Diamonds + Wood

Céline | F/W 2012-13

2012-03-13T22:41:00.000+13:00

Details from the Céline collection for Fall/Winter 2012-13 by Phoebe Philo. Cobalt; burgundy; cherry; russet; swathes of plump leather and impossibly lustrous magenta [fox] fur.

All images via vogue.it

The Maasai Cricket Warriors

2012-03-13T10:24:00.000+13:00

Photographer Carl De Souza documented this group of young Maasai warriors from the Laikipia region in Kenya who've formed a cricket team. Captained by 26 year old Nissan Jonathan Ole Meshami, the team are fundraising to travel to South Africa inorder to take part in the Last Man Stands World Championships. Alongside promoting healthy living, spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS and women's issues, the team aspire to become role models in their community and ambassadors for both the Maasai and Kenya.

Edit: You can donate to this cause here: www.justgiving.com/MaasaiCricketWarriors
The Last Man Stands World Championships is an annual international tournament, this year it is held in Cape Town, commencing on the 31st March till 7th April. 'It consists of amateur teams from around the world playing several T20 group matches, followed by a knockout stage and a final. LMS offers a first prize of US$10,000, receives considerable media exposure' (1)

(1) maasaicricketwarriors.bellstrike.com
Source: The Atlantic: InFocus

Spare, surfeit, surplus

2012-03-13T02:44:00.002+13:00

by-product, enough, glut, inundation, leavings, leftover, nimiety, overdose, overflow, overkill, overload, oversupply, plenty, plethora, profusion, recrement, redundance, redundancy, refuse, remainder, rest.

'Spare' plastic moulds used in the comercial taxidermy process as spotted, en-mass.

Orlando (1992) Part III

2012-03-11T23:23:00.000+13:00

Orlando (1992) Part II

2012-03-11T20:12:00.001+13:00

Orlando (1992) part I

2012-03-11T19:01:00.000+13:00

Directed in 1992 by Sally Potter. Wikipedia page more

"A New Elegance" | Jil Sander Fall 2012/13

2012-03-02T09:46:00.007+13:00

Beautiful modern sportswear at Raf Simon's final collection for Jil Sander.

On the catwalk, women dressed in robe dresses and enveloping coats that are reminiscent of the 50s Dior models; little dresses with leather inserts on the bust that bring to mind Yves Saint Laurent; and, finally, corolla trench coats with maxi belts that resemble haute couture sketches. A collection that starts out sweetly and slowly gains in fullness, texture, and seduction: strapless dresses with cuts, inserts, and draped fabrics that shape geometric figures and confer balance, purity, and style for a new elegance.

Images - vogue.it and Vain & Vapid

Review - Max Sortino for vogue.it

Lanvin Spring/Summer 2012 Campaign Steven Meisel

2012-02-29T22:16:00.000+13:00

Ad Campaign: Lanvin Spring/Summer 2012Photography: Steven Meisel Models: Aymeline Valade, Othilia Simon, and Marte Mei Van Haaster. Male models: Angus Low, Johannes Schulze, and Aaron Vernon.

In The Mood For Love | Part II

2012-02-27T23:03:00.004+13:00

These posts are a study on the phenomenal mise en scene in Kai Wai Wong's 2000 masterpiece Fa yeung nin wa (In The Mood For Love)

I can strongly urge you to watch the film if you haven't already. For, as much I am an advocate for film stills in this manner, they cannot convey the beauty and ambience of Osvaldo Farrés' stringed instrumental score. Nor can still images do justice to the hypnotically slow to perfection, slow motion scenes of filmic fake rain on cobblestones, chance meetings in dark stairways, bodies brushing past each other; barely touching, tiny hairs on end.

