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Recently my friend Bill Storage asked a question in DeletemeUncensored titled "What's Wrong With Flickr." The thread wasn't meant to complain about Flickr but to talk about how Flickr could be improved if one were starting from scratch. I wrote a couple of long responses out to Bill in the thread, but thought that some of the ideas really belonged in a longer-form blog post.
Alot of people give me crap for criticizing Flickr. They ask me why I use Flickr if "hate" it so much. The fact of the matter is that I don't hate Flickr at all. In fact I love Flickr (even if they don't love me anymore). I spend more time on Flickr than any other site on the web. I think Flickr represents the best place on the web for a photographer to share photos today and I think as a whole that Flickr is one of the cultural gems of our lifetime. What's more, a lot of the stuff on Flickr works really, really well and is really really great.
That said, I've always viewed criticism as a positive thing. As something that helps us improve and grow. Hopefully we learn from our critics and hopefully one can view suggestions as opportunities for improvement rather than simple mindless negativity. I blog alot about Flickr because I care about Flickr. I care about photography on the web. I care about the greater Flickr community and I want to see it get better and better. So don't see this list as a bitch list about Flickr, rather see it as some honest ways that Flickr can improve.
1. Improve the process on how account and group deletions are handled. Flickr is increasingly becoming known as a place that deletes accounts willy nilly without warning. Flickr's "Community Guidelines" are notoriously vague (you can be deleted without warning on Flickr for being "that guy" or if Flickr feels that you are "creepy.")
Many of my friends have had their entire accounts deleted for pretty minor offenses that are not specifically prohibited in more specific language in the TOS. In some cases photos with historical significance have been permanently lost. A while back Flickr nuked a group that I administered killing thousands of permanent threads. Thousands of threads by a group with thousands of members. Threads about cameras, workflows, photographic techniques, etc. Institutional knowledge stricken from the web forever.
Flickr really only should nuke accounts or groups as a matter of absolute last resort. They should try to work with their members (especially their long-term and paying members) if they find content that they object to. They should give members opportunities to take self-corrective action before just pulling the plug on their account. If they object to a single thread or a single image, they should just delete that image rather than nuking a user's entire account.
When Flickr nukes a group or an account it says to a user, "I don't respect you or your data." It creates an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty is bad for community.
At Flickr when they nuke your account it is also permanent and irrevocable. There is no undo button. Even if Flickr staff mistakenly deletes an account or if a hacker maliciously deletes your account, there is no getting that data back. It's gone forever.
Flickr could probably very easily create a system where deleted accounts are simply turned completely private and inaccessible from the web without actually removing all of the data. They could then give a user an opportunity to fix whatever they have a problem with in order to get their account turned back on. This would be a far better way of managing community than Flickr does at present.
2. Create a more robust blocking tool. Today at Flickr when you block someone, all it means is that they can't fave or comment on your photos. This is a very weak blocking system. If someone really wants to harass you blocking them does nothing. They can still comment on photos after you do so that their comments show up in your recent activity. They can still follow you around in groups and post things that you're forced to look at etc. Especially with cheap throw away troll accounts this creates unnecessary conflict on the site.
A few years back, over at FriendFeed, they developed a far more robust blocking system. When you block someone on FriendFeed they become entirely invisible to you. Not only can they not comment in your threads, anyplace else they post on the site is made invisible to you. They are wiped off the planet as far as you are concerned.
Now this would accomplish a few things at flickr. First it would give users far more control over eliminating anything that they found personally offensive or negative on the site. You don't like my paintings of nudes from a museum and don't like seeing them when you search for the de Young Museum? Fine. Then block me and you never see any of my content again. You don't like someone who uses language that you find offensive in a group post? Fine, block them as well.
Second though, this sort of tool would encourage more civil interaction between users. If a user creates a troll account and starts behaving badly. They are quickly blocked and become irrelevant. This encourages them not to troll creating a more positive experience for the rest of us.
Many of the personality clashes that occur on Flickr could be avoided if Flickr simply empowered the user to block more robustly.
3. SmartSets. Having to manually construct sets is an incredibly inefficient way to build and maintain your sets. That's why I use Jeremy Brooks' SuprSetr. It's probably the best third-party app ever built for Flickr. Flickr should hire Jeremy in fact as he's doing groundbreaking work here, but that's another topic.
Flickr should consider building SuprSetr technology directly into their Organize section. Let users build sets by keywords. It makes it much easier for users to build and maintain their sets. If I build a Las Vegas set for instance. In the future every single photo of mine keyworded Las Vegas, automatically gets added to this set when I run SuprSetr. Very slick.
