyce Ladner at the counter, Ivanhoe Donaldson standing in the back, all 1963 SNCC staff."
The sit-in movement was a nonviolent movement of the U.S. civil rights era that began in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960 The sit-in was an act of civil disobedience that involved African Americans (later joined by white activists), usually students, going to segregated lunch counters, sitting in all available spaces, requesting service, and then refusing to leave when denied service because of their race.. The key to the success of the sit-in movement was the moral high ground that the participants took. Their peaceful demonstrations for basic legal rights and respect increased favorable public opinion of their cause. Facing violence with nonviolent resistance required that the students take no action against white aggressors and police who physically harassed and assaulted them and arrested them on spurious charges. The sit-in campaigns of 1960 and the ensuing creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) demonstrated the potential strength of grassroots militancy and enabled a new generation of young people to gain confidence in their own leadership. The sit-in movement employed the tactic of nonviolent direct action and was a pivotal event during the Civil Rights Movement. -- Perplexity AI
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
A Priest’s Prayer 🙏
This is my chapel vignette MOC entitled, “Spiritual: A Priest’s Prayer” completed around December of 2021. I’ve always loved visiting churches all across the country – some of my favorites are St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception, and the Church of the Intercession, among others. This chapel is an homage and blend of typical architecture found in old churches, without specifically taking after one real-world example.
This is part 1 in a 3 part series I did of 16x16 vignettes about suffering. The whole series I saw as an exercise to really push technique, parts usage, and composition – while trying to tell a story. Each one of them focuses on one subject and has a unique lighting component. They’re also all kind of tall? Just turned out that way. At shows, some people think the priest is praying, others crying. Crafting the priest took a significant amount of time trying to get the articulation and limbs just right. Rubber band magic! :)
The two “paintings” in the MOC are one of Jesus Christ and the other of St. Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov. Both were sourced online, resized, and then run through the “mosaic” filter on Microsoft Word (yes, really), printed, laminated, and cut. I found the filter gives the images a mosaic-like appearance that’s congruent with the Lego style – almost as if the minfigs made a mosaic in-universe.
Photo touch-ups & editing by the talented and powerful Zimon™ (@si_mocs) #accountabuildibuddy
A new year and also a new ADAW.
My resolution for this year ADAW is to take every week a picture like the title says and not to catch up at the end of the year and to entitle my pictures.
From my set entitled “Wegelia”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607213767268/
In my collection entitled “The Garden”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Weigela is a small genus of about 12 species of deciduous shrubs in the family Caprifoliaceae, growing to 1-5 m tall. All are natives of eastern Asia.
The leaves are 5-15 cm long, ovate-oblong with an acuminate tip, and with a serrated margin. The flowers are 2-4 cm long, with a five-lobed white, pink, or red (rarely yellow) corolla, produced in small corymbs of several together in early summer. The fruit is a dry capsule containing numerous small winged seeds.
Weigela species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail.
The genus is named after the German scientist Christian Ehrenfried Weigel.
The British Weigela national collection is held at Sheffield Botanical Gardens; along with the national collection of the closely related Diervilla genus.[1] The german Weigela national collection is held at Sichtungsgarten Weigela in Buckow, Maerkische Schweiz [2]
Several of the species are very popular ornamental shrubs in gardens, although species have been mostly superseded by hybrids (crosses between W. florida and other Asiatic species).
From my set entitled "Twelve Mile Lake, 2008"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607787077684/
In my collection entitled "Places"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760074...
In my photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/
Every year, Karen and I, along with our friends, Bev Woodroffe and Henk Tiesma, visit Bob and Carol Barkwell, usually in the Spring, at their home in Lindsay, Ontario. Karen, Bev and Carol began their teaching careers together forty years ago.
This year, we went to Bob and Carol's cottage on Twelve Mile Lake in the Haliburton Highlands of Ontario. This time we went in the Fall. The main focus of the weekend was the Haliburton County Studio Tour, which includes twenty-one artisans. We visited several studios, and also took in the town of Haliburton. The trip was extra special this year, since the Fall colours are breathtaking.
The cottage was built by Bob's parents in the 1930s.
From Wikipedia:
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=...
Haliburton is a county of Ontario, Canada, known as a tourist and cottage industry area for its scenery and for its resident artists. Minden Hills is the county seat. Haliburton County was established in 1983, but had existed as the Provisional County of Haliburton since 1874. Haliburton County and the village of Haliburton, are named after Thomas Chandler Haliburton, author, statesman, and the first chairman of the Canadian Land and Emigration Company.
Haliburton is a village on Head Lake inside Haliburton County which is its namesake. The county also contains the village of Minden, as well as the smaller communities of Wilberforce, Gooderham, Irondale, West Guildford, and Eagle Lake. The county borders Algonquin Park on the north.
The county is serviced by two hospitals, one in Haliburton and one in Minden. Both are administrated by Haliburton Highlands Health Services.
Haliburton County's economy is dominated by the service sector based on tourism due to the regions many lakes and rivers, mainly due to people visiting vacation homes in the summer months, whose properties outnumber permanent residents 3 to 1.[5] Employment in this region primarily caters to the needs of this seasonal population, including residential construction, resorts, services and retail.[6] The region is unique in the sense that there is no resource, industrial, or agricultural base. Because of the nature of the economy, the area has a high rate of unemployment at 8.4% exceeding the provincial average, which skyrockets in the winter months to 35%.[7] Consequently, Haliburton County is the poorest jurisdiction in the Province of Ontario, with per capita earnings of $32 709 in 2005.[8]
The Haliburton Highlands is home to a thriving arts community. The County is dotted by galleries, both public and private, offering events, programs and workshops to the public. Artists’ studios can be found in almost every community, many offering public demonstrations, small galleries, and classes. There are murals and public sculptures in the downtowns of most communities, as well as in park settings such as the Haliburton Sculpture Forest, and the River Walk in Minden.