In The Mood for Love | Part I

2012-02-27T22:11:00.005+13:00

Lady Liberty | Elle Brazil 2012

2012-02-26T00:10:00.000+13:00

Lady Liberty | Daiane Conterato by Zee Nunes for Elle Brazil February 2012

Styling: Pedro Salles. Sourced via fashion|mode|photography

Lessons of Darkness | Lektionen in Finsternis: Part III

2012-02-25T23:12:00.002+13:00

Swirling helicopter footage of the cataclysmic, post-apocalyptic and ravaged, oil-soaked Kuwait landscape, with Herzog's sparse and poetic narrative which provides no geopolitical context whatsoever. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessons_of_Darkness

View Part I and Part II

Interestingly in early 2006 while Herzog was giving an interview to Mark Kermode for the BBC, an unknown individual shot Herzog with an air rifle during filming. Herzog continued the interview and later when showing his wound on camera, and calmly remarked, "It is not a significant bullet." [1]

Lessons of Darkness | Lektionen in Finsternis: Part II

2012-02-25T10:06:00.000+13:00

Lessons of Darkness, 1992. Directed by Werner Herzog. View Part I here

Lessons of Darkness | Lektionen in Finsternis: Part I

2012-02-25T00:37:00.000+13:00

Lessons of Darkness, 1992. Directed by Werner Herzog.

Petra = Streaky Bacon

2012-02-24T08:36:00.002+13:00

A collection of photographs of some sights I enjoyed whilst on a recent trip to Petra.

'It's not eyeliner, actually. It's KOHL'

This Bedouin dude had sass, and some great eyeliner/KOHL. When he wasn't waxing lyrical about the importance of freedom and happiness in life he was blurting out the most incongruous phrases presumably learnt from tourists. "Lovely jubely" "Cheap in chips" etc. After he'd inquired about our origins and we'd replied "New Zealand" he yelled out "Aussie Aussie, OI OI OI!".

Definitely one of the chattier and wittier dudes we came across.

Neutrino Detectors: Part II

2012-02-06T09:54:00.000+13:00

'Super-Kamiokande (full name: Super-Kamioka Nucleon Decay Experiments, abbreviated to Super-K) is a neutrino observatory which is under Mount Kamioka near the city of Hida, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The observatory was designed to search for proton decay, study solar and atmospheric neutrinos, and keep watch for supernovae in the Milky Way Galaxy.' - Wikipedia page on Super K

200th post on Diamonds & Wood: disco diamond girls all around the world

2012-02-05T13:42:00.004+13:00

200 posts! In celebration: GPOY:

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci Haute Couture Spring Summer presented for 2012

2012-01-26T07:59:00.000+13:00

Vogue.it review

Inside the Wreck of the Costa Concordia 2012

2012-01-21T10:08:00.001+13:00

source: The Atlantic

Neutrino Detectors: Part I

2012-01-19T12:01:00.000+13:00

'The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory [or 'SNO LAB'] a 12-meter [acrylic] sphere filled with heavy water surrounded by light detectors located 2000 meters below the ground in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.' (Wikipedia Article on Neutrino Detectors)

Aerial slices II: Rivers

2012-01-18T15:32:00.000+13:00

This image pair shows lakes dotting the tundra in northern Siberia to the east of the Taz River (bottom left). The tundra vegetation is colored a faded red, while lakes appear blue or blue-green. White arrows point to lakes that have disappeared or shrunk considerably between 1973 (top) and 2002 (bottom). After studying satellite imagery of about 10,000 large lakes in a 500,000-square-kilometer area in northern Siberia, the scientists documented a decline of 11 percent in the number of lakes, with at least 125 disappearing completely. These images use near-infrared, red, and green wavelength data from the Landsat MSS sensor (1973) and the Landsat ETM+ sensor (2002). - NASA Observatory

Very much inspired by this amazing blog post by pruned (which I only discovered after my sister sent me the link)

Aerial Slices: Islands and Ocean

2012-01-18T10:41:00.000+13:00

North and South Malosmadulu Atolls are in the Maldives, an island republic in the northern Indian Ocean, southwest of India. The Maldives are made up of a chain of 1,192 small coral islands, which are grouped into clusters of atolls. It has a total area of 298 square kilometers and a population of about 330,000 - NASA Earth Observatory

