Lux Fine Photography: Silhouettes

Showing posts with label Silhouettes. Show all posts

Friday, 13 May 2011

No. 18

Friday, 29 April 2011

Queen Victoria Memorial, London

I confess I didn't catch a train down to London to be with the b'squillions of other people lining the Mall and other streets for a glimpse of the happy couple and their royal entourage. Much like rugby games sometimes the best view is to be found on the small screen, from the comfort of your own couch, with a refillable glass of Pimms No.1. So I have no photos of the big day, instead this is Angel of Justice (I think), which can be found on the Queen Victoria Memorial, outside Buckingham Palace.

From Wikipedia:

"The Victoria Memorial is a sculpture in London, placed at the centre of Queen's Gardens in front of Buckingham Palace. It was unveiled in 1911, the sculptor being Sir Thomas Brock and completed with the installation of the final bronze statues in 1914. The surround was constructed by the architect Sir Aston Webb, from 2,300 tons of white marble. It is a Grade I listed building.

It has a large statue of Queen Victoria facing north-eastwards towards The Mall. The other sides of the monument feature dark patinated bronze statues of the Angel of Justice (facing north-westwards toward Green Park), the Angel of Truth (facing south-eastwards) and Charity facing Buckingham Palace. On the pinnacle, is Victory with two seated figures. The subsidiary figures were gifted by the people of New Zealand. The whole sculpture has a nautical theme, much like the rest of the mall (Admiralty Arch etc.). This can be seen in the mermaids, mermen and a hippogriff, all of which are suggestive of the United Kingdom's naval power. There is a similar memorial to her husband, Albert, the Prince Consort outside the Royal Albert Hall."

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Reworking No.2

I think I like this version better than the other version of No.2. I just like all the detail - similar to what you get when you take the time to look at a Pollock.

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

I heart the Tate Modern

I love visiting the Tate Modern - I admit it is my favourite British Museum. I had just finished looking at one of the exhibitions and was walking past the balcony and saw these two admiring the view of the Thames, St Paul's Cathedral and over the Millennium Bridge. I snapped the shot and left them admiring the view and none the wiser.

Sunday, 10 April 2011

No. 13

These lovely trees surround the Broadmarsh reservoir, Shepshed, attached to one of the trees was a sign saying keep out. Which is understandable you don't want people swimming in drinking water. I love how the trees look the part like they are guarding the land. I also like how it reminds me of silent movie backgrounds.

Saturday, 9 April 2011

No. 12

Fresh off the boat so to speak. We walked to Mount Saint Bernards Abbey, just outside of Shepshed, Leicestershire. It was a lovely day today, very sunny with a hint of breeze. We walked through the Broadmarsh Reservoir and slogged up the hill - this is halfway up the hill in between the reservoir and the abbey.

Friday, 8 April 2011

Jewish Memorial, Berlin

Perspective is a wonderful thing.

From Berlin.de:

"Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, located in Mitte on a stretch of the former “death strip”, where the Wall once stood near the Brandenburg Gate, is Berlin’s stunning monument to the Holocaust, dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide of World War II. Impressive in its awesome grey soberness, rather than sombreness, it includes an underground Ort der Information (Information Centre) located on the south-eastern side of the memorial grounds, accessible via two flights of stairs or a lift.  

The 800sqm Information Centre complements the abstraction of the memorial with personal documentation about individuals and families. This includes biographical details, recordings and information about memorial sites throughout Germany and Europe. Documenting the universal issue of genocide, the centre represents a central focus on the diverse memorial sites across Germany which stress the living memory aspect of remembrance. In Berlin an examples of this is the Stolpersteine (tripping stones) initiative – plaques on street pavements, usually outside the house’s main entrance, commemorating deported Jewish residents.  

It took 17 years for the Memorial to be completed in Berlin. Its foundation stone was a Bundestag resolution passed on June 25, 1999 to erect a Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This was followed by years of discussion and deliberation, until the Monument was completed on May 8, 2005. US architect Peter Eisenmann conceived the winning design consisting of 2711 rectangular blocks of concrete laid out in grid formation, recalling tombstones. The monument is open day and night and it is possible to walk through the concrete slabs at one’s own pace. Visitors are not allowed to climb on them though, something which is particularly hard for younger visitors and small children to resist. The effect is that of inner dislocation in a destabilising maze as the ground is uneven and the blocks vary in height and size. An ideal setting for quiet contemplation."

Monday, 4 April 2011

Just Playing

When I was a kid i liked making prints with potatoes and paint, cutting out patterns in the potato. When I got to be a teenager it was lino cutting and ink prints which was kinda cool. Today it is photoshop and I am still just playing and making interesting visual stuff. I don't usually play with my photos to this extent, usually the photo that you get is pretty much what I saw in front of me when I took the picture. This was a photo I had previously played with, so think of this as flutterbies 2.0.

Thursday, 31 March 2011

No. 11

Not a real tree, but a tree of remembrance in the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Berlin. I liked the interplay with the shadows and light on the wall.

Monday, 28 March 2011

The Folley

This folly is on the way to Shepshed from Loughborough. It looks very peaceful and would be rurally idyllic were it not for the gentle hum of the M1. Every time I go past it on the double decker bus I think that would make a good photo, from that height. Unfortunately I am no where near that height, but I still think it looks good.

Sunday, 20 March 2011

Willis St, Wellington

Out walking home late one Friday night, down Willis St towards Lambton Key, I looked up and stopped took a photo and continued on my way. This is one of the photos that the original was lost with the HD failed.

Friday, 18 March 2011

Southbank, London

The Southbank is full of things to do and places to be, including being eyeballed by the friendly merry-go-round guy. The Southbank is touristy, but when the Thames is lit up like a christmas tree its very pretty! They do good Italian food as well, even if the wait was excessive.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Blarney Castle Guard Tower, Co. Cork

Sometimes just looking up gets you a good picture. This is me standing in the middle of the guard tower of Blarney Castle, Co. Cork, and looking up. I had dodge the drizzle but that was all good - not so good for weather for wearing jandals though.

From Wikipedia:

"Blarney Castle (Irish: Caisleán na Blarnan) is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland, and the River Martin. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446. The noted Blarney Stone is found among the machicolations of the castle.

The castle originally dates from before AD 1200, when a wooden structure was believed to have been built on the site, although no evidence remains of this. Around 1210 A.D. this was replaced by a stone fortification.[1] It was destroyed in 1446, but subsequently rebuilt by Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, Lord of Muscry.

The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty. During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites.

The castle was sold and changed hands a number of times before being purchased by Sir James St. John Jefferyes. Members of the Jefferyes family would later build a mansion near the keep. This house was destroyed by fire however, and in 1874 a replacement baronial mansion - known as Blarney House - was built overlooking the nearby lake."

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Intervention #1, Marieke Van Diemen

This installation is by Marieke Van Diemen and this was the first European Art Museum I ever visited and it is still memorable. The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam was just wonderful and had a perfect number of visitors when I went there - very few. It was the first time I saw a Rodin, and I stood there transfixed and wanted very much to touch it. I restrained my self, but enjoyed all the lovely, preciouses very much.