Heritage is also a focus in the County, with established museums in Carnarvon, Dorset, Haliburton, Minden, and Wilberforce, as well as many fledgling museums emerging in some of the smaller communities. Many buildings throughout the County are designated heritage sites by the province, and many others undergoing preservation through the interests of the public.
The performing arts also receive much attention. Haliburton Highlands Secondary School has strong drama and music programs, showcasing their talents throughout the year to the public. As well, the Highlands Summer Festival presents a wide array of theatre offerings throughout the summer, showcasing the talents of local and seasonally local actors and musicians. Numerous indie bands perform throughout the County, with open mic events being held at a number of establishments.
Certain scenes were filmed on location at Camp Wanakita and Kilcoo Camp for the Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock, starring the Jonas Brothers.
Pisco Bandito, the bandit fish, is described as being "in Haliburton near the Lake of Bays" in the song Pisco Bandito by the band Moxy Fruvous.
Twelve Mile Lake is one of the Haliburton Highland's premiere lakes. Part of a two-lake change, Twelve Mile Lake offers boaters miles of open water to explore.
Post Processing:
PhotoShop Elements 5: crop, slight posterization, straightening
Mural entitled "Creciente" (Increasing) by Juan Camilo Loaiza, seen at 654 NW 32nd Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Annika and the Dragon Pearl" by Spagnola aka @dustinspagnola, seen at 219 Northwest 44th Street in Miami, Florida.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Juggling Cat" by Jorge Betancourt Polanco aka @bypolanco for the Cat Cafe & Rescue, seen at 80 East California Avenue in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
This photograph was published by BusinessNews in an online article on July 19th 2023 by SHAWN JOHNSON entitled:
'' This AI-Powered App Makes Identifying Birds Easy (With One Tricky Exception) ''
BusinessNews was created by a group of young tech entrepreneurs and comes under Biz.crast.net
This photograph was previously published in an online article in TREEHUGGER (Sustainability for all) on November 3rd 2021, entitled:
'' Why the Dawn Chorus Is Getting Quieter and Less Diverse '' - Changes in bird populations are altering spring soundscapes, By Mary Jo DiLonard and Fact checked by Haley Mast.
It was previously selected as my my 4,709th image for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on November 4th 2020 (I now have 7000+).
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©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2020 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) ©
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Twenty metres at 09:15am on Monday 24th March 2020 off Ashbourne Avenue and Chessington Avenue in Bexleyheath, Kent, England.
A pair of nesting Red Robins are keeping me company in the garden, dive bombing the cats and sing at the tops of their lungs each day, which is always a pleasure to hear. Here we see the Male European robin (Erithacus rubecula), also known as the Robin, or Robin redbreast, a small insectivorous passerine bird, more specifically a Chat.
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Nikon D850. Focal length 600mm Shutter speed 1/160s. Aperture f/9.0 iso64 Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Focus mode AF-C focus. AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. AF-S Priority selection: Focus. 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points.AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode: Shutter priority. Matrix metering. Auto ISO sensitivity control on (Max Iso 800/ Minimum shutter speed 125). White balance on: Auto1. Colour space: RGB. Active D-lighting: Normal. Vignette control: Normal. Nikon Distortion control: Enabled. Picture control: Auto (Sharpening A +1/Clarity A+1)
Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3DG OS HSM SPORTS. Lee SW150 MKI filter holder with MK2 light shield and custom made velcro fitting for the Sigma lens. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter. Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 28m 28.17s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 8m 10.60s
ALTITUDE: 54.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 90.3MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 19.60MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Mural entitled "Calm as a BOMB" by the @rorshachbrand crew seen in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "On the Road" by Cara To aka @caratoes located at 2125 1st Avenue South in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Originally entitled "Yellow Spiral" by sculptor Chris Byars, a Colorado-based artist who crafted this 11 semi-circle, towering modern structure outside the interior court at anchor JCPenney for Fairlane Town Center for its opening in 1976. Its original tone was an eye-catching yellow before facing a black repaint at an unknown time.
Byars', whose rarely photographed or interviewed still dons art at other former/Taubman centers including Fair Oaks and Lakeforest. The magnificient sculpture stands today, mostly out of place by today's shopping scene. Byars once expressed malcontent with various works of his either deteriorating or becoming mismanaged.
See "Yellow Spiral" in its natural timeline and habitat, accenting the once like-colored oak railings at the center from better times:
Statue by David Spellerberg unveiled at Museum's 1988 opening--with Gene and his horse, Champion--entitled "Back in the Saddle again," Gene Autry's signature song. He may be better known for "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." [1 of 12]
Wikipedia: Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998) was an American performer who gained fame as a singing cowboy on the radio, in movies, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s. Autry was also owner of a television station, several radio stations in Southern California, and the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997.
From my set entitled “Barbers in the Military”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157600289206206/
In my collection entitled “The Barbers”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/
In my photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/
My Uncle John Barber enlisted in 1916, and gave his date of birth as June 25, 1897. He was with the Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment), 75th Bn. There is some indication that he lied about his age in order to enlist. My understanding is that he was killed when a stove exploded in a Belgian army camp.
In a few weeks, I will be travelling to Archives Canada in Ottawa to check his war records along with those of my Uncle Art Barber who also served in World War I. Art died about twenty-five years ago. I also hope to check my father’s records. He was much younger than Art and John, and served in World War II. Dad died in 1954, and would have been one hundred years old this year (2008)
In his attestation papers, John identified his trade as butcher.