Richard Avedon - Opening Credits: Funny Face (1957)

2012-01-17T00:25:00.006+13:00

Corpus Christi (Laguna de Negrillo) Leon

2012-01-13T10:32:00.003+13:00

I quite like this dubious (Google Translate) translation of the description of events from the Corpus Christi Festival in the town of Luguna de Negrillos from this (Spanish) Wikipedia page:

[Corpus Christi] is held the weekend following the Thursday of Corpus. The main event of the festival, the procession starts at 12.00 in the Parish of San Juan Bautista, located in the town square. The religious ceremony, led by San Sebastián, accompanied by the apostles except Judas Iscariot, while eight dancers dressed in white, starched skirts emulate the angels dancing throughout the journey to the drum and flute, while the open rubbish step from the suburb to the chapel where the Eucharist is celebrated, for anything from end back to the town's parish church, where St. Sebastian makes bowing and bowing, and runs the church ashamed.

Corpus Christi (Laguna de Negrillo) LEON

MORE/Source

Manolete (2008)

2012-01-10T18:18:00.000+13:00

Spain's infamous Torrero Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez -known as "Manolete"- is the focus for this biopic directed by Menno Meyjes.
Manolete rose to prominence in the 1940's and fought in Spain as well as Mexico. Manolete's contributions to bullfighting include: '...standing very still while passing the bull close to his body and, rather than giving the passes separately, he was able to remain in one spot and link four or five consecutive passes together into compact series.' [1]

Unfortunately the script is pallid and the characters somewhat forgettable, otherwise the film is visually rather impressive. Details particularly worth noting: Penelope Cruz has a gold tooth; Adrien Brody, a little black Daschund.

[1] Wikipedia article on Manolete

Versace Spring/Summer 2012 | Gisele Bündchen by Mert & Marcus

2012-01-10T13:40:00.002+13:00

Versace Spring/Summer 2012 | Gisele Bündchen by Mert and Marcus

Images from a hotly-anticipated campaign (a campaign whose images have been saturating the fashion-orientated facet of the internet for weeks now) but which nonetheless, deserves to be seen large and I can't resist posting.

MORE/Source: Fashion|Mode|Photography

Karlie Kloss shot by Nick Knight for SHOWstudio: screenshots

2012-01-07T15:55:00.000+13:00

A series of screenshots from the SHOWstudio NEWGEN//TEN 2012 live-stream which documented the marathon 7-look shoot. SHOWstudio's live-streams offer a fascinating and intimate glimpse into the behind-the-scenes of Nick Knight's studio process. The looks featured in this fashion film are from the last decade of Topshop-sponsored NEWGEN scheme (by British Fashion Council's) which includes the likes of Christopher Kane and Mary Katrantzou. These screenshots are from the last part of the live stream in which Karlie modeled a look from the following Topshop collaborations: Christopher Kane; David Koma; Marios Schwab; a sequin-encrusted garment by Ashish; and Richard Nicoll. The shoot was styled by Topshop Creative Director Kate Phelan.

Mary Katrantzou:

Christopher Kane for Topshop 2009

David Koma:

Ashish:

Marios Schwab:

Set preparation

And Richard Nicoll:

Vogue Italia 2003

2012-01-04T12:07:00.000+13:00

Steven Meisel photographed Jessica Stam for this Vogue Italia editorial in 2003. Set in a particularly lavishly-kitsch palatial residence this editorial has always piqued my interest. The abundance of gaudy, over-scaled and tasteless 'palatial-themed' interiors flaunting garish kitsch-neo-classical furniture, form a mind-boggling and brilliant backdrop to Stam's vacuously complacent stare. I also Particularly like the presence of the enormous large-screen Cathode ray tube televisions in amongst the golden, unrestrictedly ornate and flamboyant kitsch-rococo decor.

