There are many, many websites dedicated to photography lurking out there on the web. They range from repositories for images both contemporary and vintage to instructional, information based MOOCs to the blatantly commercial.

It is a bold person who sets out to collate a history of photography. Although the discipline is a mere century and a half old, it has grown exponentially over the years; more efficient technologies, wider access to increasingly user friendly equipment and substantial reductions in costs have all contributed to the massive increase in the number of practitioners. More recently, the universal availability of highly portable, user intuitive, digital devices and the ease of broadcasting imagery worldwide almost immediately has made our time the most photographed in the history of the world.

Perhaps more worrying is the collection and compilation of antiquated photographic images with the intention of titillating an audience.

I’m often left with the uneasy feeling that these vintage images are presented for our amusement; that we are being invited to share in some sort of joke that can only be appreciated with the benefit of hindsight. This is a cross that must be borne by all art forms which aim to reflect their time with any degree of accuracy; contemporary taste, bias, interpretation, aesthetic sense and comment inevitably appear out of synch with that of a modern audience. However, to use images from a bygone age as the basis for cheap humour is iniquitous.

These are examples of social history; a modern audience can view what the photographer saw at the time the exposure was made. Each image is a source of visual history enhanced by contextual references and information.

What I like about the Luminous Lint collection is the images are presented within their historical context and supported by a provenance that includes references and documentary evidence where possible. Consequently, we are aware that all the photographers are presented as chroniclers of their era, no matter what their subject area.

The Luminous Lint website has been developed over a period of ten years and is now in the “consolidation phase” where 50,500 images from more than 2,300 institutions and private collections are being structured into online exhibitions and visual indexes. These clusters of images are then organised into over 1,000 categories and the original source materials, interviews and texts are being added in. What this will create is over 1000 parallel but highly interlinked histories of photography. The photographs are the evidence for a structured series of texts that will take us through the material and improve over time.

I would highly recommend this website; not only to the enthusiastic photographer but to anyone interested in viewing imagery from our recent past.

www.luminous-lint.com

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We can create our own entertainment by compiling the music we want to listen to into albums, watch the television programmes we want to watch, when we want watch them, over and over again. Indeed we can create our own audio and our visual entertainments and share them globally as and when we choose.

In terms of our own edification, the resources available to us are without limit and unprecedented. Can we suggest that the computer democratises creativity? An extension of this concept is being explored by designer Mary Huang whose company “Continuum” offers the consumer computational couture, the opportunity to design a personalised dress with the aid of an online computer program.

Budding fashion designers can sketch their personalised, geometric dress, size it to themselves, convert it to 3D and then print out the pattern. I’m assuming that the pattern can be taken to a dress maker. Or perhaps fed into another computer …..

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But a 19 year old Hungarian photographer called Flora Borsi has produced a series of images in which she places herself, complete with camera, in the midst of historic monochromatic images.

I can’t help but smile at the image below in which a clearly enraptured Flora “captures” Elvis in concert. Sceptics might say that this is nothing more than a photographic version of “Where’s Wally” as they hunt for Flora in amongst these iconic images. However, I suspect there’s a bit more to her work that that.

In particular, I was taken with the reference to Rosa Park’s bus protest and the Eve Arnold homage with the Marilyn Munroe image.

We tend to view our more recent history through a lens. Across the middle to latter part of the 20^th century, we did not have the universal access to image making devices that we have today and consequently the volume of photographs taken by amateurs was considerably less. Equally, amateurs did not have access to the same forms of mass distribution and publication that we have now. The relative scarcity of photographs of 20^th century icons added to their mystique. Of those photographs that were available, many were “official”; approved and intended to enhance the public profile of their subject.

Flora Borsi poses the question, “what if ….” Would Elvis et al have generated the same persona had the digital camera and/or smart phone been available? Would his public image have been diluted by an increased number and more readily available supply of amateur, candid photographs? Perhaps not.

What is interesting though is, when you look at Borsi’s images, I’m prepared to bet that you’ll look beyond the celebrity and try to find her face in the crowd…

The post Flora Borsi: The Time Travelling Photographer appeared first on idesigni art and graphic design blog.