He is one of the people I will be remembering tomorrow
Burial Information:
Cemetery:
CANTIMPRE CANADIAN CEMETERY
Nord, France
Location:The route to the Cantimpre Canadian Cemetery is signposted from the D939 at Raillencourt and is located 1 kilometre north of Sailly on the D140 on the left hand side of the road towards Sancourt. Sailly is a village in the Department of the Nord approximately 3 kilometres north-west of Cambrai just to the north of the main road from Arras to Cambrai (D939).
The "Marcoing Line," one of the German defence systems before Cambrai, ran from Marcoing Northward through Sailly to the West of Cantimpre and the East of the village of Haynecourt. The Cemetery at Cantimpre was originally called the Marcoing Line British Cemetery.
Reproduced from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Expeditionary_ForceThe
The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the group of Canadian military units formed for service overseas in the First World War. As the units arrived in France they were formed into the divisions of the Canadian Corps within the British Army. Four divisions ultimately served on the front line.
The force consisted of 260 numbered infantry battalions, 2 named infantry battalions (The Royal Canadian Regiment and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry), 13 mounted rifle regiments, 13 railway troop battalions, 5 pioneer battalions, as well as field and heavy artillery batteries, ambulance, medical, dental, forestry, labour, tunnelling, cyclist, and service units.
A distinct entity within the Canadian Expeditionary Force was the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. It consisted of several motor machine gun battalions, the Eatons, Yukon, and Borden Motor Machine Gun Batteries, and nineteen machine gun companies. During the summer of 1918, these units were consolidated into four machine gun battalions, one being attached to each of the four divisions in the Canadian Corps.
The Canadian Expeditionary Force was comprised mostly of men who had volunteered, as conscription was not enforced until the end of the war when call-ups began in January 1918 (see Conscription Crisis of 1917). Ultimately, only 24,132 conscripts arrived in France before the end of the war.
Canada was the senior Dominion in the British Empire and automatically at war with Germany upon the British declaration. According to Canadian historian Dr. Serge Durflinger at the Canadian War Museum, popular support for the war was found mainly in English Canada. Of the First Division formed at Valcartier, Quebec, 'fully two-thirds were men born in the United Kingdom'. By the end of the war in 1918, at least 'fifty per cent of the CEF consisted of British-born men'. Recruiting was difficult among the French-Canadian population, although one battalion, the 22nd, who came to be known as the 'Van Doos', was French-speaking.
To a lesser extent, other cultural groups were represented with Ukrainians, Russians, Scandinavians, Italians, Belgians, Dutch, French, Americans, Swiss, Chinese, and Japanese men who enlisted. Despite systemic racism directed towards non-whites, a significant contribution was made by individuals of certain ethnic groups, notably the First Nations[1], Afro-Canadians and Japanese-Canadians.
The Canadian Corps with its four infantry divisions comprised the main fighting force of the CEF. The Canadian Cavalry Brigade also served in France. Support units of the CEF included the Canadian Railway Troops, which served on the Western Front and provided a bridging unit for the Middle East; the Canadian Forestry Corps, which felled timber in Britain and France, and special units which operated around the Caspian Sea, in northern Russia and eastern Siberia.[2]
After distinguishing themselves in battle from the Second Battle of Ypres, through the Somme and particularly in the Battle of Arras at Vimy Ridge in April 1917, the Canadian Corps came to be regarded as an exceptional force by both Allied and German military commanders. Since they were mostly unmolested by the German army's offensive manoeuvres in the spring of 1918, the Canadians were ordered to spearhead the last campaigns of the War from the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918, which ended in a tacit victory for the Allies when the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.
The Canadian Expeditionary Force lost 60,661 dead during the war, representing 9.28% of the 619,636 who enlisted.
The CEF disbanded after the war and was replaced by the Canadian Militia.
Post Processing: slight healing brush, crop
From my set entitled "Our Home, Streetsville"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157600265395738/
From the Collection entitled "My Home"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760074...
Our home was built by Samuel Brookbank in 1859. Brookbank was a house framer, so this house is fairly over-built. The Brookbanks raised ten kids in this place. Don't know where the hell they all slept.
We always put the Christmas tree in the bay window.
The house is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act (1975)
From Wikipedia
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=...
The Ontario Heritage Act, first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage value or interest.
Once a property has been designated under Part IV of the Act, a property owner must apply to the local municipality for a permit to undertake alterations to any of the identified heritage elements of the property or to demolish any buildings or structures on the property.
Part V of the Act allows for the designation of "heritage conservation districts."
Until 2005, a designation of a property under the Act allowed a municipality to delay, but not ultimately prevent, the demolition of a heritage property. Heritage advocates were highly critical of the 180-day "cooling off" period provided for under the legislation, which was intended to allow time for municipalities and landowners to negotiate an appropriate level of heritage preservation, but often simply resulted in the landowner "waiting out the clock" and demolishing the heritage building once the protection of the Ontario Heritage Act had expired.
In 2005, the provincial government enacted changes to strengthen the Act. Under the amended legislation, a landowner who is refused a demolition permit under the Act no longer has an automatic right to demolish a designated building once the cooling off period has expired. Instead, the landowner has the option to appeal the permit refusal to the Ontario Municipal Board and the OMB will make the final decision on whether or not a demolition permit should issue. Where the OMB refuses to issue a permit, the landowner would have no choice but to preserve the heritage building.
The amended legislation also contains provisions which enable municipalities to enact by-laws to require owners of designated buildings to maintain the structures and their heritage elements. Such by-laws are intended to prevent "demolition by neglect", although the collapse of Walnut Hall in Toronto demonstrates that such buildings are still at risk.
Many land development groups are very critical of the new legislation, as they feel that some landowners may be unfairly burdened with the cost of maintaining heritage buildings in the public interest, without any financial compensation from the public purse. Some religious denominations and school boards have also expressed concerns with the new legislation, as both groups have numerous heritage buildings as part of their land holdings and they fear that the Act will prevent them from realising any value from such properties.