Oscar Niemeyer

2012-01-03T07:30:00.000+13:00

A Vida É Um Sopro "Life Is A Breath Of Air" (2007). Documentary directed by Fabiano Maciel e Sacha

'Once I had a dream that Rio de Janeiro had never been settled. That the city had grown inland back from the hills. I saw exactly what Cabral saw when he first arrived. The stunning nature, the birds, the animals, all that. With the city further back facing inland. It would have been a paradise frozen in time. That's why one day I suddenly thought...maybe the world would be better off without people.' - Niemeyer

This documentary is a brilliant uncovering of Niemeyer's fascinating Architectural practice and his wonderfully witty and opined character. Perhaps most intriguing is Niemeyer himself (who is 104 years old) and is therefore like a living relic of the modernist era. Specifically; his utopian aspirations (to be attained through Architecture and Urban Design) and love of reinforced concrete. I was struck by Niemeyer's oratory style and eloquence, he is one of the more quotable architects I've come across.

I had no idea that Le Corbusier used and adapted Oscar Niemeyer's original plan and idea for the United Nations headquaters in New York.

Once, in Brasilia, late at night, we went to look at the Alvorada Palace which had just been finished. Seeing it at night, we were stunned by how lovely it was. Like a sculpture. As if it had no purpose other than its own beauty. I said "This is when true architecture is born." A shape that's new, different, that takes you by surprise. That's architecture.

Beauty is important, look at the pyramids. They make no practical sense. But they're so beautiful, so monumental, that you forget their purpose. You just admire them.

What matters to us in every sense is freedom. A sense of fantasy, something out of the ordinary, that's what counts. What stands the test of time is not well-kept little houses. It's cathedrals or monumental forms with a sense of balance.

(Apologies for the lacklustre poor-resolution screenshots)

'Tetrachromat' | Tauba Auerbach at Bergen Kunsthall

2012-01-01T16:03:00.006+13:00

SOURCE Follow the link to check out the extra large installation shots, and to read about Auerbach's process based 'fold paintings'

Rebel Magazine issue 4

2011-12-30T15:40:00.000+13:00

Fernando Cabral photographed by Daniel Sannwald and styled by Rasharn Agyemang for the 4th issue of online magazine REBEL 2011.

view the online issue of REBEL here

Fibrous filaments: Ben Hassett photographs Magdalena Frackowiak for Vogue Germany 2012

2011-12-30T10:43:00.001+13:00

Fibre, cord, thread, coiffure, filament, string, tendril, lock, mane, strand, thatch, tress, tuft, wig, wool.

Carola Remer by Ben Hassett for Vogue Germany December 2011

2011-12-28T14:54:00.000+13:00

Magazine: Vogue Germany, Issue: December 2011, Editorial: Hart & Zart, Photographer: Ben Hassett, Model: Carola Remer, Stylist: Julia von Boehm
Sourced via The Luxe Heritage

Seamus Murphy

2011-12-26T23:35:00.000+13:00

Photographer Seamus Murphy (born 1959) grew up in Ireland and lives in London.

Providence

East of the Sun

Gods Country

Shambhaia

Maximum City

Feather weight

Syria

Originally discovered Murphy's work here

"L' amour fou" (2010), directed by Pierre Thoretton

2011-12-24T18:53:00.000+13:00

I'm intrigued by the infamous mystery and purported secretiveness surrounding Yves Saint Laurent, and am thus rather keen to see L' amour fou directed by Pierre Thoretton. This snippet from the film (below) shares a rare interview which captures Saint Laurent as I've never seen him before; he's jocular and cheeky, jubilantly joking, not at all the nervous, anxious interviewee he's been refereed to in the past. This particular interview with Yves' mix of honest, flippant, and elegant one-word answers highlights the simple and fascinating quality of translated subtitles accompanying a foreign spoken word. Even if most of Yves' clear-cut French answers are obvious: 'le Joie'; 'le charme'; I'm grateful for the English translation below. Yves's French accent and enunciation and the (somewhat) banal English word translation (words which somehow seem almost banal in comparison to their French equivalents) this somehow renders the interview to be quite charming to watch.