One of the more alarming statistics to come out of the world of higher education recently has been the dramatic decrease in the number of students opting for part time study; over the last 2 years the number of part time undergraduate and taught post graduate students has fallen by a staggering 37% according to a report from the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Commentators have attributed this to a lack of funding for further study with student loans being unavailable to those who already have a degree. Consequently those seeking to acquire additional qualifications are faced with the prospect of funding their studies themselves, but often manage to combine their studies with part time work, thus contributing to the wider economy while increasing their personal skills.

In terms of their profile, part time students tend to be mature, motivated individuals with some experience in the work place who have made a conscious decision to create a work/life balance that will enable them to continue their education. Such individuals should be encouraged and nurtured rather than discriminated against. It is significant that Universities UK is engaged in a review of the circumstances that have contributed to the steady decline in part time enrolments, previously a significant element in any university’s student body. In an attempt to increase awareness and hopefully, redress the situation, a campaign entitled, “Part Time Matters” has been launched to coincide with Adult Learners Week.

Let us hope that this worrying trend can be reversed and part time education recognised, not only as viable alternative to full time, but as the study method of choice for many seeking opportunities in education.

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The scale and scope of these works of public art is truly impressive; social and political comment mixed in with visual humour and acute observations makes for highly entertaining and informative pieces.

Recently made available is a host of the most striking from 2012.  These range from quirky sketches that make use of existing features to full scale, major murals.

I have several favourites from amongst these but decided to feature the example below; Rene Magritte meets the SS Normandie meets Monty Python. Brilliant.

Take a look and choose your favourites.

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Probably more accurately, it’s just an excuse to revel in some of the boy’s toys that have populated the James Bond films over the last 50 years. But it’s interesting to not how many of the “futuristic” devices from the 1960’ and 1970’s have made it into mainstream life today.

Although they appear laughably clunky to the modern eye, the pager and car-phone which appear in “From Russia with Love” and the digital watch seen in “Live and Let Die” were the stuff of fantasy to a contemporary audience.

Perhaps this will always be the fatal flaw in high tech, trend driven films; given the rate of technological progress, they are doomed to date from the moment the film hits the can … or is captured digitally.

The speed at which the modern cinema audience goes from jaw droppingly amazed to yawning inducing bored is ever increasing. Who knows, perhaps the invisible car from “Die another Day” will appear on a street near you very soon … or not.

While you wait, you may like to view a few more historic Bond gadgets by visiting this website:

http://jamesbondmm.co.uk/gadgets

The post James Bond Gadgets: Clunky or Classic? appeared first on idesigni art and graphic design blog.

Luis Toledo draws from historic, cultural, religious and pop culture elements and merges these into visually striking pieces that combine what, at first glance, appears to be a superficial beauty with very dark contents. There is something disturbing about these pieces.

The viewer is drawn in, lulled into a false sense of security and then ambushed by some subversive imagery. Well worth visiting his website to find out more.

The post Abstract Collages from Luis Toledo appeared first on idesigni art and graphic design blog.

The spoon is made entirely from corn and other organic products and is therefore 100% natural. Not only is the spoon edible but it comes in a variety of flavours to enhance your gastronomic experience.

Perhaps an edible container for your take away will follow shortly.

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Read Ally’s 10 facts:

1. I beat the creator of the Nuts Poker League, featured on ‘Dragons Den’, at poker.
2. My least favourite pets are goldfish after three died in one week…George 1, 2, and 3.
3. My favourite animal is the naked mole rat or the dugong.
4. I am an excellent cook.  My speciality is pan-fried sea bass…or ham rolls.
5. My main goal in life is to win the TV show ‘Pointless’.
6. My favourite film is ‘Labyrinth’, but ‘Masters of the Universe’ is a close second!
7. I once starred in the popular You Tube sensation ‘Chewies Big Day Out’.
8. The nursery rhyme ‘Ally Bally Bee’ is allegedly about me.
9. I am about to embark on buying my first house!
10. I once shook hands with Patrick Stewart at a ceilidh with Sean Connery and a girl from ‘Ugly Betty’.

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Currently, the youth of Japan are caught in the grip of the invisible energy punch craze, known as Makankosappo referencing the hugely popular anime “Dragon Ball” series.

This latest fad has Japanese schoolgirls in particular, uploading images on Twitter which seem to show participants demonstrating the cause and effect of the release of unseen forces.

Clever, well considered and very, very funny.

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