summer magic

During a quiet night in rural Japan, photographer Tsuneaki Hiramatsu discovered a field and a forest aglow in a strange green light.  Upon closer inspection, Hiramatsu saw thousands of fireflies illuminating the brush and the trees beyond.  Fortunately for us, Hiramatsu had his Nikon handy, and captured a series of stills that expose the fireflies in all their natural glory.

To make an image where you see hundreds, if not thousands, of small firefly lights, Hiratmatsu uses time-lapse photography, taking several continuous exposures and then combining those exposures in post-production.

But wait, there's more...
The Lampyridae are a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera.  They are winged beetles, commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey.  The fireflies in Hiramatsu's images are the genji-botaru or Genji firefly.  Fireflies produce a "cold light," with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies.  This chemically produced light from the lower abdomen may be yellow, green or pale red – with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers.  You come here for the math.  I know.




:via digital photo

nicole dextras: ephemeral fashion

For the past six years, Nicole Dextras has taken the native plants of the Pacific Northwest and turned them into elaborate dresses she calls "weedrobes."


Dextras’s art is made out of things found in nature: ice, grass, flowers and leaves. As such, they melt, crack, rot, disintegrate and return to their original composite elements. The dresses are beautiful, but Dextras has more than a pretty picture in mind. Her plant-based apparel is designed to confront important environmental concerns.

"I've had an ongoing interest in environmental art, and working in the theater as a clothes designer opened me up to the idea that the way people dress affects their psychology," Dextras says. "I want these dresses to open a dialogue to people about where their clothes come from."

On frames woven from flexible boughs, Dextras layers sturdy plant materials, such as yucca and eucalyptus leaves, stitched to the frames with hawthorn ‘pins’. Professional actors bring the costumes to life, improvising on themes of nature, such as Jordi Sancho’s memorable Eco-man or Nita Bowerman’s “Ivy” from the 2009 Invasive Species Show. The costumes are brought to Dextras’s back yard where the process of disintegration begins.









Dextras's studio is located on Granville Island in Vancouver BC. The artist divides her time between her art practice, teaching, casting editions for local artists and volunteering for art organizations such as the BC Book Arts Guild and the Artists and Artisans of Granville Island.

Dextras has meticulously photographed all her pieces and the performances, on view at her flickr stream and on her website.





:nicole dextras, weedrobes summer series; artist statement; shop

saturday fare: the metropolitan

Taking multiple detail shots of works of art satisfies me on several levels — not the least of which is that I can make my own postcards for later study and recall.* I've found (have you?) that museums no longer deliver on the extensive-variety-of-exhibition-postcards front. This makes me cranky, since I'm a compulsive postcard collector from way back. My solution has been to stop the moaning, just deal with it already and do it myself.

Case in point: Several years ago (four? ten? whatever), I took these photos of the Tomb Effigy of Elizabeth Boott Duveneck at the Met. I've seen the sculpture many, many times on Met visits — and I've photographed it before as well — but this time, I wanted to move in and capture a sense of the rich patina and the artistry of the folds and deep relief. And so? And then? Well?

Me likey. Me not grumpy anymore. And for you, my dearest darlings, repros of these and many other swoond images (card-size, wall-size and in-betweens) will soon be available to order online.

About the artwork: After the death of Elizabeth Boott Duveneck (1846-1888), her bereaved husband, the painter Frank Duveneck, modeled a funerary monument with the guidance of the Cincinnati sculptor Clement J. Barnhorn. Reminiscent of Gothic and Renaissance gisant (recumbent) tomb effigies, the figure reclines peacefully, arms folded over her chest. The palm branch stretching nearly the entire length of her body symbolizes Christian victory over death. The original bronze is on Elizabeth Duveneck's grave in the Cimitero Evangelico degli Allori, the Protestant cemetery on the outskirts of Florence.



* Many thanks to all of you who have inquired about prints, cards and large-scale reproductions(!) of my photos. I've responded to most of you individually, but I want to make sure you know that you'll soon be able to place orders online. As ever, thanks for your visits and support. Mwah! and again, Mmmwah!!






:tomb effigy of elizabeth boot duveneck, 1891; this cast, 1927; gilt bronze; the metropolitan museum of art, new york city

frozen fruit

To quote the Cowardly Lion: Unusual weather we're having, ain't it?











:images diana, groundhog day on ice

check out groupings of my upsized photos here at beautimuse

here comes the sun

The depth of color and shadow produced by sidelong sunrise light (featured here) is endlessly fascinating to me.

(And, lest we forget, sunset light has its own special mojo. But it's sunrise's turn today. Thank you.)





:image diana murphy

snow divide

This afternoon in Riverside Park.









:image diana murphy, new york city

1-Jan-65


The kings will lose your old address.
No star will flare up to impress.
The ear may yield, under duress,
to blizzards’ nagging roar.
The shadows falling off your back,
you’d snuff the candle, hit the sack,
for calendars more nights can pack
than there are candles for.

What is this? Sadness? Yes, perhaps.
A little tune that never stops.
One knows by heart its downs and ups.
May it be played on par
with things to come, with one’s eclipse,
as gratefulness of eyes and lips
for what occasionally keeps
them trained on something far.

And staring up where no cloud drifts
because your sock’s devoid of gifts
you’ll understand this thrift: it fits
your age; it’s not a slight.
It is too late for some breakthrough,
for miracles, for Santa’s crew.
And suddenly you’ll realize that you
yourself are a gift outright.

- Joseph Brodsky
(translated from the Russian by the author)

Brodsky wrote this poem while in internal exile in Norenskaia, in the Arkhangelsk region of northern Russia. In the Soviet Union,
New Year’s celebrations came to be seen as a substitute for Christmas. This translation was found among his papers.





