Paper Craft Castle by Wataru Itou
A paper craft art installation by Wataru Itou, a young student of a major art university in Tokyo. The installation is hand made over four years of hard work, complete with electrical lights and a moving train, all made of paper! Clearly, this man must have created one of the most stunning examples of Paper Craft in the world. The exhibition where this masterpiece was exposed was entiteled A Castle On the Ocean. It was exhibited at Umihotaru, a place which in itself is a major attraction: a service area in the middle of the ocean, right between Tokyo City and Chiba Prefecture. Continue reading »
16 Best Architecture Photos of the Year
The Architectural Photography Awards, hosted by Arcaid Images, have announced the winner, runner-up and shortlisted images for this year’s best architecture photos.
Overall Winner: Trollstigen, Norway by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekten
Category: Sense of Place — Images should show buildings or spaces in their wider context and environment. Photographer: Ken Schluchtmann. Continue reading »
2014 Olympic Host City Sochi is a Strange Place
Before its selection to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which start in February, Sochi was unknown to most people outside of Russia.
That anonymity led photographer Rob Hornstra and writer Arnold van Bruggen to embark on a five-year project to investigate the city on the Black Sea. Their work is collected in a photo book, “An Atlas Of War and Tourism in the Caucasus,” released recently by Aperture.
Here are a few of the people and places that Hornstra and van Bruggen uncovered:
Sochi lies in the Caucasus bordered by Chechnya, Georgia, Abkhazia, and other regions that have had sectarian violence in recent years. Gimry (pictured below) was a center of resistance to Russian hegemony in the North Caucasus in the 19th century and now.
A 200-Year Conflict. (© Rob Hornstra / Courtesy Flatland Gallery)
Sochi is famous for its sanatoria, a type of health resort. Stalin famously ruled Russia from Sochi because he loved its sanatorium so much. Below, tourists on a beach relax outside the less-famous sanatorium in Adler, in between Sochi and the Olympic stadium cluster. Continue reading »
“Girl Games”
Photographer Ellen von Unwerth for V Magazine. Starring Hailey Clauson, Luma Grothe, Ashley Smith, Emma Stern, Jennifer Pugh, Lindsey Byard, Rebecca Fourteau. Continue reading »
Nicole Kidman Plays Sixties Siren for Jimmy Choo’s Cruise 2014 Campaign
Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman reveals she has been known to be the party girl of all party girls while filming her Brigitte Bardot inspired Cruise 2014 campaign for Jimmy Choo. Continue reading »
Uma Thurman for Campari Calendar 2014
Uma Thurman vamps it up in ravishing red as she parties around the world for new Campari calendar.
The unveiling of the full range of highly anticipated imagery of the 2014 Campari calendar featuring Uma Thurman and photographed by the famous photographer Koto Bolofo was themed “Worldwide Celebrations,” and it marked the 15th edition of the prestigious calendar collection. Continue reading »
Upside Down Race Car by Jeff Bloch AKA SpeedyCop
An American inventor has built a unique upside-down racecar – and successfully taken it on a 24-hour spin around the LeMons track. Jeff Bloch – also known as SpeedyCop – built his upside down 1999 Chevrolet Camaro by combining it with a decrepit 1990 Ford Festiva. To enter the latest LeMons race the car had to cost less than $500, which Bloch achieved by picking a Festiva model with a worn-out 1.3-litre engine and more than 300,000 kilometres on the clock. Continue reading »
Zombie Survival Сontest in Spain
Zombies walk the streets during Zombie Survival contest on December 1, 2013 in Alameda de la Sagra, near Toledo, Spain.
‘Zombie Survival’ is a contest taking place all around Alameda de la Sagra where participants have to avoid getting touched by Zombies and find all clues to survive. The winners will leave the village by helicopter. Photos by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images. Continue reading »
Candice Swanepoel by Matt Jones for i-D Magazine, Winter 2013
Publication: i-D Magazine, Winter 2013
Model: Candice Swanepoel
Photographer: Matt Jones
Hair: Leon Gorman
Make-up: Leanne Hirsh Continue reading »
“Stairway to Heaven” in Hawaii
The Haʻikū Stairs, also known as the Stairway to Heaven or Haʻikū Ladder, is a steep hiking trail on the island of Oʻahu. The trail began as a wooden ladder spiked to the cliff on the south side of the Haʻikū Valley. It was installed in 1942 to enable antenna cables to be strung from one side of the cliffs above Haʻikū Valley to the other.
A building to provide a continuous communication link between Wahiawā and Haʻikū Valley Naval Radio Station was constructed at the peak of Puʻukeahiakahoe, elevation about 2,800 feet (850 m). The antennae transmitted very low frequency radio signals from a 200,000-watt Alexanderson alternator in the center of Haʻikū valley. The signals could reach US Navy submarines as far away as Tokyo Bay while the submarines were submerged. Continue reading »
You’d Better Buy Her Some Flowers
French online florist 123Fleurs.com is promoting its speed of delivery with a series of print advertisements showing scenarios that could do flowers right now. Get online and order those flowers to avoid destruction of your favourite matchstick model ship, your wine cellar and your motorbike. Continue reading »
Space Cats by Zippora Lux
Boya Latumahina, alter ego, Zippora Lux is a design student studying at Central St Martins in London. She has created these space age cats by combining two of her favourite things, cats and telescopic photographs. Continue reading »
2013 National Geographic Photo Contest, Part 1: “Nature”, Weeks 1-3
National Geographic invites photographers from around the world to enter the 2013 National Geographic Photography Contest. The grand-prize winner will receive $10,000 (USD) and a trip to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual National Geographic Photography Seminar in January 2014.
