Posts Tagged ‘the big picture’
La Figura Serpentina November 27th, 2010
Below are photographs of aspects of the impressive sculpture which dates from 1582 and known as the “Rape of the Sabine Women”. It was sculpted by the Flemish artist Jean de Boulogne, better known by his Italianized name Giambologna.
This sculpture can be found in Florence, Italy, where, since 1583AD it has been sitting in the Loggia dei Lanzi. The Loggia sits on a corner of the Piazza della Signoria and by the Palazzo Vecchio.
For this work, Giambologna’s masterpiece, he wanted to create a composition in the form of a serpentine spiral – making it the first sculpture in European history which could be viewed from all sides with no dominant viewpoint (by comparison, take Michelangelo’s David, which dates from some 80 years earlier). This stunning piece also has another distinction: it was made from one imperfect block of white marble which is the largest block ever transported to Florence.
Later, when the Medicis decided it should be exhibited in the Loggia, it was given the name the Rape of the Sabine Women after the mythical story of the founding years of Rome, where Roman men abducted women of the Sabine peoples to take as wives. Here the English word “rape” is a translation of the Latin word “raptio”, which in this context means abduction rather than its modern meaning. For more info on that section of the legendary history of Rome which gave its name to the sculpture, click here.
On another note, check out the following:
- For fantastic shots from the opening ceremony of the 2010 Asian Games, click here;
- For a different look at learning how to make photographs, courtesy of The New York Times’ Lens photo blog, click here;
- For a cool behind the scenes look at the American Ballet Theatre in Cuba, check out this great photo essay here;
- For a look at a unique shot of Eleanor Roosevelt, click here;
- For a photo essay on the Punch Me Panda touring New York City, helping release the frustrations of New Yorkers, click here; and
- For a fabulous selection of shots submitted to the National Geographic’s 2010 Photo Contest and brought to you by The Boston Globe’s The Big picture, click here.
More coming soon!
Tags: 1582, 1583, abduction, american ballet theatre, asian games, asian games opening, Boston Globe, cuba, david, eleanor roosevelt, figura serpentina, florence, Giambologna, havana, history, history of Rome, italy, Jean de Boulogne, latin, lens, Loggia dei Lanzi, marble, marble block, medici, Michelangelo, national geographic, new york city, Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, punch me panda, Rape of the Sabine Women, Rape of the Sabines, raptio, roman history, Rome, serpentina, serpentine, serpentine spiral, spiral, the big picture, the new york times
Posted in Travel/Urban | Comments (0)
The Ladies & the Gelato November 23rd, 2010
I’ve been a little busy of late, and not had much time to prepare any posts. Am working towards fixing that, so please bear with me!
I made this shot in Florence, Italy, just before I headed up the hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo. These three German ladies were sitting outside a tiny gelateria, enjoying the sun and the first-class Italian gelato. I love the texture of the wall behind them.
On another note, check out the following:
- For an extraordinary and unique glimpse at the Hajj, brought to you by the Boston Globe’s The Big Picture, click here;
- For a look at the Hajj in 1885, and compared with today, check out this post by Tewfiq El Sawy;
- For some shots of 1970s New York City, brought to you by the New York Times’ Lens photo blog, click here;
- For some beautiful shots by Gavin Gough from the Pushkar Camel Fair in India, click here; and
- For a cool Burning Man HDR shot from Trey Ratcliff’s Stuck in Customs blog, click here.
More coming soon!
Tags: 1885, Boston Globe, burning man, camel fair, florence, gavin gough, gelato, hajj, ice cream, india, italy, lens, mecca, new york times, piazzale michelangelo, pushkar, stuck in customs, tewfiq el sawy, the big picture, trey ratcliff, wall
Posted in People, Portraits | Comments (0)
Graffiti Town – Part V November 12th, 2010
This is the final (and long overdue) part in the five-part series on graffiti, wall art and tagging in Brussels, Belgium, and Barcelona, Spain. You can check out parts 1 through 4 here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
Barcelona is so graffiti-mad that you can even find cool post cards of the wall art all over town.
Seen from Park Guell looking out over Barcelona.
I’d love to know how they got all the way up the wall…
Voom-voom!
On a different note, some very different and amazing stuff lined up:
- click here for some amazing shots from the 2010 World Fencing Championships;
- click here for an excellent strip from the one and only What the Duck;
- click here for a cool video and beautiful picture from the best HDR blog out there, Stuck in Customs;
- click here for the latest round of pictures pooled by All Day I Dream About Photography (ADIPAP), and which features this truly extraordinary picture; and
- click here for a nice shot of Dubai’s skyline by Momentary Awe.
More coming soon!
Tags: archeology, art, barcelona, belgium, Brussels, car, crocodile, fencing, graffiti, graffiti town, guell, hdr, momentary awe, park, park guell, postcard, roman, roman tombs, skeleton, spain, stuck in customs, subway, subway entrance, tagging, the big picture, tomb, wall, wall art, what the duck, world fencing championships
Posted in Travel/Urban | Comments (0)
The Morning After the Storm October 31st, 2010
I took these pictures one fine morning in Antibes, France, in April of this year.
The above shot is a mini-panorama , combined from 3 images. That means that the two birds in the centre of the shot are actually the same bird, just shot moments apart.
On another note – today check out these tutorials:
- for a good Digital Photography School tutorial on light painting, click here;
- for a cool panning technique tutorial brought to you by the Reuters Photo Blog, click here; and
- for an unusual tutorial on shooting stink bugs brought to you by Strobist, click here.
Also, click here for some excellent shots from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, brought to you by Lens, the photography blog of The New York Times.
Click here for some cool shots from Breast Cancer Awareness Month worldwide, brought to you by The Boston Globe‘s The Big Picture. Speaking of Breast Cancer Awareness Month – if you’ve been wondering about all the Facebook status updates by the females of the species and being the suggestive “I like it on the floor” or similar, prepare to be enlightened: click here and here.
More coming soon!
Tags: antibes, Boston Globe, breast cancer, breast cancer awareness month, digital photography school, DPS, facebook status, france, i like it on the floor, kazakhstan, kyrgystan, lens, morning, new york times, reuters, Strobist, tajikistan, the big picture, turkmenistan, uzbekistan
Posted in Travel/Urban | Comments (0)
The Wreck October 20th, 2010
On my last trip to Khasab, in Oman’s Mussandam peninsula, I came across this abandoned dhow.
I had to stop the car to snap a few pictures. This is one of them.
On a completely different note, for a totally different experience – namely an awesome selection and range of pictures of animals, click here.
More coming soon!
Tags: Animals, animals in the news, boat, dhow, khasab, mussandam, oman, peninsula, sea, ship, shipwreck, the big picture, wreck
Posted in Travel/Urban | Comments (0)