"L' amour fou" (2010), directed by Pierre Thoretton from sleek magazine on Vimeo.

Each set of explosions was calculated to paint a different picture

2011-12-20T10:17:00.000+13:00

This youtube clip documents (terribly) the (thundering) opening of the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar, where Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang put a large "explosion event". The display is controlled by microchip-explosives which are programmed to create the volatile and exciting stormy, powder-splatters in the shapes of pyramids, rainbows and the like. Rather more exciting than nocturnal fireworks.

'Girl Panic'

2011-12-18T01:02:00.000+13:00

'Girl Panic' - Duran Duran 2011; a highly amusing, 'meta video' directed by Jonas Akerlund, styled by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.
Staring Cindy Crawford as John Taylor, Helena Christensen as Roger Taylor, Eva Herzigova as Nick Rhodes, and Naomi Campbell as the band's front man Simon Le Bon [which means Yasmin Le Bon (Simon's wife) is left as an unnamed session guitarist*]. Saturated with references to the band's influential music video history, this debaucherous, nostalgic and multi-layered clip is an over-the-top, (note swarovski sponsorship) indulgent, and fun 10 minute epic.

Downsides: Naomi Campbell's unfortunately hideous attempt at a masculine haircut for the final scene.

* See Duran Duran's Supermodel-filled 'Girl Panic' Music Video Alex Rees, The Cut, NYMag 2011

Fata Morgana (mirage)

2011-12-06T11:27:00.001+13:00

A Fata Morgana can be seen on land or at sea, in polar regions or in deserts. These specific kinds of mirages involve any distant object, such as islands, boats, and coastline / cliffs. A Fata Morgana is not only complex, but also rapidly changing; the complex mirage comprises several inverted (upside down) and erect (right side up) images that are stacked on top of one another. Fata Morgana mirages also show alternating compressed and stretched zones. (1)

click images for source

I enjoyed this use of the phrase cited in the OED: ' Cloud mountains, and fatamorgana cities' (2) from 1829 by a T. Carlyle in Foreign Rev.

Interesting to note during the filming of the Herzog's Fata Morgana (1971) Herzog and the crew encountered many problems, most notably being imprisoned because cameraman Schmidt-Reitwein's name was similar to the name of a German mercenary who was hiding from the authorities and had recently been sentenced to death in absentia. Also; Herzog contracted bilharzia, a blood parasite sometimes refered to as 'snail fever' (3).

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana_(mirage)
(2) "fata Morgana, n.". OED Online. September 2011. Oxford University Press. 5 December 2011 .
(3) Fata Morgana (1971) Trivia: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067085/trivia

Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2012

2011-12-05T10:42:00.000+13:00

Fabrics: Organza, sangallo, cotton nylon, silk cellophane, nylon tulle, laser-cut nappa, nylon sangallo, silk chambray, down-quilted tweed, crocodile mat.

'The word "yellow" comes from the Old English geolu, or geolwe which derived from the Proto-Germanic word gelwaz. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest known use of this word in English is from The Epinal Glossary in the year 700.' [wikipedia]

Source

Karlheinz Weinberger | Rebel Youth

2011-12-03T18:24:00.005+13:00

SOURCE

A History of the sky

2011-12-03T13:08:00.001+13:00

Ken Murphy custom-designed the technology to capture this matrix of 360 24-hour time-lapses of the sky over San Francisco over the course of a year. This single camera pointing to the sky took 1 photo every 10 seconds over a 24 hour period for one year. The following mosaic combines 360 of these time-lapse films, each tracking a 24 hour period starting before dawn. The time lapses are synced and arranged chronologically; the darker strip of footage in the centre is presumably from the dim winter months.

discovered via The Atlantic

Shine On

2011-11-29T23:14:00.003+13:00

Muse Magazine
Issue: #27 Fall 2011
Editorial: Shine On
Model: Valerija Kelava
Photographer: Maciek Kobielski
Styling: Joanne Blades