“Fox Glance”. During a regular trip through the forest, of which my actual intent was landscapes, I encountered this stunning little Red Fox. The moment came as the light broke through the clouds and trees, he turned with a glance of curiosity and gave me the unusual composition I was after. A scene I’ll never be lucky enough to see again in my life, so was over the moon i’d managed to capture the moment. Photo location: Thetford Forest, England. (Photo and caption by Sam Morris/National Geographic Photo Contest) Continue reading »
Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in China
The Danxia landform refers to various landscapes found in southeast and southwest China that “consist of a red bed characterized by steep cliffs”. It is a unique type of petrographic geomorphology found in China. Danxia landform is formed from red-coloured sandstones and conglomerates of largely Cretaceous age. The landforms look very much like karst topography that forms in areas underlain by limestones, but since the rocks that form danxia are sandstones and conglomerates, they have been called “pseudo-karst” landforms.
View of colourful rock formations at the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in Gansu Province, China. The Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park is 40km from Zhangye city. The park spans more than 400 square kilometers in Gansu. The unusual terrain is the result of red sandstone and mineral deposits carved over the years by natural forces. A number of boardwalks have been built to encourage visitors to explore the rock formations. (Photo by ImagineChina/The Grosby Group) Continue reading »
2013 National Geographic Photo Contest, Part 1: “Places”, Weeks 1-3
National Geographic invites photographers from around the world to enter the 2013 National Geographic Photography Contest. The grand-prize winner will receive $10,000 (USD) and a trip to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual National Geographic Photography Seminar in January 2014.
“Hikers, Skogar to Thorsmork trail, Iceland”. Every summer solstice, locals in Iceland hike the Skogar to Thorsmork trail. Taking nearly 8 hours to complete, you can approach Thorsmork right as the sun starts to “rise” again. A few fellow hikers up ahead navigate the steep terrain. Photo location: Thorsmork, Iceland. (Photo and caption by Amanda Rust/National Geographic Photo Contest) Continue reading »
Mortsafe: Protection from the Living Dead
Mortsafes were contraptions designed to protect graves from disturbance. Resurrectionists had supplied the schools of anatomy in Scotland since the early 18th century. This was due to the necessity for medical students to learn anatomy by attending dissections of human subjects, which was frustrated by the very limited allowance of dead bodies – for example the corpses of executed criminals – granted by the government, which controlled the supply. Continue reading »
Thousands of Starlings Descend on Rigg, Scotland
Thousands of the birds have arrived to roost in the village near Gretna, Scotland, with the sheer weight of numbers causing disruption. Power supplies in the village have been affected by the number of birds perching on electricity cables. Starlings are among the most common of garden birds, and can be spotted in the Borders in “murmurations” throughout the Autumn period.
A murmuration of starlings above the the small village of Rigg, near Gretna, in the Scottish Borders, on November 25, 2013. The weight of the resting birds on power lines caused some power localised power outages in the village. Still one of the commonest of garden birds, its decline elsewhere puts it on the Red List of endangered species. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire) Continue reading »
Female Bodyguards Accept Brutal Training in China
Security Academy offers rigorous training course which includes aquatic training, martial arts, vehicle safety training and other necessary skills. With the rise of Chinese multi-millionaires, there are a sharp demand for the service of bodyguards. Whether the need is for safety purpose or as a status symbol, no one really cares. Many are lured into becoming bodyguards because of the high income. Even women are attracted to join the trainings since there are also demand for female bodyguards. The whole rigorous training covers a period of 13 days.
Photos: Female and male trainees run during a bodyguard training program at the boot camp of Genghis Security Academy in Beijing, China. (Photo by ImagineChina/The Grosby Group) Continue reading »
Drawings by Marcin Schleifer
Superb minimalistic drawings by Marcin Schleifer, an art craftsman from Poland. Continue reading »
A Design Award Winner DIY Calendar
A calendar with no rules and a playful usage for users to personalize. Continue reading »
ShotShell Limited Edition by Made by Ammo
Certain to be the last shot glass you will ever need, the ShotShell Limited is turned from brass. Loosely based on a shotgun shell, this perfect 1.5 fluid ounce vessel will not rust or break. While brass is a much softer material than stainless steel, it will develop character through slight dis-coloration and wear over time.
100% USA made. Ever. Period. End of Story. Continue reading »
Pocket Cats by Hiroko Kubota
How stunning and adorable are these embroidered pocket cats by Japanese artist Hiroko Kubota! Continue reading »
Hellfest Festival 2013
Photo by Cesar Hernandez.
Hellfest is an annual music festival which takes place in Clisson, France in mid-June. It is held within the Val de Moine sport complex in Clisson, approximately 35 km south-east of the city of Nantes, and approximately 400 km south-west of the nation’s capital Paris. Billed as an “extreme music festival”, the programme features a variety of heavy metal, hard rock, punk and hardcore act. Continue reading »
The Wood Art Of Mark Doolittle
Decorative Vessel “The Beauty Within”
This sculptural vessel was carved from a gourd. The relief carving contains a centrally inset orchid carved from wood (Basswood). The non-carved surfaces were covered by handmade paper and then wood-burned to create a stained-glass appearance.
Wood sculptures by Mark Doolittle Studio. Continue reading »
Russian Diamond Mines
City buildings stand beyond the giant excavated hole left by the Mir mine, a former open pit diamond mine, in Mirny, Russia, on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. OAO Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond producer, raised about $1.3 billion in an oversubscribed share sale from investors including Oppenheimer Funds Inc. and Lazard Ltd.’s asset-management unit, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said. (Photo by Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg) Continue reading »