4. Better Group thread management. At present Flickr has a very strong and robust Groups section. Here users can create groups (and there are probably literally millions of groups at this point) and talk about whatever they want and post photos into a pool. Games have been created around groups. Businesses have set up groups. Local communities have created their own groups. There are niche groups about anything and everything -- from graffiti in South Florida to a specific neon sign in San Jose. Some groups have more robust discussion threads than others, but all offer this feature.
One of the problems with group threads on Flickr though is that you are constantly losing track of conversations that you are having because you have to manually go to each and every group to check the threads. If I post something in a group, but then don't remember to go back to that specific group and that specific thread, I have no way of knowing if someone has answered my question or commented after my thoughts or whatever.
Flickr should create a page that aggregates all of the group threads that you are participating in or have chosen to follow. This page would encompass all threads from all group in a nice aggregated section. This way if you posted a really important question in a group three months ago that someone has finally got around to answering, you will actually see it, the moment it is bumped to the top of your aggregator.
Flickr should also allow you to hide group threads. Both in your aggregator as well as in the more general group view. If I don't care about the latest Pentax camera (because I'm a Canon 5D M2 owner) I should be able to mute that thread in the group and never see it again. This would also help decrease negative trolling and bumping of threads on the site as offensive threads could just be hidden by a user if they didn't want to see it.
5. Kill explore and replace it with a recommendation system based on your contact's/friends photos. Flickr blacklisted me from Explore a while back after I wrote a negative blog post about actions that someone on their community management team had taken. They capped my photos in it at 666 (cute huh?). But this isn't why I don't like Explore. There's a whole thread called "So I Accidentally Clicked on Explore" in DMU devoted to crappy photos that end up in Explore. The problem with Explore is that it largely shows you photos that you are less interested in. Broad general popular photos of cliches. Sunsets and kittens as the saying goes.
If I choose to follow people on Flickr, I'm probably much more interested in their style of photography or them personally than I am images in Explore. Maybe I'm a graffiti writer and am most interested in graffiti photos. Maybe my thing is mannequins. Maybe I want to see photos of classic cars. Whatever. Instead of presenting the community what Flickr feels is the best of the whole community, show each member the best of their contacts each, day, week, month. I would be far more interested in the photos of people that I actually follow, like, know, etc. Maybe Aunt Edna's photo of her dog will never hit Flickr's explore. But it just might hit my own personalized explore and because I know Aunt Edna and she is my contact, it might be a much more rewarding experience for me to see than say another random dog shot from a user that I don't even know.
Flickr does have a page that shows your contacts most recent uploads, but this page is very limited and only shows the most recent 1 or 5 photos. There is also no way to filter it so that you see the photos that are faved/commented on the most and are likely to be the more interesting photos.
Get rid of Explore and replace it with something that is focused much more on your contacts than people you don't even know. A personalized Explore would be a far more interesting page.
6. Improve Group Search. I have no idea why Group Search sucks so badly on Flickr but it does. Frequently you will search for terms that you've posted in group thread conversations and Flickr will not return the thread where the word exists. I would think that Yahoo! should know a few things about search and am surprised that searching for threads in groups has been so spotty for so many years. I have no idea why this is so bad, but it shouldn't be.
7. Improve Data Portability. Flickr gives lipservice to data portability, but is not serious about it. As long as 99% of Flickr users can't or won't figure out how to move their photos easily to another site they are just fine with things. Functional lock in. The data that we put on Flickr is our data. It belongs to us. We are paying Flickr to hold it for us, but it belongs to us.
Recently my friend Adam wrote up a post on a help forum post about the language Flickr uses for encouraging people to buy Pro accounts. They said that they felt that Flickr is holding your photos hostage (beyond the 200 photo free limit) if you don't upgrade to Pro. Only Pro accounts have access to original images on Flickr.
Flickr should let any member get their photos out of Flickr at any time. Further they should offer competitors API keys to allow them to build service to service direct transfer applications to move your photos to another service if you want. If I don't want to renew my Pro account on Flickr and want to move my photos to Picasa, this should be as easy as me pressing a single button and having all of my photos transfer over.
Today it is very difficult and clunky to get your photos off of flickr. A few third party apps are available, but there are lots of problems with them. They fail if you have too many photos. They are only Windows based, etc. etc. Flickr has functional lock in and holds photos in a silo while talking about how they allow you to get your photos out of Flickr. Flickr should follow the lead of Google here and publicly both state and help make our data more portable. This ought to be part of being a good web citizen today.
8. Uncensor Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Germany and Maktoob.com. At present Flickr censors content to these places. It's still mind boggling to me that a photo of a painting that I took in the Art Institute of Chicago can't be seen by people in India. Trying to censor the world's web is messy business. Flickr/Yahoo should take a stand for freedom and uncensor these locations. Google last year took a bold step of choosing to walk about from China rather than censor results there. Yahoo should stand for freedom and stop censoring in these places.