Heritage advocates, however, have applauded the new legislation, as it provides a legal mechanism to protect heritage properties in Ontario with some degree of finality.
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PhotoShop Elements 5: lasso tool (crop), posterization,ink outlines
Mural entitled "Rising Water" by Kevin Burdick aka @kevscraps for Bright Walls 2022, seen at 141 East Michigan Avenue in Jackson, Michigan.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Tribute to Vivian Maier" by Eduardo Kobra aka @kobrastreetart on a house at 1651 West North Avenue at Paulina Street in the Bucktown area of Chicago, Illinois.
The Mandevilla at the front of the house still looks good. This is the first year I planted MandevillFrom my set entitled “Mandevilla”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607213952426/
In my collection entitled “The Garden”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandevilla
Mandevilla, sometimes also called Dipladenia,[1] is a genus of plants. It consists of about 100 species, mostly tropical and subtropical flowering vines belonging to the family Apocynaceae, the Periwinkle family.
Mandevilla is native to Central and South America and many Mandevillas come originally from the Organ Mountains forests near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The genus was named after Henry Mandeville (1773-1861), a British diplomat and gardener.[1]
Mandevillas develop spectacular flowers in warm climates. The flowers come in a variety of colours, including white, pink, yellow, and red. As climbers, Mandevillas can be trained against a wall or trellis to provide a leafy green and often flowering picture of beauty. They have a tendency to attract insects like mealybugs and scales.
While Mandevilla scabra is sometimes as an additive to the psychedelic drink Ayahuasca, there is no evidence that it is psychoactive in its own right.[2] It is, however, considered to be toxic.[3]
a, but it won't be the last.
Mural entitled "Salty Saucette" by SKELA aka @sanguineskills, seen at 2595 Larimer Street in Denver, Colorado.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Theater of Life" by Careth Arnold aka @carethca, seen in the 1400 Block of 5th Way in the Rosemary District of Sarasota, Florida.
"cemetery of Taormina: an Angel seems to write on the monument of a boy who died at 17, the epitaph reports: born on 2 August 1871, to all joys, to all hopes, he died, at only seventeen, never the death, there were more ferocious pitfalls in the promises of life"
“cimitero di Taormina: un Angelo sembra scrivere sul momumento di un ragazzo morto a 17 anni, l'epitaffio riporta: nato nel di 2 agosto 1871, a tutte le gioje, a tutte le speranze, morì, a soli diciassette anni, non mai la morte, celo' più feroci le insidie, nelle promesse della vita”
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The photographer Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden: and some "secret stories” of Taormina ...
At the age of about 11-12, I made a very particular discovery, I found a fair number of ancient photographs (they had been well hidden by my grandmother) inside an ancient chest of drawers in our house in Taormina, for me it was a huge surprise, the a taste for the forbidden appeared in me for the first time, they were black and white photographs, they portrayed naked boys, or only partially dressed in drapes or sheets, they were posed to imitate certain statues (or drawings) of the Greco-Roman period; I was very intrigued by them, every now and then I went to look at them, without ever feeling discomfort, I did not consider them vulgar photographs. Some of the photos were the size of a postcard, others of various sizes increasingly larger, up to a format similar to A3; on the back there were stamps, there were also, inside small red cardboard boxes, glass plates, not large, looking at them against the light, they let us glimpse images of naked boys, or only partially dressed: they were photographic negatives made on glass plates. What was that particular photographic material hidden by my grandmother in the dresser of our house? Let's take a step back in time let's teleport to April 2, 1787 when the German poet, narrator, playwright Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) lands in Palermo, following his Grand Tour in Italy (the word "tourism" derives from it) he will say of Sicily that it is a place of splendor, beauty and harmony, but at the same time a place of poverty, suffering, misery and social injustice; Goethe wrote the book "Journey to Italy", revealing himself to be one of Italy's most passionate admirers, stating that "Sicily is the key to everything" (the incredible resemblance of thought with the great Sicilian writer and journalist Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) who published in 1979 the book entitled “Sicily as a metaphor”). At the time of Goethe (and for a long time to come) the knowledge of Sicily was made up of stereotyped ideas, it was considered a land of mysteries, a den of brigands, which aroused fear in travelers, tourism did not exist, very few knew a foreign language, journeys with carriages were slow, nothing strange therefore that Taormina was an unknown village at the time. Garibaldi, in the year 1860, frees Sicily from the domination of the Bourbons. In February 1863, Count Ottone (Otto) Geleng (1843-1939) arrives in Taormina from Germany, he is a landscape painter, he begins an intense pictorial activity, thus succeeding in making Taormina and its landscapes known in the various cultural circles of Germany and France. Count Otto thus invites the then painter (who later became a photographer) Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856-1931) to come to Taormina to treat his "subtle ache", pulmonary tuberculosis, which would have benefited from the mild climate of Sicily. Von Gloeden, twenty-two, arrived in Taormina in 1878, became passionate about photography by taking lessons from the local engineer and photographer Giuseppe Bruno (1836-1904), perhaps also a teacher of Giovanni Crupi (1859-1925), landscape photographer friend of von Gloeden, Crupi himself could also have contributed to the training as a photographer of the young von Gloeden. Like Otto Geleng's paintings, the photographs of the young Wilhelm also began to entice the then bourgeoisie across the border to come to Sicily: in the last 20 years of the 1800s the foundations were being laid for tourism in Sicily. The photographs taken by von Gloeden had as their subject young Sicilian adolescents dressed in the old-fashioned way with drapes, or completely naked, at most adorned with wreaths of flowers or laurel leaves placed on their heads, the young models assumed well-studied poses under the directed by the photographer baron, designed to create scenes that wanted to reconstruct the atmosphere of the mythical Arcadia (bucolic landscape of ancient Greece). In his poetics we can find the