Art

Lens-Artists Challenge #307- Tourist Attractions

/ Leya / 21 kommentarer

Leanne Cole is our fantastic host this week, and she invites us to show what the normal tourist wants to see – but in another way. ”You might go to the same place, but you are after something different.”

So her challenge is to look for those photos that are of tourist attractions, but where we have tried to get the untypical image of it. They can be near or far away in other countries.

I have just returned from a trip to England, so I am a bit late, but here we go…with Japan! Japan was a delightful country to visit this spring, and the first gallery shows some famous attractions – my way:

The superfast Shinkansen train, Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto (Inari is the god of rice and sake and the messenger is a fox), Kawachi Fujien (The world famous wisteria garden in Kitakyushu), the Shibuya crossing in rain (- the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world with about 2300 crossings every 3,3 minute) and lastly, Tokyo Sky Tree.

From Sweden then, not that many:

Stockholm in double exposure (City Hall and Central Station). The Doll Museum was closed, but my shot was taken through the window.

Thank you to Tina for her beautiful and thought provoking challenge on Habitats two weeks ago, and I hope you all had a lovely week off too! Thank you again to Leanne Cole for leading us this week – please visit her site for always amazing photography.

I hope you want to join in next week when our next guest host, Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures, challenges us to share Pairs.

Thursday Thoughts – More Culture Fun

/ Leya / 15 kommentarer

He will run safely with you through the streets – don’t worry! And here’s a gallery with old and new – A tram conductor in white gloves, real people, stiff dolls and and pop-ups.

Then teamLab Planets Tokyo – a fantastic experience in led lights, water, mirrors, film and much more. You lose yourself all the time – using all your senses. Exciting, and especially appealing to young people. We spent some interesting hours there.

Lens-Artists Challenge #305 – Two Rectangles

/ Leya / 46 kommentarer

Egidio goes for rectangles, and once again I’m finding I’m following a compositional rule without knowing it! He challenges us to show how we use rectangles in our photographs and how they help our composition.

This is an image from Cisternerne in Denmark, an underground water reserve.

It is somewhat similar too these beautiful Tori’s in Japan.

I don’t know if you can say these are rectangular – because they end up in a curve – but, yes, I think they are.

Back home, these are strawberry tents, covering up the plants to make them grow faster.

And there are loads of rectangles in this one, caught at Kyoto Railway Station, Japan.

These three images are from Fredriksborg Castle in Denmark. The left one is a mirror in a dark room, in the middle is the fantastic Chapel and the last one is a narrow alcove in the same castle.

These two reflections stand out to me.

The garden is Ashikaga Wisteria Garden. We went in the evening to see it lit up.

Some favourites from that night in the wisteria garden.

So, we would love to see your photos with two rectangles. Let your creativity flow. And please remember that pingbacks do not work on Egidio’s site. You need to put your link in the comments. The “lens-artists” hashtag makes it easier for others to find your post too.

Last week, Ritva focused on backgrounds and how they affect our composition. What beautiful images you shared! Excellent and creative. Next week, Tina will share another fascinating challenge on Saturday, 12 noon (EDT in the USA). Stay tuned. Please see this page to learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge and its history.

As those who follow her know, Lens-Artists team member Donna of Wind Kisses is taking a break from blogging for personal reasons. She will be very much missed but, hopefully be with us again before too long. We wish Donna and her family only the best, as our thoughts are with all of them.

Thursday Thoughts – He’s got the look

/ Leya / 14 kommentarer

This bust in Kokura Castle intrigued me. The man’s name was not possible to read, neither was the artist’s name. They were only written in Japanese, and there was nobody to ask about it.

I walked past him several times, as he was standing (if a bust can stand?) close to the entrance gate. Each time I felt someone was watching me. It was something with his eyes.

I know about (and have seen such paintings) Renaissance painters who could paint eyes that seemingly followed you, but sculptures? They say it is about how the iris is placed against the white part of the eye. Anyhow, he was creepy. And in my picture, the surrounding photographic blur mirrors the look in his eyes.

What are your thoughts? Have you experienced something similar? Has someone got a further explanation to the phenomenon?

Thursday Thoughts

/ Leya / 19 kommentarer

When visiting the reclining Buddha, we passed by Acalanatha, the fierce Buddhist deity, god of fire, said to protect worshipers from disasters or harm. At his feet were numerous Buddha disciples. I was fascinated by their expressions – everyone different. Fantastic work.

Enjoy some of them from a closer position. They were covered in moss and lichen, but their faces and gestures were so very alive.

I hope you too found them fascinating!