9. Let people sell their photos for stock photography. Flickr missed the boat by giving away stock photography to Getty Images. Stock photography is probably the single easiest way for Yahoo to dramatically increase the profitability of Flickr. Getty Images represents a tiny fraction of the images available on Flickr. The Flickr/Getty deal was probably done as a defensive move by Getty more than anything to keep Yahoo out of the multi billion dollar market that is stock photography today. What resulted is that users get a paltry 20% payout for a very small number of their images that can be sold.
Flickr could be a far more formidable competitor to Getty. Flickr has the size and market share to dramatically disrupt this market. The stock photography marketplace is *far* more complicated than this. But oversimplifying things, Flickr should offer two collections for sale (if a user chooses to offer their photos for sale). Cleared photos and uncleared photos. Uncleared photos should pay more to the photographer than cleared photos. Cleared photos would be reviewed by a team of stock photography experts (Yahoo could even buy one of the smaller stock agencies that already has experience clearing images) and result in a lower payout to the photographer. By turning Flickr into the world's largest stock photography agency Yahoo could receive significant revenue from Flickr and Flickr photographers personally could benefit much more from posting their work there.
10. Build a better mobile app. The Yahoo built mobile app for Flickr sucks ass (sorry). As I understand it, it wasn't even developed by the Flickr team. Over at Quora former Flickr Engineer Kellan Elliott-McCrea answers the question, "Why did Flickr miss the mobile photo opportunity that Instagram and picplz are pursuing?" There is no compelling mobile Flickr experience today.
Recently, one of my favorite Flickr photographers, Michael Wilbur, deleted his entire Flickr account and is now one of the most popular photographers on Instagram. Flickr needs to develop a more compelling mobile experience. Part of this should be a very easy way to view group threads via mobile.
There you go. Food for thought. And keep on flickering.
Trying another thing. I'd like to do this with medium format film because I think one of my Bronica lenses will be up for it, or maybe extension tubes on the mamiya 645. But that'll be difficult (for the sitter) because there would need to be 7 or so film changes. Work in progress ...
Titled so because it does look very low down and 'sleek' from certain angles.
Been away for a few days but back now.
Oh by the way, (I know it's a weird thing to ask :P) do you like my new buddy icon? Or should I just change back and wait for another, better pic to come along?
Titled- 'Dreaming of Oz'
She sits in the destruction of what is, dreaming of what was and never moving forward to the possibilities of what awaits her at the end of her overgrown driveway.
I have titled this series Romanesque England, and so far it does correspond fairly well to what we have seen. Today however, and for the last church in the series, we visit a truly pre-Romanesque wonder, which also claims to be the oldest wooden church in the world: Saint Andrew in the hamlet of Greensted-juxta-Ongar (isn’t that a delicious name in and of itself?) in Essex.
There have been various attempts at dendrochronology dating on the timbers, bringing back results ranging from 845 to 1055 (the latter with a margin of error of 10 to 55 years). The differing results are not surprising: even though the best oak wood was certainly selected for the walls, it is to be expected that a lesser specimen went undetected and had to be replaced a couple hundred years down the road. The oldest parts (the walls of the nave) indeed appear to be what we in Continental Europe would call Carolingian, and even though that church was subjected to a lot of later alterations (the chancel is 16th century and the wooden tower 17th), it retains a unique and enormously attractive atmosphere as an ancient place of worship. The southern porch and three dormer windows were also added during the 17th century, and unfortunately further remodeled during the extensive Victorian “restoration” this church had to undergo —or should I say withstand?
Archæologists even tell us that a previous, very basic church, probably existed here as early as the late 500s, as traces of it have been found under the present chancel, which replaced an earlier, timber-made one. It may even have succeeded a more ancient, and Pagan, place of worship: early Christianity is known for having so “appropriated” (or should I say “expropriated”?) temples and oratories of cults it sought to replace. Building a church over them was a convenient way to obliterate previous constructions, effectively wiping them from the sight of the next generation —and generational succession happened quickly in those times when life was terribly short. Memory often remained through spoken tradition, though, and sometimes still remains to this day, albeit deformed by the many retellings...
Most of the generations that came before, say, the second half of the 20th century, either didn’t care about maintaining old buildings they inherited from their forefathers, or didn’t know how to do the job properly. They razed and replaced, or they maimed and rent, however well-intentioned they may have been. Considering, it is kind of miraculous that this extremely old church, even more so as it is made of a material not as durable as stone, has managed to reach our times relatively unscathed, at least as far as the nave is concerned.
This is a must-see for anyone interested in the Middle Ages, a truly unique survivor of Carolingian times... even if finding it isn’t the easiest thing, even with a good satnav!