SOURCE for full size images

Everything you see is in the past: Rafael Rozendaal

2011-11-25T13:35:00.000+13:00

jello time

Colour Flip

Everything you see is in the past (2002)

Admittedly I'm easily captivated by simple interactive websites; however I am especially glad to have discovered Rafael Rozendaals work. I sympathise with Rozendaal's proclivity towards nostalgic, cheesy clip-art textures, garish colours, and unsubtle gradients, and find his sites highly amusing. These fleeting and light-hearted (somewhat silly) interactives range from the inane to simply brilliant, and the infuriating. Generally they have great sound effects.

Notable works of Rozendaal's which are worth looking at (and clicking on): cold void and from the dark past

La Notte (1961)

2011-11-24T18:48:00.005+13:00

Decadence

2011-11-23T20:12:00.001+13:00

Self Service Fall 2011
Title: Decadence, Photographer: Theo Wenner, Model: Gertrud Hegelund, Styling: Ondine Azoulay

source

Interview Magazine, May 2009

2011-11-20T17:06:00.001+13:00

Interview Magazine, May 2009
Magdalena Frackowiak, Kasia Strussby Glen Luchford

A kind of 'Kitsch rococo' Balmain Spring Summer 2012 details

2011-11-20T14:51:00.001+13:00

'Rococo wallpaper and bedspread patterns of glitzy Las Vegas hotel rooms'* - One inspiration cited as the source for the elaborate and aureate pattern play seen in this collection by the new Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing.

*Rebecca Voight review on vogue.it

Bacchanal

2011-11-09T12:31:00.000+13:00

bacchanal
Noun
1. a follower of Bacchus.
2. a drunken reveler.
3. an occasion of drunken revelry; orgy; bacchanalia.
Origin: 1530–40; < Latin Bacchānāl, equivalent to Bacch(us) + -ānāl, probably as back formation from Bacchānālia; see Bacchanalia
Synonyms; saturnalia, debauch, spree, carousal.

"Bacchanal" W Magazine, October 2002
Photographed by Fabien Baron
Models: Brad Kroenig, Gisele Bündchen, Jacquetta Wheeler, Leticia Birkheuer, Mariacarla Boscono and unknowns

source: TFS

The Hajj and Eid al-Adha 2011

2011-11-08T08:10:00.000+13:00

All images from The Atlantic: The Hajj and Eid al-Adha 2011 'Starting last Friday and continuing through Wednesday, some 3 million Muslims from around the globe are participating in several rituals'

I'm Flexin'

2011-11-05T20:47:00.006+13:00

Watch the video in 1080 here

A New World

2011-11-03T15:23:00.000+13:00

A New World | Liya Kebede by Sean & Seng for Pop Fall 2011

Publication: Pop Magazine
Issue: Fall 2011
Title: A New World
Model: Liya Kebede
Photography: Sean & Seng
Styling: Tamara Rothstein

(source: Fashion|mode|photography)

Rugby World Cup 2011: photos of interest II

2011-10-27T22:00:00.002+13:00

More images of interest from the last few games of the RWC2011.
See the previous post of Rugby World Cup photographs here

i. New Zealand All Blacks perform the Haka ahead of their Rugby World Cup semifinal against Australia at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. Left to right: Jerome Kaino, Keven Mealamu, Richie McCaw, Aaron Cruden, Ma'a Nonu, Victor Vito, Piri Weepu, Kieran Read, Andy Ellis and Cory Jane.

ii. All Blacks perform the Haka ahead of their Rugby World Cup semifinal against Australia Left to right: Conrad Smith, Israel Dagg, Sonny Bill Williams, Richard Kahui, Stephen Donald, Ben Franks, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock and Sam Whitelock.

iii. All Blacks perform the Haka ahead of their Rugby World Cup semifinal.

iv. All Black Israel Dagg runs past Australia's Rocky Elsom, during their Rugby World Cup semifinal.

