The Amazingly Detailed Living Pictures That Show How Scenes Throughout History May Really Have Looked
Have you ever felt frustrated that photography was invented too late to give you a glimpse of some of your favourite historical events?
Well, if you are a fan of Britain’s struggle for democracy and equality, a free exhibition in Bradford is here to help.
Ways Of Looking, a city-wide photography festival features some of Red Saunders’ finest works.The artist specialises in huge ‘tableaux vivants’ (living pictures) where he gets dozens of actors to recreate moments from British history including the English Civil War, the Chartist movement and the Peasants’ Revolt.
Historical ‘evidence’: Leveller Women in the English Revolution, 1647 is one of Red Saunders’ ‘tableaux vivants’ which recreates famous – and not so famous – scenes from the past. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: Living on Thin Ice
Beyond Cape Royds, Antarctica, home to the southernmost colony of penguins in the world, lies the Ross Sea, an extension of the Pacific Ocean that harbors more than one-third of the world’s Adélie penguin population and a quarter of all emperor penguins, and which may be the last remaining intact marine ecosystem on Earth. Credit: Andy Isaacson for The New York Times.
New Shanghai Living
In photos of Hu Yang.
Hu Yang’s extensive photographic publication “Shanghai Living” documents the living spaces of 500 families living in today’s Shanghai. A selection of 100 of the images were first displayed at ShanghART Gallery and caused unforeseen public attention due to their rare and particular presentation of intimate and protected private spaces.
The “Shanghai Living” series works almost as an archive: all subjects and interiors, whether wealthy or impoverished, are equally treated. One might naturally question the objectivity, authenticity and honesty of the documentary photos. As with any other visual art form, the intentions and stylistic strategies are, ultimately, always a subjective choice made by the photographer. Nevertheless, these intimate portraits do not come across as staged settings, and unlike exterior views of the city, they are spaces that are otherwise closed to the public. Finally, it is up to the spectator to manage and interpret these contemporary iconographies of modern Shanghai living spaces.