This narrow doorway is on the southern side of the chancel. I therefore assume it is from the 1500s as well, although I’m no great connoisseur of that period.
Titled:
"It's Not What You Take,
It's What You Bring Back"
by artist:
Thomas "Detour" Evans
The sculpture is crafted from 183 pieces of upcycled luggage and other items like a guitar, donated by Colorado residents.
The artwork is 26 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 8 feet high.
titled "resonance"
by Stefan Thelen
canvas is a vent building for the big dig tunnels directly beneath it
Part of a sign due to be demolished soon....I drove past yesterday....and a symbol of my birth county,,,,,#
Titled because Wordsworth wrote his famous poem ( I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud) up in the lakes, and all the clouds i saw always had plenty of company.
I realised that all the sunny shots i've been posting so far are massively misleading. This is much more like a bit of typical lake district weather, all the clouds you could wish for and the occasional bit of sunlight sneaking through and lighting up the landscape. Taken looking back towards the Langdales on the road to blea tarn. The 25% (1 in 4) gradient here just a gentle warm up for the stomach-churning 33% (1 in 3) gradient to come if you carry on to take the road to Eskdale over the Wrynose and Hardknott passes.
More from here in the second lake district blog, keswick and the road to Muncaster over on soul surfing.
You can also see a slideshow of the whole trip in the new Lake District gallery on my website.
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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
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Feel free to what it tells you.
Os invito a que expreseis lo que os dice esta imagen sin encauzar vuestra percepción con título alguno.
The climate crisis has been making its presence felt worldwide through various extreme weather conditions over the past weeks. Just last week, I read an article in The Guardian titled ‘Wild bird numbers are declining in the UK,’ highlighting concerns about the shrinking bird populations despite the government’s pledge to halt nature's decline by 2030. The article clearly states that without large-scale restoration efforts, the number of endangered species will undoubtedly rise. This would further disrupt ecosystems, altering vegetation and climate patterns, thereby threatening insects and birds’ feeding and breeding grounds—a claim hard to disagree with.
Global platforms like the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) play a crucial role in outlining steps to restore and protect nature. However, without robust environmental policies, these efforts often fall short.
Speaking of nature, Arctic air descended upon the UK last night, bringing unexpected snowfall. After weeks of dry and warm autumn days, waking up to a snow-covered landscape was a surprise for many. Despite my limited time, I grabbed my camera and ventured out to the wooded area behind our home. In about 30 minutes, I captured three shots that I hope you’ll enjoy:
An acrobatic Blue Tit clinging upside-down to snow-dusted autumn leaves with a morsel of food in its beak; a cheerful Robin, seemingly invigorated by the cold, singing as though it welcomed the frosty weather.
The Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), often simply called "blue tit," is a small and colorful bird belonging to the family Paridae, which includes tits, chickadees, and titmice.
Scientific classification: Cyanistes caeruleus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Genus: Cyanistes
Species: C. caeruleus
Physical Description:
Size: Blue Tits are small birds, measuring around 10 to 12 centimeters (4 to 4.7 inches) in length.
Weight: They typically weigh between 9 to 12 grams (0.3 to 0.4 ounces).
Coloration: They have vibrant blue and yellow plumage, with blue wings and tail, a yellow belly, and a distinctive blue cap on the head. The intensity of their colors can vary among individuals and populations.
Distribution: Blue Tits are native to Europe and parts of North Africa and Asia. They are widespread throughout their range.
Habitat: They inhabit a variety of wooded and shrubby areas, including forests, woodlands, parks, gardens, and urban areas. They are adaptable birds and can thrive in diverse habitats.
Diet: Blue Tits are primarily insectivorous, feeding on insects, caterpillars, spiders, and other invertebrates. They also consume seeds, nuts, berries, and occasionally feed on small fruits.
Foraging: They are agile and acrobatic birds, often seen hopping from branch to branch while foraging for food. They may also visit bird feeders, particularly during the winter months.
Breeding: Blue Tits typically breed from late April to June. They nest in tree holes, nest boxes, or other suitable cavities. The female lays a clutch of eggs (usually around 7 to 14 eggs) and incubates them for about two weeks. Both parents participate in feeding the chicks until they fledge, which usually occurs around 16 to 22 days after hatching.
Social Structure: Blue Tits are generally social birds and may form mixed-species flocks, especially during the non-breeding season. They communicate using a variety of vocalizations, including calls and songs.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern. Blue Tits have a large and stable population, and their range extends over a significant geographic area. However, local populations may face threats from habitat loss, pollution, and predation.
Cultural Significance:
Blue Tits are beloved by birdwatchers and are commonly featured in art, literature, and folklore across their range.
They are also important in controlling insect populations, making them beneficial to ecosystems and agriculture.