interest in disguise and transvestism, the young fisherman is made ambiguous by making him wear a wig, made resembling a young Sicilian girl; the images are not produced for the sole and mere trade, they are works that will be published in various famous magazines (such as "The National Geographic Magazine" or "the photographic progress", A. Stieglitz publishes his nudes on “Camera Notes"), also participating in international photographic exhibitions. The young models are filmed among ancient ruins, in rocky environments, outdoors, eliciting a spiritual feeling full of nostalgia, which follows pictorial models of German romanticism. In the photographic book "Verga photographer" (created on the discovery of 327 glass plates and 121 celluloid frames), in Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) great Sicilian narrator, it is possible to observe his photographs interwoven with "realism", while in the photographs of von Gloeden the symbolism andthe spiritualism predominate, however Wilhelm will also produce documentary-type photographs, photographing the terrible earthquake (and tsunami) of Messina (and Reggio Calabria) of 1908. Von Gloeden seems fully integrated into the Taormina society , nevertheless suffers heavy homophobic attacks from the local press and from important characters from Taormina, including Otto Geleng himself, who will be sued by the baron, which will then be withdrawn upon payment of 896 lire, and a restorative declaration published in the "Gazzetta di Messina" . Von Gloeden worked in his house-studio in front of the Hotel San Domenico Palace, with him lived his sister Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), daughter of his mother's first husband, who helped him manage the house-studio, and in the to receive the illustrious guests who visited him (such as Oscar Wilde, FA Krupp, Richard Strauss, the German emperor Wilhelm II, Eleonora Duse). Von Gloeden died on February 16, 1931 at the age of 74, he was buried in the non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina, his heir was his all-around assistant Pancrazio Buciunì known as "il moro" (1879-1963) ("u 'moru", family nickname), which continues the activity, selling the prints: he undergoes two searches in full fascist regime with partial seizure and destruction of the photographic material that belonged to von Gloeden (fascism persecuted homosexuals, the repression of homosexuality was entrusted to the fascist police, which confined many homosexuals to the islands of the Mediterranean, Lipari was one of these, see the beautiful film by Ettore Scola "a special day"), Buciunì undergoes two trials for detention of obscene material, and, despite an adverse appraisal by the appointed expert prof. Stefano Bottari, holder of the chair of history of medieval and modern art at the University of Messina, who declares much of the seized material obscene, the Court of Messina, demonstrating tolerance and open-mindedness, acquits Buciunì. At this point in the story we return to my grandmother's dresser and reveal the little mystery: the hidden photographs belonged to my great-grandfather Don Gaetano D'Agata (1883-1949), von Gloeden's assistant photographer, also on the baron's teaching, he made nude photographs, as well as landscape or portrait photographs; Don Gaetano was a globetrotter, in our family album he is portrayed in various parts of the world, always in the company of beautiful women: but I will never know if those "forbidden photos" were taken by my great-grandfather Gaetano or by Von Gloeden himself, because my grandmother, having understood that I was going to peek at them in secret, made them disappear permanently, and I never heard anymore of that photographic material. For my part, it is only right to mention other figures who contributed to making Taormina the current destination for international tourism. Lady Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), was Queen Victoria's lady-in-waiting, she was then sent into exile in various parts of the world by Queen herself, she arrived in Taormina and stayed there forever, she was a woman of exceptional gifts, endowed with great sensitivity and humanity, animal rights activist, philanthropist, passionate about esotericism, she was married to the then mayor and doctor of Taormina dr. Salvatore Cacciola, she were one of the first women admitted to world Freemasonry (her husband Cacciola also belonged to Freemasonry): I have already talked about it previously in one of my photographic stories. On the occasion of the XXI festival of the two worlds in Spoleto, in 1978, the essayist and literary critic Roland Barthes (1915-1980) curated an exhibition entitled "Wilhelm von Gloeden", with interventions by artists such as Andy Warhol, M. Pistoletto and J. Beuys. Finally, Raffaella Perna, Researcher in History of Contemporary Art at the University of Catania, underlines in her book on "Wilhelm von Gloeden, disguises, portraits, tableaux vivants", of how LaChapelle, Witkin, Mapplethorpe are the contemporary artists who they are indicated as heirs of von Gloeden's poetics.
P.S. Von Gloeden's photographs were made by photographing both the large panels with gigantographic reproductions of von Gloeden's works, which are located at the entrance of the Mocambo bar in Taormina, and in the shop-bazaar of the photographer from Taormina, my late friend, Nino Malmbrì (owner of the baron's original photographic material). The photographs of Gaetano D’Agata, were taken from my family album: in a photo a little damaged, but exceptional for its historical and emotional value, my great-grandfather, the photographer Gaetano D'Agata, here very young, holds his daughter "Ninitta" (a of the four children, had by three wives), she is my paternal grandmother; in another photo, the photographer Gaetano D'Agata poses next to her a few years later, with my grandmother already a young girl; always made by great-grandfather D'Agata there is both a portrait photo, a close-up, of my very young grandmother "Ninitta", and there is a photo of her posing as a peasant girl, with a painted backdrop behind her, as if used in studio photos; finally I put two photos taken by my great-grandfather Gaetano "en plein air" of bathers, "the location" is the beach of Mazzarò (Taormina). The photographs of the tombstones of the characters mentioned in the story were taken in the Catholic and non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina; the monumental funerary complex of Count Otto Geleng at the top presents the bust of his son Ermanno, the presence of symbolisms such as the hourglass, the rooster, the book (the Holy Bible) and the god mercury, makes me believe that Count Otto was part of the Masonic lodge of Taormina, at the time the mayor of Taormina was also part of it, dr. Cacciola and his wife Lady Florence Trevelyan: in his palace, Dr. Cacciola, built a temple, which became the first Masonic lodge in Taormina: the "Renaissance" (1904).
