Ghostly Images of Abandoned Malls by Seph Lawless
Tag Archives: photos
The Subject of No Subject
APRIL 2, 2014
“Farmer’s Child,” 1919. Photograph by August Sander.
Photograph by Michael Somoroff.
“Small-town Women,” circa 1913. Photograph by August Sander.
Photograph by Michael Somoroff.
“Pastrycook,” 1928. Photograph by August Sander.
Photograph by Michael Somoroff.
“Cistercian Monks,” 1911. Photograph by August Sander.
Photograph by Michael Somoroff.
“Circus Workers,” 1926-32. Photograph by August Sander.
Photograph by Michael Somoroff.
“Girl in Fairground Caravan,” 1926-32. Photograph by August Sander.
Photograph by Michael Somoroff.
Michael Somoroff’s “Absence of Subject” is an unconventional homage to the German photographer August Sander. Starting in the nineteen-twenties, Sander, a former miner and painter, began shooting portraits for his series “People of the Twentieth Century,” a systematic effort to document a cross-section of German society. Using an eight-by-ten camera, whose large format gave his photographs a remarkable sense of immediacy, he shot tens of thousands of portraits until his death, in 1964. Of these, only eighteen hundred survive; the rest were destroyed when his studio was bombed, in 1944.
Somoroff, a photographer from New York, began digitally removing the people from Sander’s most iconic images in 2000. What started out as, in Somoroff’s words, a philosophical experiment “to emphasize this particular power and talent that Sanders had” eventually turned into a seven-year project. He collaborated with Julian Sander, August Sander’s grandson, who gave him the support that was necessary to bring the project to life. “The idea that drove ‘Absence’ is that there is a philosophical discussion in terms of our existential condition,” Somoroff told me. “What really is our relationship to God or our relationship to being? The answer to that—universally found in all religions—is that we are a part of a whole. In so being, we are an expression of a lack. In essence, ‘Absence of Subject’ is about that lack.”
August Sander photographs © Die Photographische Sammlung/SK-Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv, Cologne – VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn, 2011.
Ghost Towns
FATEHPUR SIKRI, INDIA
Built by Emperor Akbar to be the most beautiful city in the world, it was widely thought this goal was achieved – until people realized the city lacked access to water. It was abandoned as the capital of the Mughal Empire after just 10 years and is today a perfectly preserved 16th-century town.
Picture: Flickr user Sikri Goove2007
DECEPTION ISLAND, ANTARCTICA
A regular stop on Antarctic sailings, Deception Island was a popular place for scientific outposts until several volcanic eruptions destroyed the bases in the 1960s. Today you can see their remains, plus swim in hot springs.
Picture: Flickr user Wili Hybrid
KOLMANSKOP, NAMIBIA
Travellers seeking a quiet place need look no further than the numerous towns around the world that have been abandoned for one reason or another. Travel review website IgoUgo.com has compiled a list of the top 10 ghost towns around the world based on recommendations from its readers.
Before you enter this abandoned mining town in the Namib desert, you’ll need to stop in nearby Luderitz for a permit – a holdover from the days when Kolmanskop was a free-for-all for diamond hunters. The town was at its heyday in the 1920s but abandoned in 1956. It has since been partly restored.
Picture: Flickr user Coda
OATMAN, ARIZONA, US
Of the Arizona ghost towns, quirky Oatman has to be among IgoUgo members’ favourite. It’s here where wild burros roam the streets and $60,000 bills decorate the walls of the local hotel, where, incidentally, Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their wedding night.
Picture: Flickr user Caveman 92223
ARTLUNGA, AUSTRALIA
A favourite part of this old Outback mining town (and early European settlement) is the “loneliest pub in the scrub,” also known as the Arltunga Hotel. It’s an ideal place for lunch or a cold beer before or after exploring Arltunga which was born out of a gold rush.
Picture: Page Lovelace
GRAFTON, UTAH, US
Founded for its fertile land and abandoned largely due to conflicts with Native Americans and flooding, Grafton is most famous as the set of the movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The last residents left in 1944.
Picture: Flickr user Respres
Inventions From The Past.
How to get birds to eat out of your hand
With the proper preparation, you can have little chickadees snacking away in the palm of your hand.
Photo: Lighttraveler/Shutterstock
Watching birds flutter to and from your feeder can be a rewarding experience, but what if you could get those cuties to eat out of your hand? It is possible, with plenty of patience.
Trying to hand-feed birds can be a fun challenge, but like any wild animal, you will have to gain birds’ trust first.