Overall, the Blue Tit is a charming and adaptable bird known for its vibrant colors, agile behavior, and melodious songs.
I've captured some unforgettable moments with my camera, and I hope you feel the same joy viewing these images as I did while shooting them.
Thank you so much for visiting my gallery, whether you leave a comment, add it to your favorites, or simply take a moment to look around. Your support means a lot to me, and I wish you good luck and beautiful light in all your endeavors.
© All rights belong to R.Ertuğ. Please refrain from using these images without my express written permission. If you are interested in purchasing or using them, feel free to contact me via Flickr mail.
Lens - hand held or Monopod and definitely SPORT VR on. Aperture is f5.6 and full length. All my images have been converted from RAW to JPEG.
I started using Nikon Cross-Body Strap or Monopod on long walks. Here is my Carbon Monopod details : Gitzo GM2542 Series 2 4S Carbon Monopod - Really Right Stuff MH-01 Monopod Head with Standard Lever - Really Right Stuff LCF-11 Replacement Foot for Nikon AF-S 500mm /5.6E PF Lense -
Your comments and criticism are very valuable.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and explore :)
Note: this photo was published in a Nov 1, 2011 issue of Everyblock NYC zipcodes blog titled "90012."
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After visiting the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest gathering in Zuccotti Park last week (which you can see in this Flickr site), I thought I would have a good idea of what to expect when I decided to visit the Occupy Los Angeles gathering outside City Hall in Los Angeles early Saturday morning. And to some extent, I was right: the protest was still focused on the excesses of the richest and most powerful 1% of the population, as well as corruption and paralysis in Washington.
But New York and Los Angeles are obviously on opposite sides of the country -- and in some respects, the two protests were completely different. It was already pleasantly warm when I showed up at 8:30 in the morning, and the previous evening had been seasonably mild; by contrast, it wet and freezing cold in New York City, with the earliest snow-fall in over 150 years making life somewhat miserable for the hundreds of shivering protesters who squatted under a long blue tarp that had been stretched over the food kitchen.
The mild weather may explain the first visible difference that I saw between the two "occupy" gatherings: there were many more tents in Los Angeles, each one seeming to hold three or four people who were just beginning to poke their heads out, sniffing the air for the presence of coffee or food that they could use to break their overnight fast. There was no need for heavy coats or hats or mittens; all I saw in Los Angeles was a few sweaters and light jackets. A visitor to my Flickr site jokingly asked why I had not photographed one of the (female) protesters in a topless outfit, and why none of the people were nude. Well, if that was going to happen, it would have happened in Los Angeles, not New York; and as for Los Angeles, the most extreme clothing I saw was one woman wearing a fairly un-revealing bikini top. Hardly the stuff of Woodstock; so much for the idea of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll at these gatherings.
Speaking of rock-n-roll: there was none. But in Los Angeles, there were a lot more people with guitars. And mandolins, and fiddles, and even someone with a flute. Some of them played quietly, for their own amusement; but several of them drifted together beneath a statue that led up the stairs to the front entrance of City Hall, and jammed extemporaneously, with several simple, but enjoyable songs. I video-recorded several of these musical efforts, and I'll combine all of them together into a "composite" music-video on YouTube.
Another difference between Los Angeles and New YOrk involved the presence of cameras. Quite simply, there were many more in New York, and while I did not see any major-media journalists or reporters, there did seem to be a number of quasi-professional independent journalists who were not only photographing and recording everything they could see, but also interviewing everyone who looked interesting. Not so, in Los Angeles; yes, there were a few people with video cameras and DSLR still cameras (including me), but I only saw one or two interviews taking place. Ironically, I was one of the people interviewed: an earnest young man told me he was taking a class that required him to interview photographers at the protest gathering, and he wanted to know what I thought of the whole scene.
So I told him, in a summary fashion, what I had already written in the notes accompanying my OWS Flickr set, and I told him that I thought the Los Angeles gathering was quieter, with less energy, and more people just wandering around somewhat aimlessly. There were no speeches, there was no shouting, and there was almost no police presence. I did see two cops standing at the top of the stairs leading to the front entrance of of City Hall, but they vanished about half an hour after I arrived.
One last note, which may strike some readers as biased or unfair -- but I saw what I saw: several people wandered down the various sidewalks leading out of City Hall Park ... and then returned via the same sidewalks, ten or fifteen minutes later, carrying a large cup of Starbucks coffee. The revolution, it seems, runs on Starbucks.
That's when I began focusing on the clothing worn by the protesters. As noted above, it was obviously much warmer than it was in New York City, so perhaps I should not have been surprised to see half a dozen or more people wandering around barefoot. But the other thing that struck me was how carefully several of the people were dressed, and how much attention they seemed to have spent to make their physical appearance look appropriately fashionable, while simultaneously being disheveled and hippy. Like I said, I might be biased: you can look at the pictures and judge for yourself.