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Il barone fotografo Wilhelm von Gloeden: ed alcune “storie segrete” di Taormina …
Io, all’età di circa 11-12 anni, feci una scoperta molto particolare, trovai un discreto numero di antiche fotografie (erano state ben nascoste da mia nonna) dentro un antico comò in casa nostra a Taormina, per me fu una enorme sorpresa, il gusto del proibito si affacciò in me per la prima volta, erano fotografie in bianco e nero, ritraevano ragazzi nudi, o solo in parte vestiti con drappi o lenzuoli, messi in posa imitavano certe statue (o disegni) del periodo greco-romano; io ne ero rimasto molto incuriosito, ogni tanto le andavo a riguardare, senza mai provare disagio, non le consideravo fotografie volgari. Alcune foto erano della grandezza di una cartolina, altre di varie dimensioni sempre più grandi, fino ad arrivare ad un formato assimilabile all’A3; sul retro c’erano impressi dei timbri, c’erano anche, dentro dei piccoli scatoli in cartoncino di colore rosso, delle lastrine in vetro, non grandi, guardandole in controluce, lasciavano intravedere immagini di ragazzi nudi, o poco vestiti: erano i negativi fotografici realizzati su vetro. Cosa ci faceva quel materiale fotografico, così particolare, nascosto da mia nonna nel comò di casa nostra? Facciamo un salto indietro nel tempo teletrasportiamoci al 2 aprile 1787 quando a Palermo sbarca il poeta, narratore, drammaturgo tedesco Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), in seguito al suo Grand Tour in Italia (turismo deriva da esso) dirà della Sicilia che essa è luogo di splendore, bellezza ed armonia, ma al tempo stesso luogo di povertà, sofferenza, miseria ed ingiustizia sociale; Goethe scrive il libro “Viaggio in Italia”, rivelandosi uno dei più appassionati ammiratori dell’Italia, affermando che “la Sicilia è la chiave di tutto” (incredibile la rassomiglianza di pensiero col grande scrittore e giornalista siciliano Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) che pubblica nel 1979 il libro dal titolo “la Sicilia come metafora”). Ai tempi di Goethe (e per molto tempo ancora) la conoscenza della Sicilia era fatta di idee stereotipate, era considerata terra di misteri, covo di briganti, il che incuteva timore nei viaggiatori, il turismo non esisteva, pochissimi conoscevano una lingua straniera, i viaggi con carrozze ertano lenti, nulla di strano quindi che Taormina fosse all’epoca un villaggio sconosciuto. Garibaldi, nell’anno 1860, libera la Sicilia dalla dominazione dei Borboni. Nel febbraio del 1863, dalla Germania giunge a Taormina il conte Ottone (Otto) Geleng (1843-1939), egli è un pittore paesaggista, inizia una intensa attività pittorica, riuscendo in tal modo a far conoscere Taormina ed i suoi paesaggi nei vari circoli culturali della Germania e della Francia. Il conte Otto invita così l’allora pittore (poi divenuto fotografo) barone Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856-1931) a venire a Taormina per curare il suo “mal sottile”, la tubercolosi polmonare, che avrebbe tratto giovamento dal clima mite della Sicilia. Von Gloeden, ventiduenne, nel 1878 giunge a Taormina, si appassiona alla fotografia prendendo lezioni dall’ingegnere e fotografo locale Giuseppe Bruno (1836-1904), forse anche insegnante di Giovanni Crupi (1859-1925), fotografo paesaggista amico di von Gloeden, il quale Crupi stesso potrebbe anche aver contribuito alla formazione come fotografo del giovane von Gloeden. Così come i dipinti di Otto Geleng, anche le fotografie del giovane Wilhelm incominciarono ad invogliare l’allora borghesia d’oltre confine, a venire in Sicilia: negli ultimi 20 anni dell’800 si stavano gettando le basi per il turismo in Sicilia. Le fotografie realizzate da von Gloeden avevano come soggetto giovani adolescenti siciliani vestiti all’antica con drappi, o completamente nudi, tutt’al più adornati da coroncine di fiorellini o foglie d’alloro messi sul capo, i giovani modelli assumevano pose ben studiate sotto la regia del barone fotografo, atte a realizzare scene che volevano ricostruire l’atmosfera della mitica Arcadia (paesaggio bucolico dell’antica Grecia). Nella sua poetica possiamo riscontrare l’interesse per il travestimento ed il travestitismo, il giovane pescatore viene reso ambiguo facendogli indossare una parrucca, reso somigliante ad una giovane ragazza siciliana; le immagini non vengono prodotte per il solo e mero commercio, sono opere che verranno pubblicate su varie riviste famose (come “The National Geographic Magazine” o “Il Progresso fotografico”, A. Stieglitz pubblica i suoi nudi su “Camera Notes”), partecipando anche ad esposizioni fotografiche internazionali. I giovani modelli sono ripresi tra antichi ruderi, in ambienti rupestri, all’aperto, elicitando un sentimento spirituale carico di nostalgia, il che ricalca modelli pittorici del romanticismo tedesco. Nel libro fotografico “Verga fotografo” (realizzato su ritrovamento di 327 lastre in vetro e 121 fotogrammi in celluloide), in Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) grande narratore siciliano, è possibile osservare le sue fotografie intessute di “verismo”, mentre nelle