Happy Christmas!

...to all my cyberfriends and to everyone who's reading this.
I'm truly grateful that I have met and made friends with so many creative, unique and inspiring people, much love to you all!

The wonderful Martine Roch (aka Petite Chose) sent me this beautiful image, one of her latest creations, thought I'd share with you.


You should check out her flickr site, her works are truly amazing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/petitechose/




P. S. 　I'm in love with this song.

Happy Christmas!
xxoo
Michiko

Georges de La Tour and Candle Light

One Hell Of An Imagination

I would like to introduce to you amazing works by Madonaperra aka Jesus Almeida, a Myspace friend of mine.
I wish I had this incredible imagination....

Go to his Myspace and check out the picture albums.

And his flickr site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesus_almeida

The Way Things Go

My great Myspace friend Maximillian introduced me to this interesting work by Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Here are a couple of excerpts from this precisely crafted amazing 30mintues chain reaction.

The Best Vintage Photo Archive

Check out this wonderful site.
You won't be dissapointed.
Square America
(A gallery of vintage snapshots & vernacular photography)

Sceneries of Japan in Old Photographs

Seeing vintage photographs of Japan from Meiji-Taisho era is such a strange and wonderful experience, it does not make me feel like slipping back in time but it's like seeing a life in mysterious exotic place that never existed. It's the romanticized and exaggerated view of Japan created by/for foreigners. I love it that these photographs are so free from all the traditional Japanese values or ideas, they make me notice and appreciate the beauty of my country in a different way. Not that I don't appreciate the history and traditional culture of Japan, it's about seeing things in different perspectives and discovering new ideas.

Unknown

618 Temple at Shiba, Tokyo by Kimbei Kusakabe

M2 Papenberg Rock by Adolfo Farsari

Moat Round The Tycoon's Place, Edo by Felice Beato

I'm particularly fascinated by this last photograph by Felice Beato.
It looks, to me, as though the traditional values and authority associated with the architecture (Edo Castle) are ignored, and what's important here is the beauty of the structure, the composition and the shapes.

Some more photos by Felice Beato

All the photographs except for the "unknown" are from this Japanese site

Meiji Taisho 1868-1926 Showcase

Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio

Jitterbug jam from "Jammin' The Blues"

Directed by Gjon Mili



with : Lester Young, Red Callender, Harry Edison, Marlowe Morris, Sidney Catlett and many others.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Wrapped Trees






Sketches




The Umbrellas










I've known Christo and Jeanne-Claude's works since I was a kid(I've even met them when I was a baby, I cried and screamed when Jeanne-Claude tried to hold me), but it was when I was studying fashion in college that I took better interest in their works, because I felt the concept of their works had some things in common with the concept of fashion design.

This quote from their website can probably explain their works a lot better than my poor English writing.

"Christo and Jeanne-Claude's works are entire environments, whether they are urban or rural. The artists temporarily use one part of the environment. In doing so, we see and perceive the whole environment with new eyes and a new consciousness.

The effect is astounding. To be in the presence of one of these artworks is to have your reality rocked. You see things you have never seen before. You also get to see the fabric manifest things that cannot usually be seen, like the wind blowing, or the sun reflecting in ways it had not before.

The effect lasts longer than the actual work of art. Years after every physical trace has been removed and the materials recycled, original visitors can still see and feel them in their minds when they return to the sites of the artworks.

There is no other way to describe that the feeling of that effect other than to say it is magical."

written by Jok Church


Christo and Jeanne-Claude's website

Found Images3

Vintage Color Photos of US cities

My recent finds...




















Vintage Color Photos of US cities

'It Ain't Necessarily So' by Miles Davis