I spent more time here than I did in New York -- roughly three hours before I decided that I had seen everything there was to see. But as a result, I got a lot more pictures - some 700+ still pictures, and a dozen video clips. I've winnowed it down, as best I could, to 200 keepers. Enjoy!
There's nothing better.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
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The making of a collaborative work of art - titled Snow . Fish . Mountain - that is currently being shown as a work-in-progress at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science Visual Arts Center as part of an exhibition that I have there. The work is a project that I initially conceived, but it became a collaborative initiative with sculptor (and former class mate) Dan Wolbert. Dan (with help from his son Ryan and daughter Amy) fabricated the amazing structure of this work in less than three weeks. In these photographs (from November 8 and 9) you can see steps in the initial painting process and assembly. More painting to come...
This vintage Christmas postcard features an illustration titled "A Merry Christmas" showing Santa Claus walking alongside a polar bear. This specific type of design, involving Santa and polar bears in an arctic setting, was a popular theme in the early 20th century, particularly around 1909, following the widely publicized North Pole expeditions.
Postcard Details - Design: The illustration depicts Santa Claus in a red suit carrying a large sack of toys, walking in the snow next to a polar bear, with icebergs in the background. The card has an embossed finish, a common trait for postcards of its era.
Era: It dates back to the "Golden Age" of postcards, specifically the early Divided Back Era (circa 1907-1914).
Publisher: Similar designs from this period were published by companies like the International Art Publishing Company and John Winsch, and often printed in Germany.
The historical context for these unique postcards is fascinating and tied directly to current events of their time. The association between Santa Claus and polar bears in an arctic setting exploded in popularity in the early 1900s, especially around 1909, the year the North Pole was reportedly "discovered".
North Pole Discovery and Pop Culture: Public Interest: The widely publicized expeditions to the North Pole by explorers like Robert Peary and Frederick Cook created a massive public interest in the Arctic, a previously mysterious and fantastical location.
Marketing & Imagery: Postcard companies capitalized on this newfound fascination by producing numerous designs depicting Santa Claus and his helpers in this newly relevant, icy environment.
Symbolism: Polar bears, with their snowy white fur and habitat in the polar regions where Santa was believed to live, became natural and popular symbols for these illustrations, serving as transportation or companions for Santa.
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Copyrighted 1909 / By Julius Bien & Co. N.Y. (underneath polar bears paw) - the cards I have seen have all been posted in 1911.
The logo in the image above is confirmed to be the artist's or printer's mark for the American lithography company Julius Bien & Co.. The mark features the intertwined initials "J" and "B" contained within a distinctive keystone shape.
Company Profile - Julius Bien (1826-1909): Born in Germany, Julius Bien was a master lithographer and cartographer who emigrated to the United States in 1849 following his involvement in the German Revolutions of 1848.
Company Operations: He established his firm in New York and operated from approximately 1850 to 1915. The company specialized in high-quality chromolithography, a color printing method using multiple lithographic plates.
Notable Work: Julius Bien & Co. gained a reputation for its precision and produced a wide range of materials, including: Scientific maps for the U.S. government, such as those for the Civil War atlases and the Pacific Railroad Surveys. A significant, though incomplete, chromolithographed edition of John James Audubon's The Birds of America. High-quality commercial prints, including advertising, trade cards, and a popular series of vintage Halloween postcards. Industry Recognition: Bien was a pioneer in his field, winning numerous international awards and becoming the first president of the National Lithographers Association. The mark is a clear identifier of items produced by this historically significant printing firm.
Irlanda - Dublín - O'Connell Street - Spire
ENGLISH:
The Spire of Dublin, alternatively titled the Monument of Light[1] (Irish: An Túr Solais), is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 120 metres (390 ft) in height, located on the site of the former Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland.
The spire was designed by Ian Ritchie Architects, who sought an "Elegant and dynamic simplicity bridging art and technology". The contract was awarded to SIAC-Radley JV and it was manufactured by Radley Engineering of Dungarvan, County Waterford, and erected by SIAC Construction Ltd & GDW Engineering Ltd.
The first section was installed on 18 December 2002. Construction of the sculpture was delayed because of difficulty in obtaining planning permission and environmental regulations. The Spire consists of eight hollow stainless steel cone sections, the longest being 20 m (66 ft), which were installed on 21 January 2003. It is an elongated cone of diameter 3 m (9.8 ft) at the base, narrowing to 15 cm (5.9 in) at the top. It features two tuned mass dampers, designed by engineers Arup, to counteract sway. The steel underwent shot peening to alter the quality of light reflected from it.
