Category: Photography

Butterfly hunting

Posted on Posted in Animal friends, Littérature, Museum, Philippe Halsman, Photography, Vladimir NabokovLeave a comment
Philippe Halsman ~ Vladimir Nabokov, Montreux, Switzerland, 1966
My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music
 My pleasures are the most intense known to man: writing and butterfly hunting

Roses

Posted on Posted in Flowers, George Eliot, Littérature, Photography, Poetry, Robert MapplethorpeLeave a comment
Robert Mapplethorpe ~ Rose, 1988

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You love the roses – so do I. I wish
The sky would rain down roses, as they rain
From off the shaken bush. Why will it not?
Then all the valley would be pink and white
And soft to tread on. They would fall as light
As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be
Like sleeping and like waking, all at once! 

George Eliot  [Mary Anne Evans]

 

Capra dixit

Posted on Posted in Chanel, Ed Feingersh, Film, Frank Capra, Marilyn Monroe, PhotographyLeave a comment
Breasts she had.  And a wiggly figure. 
But to me sex is class, something more than a wiggly behind. 
If it weren’t, I know 200 whores who would be stars.
Frank Capra

 
Ed Feingersh ~ Marilyn in her New York hotel suite putting the finishing touches to her

evening attire with a touch of Chanel No. 5, 1955 

Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away ♩♪♫♬♪

Posted on Posted in Fashion, Kodak, Paul Simon, PhotographyLeave a comment
➔ Reclining Model
ca. 1950 

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Kodachrome  

When I think back 

On all the crap I learned in high school
It’s a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn’t hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall

Kodachrome
You give us those nice bright colors
You give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah!
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away

If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together for one night
I know they’d never match
My sweet imagination
And everything looks worse in black and white 

Kodachrome
You give us those nice bright colors
You give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah!
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away  

Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away…
Paul Simon, 1973
Sadly, on June 22, 2009, Kodak officially retired Kodachrome color film after 74 years

The Portrait

Posted on Posted in Dr. Paul Wolff, PhotographyLeave a comment
At the Fireplace
Study in Candlelight
➔  Dr. Paul Wolff

The color photograph reproduces nature extremely faithfully, which ought to be an advantage in portrait work.  Since we know the coloring of a person’s skin, the color of his hair and eyes, we insist that his picture show the greatest possible likeness.  On the other hand, it can be repulsive to see the epidermis with its little blemishes and accidental oddities shown with complete honesty.  Such accuracy presents an insurmountable obstacle to an aesthetically satisfying picture.  It is therefore quite possible that we may reject a portrait, not because it is unrealistic, but because it is too realistic.  We are almost scared by so much “truth”, which is another proof that realism alone does not make a picture valuable. [from My Experiences in Color Photography]