For starters, it helps to have a yard that is attractive to birds: free of roaming pets, and with plenty ofplaces to perch. Take notes on when birds come to the feeder, and then start getting them used to your presence.
It may be a good idea to sit or stand (still!) several feet away from the feeder over the course of a few days — gradually getting closer and closer. The Old Farmer’s Almanac suggests talking softly to ensure that the birds can get used to your voice.
In addition, topping off the feeders at the same time every day will teach the birds to expect your presence and associate it with delicious rewards. Birdwatching.com suggests adding some special treats, like chopped pecans, to the feeders if you want to seem all the more appealing.
You will know when the birds have accepted you. They will no longer hide in the trees and shrubs; instead, they’ll excitedly hop to the feeders and they won’t be scared off as easily if you make a little noise. Once they eat from the feeder when you are standing right next to it, try holding your hand out, palm up, on or right beside the feeder. The birds will eventually eat near your hand.
On a day when the feeder is getting low or is completely empty (or you can even take the feed out temporarily), place nuts and seeds in the palm of your hand and wait patiently for a taker. Once a bird lands on your hand, stay still and absolutely quiet. It may be hard, but try not to swallow — the bird may see that as a sign that you want a tweeting snack of your own!
For your first try at hand-feeding, be sure to choose the birds’ favorite seeds — they won’t go to your hand for just any snack. Of the many frequenters of North American backyards, chickadees, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and titmice have all been known to cozy up to humans for a handful of treats.
Chickadees
These chatty birds are perhaps the friendliest of the backyard varieties. With tiny bodies and big attitudes, chickadees don’t usually seem intimidated by humans. They are curious and plentiful. Their call sounds much like their name, chick-a-dee.
Their favorite foods: suet, sunflower, peanuts
Nuthatches
Only a squeak and a hop away, nuthatches are never far from the feeder. You will see these birds climbing headfirst all along the tree trunks (you know, those upside-down birds); it’s what makes them unique — along with their call that sounds a bit like your dog’s chew toy.
Their favorite foods: sunflower, peanuts, suet, peanut butter
Downy woodpeckers
While these birds can be a bit flighty, they are significantly less so than their woodpecker cousins. Where there are chickadees and nuthatches, there are usually these speckled beauties. They typically announce their presence either with an obvious swoop toward the feeder or with tap-tapping on a nearby tree.
Their favorite foods: suet, black oil sunflower seeds, millet, peanuts, peanut butter
Titmice
Titmice, like this tufted titmouse pictured, are curious and almost always seem to be in the mood for a snack. You may have heard their high-pitched peter-peter-peter call in your own backyard.
Their favorite foods: sunflower seeds, suet, peanuts (and pretty much any other seed)
A note about hummingbirds
Yep, these tiny, fluttering birds can also be hand-fed. Like with the other birds, consistency is key, but feeding them works just a bit differently.
About.com recommends holding one of the feeders(and it helps if it is the only available feeder) in your hand — and even providing your finger as a little perch. You can even fill a tiny container and hold it in the palm of your hand to try to get a closer experience. Remember: hummingbirds love the color red, so the more on or around you, the better.
For help identifying the other birds in your backyard, including what they like to eat and how friendly they are, visit Cornell’s bird guide on AllAboutBirds.org.
A few important notes: If you choose to make this a family activity, be wary of letting young ones try their hand at feeding birds; a fidgety toddler will have little success gaining the trust of a bird. Of course, keep cleanliness in mind: always wash your hands before and after you handle wild birds. And once you begin hand-feeding birds, be sure to act gently if you want them to come back. Make sure that they have the freedom to come and go as they please — and do not try to confine them.
Bizarre, beautiful starfish species
19 bizarre and beautiful starfish species
Who knew that starfish could come in so many shapes and colors … and with so many arms!
Photo: Ethan Daniels/Shutterstock
Starfish, or more technically accurate, sea stars, are fascinating creatures and amazingly diverse. Most commonly thought of as a five-armed intertidal species, starfish come in myriad shapes, sizes, colors, arm counts, and are found from shorelines to the deep sea. And while they seem like docile creatures, they can actually be voracious and rather savage predators. Here are some of the many beautiful, odd and surprising species of sea stars around the world.
Leather star (Dermasterias imbricata): Found along the west coast of North America, from Alaska to Mexico, the leather star lives in the intertidal zone down to depths of about 300 feet where it dines on everything from algae to sponges to sea cucumbers. Meanwhile, it does its best to avoid the morning sun star, another species of sea star that makes a quick meal (well, relatively speaking) of the leather star. Leather stars make up to 50% of the diet of the morning sun star.
Photo: Ed Bierman/Flickr
***
Morning sun star (Solaster dawsoni): And here is that voracious predator. With anywhere from 8 to 16 arms and usually red or orange coloring, the morning sun star looks, well, like a cartoon sun. It is found in the northern Pacific, from Japan to Siberia and down the coast of North America down to California. Other sea stars literally run away from it if they’re touched by it. Some, however, fight back, including the velcro star and rainbow star which can pinch the morning sun star to make it recoil and provide a window for escape. Others have defense mechanisms — the slime star inflates itself and exudes a noxious mucus, and the sunflower sea star can detach an arm in order to get away. If a morning sun star can’t catch a star of a different species, it has no problem chowing down on an individual of its own species.
Photo: NatureDiver /Shutterstock
***
Sunflower star (Pycnopodia helianthoides): The sunflower star is the largest sea star in the world, reaching an armspan of 3.3 feet. That space is taken up by 16-24 arms. They’re found along the coast of North America, from Alaska to California, but they’re largest in the northern areas. They dine on sea urchins, clams and snails and are usually found in subtidal areas where there is always water, since they can’t support their bodies out of water.
Photo: Ethan Daniels /Shutterstock
***
Pink short spined star (Pisaster brevispinus): Even starfish look pretty in pink. This sea star can reach a whopping two feet in diameter, and can weigh up to two pounds. It dines on clams and sand dollars, so is usually found on sand or mud, but its soft texture allows it to also grip on coral and rocks where it can feast on mussels, tube worms and barnacles. This is also a celebrity species: Spongebob Squarepants’ neighbor Patrick Star is a pink starfish. So next time you see one, ask for an autograph.
Photo: jkirkhart35/Wikipedia
***
Granulated sea star (Choriaster granulatus): This species goes by many names, including the cushion sea star or doughboy star, for obvious reasons. The plump starfish is found in shallow waters on coral reefs and rubble slopes where it feeds on algae, coral polyps, and scavenges on dead animals.
Photo: Ethan Daniels /Shutterstock
***
Royal starfish (Astropecten articulatus): This vividly colored species is found along the east coast of North America, primarily in the southeast. While it can live at depths of up to 700 feet, it mostly hangs out at around 70-100 feet deep where it dines on mollusks. Unlike many other species of starfish, the royal starfish eats its prey whole.
Photo: TheMargue/wikipedia
***
Bat sea star (Asterina miniata): This fascinating species is called the bat star because of the webbing between its arms, which (so some say) look like bat wings. It is found along the west coast of North America, from Alaska to Baja. While the species usually has five arms, it can have up to nine, and it can be a wide range of colors from green to orange to purple. So if you’re wondering if you’re looking at a bat sea star, check if it has the tell-tale webbing.
Photo: stevehullphotography/Shutterstock
***
Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci): The name of this species is fairly clear. The spines covering its upper surface make it look like, well, you know. Those spines are also venomous, which aid it in its quest for world domination. Found over a wide range in subtropical waters, from the Red Sea to across the Indian Ocean, and across the Pacific Ocean to the western coast of Central America, this species preys on coral polyps. As one of the largest starfish in the world, it has a voracious appetitive. When numbers are low, crown-of-thorns starfish help boost the biodiversity of coral reefs by preying on the fastest growing coral species. But if their populations become too high, they can wreak havoc on coral reefs. Their population booms are due in part from human fishing of and collection of their natural predators, the humphead wrasse and triton snail.
Photo: Ethan Daniels /Shutterstock
***
Pacific blood star (Henricia leviuscula): Despite the creepy name, this common starfish is actually a very small, slender species that feeds on sponges and bacteria. Meanwhile, its main predators are birds and humans. They are among the most brightly colored sea star species in the intertidal zone and are found at depths of over 1,000 feet.
Photo: Medtrails/wikipedia
***
Egyptian sea star (Gomophia egyptiaca): Found along the coasts of eastern Africa and Madagascar, this spiky sea star stays at depths of around 20-25 feet. Like may starfish, it can regenerate parts of its body that are damaged. But with those spikes, it doesn’t look like a sea star you want to reach out and mess with.
Alexander Vasenin/wikipedia
***
It may not be the only sea star to have nine arms, but it’s the only species to be named for the fact that it has nine arms. Found in the western Atlantic ocean, this starfish, like many species, everts its stomach to engulf its prey, and essentially “swallows” with its stomach. The nine-arm sea star dines on mollusks, small crustaceans, and sea worms, as well as filters stomachfuls of sediment to feast on tiny organisms.