The pattern around the base of the Spire is based on a core sample of rock formation taken from the ground where the spire stands and the DNA double helix. The pattern was applied by bead blasting the steel through rubber stencil masks whose patterns were created by water jet cutting based on core sample drawings supplied by the contractor. The design around the 10 m (33 ft) lower part of the Spire was created by the architects making a 3D pattern model combining the core sample and double helix and then digitally translated to a 2D image drawing supplied to the contractor and used by specialists for cutting the masking material.
At dusk, the base of the monument is lit and the top 10 m (33 ft) is illuminated through 11,884 holes through which light-emitting diodes shine.
The monument was commissioned as part of a street layout redesign in 1999. O'Connell Street had declined for a number of reasons such as the proliferation of fast food restaurants and the opening of bargain shops using cheap plastic shop fronts which were unattractive and obtrusive; the existence of derelict sites; and the destruction in 1966 of Nelson's Pillar following a bombing by former IRA members.
The Anna Livia monument was installed on the site for the 1988 Dublin Millennium celebrations. In the 1990s, plans were launched to improve the streetscape. The number of trees in the central reservation, which had overgrown and obscured views and monuments, was reduced dramatically. This was controversial, as the trees had been growing for a century. Statues were cleaned and in some cases relocated. Shop-owners were required to replace plastic signage and frontage with more attractive designs. Traffic was re-directed where possible away from the street and the number of traffic lanes was reduced to make it more appealing to pedestrians. The centrepiece of this regeneration was to be a replacement monument for Nelson's Pillar, the Spire of Dublin, chosen from a large number of submissions in an international competition by a committee chaired by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Joe Doyle. The Anna Livia monument was moved to make way for the Spire in 2001.
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ESPAÑOL:
El Spire de Dublín, oficialmente denominado Monumento de la Luz (en inglés Monument of light), es una larga escultura de acero inoxidable situada en la calle O'Connell, una de las calles más céntricas de la capital irlandesa. Con sus 120 metros de altura, el Spire se considera la escultura más alta del mundo.
La obra fue diseñada por el estudio británico Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd y consiste en un gran cono que en su base tiene 3 metros de diámetro y que se va estrechando hasta los 15 centímetros en su extremo superior. Su construcción comenzó el 18 de diciembre de 2002 con la colocación de la primera de las 6 secciones que componen el monumento, la última de las cuales se instaló el 21 de enero de 2003.
En su ubicación actual se encontraba anteriormente la Columna de Nelson, en honor al almirante Horatio Nelson que fue destruida por una bomba colocada por el IRA en 1966 y su construcción se debió a un plan diseñado en 1999 para revitalizar una zona que estaba en claro declive desde los años 70.
Spotted in the streets of San Francisco, this flower looks like a single hibiscus but the leaves have entirely different texture. So I have titled this “Hibiscus look !”, hoping some ID will come up from my friends :-)
This flower has been identified as "Norfolk Island Hibiscus (Lagunaria patersonii)" by my flickr friend Pijush Kanti Biswas with the help of Mrs. Jenny Walker – a devotee of gardening.
Art by Léon Frédéric (1856-1940) seen at the Musée d'Orsay. This 1895 triptych titled "The Ages of the Worker" or "Les âges de l'ouvrier" With women mothering on the right, struggling workers laboring on the left and the the children caught in the middle with not a smile on a single face, makes for quite a social statement.
The artist has another compelling social statement that can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called The Three Sisters. I've posted a photo of that work with the text "Léon Frédéric (August 26, 1856 – January 27, 1940) was a Belgian Symbolism painter. During the 1890’s his paintings of improvised workers and peasants were celebrated for forthrightness and arresting intensity. In this painting the humdrum activity of peeling potatoes seem to clash with bright red dresses but the downcast eyes and facial expressions match the activity." The young girls peeling potatoes in that painting tie in with the girl in the red dress grasping a loaf of bread in this triptych.
My brief description of "The Ages of the Worker" doesn't come anywhere near capturing the emotion of this social statement, so I'll copy and paste the English translation of the Musée d'Orsay page on this triptych.
"Throughout his career, the Brussels symbolist painter Léon Frédéric has inscribed his work in the great Flemish Baroque tradition. He does not hesitate to resort to the old arrangement in the form of a triptych, and to fill each of his shutters with an abundant and powerfully expressive crowd in his gestures as well as in his attitudes. So it is with the three strands united under the name The ages of the worker which stages dozens of characters. The left panel favors the representation of men and works of strength; The panel on the right, that of women in their maternal functions. In the middle, from childhood to youth, parade those who leave the school, the workshop or the building site.
Counterpoint of this human tide which is directed towards the spectator, In the center of the picture, towards the background moves away the funeral convoy which evokes the inevitable epilogue of all existence. The presence of red flags around the hearse inscribes this last tribute in line with the social demands of the late nineteenth century, which was supported by some of the contemporary creators.
