Quote of the Day (NYT)

"It is also interesting how a photograph quickly changes when we learn more about what it depicts, when we provide a context, when we become familiar with an underlying story. And when we make claims about the photograph using language. For truth, properly considered, is about the relationship between language and the world, not about photographs and the world."

Source: New York Times

Prank on Damien Hirst

Last month, I wrote a blog entry on British "bad boy" artist Damien Hirst's latest work: a diamond-encrusted skull reportedly worth up to the absurd sum of $10 million.

In response to the skull's exhibition in London, an artist named "Laura" created a replica covered with 6,522 Swarovski crystals and dumped it outside the gallery in the middle of the night on top of a pile of trash.



Sources: boingboing.net and woostercollective.com

New Seven Wonders

The New 7 Wonders of the World were announced on Saturday, July 7, 2007 (07/07/07)

They are:

• Chichén Itzá, Mexico


• Christ Redeemer, Brazil


• The Great Wall, China


• Machu Picchu, Peru


• Petra, Jordan


• The Roman Colloseum, Italy


• The Taj Mahal, India

The seven beat out 14 other nominated landmarks, including Easter Island in the Pacific, the Acropolis, Cambodia's Angkor, Spain's Alhambra, and (most surprising to me) Britain's Stonehenge. About 100 million votes were cast by the Internet and cellphone text messages, said New7Wonders, the non-profit organization that conducted the poll.

The pyramids of Giza (the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world) were assured of retaining their status in addition to the new seven, after indignant Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete.

Time Magazine ran a photo essay on the winning sites.

Source: new7wonders.com and several major media outlets

More on the Role of Art

This past week's death of opera star Beverly Sills has spawned a profusion of "bringing art to the unwashed masses" articles. (This is to be expected, considering that there's an entire generation of journalists that was first introduced to the singer via her appearance on The Muppet Show.)



Which begs the question: Is the role of art to elevate the viewer, or to celebrate him in his everyday splendor?

On Fine Art Photography

Fine art photography is comprised of photographic images that produced or intended primarily for beauty, rather than for utility.

Such prints are reproduced, usually in limited editions, in order to be sold to dealers, collectors or curators (rather than mass-reproduced in advertising and/or magazines). Fine art photography prints will sometimes, but not always, be exhibited in an art gallery.

To learn more about fine art photography, visit my articles archive at www.freewebs.com/lgfindlay/articles.htm.

Photo Shoot: Dylan's 1st Birthday

Here are a few favorite photos, which I shot this afternoon in Hudson, NH: