Life's 100 Photographs that Changed the World

This weekend I read Life's 100 Photographs That Changed the World. What an amazing collection of work, it itself is a piece of art. The photos are inspiring, depressing, confusing, sickening, and most importantly, thought provoking.

I agree with the introduction, it's very difficult to pick a top 100, but the ones chosen do not fall short of their goal. If I still taught high school, I would develop not just a lesson plan, but an entire course section on this collection and concept. There are so many wonderful lessons that can be taught and learned from this book.

The "Society" section is what gripped me the most. Yes, these photos changed the world at the time of their publishing, but I do not think their purpose has come to an end. What affected me the most was the fact that all  of these photos, dating back to the 1700's still play a role in our society in many forms. I always thought the purpose of sitting through dreadfully boring, monotone history lectures (why can't teachers make it more like the History Channel?) was to learn from past mistakes, to continue to grow as people, as a deep thinking, caring, productive citizen of the human race. Many of these poignant photos demonstrate that we are not evolving. Our technology may be evolving, our means to an end may be evolving, but we continue to make the same mistakes again and again.

There are many beautiful aspects of people and humanity. People do possess the ability to care, to nurture, to be philosophical, and brilliant and creative and loving. Yet, they also have the ability to destroy others, to be cruel, arrogant, and evil. In fact, all the evils of society are the fault of the human race. I often feel the evil winning in society and find that I envy those who, no matter what is happening in their lives or the world, are permanently surrounded by sunshine. They must take amazing drugs.

I hope you find time in your busy schedule (who isn't busy these days?) to seek out this collection, find a quiet place where you can reflect on whatever emotion or thought you find provoked by these images and join me in contemplating how to make people see the the repetition of the evils of the past in our present.

Here are some of the photos.

Ode to Old Timey Photography

I adore photography. I adore all styles of photography, except for the fashion/commercial world's obscene use of Photoshop to body shave celebrities/models. I found these gorgeous photos from Daniel A. Carrillo. He uses a photography technique originally used in the mid 1850's called the Collodion Process, also known as a Wet Plate Collodion process.

Photoshop is an amazing tool, but even it cannot produce the beauty found in these photos. I love the coloring, the tone, and the feel, but most of all I love how this process brings out the majestic quality of the eyes. Each of these photos have a similar, yet completely different feel. While the poses may be similar, the subject's eyes bring in their personalities. It's as if you can read their desires and fears through the photograph. I am enchanted.

I'd love to see this process used on Sam Elliot, Clint Eastwood, Florence Welch, Zooey Deschanel, and me (of course).  Mr. Carrillo has a show at the Greg Kucera Gallery in May 2012. I hope I find myself in Seattle around that time. Here are some more photos to enjoy...

A Lesson from Maggie Grace

The human form is beautiful, especially a woman's form. There are some negative aspects to the degree in which today's society clings to youth and, many times, too thin body frames; however, there are many positive aspects as well. Youth should be celebrated, something the young don't realize. At least, I didn't realize it. These gorgeous pictures of Maggie Grace by Gavin Bond want me to go get some fancy clothes and get some photos done (not glamour shots!). I wonder if Mr. Bond (Gavin, not James, though I'd accept James if it was Daniel Craig) would schedule a photo shoot with me? His photographs are beautiful. Cherish your youth, no one is immune to aging and it creeps upon you with very little warning. p.s. I want these clothes.

Original source for images can be found here.