The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter. Inscribed this last tribute in line with the social demands of the end of the nineteenth century, which was supported by a part of the contemporary creators. The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter. Inscribed this last tribute in line with the social demands of the end of the nineteenth century, which was supported by a part of the contemporary creators. The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter."
This is another image from my March 2015 trip to PBPW Cuba. The image you are seeing are part of a greater project, a book series titled "Turning the Last Page." The title of the Cuba project is "Cuba: Turning the Last Page of 1962."
The camera was the fabulous Nikon D810. The lens was 105mm f 1.4. Arguably the best lens Nikon has ever made. Certainly the best lens I have ever shot with.
To make sure we are all on the same page, there are always two aspects to every shoot. "The Shoot" itself and the post processing to final art. This image contains both aspects and is the outcome of the post processing this is a copy of that final file.
For "the shoot" aspect of this project no artificial light, no make-up on the subjects by a make-up stylist, no reflectors or diffusers all of the images are spontaneous none of the subjects are posed. So what you are seeing is (from the shoot aspect) just the lens. Just the camera. Just the light that was there. Just the subject.
My goal every time I shoot is to be the weakest link in the entire project.
This is an image of a mother and child as I was walking the street of Santiago de Cuba. In this image,I just chose to look up. The history of a place is held like an expectant breath from the bottom of the third floor looking up or the floor of the fourth floor looking down. A time less photograph is, for me, a breath waiting forever to exhale.
The light source was ambient mostly cloudy daylight right around sunset.
When asked what is the best light W. Eugene Smith said "Why the best light is available light and by available light I mean any damn light that is available."..... This approach to lighting Works for me.
I have always held that the lens is the brush, the camera sensor is the canvas. I have also held the that the beauty of a lens is not in how well it handles focus but rather how well it handles from in focus to blur.
There is no image I cannot capture. There is no image in which my vision of the image and the beauty of moment that took me that is not enhanced by the beauty of the glass and lens design of the Nikon system.
This has to be the sharpest lens I have ever used. It is also has the most beautiful Bokeh of any lens I have ever shot with as well.
So you want to know why I choose Nikon? Now you know.
Because of my Nikon camera- I AM: A Super Hero. Because of the Nikkor lenses I AM: A Super Hero with tack sharpnes at point of focus and beautiful Bokeh every place else in the image.
NOTE: I do indeed use Photoshop. It's true. Have been since version 1. when it fit on a single floppy disc. Most inspired piece of software ever written. I was employee number 2 of Niksoftware ( Colorefex, SilverEfex) and employee number 6 of Altamira Group (the inventor of Genuine Fractals) so yes I do also use plug-ins. So if you are viewing an image (unless otherwise noted) on my personal pages, website and sundry feeds they are all post processed if I put them up.
To be very crystal clear ALL of my images that I post on my personal web feeds are post processed.
So that this non issue is no issue these are my "FINAL" versions on my PERSONAL sites. Because it is my personal page I do reserve the right to delete comments from angry photographic charlatan internet trolls.
I always make it a point, If you read the full description of any of my images, to always list the software and hardware used to produce an image.
Nikon D750 camera,28-300mm. Recorded to Lexarmedia Raw conversion done in Capture NX-D. converted to a 16bit Prohoto colorspace.TIFF. Further post processing Photoshop CC 2017, Nik collection by Google, oNonesoftware ver.10.5. Wacom Cintiq 27QHD, Benq SW2700 monitor (for approval color)
© Vincent Versace 2017
#NikonAmbassador #nikonlove #D750 #28-300mm #lexar #kelbyone #photography #onOne@NikonUSA #NikonNoFilter #niksoftware #nikonUSA #Epson #wacom #xritephoto #onone #fjwestcott #fineartphotography #iamgenerationimage #iamnikon #B&H #PhotogenicbyBenQ #lexarMemory #nikonLOVE #PBPW
Sculpture titled: Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch: Batman, Swanston And Hoddle
*Sculpture is situated on the corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets.
By Alison Weaver and Paul Quinn
Bronze sculpture
1993
"This whimsical, life-size sculpture of three businessmen carrying lunchboxes is located in the heart of Melbourne. Artist Alison Weaver claims that while the men are named and motionless, they are also intended to be anonymous and to represent being 'trapped in the perpetual motion of consumerism'. Weaver figures these three Melbourne pioneers as 'pedestrians of vast time' who have returned to the city streets, and says her interpretation of them is driven by humor rather than by iconoclasm."
"Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch was commissioned in 1993 as part of the Swanston Street Art Works Program, and was a gift to the City of Melbourne from the Republic of Nauru to celebrate the city's 150th anniversary."
Photograph by: Rouben Dickranian