Photo: Andrea Westmoreland/Flickr
***
They look almost more like a seaweed or coral than a sea star.
Photo: NOAA/Flickr
***
Necklace Starfish (Fromia monilis): This jewel-like starfish is found in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Found in shallow water in rocky areas, it feeds on sponges and small invertebrates. It can get as large as 12 inches across, and has unusual and beguiling coloring. That plus its relative hardiness makes it a favorite for people who keep salt water aquariums. It is also called the red tile starfish for obvious reasons.
Photo: Hectonichus/wikipedia
***
(Pisaster giganteus): This bedazzled sea star is found on the western coast of North America, from southern California up to British Columbia. Found in rocky areas along the low tide mark, they feast on mollusks. This species can grow as huge as two feet in diameter, hence the name that includes “giganteus”. Though they have few predators, they are prey items for sea otters and birds.
Photo: Ed Bierman/Flickr
***
Pincushion starfish (Culcita novaeguineae): Found in tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, this unusual species of starfish creates its own little habitat by providing shelter for small shrimp that hide under it, and copepods that live on its outside. Even a species of fish, the star pearlfish, may make itself at home inside the body cavity of the pincushion star, emerging to feed. It would be hard to guess by glancing at it that it is a starfish at all, and not a type of coral!
Photo: Ethan Daniels/Shutterstock
***
Chocolate Chip Sea Star (Protoreaster nodosus): Mmmmm, chocolate chip cookies! Well, while this looks like a chocolate chip-studded starfish, it wouldn’t exactly taste great. The dark nubs are a way for it to look more dangerous, and it works as it has few predators. Because of this, the sea stars actually provide a home on its surface for other species such as shrimp, tiny brittle stars, and juvenile filefish. Though it has few oceanic predators, it does have one serious predator — humans. This species is collected as a tourist trinket and for the aquarium trade and are being overharvested in some areas.
Photo: Ethan Daniels /Shutterstock
***
Blue sea star (Linckia laevigata): This gorgeous blue sea star is found in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, usually in shallow and sunny parts of reefs and reef fringes. It is a scavenger, and so acts as the clean up crew by feeding on dead animals. Like the chocolate chip sea star, the blue sea star has been part of the sea-shell trade for a long time, its skeleton sold as decoration. Because of this, the populations in some regions have seen dramatic decline.
Photo: Ethan Daniels /Shutterstock
***
Australian southern sand star (Luidia australiae): The mottled coloring of this species helps tp camouflage it in the sediment of seagrass beds of the Pacific Ocean around Australia and New Zealand. Typically sporting seven arms, it grows to be around 16 inches in diameter. It is sometimes found washed up on the beach after storms.
Photo: Dusan Wolczko /shutterstock
***
Talk about gorgeous. This beautiful species is found around the Gulf of Panama and the Pearl Islands, all the way up to the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean. Appropriately, it is also called a knobby star. They can reach up to 18 inches in diameter, and feast on mussels and barnacles. They are considered a keystone species in tidepools thanks to the work they do to keep mussel populations under control. But it’s not without effort — it can take a starfish upwards of six hours to eat a single mussel.
Photo: Laszlo Ilyes/Flickr
Rita at the shooting gallery
Amsterdam-based publisher Erik Kessels has produced 12 books of weird, often surreal, domestic photos, never intended for publication. Here are some of funniest, most enigmatic and inexplicably heartwarming pictures from his collection
Read more about the pictures here
All the Money You Made Will Never Buy Back Your Soul
Thanks, Jim, for letting me share this
Jim Nooney
Sep 26, 2010
All The Money You Made Will Never Buy Back Your Soul“Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.”-Bob Dylan/”Masters Of War”Smithsonian Museum Of American History
Washington, D.C.
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.”-Bob Dylan/”Masters Of War”Smithsonian Museum Of American History
Washington, D.C.
Girl grows up among wild animals
-
Tippi was photographed growing up alongside wild animals in Africa. Both of the girl’s parents are nature photographers, which explains everything.
Prior to Tippi being born, her French parents relocated their family to Namibia, Africa. This is where the little girl was able to make friends with some of the world’s most feared and admired animals like lions, tigers and cheetahs. She also hung out with elephants and zebras.
Instead of having their daughter grow up around peer pressure, drama and toxic preschool friends, her parents’ chose a completely different route. The best part is that they captured the photos and chose to share their daughter’s childhood with the world. How selfless! Check them out below.
H/T: NegPoz, Photos courtesy of Tippi: My Book Of Africa
Reflection of Times Square
Ben Orlansky (click picture for link to his blog)