v. Ma'a Nonu goes over the line for the first try of the match during the All Blacks v Australia Semi Final match of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup.

vi. Brad Thorn takes the lineout ball ahead of France's Imanol Harinordoquy during their Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011.

vii. All Black prop Tony Woodcock scores during the All Blacks v Australia IRB Rugby World Cup 2011 final at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday, 23 October 2011.

viii. Conrad Smith of the All Blacks tackles the French Captain Thierry Dusautoir during the final RWC2011 match.

ix. x. The All Blacks world champions team photo 23.10.2011

xi. All Blacks Captain Richie McCaw carries the Webb Ellis Cup past the crowd as he walks back into the tunnel after the All Blacks v France Final match of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup. Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday 23 October 2011.

Click images for source

Erik Madigan Heck x Rodarte

2011-10-25T22:22:00.002+13:00

Found on the photographer's tumblr

Erik Madigan Heck x Mary Katrantzou

2011-10-25T21:33:00.006+13:00

Decadence in setting echoes Katranzou's mildly ridiculous and almost, well, bad, elaborate digital prints. Photographer Madigan Heck captures the self referential nature of the repeated print in interiors and attire. Fine art traditions; the modern European aristocratic subject, still life florals, silk road graphics, colour blocking, Pointillism, oil paints, wallpapers, abstraction, photoshop filters? women in repose and women in movement, Dutch portraiture.

Rugby World Cup 2011 Shots

2011-10-23T13:29:00.002+13:00

Various photos posted on the Rugby World Cup 2011 Flickr that have caught my eye.
Click on images for high resolution versions and source / more info

i. Ireland vs Italy: Pool C, Otago Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand 2/10/2011

ii. Ireland's scrum during the Australia v Ireland, 17/09/2011.

iii. Ireland vs USA: Pool C, Taranaki Stadium, New Plymouth, New Zealand 11/9/2011.

iv. Mike Tindall, England v Argentina, Pool B, Otago Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand 10/9/2011

v. Brian O'Driscoll with Taku Ngwenya: Ireland vs USA 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Taranaki Stadium, New Plymouth, New Zealand 11/9/2011

vi. Ireland's Donncha O'Callaghan during the Australia v Ireland match, 17/9/2011

vii. Kurtley Beale takes the high ball from Irish fullback Rob Kenny during the Australia v Ireland Pool C match. Saturday 17.10.2011

viii. Jamie Heaslip congratulates Sean O'Brien in the rain after he scored, Ireland v Russia, Rotorua. Rugby World Cup 2011, Pool C. 25/9/2011

ix. Patriotic headgear; Taku Ngwenya. Ireland vs USA, Pool C, Taranaki Stadium, New Plymouth, New Zealand 11/9/2011

x. Richie McCaw in action during the All Blacks v Australia Semi Final match of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup. Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand. 16/10/2011

xi. Richard Kahui tackles Quade Cooper during the All Blacks v Australia Semi Final match of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup. Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday 16.10.2011

xii. Delon Armitage is bundled into touch, England vs Argentina, Pool B, Otago Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand 10/9/2011

xiii. Conor Trainor scores for Canada during the All Blacks v Canada pool A match of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup at Wellington Regional Stadium, New Zealand on Sunday, 2/10/2011

xiv. Smiles after the game. Ireland vs Italy, Pool C, Otago Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand 2/10/2011

xv. Tonga smiles after beating France, France v Tonga, Wellington Regional Stadium 1/10/2011.

Colours of Water | Marco von Middelkoop

2011-10-18T20:29:00.004+13:00

See the publication here in its full screen entirety.