fotografie di von Gloeden predomina il simbolismo e lo spiritualismo, purtuttavia Wilhelm produrrà anch’egli fotografie di tipo documentaristico, andando a fotografare il terribile terremoto (e maremoto) di Messina (e di Reggio Calabria) del 1908. Von Gloeden sembra pienamente integrato nella società taorminese, ciononostante subisce pesanti attacchi omofobi dalla stampa locale e da importanti personaggi taorminesi, incluso lo stesso Otto Geleng, i quali verranno querelati dal barone, querela che verrà poi ritirata dietro pagamento di 896 lire, ed una dichiarazione riparatoria pubblicata sulla “Gazzetta di Messina”. Von Gloeden lavorava nella sua casa-studio di fronte l’Hotel San Domenico Palace, con lui viveva sua sorella Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), figlia del primo marito di sua madre, che lo aiutava a governare la casa-studio, e nel ricevere gli illustri ospiti che lo andavano a trovare ( come Oscar Wilde, F.A. Krupp, Richard Strauss, l’imperatore tedesco Guglielmo II, Eleonora Duse). Von Gloeden muore il 16 febbraio 1931 all’età di 74 anni, viene sepolto nel cimitero acattolico di Taormina, il suo erede è il suo assistente tutto fare Pancrazio Buciunì detto “il moro” (1879-1963) (“u’ moru”, soprannome di famiglia), che ne prosegue l’attività, vendendone le stampe: il quale subisce in pieno regime fascista due perquisizioni con parziale sequestro e distruzione del materiale fotografico che apparteneva a von Gloeden (il fascismo perseguitò gli omosessuali, la repressione dell’omosessualità fu affidata alla polizia fascista, che confinò molti omosessuali nelle isole del mediterraneo, Lipari fu una di queste, vedi il bellissimo film di Ettore Scola “una giornata particolare”), Buciunì subisce due processi per detenzione di materiale osceno, e, nonostante una perizia avversa da parte del nominato perito prof. Stefano Bottari, titolare della cattedra di storia dell’arte medioevale e moderna dell’Università di Messina, che dichiara osceno gran parte del materiale sequestrato, il Tribunale di Messina dimostrando tolleranza ed apertura mentale, assolve il Buciunì. A questo punto del racconto ritorniamo al comò di mia nonna e sveliamo il piccolo mistero: le fotografie nascoste appartenevano al mio bisnonno don Gaetano D’Agata (1883-1949), assistente fotografo di von Gloeden, anch’egli sull’insegnamento del barone, realizzò fotografie di nudo, oltre che di paesaggio o ritratto; don Gaetano era un giramondo, nel nostro album di famiglia lui è ritratto in varie parti del mondo, sempre in compagnia di belle donne: ma io non saprò mai se quelle “foto proibite” erano realizzate dal mio bisnonno Gaetano o da Von Gloeden stesso, perché mia nonna, avendo capito che le andavo a sbirciare di nascosto, le fece sparire definitivamente, e di quel materiale fotografico non ne seppi più nulla. Da parte mia, è doveroso citare altre figure che contribuirono a rendere Taormina l’attuale meta del turismo internazionale. Lady Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), era dama di corte della regina Vittoria, dalla stessa regina Lady Florence fu poi mandata in esilio in varie parti del mondo, giunse a Taormina e qui vi restò per sempre, era una donna dalle doti eccezionali, dotata di grande sensibilità ed umanità, animalista, filantropa, appassionata di esoterismo, fu sposa dell’allora sindaco e medico di Taormina dott. Salvatore Cacciola, fu una delle prime donne ammesse alla massoneria mondiale (apparteneva alla massoneria anche il marito Cacciola): ne ho già parlato in precedenza in un mio racconto fotografico. Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873-1947) era un pittore britannico omosessuale, egli lasciò l’Inghilterra a causa dell’emendamento Labouchere, che rendeva illegale qualsiasi atto omosessuale nel Regno Unito (1885), giunse a Taormina e qui si stabilì, costruendo nel 1905 Casa Cusani, una villa con vista sull’Etna, oggi casa museo; nella sua sala da pranzo si trovano gli affreschi “proibiti” realizzati da Frank Brangwyn, essi narrano dell’amore omosessuale tra Kitson ed il suo compagno Carlo Siligato: nel 1908 in seguito al terremoto che distrusse Messina (e Reggio Calabria), essi adottarono un bambino che era rimasto orfano, divenendo di fatto una famiglia omosessuale, all’epoca assolutamente proibita; gli affreschi di Casa Cuseni sono ispirati alle fotografie di von Gloeden, così come nella villa, si trova una “autocromia a colori” del 1910, realizzata da von Gloeden, documento eccezionale che testimonia la volontà del barone di sperimentare nuove tecniche. In occasione del XXI festival dei due mondi di Spoleto, nel 1978, il saggista e critico letterario Roland Barthes (1915-1980) cura una mostra intitolata “Wilhelm von Gloeden”, con interventi di artisti quali Andy Warhol, M. Pistoletto e J. Beuys. Infine, Raffaella Perna, Ricercatrice in Storia dell'arte contemporanea all'Università degli Studi di Catania, sottolinea nel suo libro su “Wilhelm von Gloeden, travestimenti, ritratti, tableaux vivants”, di come LaChapelle, Witkin, Mapplethorpe siano gli artisti contemporanei che vengono indicati come eredi della poetica di von Gloeden.