:image diana murphy, new york city

joyful, merry, happy to you and yours

:image diana

the warm-up

:image boston globe

il passaporto

The annual New Yorker Passport to the Arts weekend in mid-November provides ample photo ops. This year was no exception. Here's one of my images from our day out: a (very) young art student flanked by two Christopher Griffith prints. Sweet.

Somehow, someday, somewhere I'll post a full series of photos from the Passport weekend — and I'll get around to the myriad other photo projects that are waiting in the queue (isn't that what 2011 is for, people?).



P.S. Alexander Gronsky's show, The Edge, is on view at Aperture through January 11, 2011. Totally worth a visit.






:image diana

I took this shot last summer at Great Escape.


Oh, the irony.





:image diana

A trepidatious Buzz gingerly navigates his route down Seventh Avenue.







:image diana, parade

wallflora

Lower East Side






Central Park






SoHo






Upper West Side







:images diana murphy, new york city

surf & turf

My favorite shot from all the Halloween Hullabaloo this weekend.


Alternate title: Dude, Where's My Carp?





:image diana murphy, amnh's halloween fright at the museum

Creepy weekend, everyone. Wherever you may be.






:image diana murphy

swoond feature: bryan schutmaat

One of Texas-based photographer Bryan Schutmaat's most recent honors is inclusion in the impressive lineup of semi-finalists in this year's Hey, Hot Shot! Competition at Jen Bekman's 20x200 Project. We recently interviewed Schutmaat to learn more about his profound connection to photography and its place in his life.



Many of your photos are shot in the Great Plains region of the United States. What is the history of your relationship to that part of the country?
I don't have much of a history with the Plains. Only in the past few years have I started to spend time there. Prior, I had merely driven through on a number of occasions. But it was then, in passing, that I came to admire the vastness, the calmness, and the strangeness of it all, prompting me to later make photos there. My series, Heartland, is a response to that impulse, and by taking pictures I've become even more fascinated with those landscapes, which at first glance seem to contain so little, but if investigated, offer so much.





What aspects of yourself — your personality, world view, ways of relating — are reflected in your photographs?
This is a tough question, one I'm grappling with and one I could better answer after living longer, and shooting and maturing more. It's unclear to me if my work reflects — or if it even ought to reflect — much about me. Someone else might say otherwise, but I don't really think my pictures are imbued with a sense of my personality or views; for the most part, they're neutral. Heartland, for instance, contains a lot of photos of churches and Christian content. From those images alone, it would be hard to determine my worldview, political opinions, thoughts on religion, and so on. I think religion is nonsense, but I don't want to say that through my pictures. I'm more interested in giving the audience an impartial atmosphere to exist in and explore on their own. They can bring whatever they want to the pictures. Still, I understand I'm painting a portrait of American culture, and the photos often reveal things about the people who live in the areas I depict. But I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. The only thing I'm pushing is a sense of vision (however, this could change in the future).





What is the last film (movie) that you saw? Please give us a mini-review.
Most recently, I saw Anthony Asquith's The Browning Version. It's has some overly sentimental scenes, which are to be expected from a 1950s movie, but with age comes forgiveness. It wasn't a fantastic movie, though, I must admit it had beautiful parts that got me choked up. It's one of the those films that reminds you that you can't relive life. Recommended.





What is your earliest visual memory?
I can't answer this question with any degree of accuracy. Memory is hazy and indistinct. Interestingly, photography changes how we perceive the past. Often, when looking at childhood photos, I can't discern if I actually remember an event, or if I think I remember an event because I have a tangible trace of it before me. This happens with stories families tell as well. With early memories, I never know what's real or what's an invention of mine based on pictures and family conversation.





You mentioned in an interview last year that, when you first discovered photography, "taking pictures got me excited, not just about photography, but about living." Do you still feel that way? Why?
Yes, totally. Photography brings steady excitement to my life. It's an obsession that makes me glad to wake up in the morning.





Do you have any pets?
Yes, my girlfriend and I are proud owners of an adopted, mixed-breed dog who resembles a labradoodle.


Imagine an "ideal day taking photographs." What would that day look like?
An ideal day photographing would probably just be goofing around taking pictures of the aforementioned dog rolling in the grass or something. I love photography as a whole, but sometimes the actual act of taking the pictures fills me with apprehension, especially when I'm trespassing or dealing with strangers or shooting something I really don't want to screw up. The best day of taking photos would be a relaxed day after a really taxing and productive one.





Where has the photo journey taken you lately? What projects are currently in the works?
I don't want to divulge much, but I'll tell you that I'm taking pictures of strangers in Montana, and this has put me in contact with a number of unusual people with remarkable stories.


You note on your website that you're pursuing an MFA in Photography from the University of Hartford. How's that coming along?
It's going well. It's a limited residency program, so I only have to be on campus for a couple weeks every few months, which allows me to be out west, shooting in areas better suited for my interests. The faculty's comprised of my heroes, and my classmates are entirely praiseworthy. I feel like a guy who wandered off the sandlot and somehow ended up in the big league dugout.

Prints can be purchased directly from Bryan — contact him for pricing, sizes and availability. There are also small selections of the artist's work available through 20x200 as well as Galerie Wanted Paris.


P.S. If you don't already know, the Hey, Hot Shot! Competition Finalists will be announced tomorrow evening (Friday, October 29) at the first-ever Blurb Pop Up/NYC at 60 Mercer Street (between Broome and Grand). You can still squeak in today with an RSVP. Get to it.

:images bryan schutmaat

perpetual vert

Fort Tryon Park, mid-October.






:image diana