Ex Stasis

2011-10-17T20:47:00.000+13:00

Publication: Dazed & Confused
Issue: October 2011
Photography: Matthew Stone
Title: Ex Stasis
Designer: Riccardo Tisci
Models: Mariacarla Boscono, Saskia de Brauw,Kasia Struss, and Lea Tisci
Styling: Katy England

All images Via Fashion|Mode|Photography

The Emir of Katsina, Sir Alhaji Usman Nagogo, holding a morning greeting ceremony, Katsina, Nigeria 1959 By Eliot Elisofon

2011-10-15T11:26:00.000+13:00

"The Emir sits in a chair against the wall, with the dark blue turbaned members of his bodyguard at his right, and council and staff members at his left. One of the emir's son, Alhaji Mohamed Kabir, sits at his father's right. The senior member of the Emir's council is at his immediate left, then a secretary, then a scribe." [Eliot Elisofon's personal field note].

These photographs were taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959. (More)

The Emir of Katsina's elite bodyguard at the morning greeting ceremony (more)

"Particular styles of turbans or particular textiles or colors may be reserved for specific occasions or for different segments of the aristocracy or their retainers. In the northern emirates, the turban is a central symbol of political authority. For secular political events, emirs and other elites prefer dark indigo-blue turbans; for example, when receiving official visitors, attending installation ceremonies and for equestrian displays." [Arnoldi M., 1995: Wrapping the Head, Crowning Achievements, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History].

'You may feed the wolf as you will; he has always a hankering for the woods.'

2011-10-10T16:10:00.002+13:00

- Ivan TURGENEV, Notes of a Hunter (1852)

Silver Mine is part of a larger video installation by Eva Wollenberg
Originally discovered via Minimal Exposition

Givenchy Spring Summer 2012 Details

2011-10-04T11:08:00.000+13:00

Detail shots from Riccardo Tisci's latest collection for Givenchy Ready-to-wear, with its beautiful pale pink, black, ivory and grey 'undulating lapels peplums trimmed not in leather but eel skin, shark, or stingray'.

-If I may weigh in on the fashion scandal of the year- when I read the rumors that Tisci may be moved to Dior I was horrified! Givenchy is the perfect home for Riccardo, I can't imagine him anywhere else. Tiziana Cardini was so on-point in her Vogue.it review sighting Tisci's ready-to-wear creations as 'savoir-faire couture'.

Details from Balenciaga Spring Summer 2012

2011-10-03T21:06:00.001+13:00

'belts in stiff stand-away fabrics which shimmer like technical eveningwear.' - Rebecca Voight in her vogue.it review of Nicolas Ghesquière's latest captivating and voluminous collection for Balenciaga.

Details of prints / patterns 2012 Spring Summer London New York Fashion weeks

2011-09-25T16:10:00.000+13:00

1. Prabal Gurung
2. Vera Wang
3. Julien Macdonald
4. Preen by Thornton Bregazzi
5. Diane von Furstenberg
6. Diane von Furstenberg
7. Altuzarra

8. 9. Matthew Williamson
10. 11. Vera Wang
12. 13 Peter Pilotto
14. 15. Julien Macdonald

16. Jonathan Saunders 17. Reem Acra
18. Preen19. Matthew Williamson
20. 21. Mary Katrantzou

There are so many other amazing patterns and prints I've not included! This is just a smattering of what caught my eye.

Summer suits from Fantastic Man Spring 2009

2011-09-22T10:21:00.002+12:00

Some very fantastic summer suits! Lensed by Viviane Sassen 2009. Stylist: Jodie Barnes. Model: Gibril George

Via

Derek Lam Spring Summer 2012 Details

2011-09-12T14:43:00.000+12:00

Lavender

2011-09-07T09:46:00.000+12:00

Director and Photographer: Thomas Giddings

Stylist: Camilla Pole, Model: Charlotte Nolting @ Storm, Director of Photography: Brian Fawcett, Set Design: Robert Storey, Set Assistant: George Lewin, Hair: Christian Wood, Make Up: Lauren Parsons, Original Score: Daniel Lea/Golden Hum, Editor: Ed Cheeseman/Final Cut-edit.com
via TEST: FASHION

The Fall opening sequence

2011-09-05T23:31:00.001+12:00

Film stills from the utterly amazing opening sequence of The Fall, directed by Tarsem Singh. See more stills from The Fall here.