P.S. le fotografie di Von Gloeden sono state realizzate fotografando sia i grandi pannelli con gigantografiche riproduzioni delle opere di von Gloeden, che si trovano all’ingresso del bar Mocambo di Taormina, sia nel negozio-bazar del fotografo taorminese, compianto mio amico, Nino Malmbrì (possessore di materiale fotografico originale del barone). Le fotografie di Gaetano D’Agata, sono state prese dal mio album di famiglia: in una foto un pò rovinata, ma eccezionale per il suo valore storico e per me affettivo, il mio bisnonno, il fotografo Gaetano D'Agata, qui molto giovane, tiene in braccio sua figlia "Ninitta" (una dei quattro figli, avuti da tre mogli), lei è la mia nonna paterna; in un'altra foto, il fotografo Gaetano D'Agata posa accanto a lei qualche anno dopo, con mia nonna già ragazzina; sempre realizzate dal bisnonno D'Agata c'è sia un foto-ritratto, un primo piano, di mia nonna "Ninitta" molto giovane, e c'è la foto di lei mentre posa come contadinella, con dietro un fondale dipinto, come si usava nelle foto da studio; infine ho messo, due foto realizzate dal mio bisnonno Gaetano "en plein air" a delle bagnanti, "la location" è la spiaggia di Mazzarò (Taormina). Le fotografie delle tombe dei personaggi menzionati nel racconto, sono state fatte nel cimitero cattolico ed acattolico di Taormina; il complesso monumentale funerario del conte Otto Geleng in alto presenta il mezzobusto del figlio Ermanno, la presenza di simbolismi come la clessidra, il gallo, il libro (la Sacra Bibbia) ed il dio mercurio, mi fa ritenere che il conte Otto facesse parte della loggia massonica di Taormina, all’epoca ne faceva parte anche il sindaco di Taormina, dott. Cacciola e sua moglie Lady Florence Trevelyan: nel suo palazzo il dott. Cacciola, realizzò un tempio, che divenne la prima loggia massonica di Taormina : la "Rinascimento"(1904).
Mural entitled "Born Modern" by SPAGNOLA aka @dustinspagnola, seen at 6430 North Cahuenga Boulevard in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
This creation is entitled “Charleston Mansion.” This mansion is an example of antebellum architecture which typifies the homes along the battery of Charleston Harbor in South Carolina. The mansion has three floors flanked by galleries, a large attic with a dormer window and is crowned with a belvedere from where one can view Fort Sumter across Charleston Harbor. It has a private balcony on the third floor as well as a two-story solarium at the back of the house. The mansion is 22 inches wide, 21 inches in length and 27 inches tall and is landscaped with lush shrubbery, flowers and palmetto trees.
Mural entitled "Forward Momentum" by Jen Wrubles aka @wrubles seen on the wall of the MadLab Theater at 227 North 3rd Street in Columbus, Ohio.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Robin Williams" by @cobreart located at Market Street and Golden Gate in San Francisco, California.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Long Live" by Johann Avendano aka @johann_art, seen at 318 NW 25th Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
In this allegory entitled "Divine Grace and Human Works", at centre is a gloriously depicted Angel directing a farmer's attention to the Sun.
The story being told here is that without the Sun, the farmer's labour achieves little. Just as the Sun is needed to grow the farmer's crops, God's Grace is needed to bring forth and sanctify the spiritual works of men.
This fresco also commemorates Saints Clare of Montefalco, Benedict Joseph Labre, Lawrence of Brindisi and Giovanni Battista De Rossi. All of them were canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881. They are the four persons in the background depicted with haloes here.
[ There are notes with more information on each embedded in the image; they are viewable only on a PC. ]
The inscription "Gratia Dei et Contentione Voluntatis Excellentiam Virtutis Adipiscimur" very roughly translates as God's Grace Brings Excellence.
Pio Clementino Museum, Vatican Museums; July 2019
I’ve posted a collage that created from a few shots taken a few years ago in Tallinn, Estonia.
I created the collage after watching an interesting documentary produced by a former client, Charlie Stewart entitled Estonia - The Baltic Tiger
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqLJA7sXD-c
The documentary fronted by Lesley Riddoch is about how Estonia, a small north European gained its independence. "It sees itself as a forgotten Nordic nation, sharing its language, forest and bog-covered topography and Baltic location with Finland. And its widely regarded as Europe’s Digital Tiger economy, performing an incredible transformation from terrible poverty in the wake of reestablishing independence just 30 years ago."
Entitled: Produce & Wares From Shops Along The Sides Of A Typical Backstreet, Western District, Hong Kong Island [c1946] H Morrison [RESTORED] Minor spotting, contrast and tonal adjustments, with a final sepia.
Hedda Morrison was a tremendous resource for images from the latter part of the Republican China years, photographing extensively with a 2 1/4 Rolleiflex Twin Lens (my personal roll film favorite) during her 13 year stay in China (from 1933 - 1946). Coincidentally, she then married into the family of and bears the name of another very famous China photographer; she married George Ernest Morrison's son, Alastair in 1946. Besides photography in China, she was also known for a large body of image work in Malaysia and Australia (where she died in 1991). Her husband, generously donated her life's work, divided between Harvard University and Australia's Power House Museum of Science & Design.
This image was found on Harvard University's VIA (Visual Information Access) Search Engine under Record Identifier olvwork351358. A notation with the image states:
"Signs advertise printers, rubber stamp makers and business stationery suppliers."
Entitled: Kidnapped Girls, Foochow, China [1904] Attribution Unk [RESTORED] I did simple spot corrections, contrast and tonal adjustments and added a cool tone, similar to the old selenium effect on bromide paper.
The picture was found in the Edward Bangs Drew Collection held in the Harvard-Yenching Library of Harvard University. The accompanying information stated:
"Kidnapped girls, Foochow, Found hidden in a junk by customs inspector. These girls would have been sold for slaves. Chinese characters on mount, left of image." The info also stated that the scene was in Fuzhou, Fujian Sheng, China.
However, those Chinese characters printed on the mount tell a slightly different story:
"Kidnapped male and female children, totaling forty one, being held in foster homes, Lam Hing Lan Company, Recovered from ship in open seas. Customs detention of 23 kidnappers ."
If one examines the photograph closely, it become rather evident that several of the children are indeed, boys (by their clothing and hair styles). Only 27 of the supposed 41 child victims appear in the picture.
The selling of children into a life of servitude was not uncommon in China, as slaves were owned by many wealthy families. Poor families often looked upon it with a benign fatalism as a child sold into slavery was still better than a child starving to death. However, quite a few unscrupulous people kidnapped their neighbor's children to fuel this sad economy. The kidnapping and selling of children (and even adults) continues to be a lucrative business in China, to this day.