The 5 most unusual habits of Andy Warhol Eccentricity and genius go hand in hand, right? Well, so the scientists would have us believe: research suggests that peculiar habits and behaviours are quirky side-effects of the kind of clever thinking that gets the Big Results. And as artistic oomph goes, one of the Twentieth Century Greats has to be Andy Warhol – everybody’s favourite mop-headed Pop Art supremo. So, other than screen-printing his way into every student bedroom in the Western World, what did our Andy get up to? The trash man Before you throw out this week’s trash, think again: Warhol was undisputed King of the Pack-Rats. Big wig It’s probably not much of a surprise to hear that Warhol’s iconic hair wasn’t his own – but did you know he actually owned over forty wigs? Feet first From the head to the toes – Warhol had a serious foot fetish. Living on a prayer A man of his word Warhol’s interview technique probably wouldn’t pass muster with your local PR rep.
Look At The World's Greatest Skylines Without Any Lights On When we envision the world’s greatest cities--from San Francisco to Sao Paulo to Paris to Tokyo--we usually picture bridges and towers and cathedrals: the built environments that have left lasting impressions on our mind’s eyes. The irony being that those skylines have been in place for at most a century or two; the sky above has looked the same for millions of years. Our greatest cities are often the sources of the most light pollution. In those places, we rarely see the stars. But, with a clever method of composite imaging, the French photographer Thierry Cohen has turned the lights out in the city to reveal the stunning stars that have always been overhead. In his series "Darkened Cities," Cohen creates a visual reminder of what the world would look like if it were free of light pollution, and asks us to ponder how an increasingly urban society can disconnect us from the natural world.
Amazing Panoramic Photos Of Hiroshima After The Atomic Bomb Blast Every once in a while, we interrupt our regular live coverage of breaking news about Internet companies from around the world to highlight amazing photography. In 2009, we featured the world’s largest spherical photo, and earlier this year, the world’s largest photo ever taken indoors. Today, 360Cities published a series of historical 360° photos of Hiroshima, taken six months after the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb codenamed “Little Boy” on the Japanese city (on August 6, 1945). It was the first time an atomic bomb was used as a weapon. According to Wikipedia, “Little Boy” directly killed an estimated 80,000 people, and by the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000–166,000. Approximately 69 percent of the city’s buildings were completely destroyed, and about 7 percent severely damaged. Bonus link: 2011 “The Peace Declaration”, penned by Matsui Kazumi, Mayor of Hiroshima
The 5 unusual habits of Audrey Hepburn | Ink Tank - Make words not war Well, we all know there’s nothing ordinary about a genius, and scientists now tell us that the ability of these brainiacs to tenaciously press their noses to the grindstone can throw off some pretty extraordinary sparks – behavioural side-effects that might explain some of the more unexpected quirks of our most beloved heroes and heroines. We’ve been taking a closer look at these wonderfully talented individuals, now it’s the turn of someone very close to our hearts. Audrey Hepburn – step on up! A numbers games Football fans know all about the importance of numbers, and so ought to sympathise with Hepburn – her lucky digit was 55. This was her dressing room number, initially for Roman Holiday (which brought Audrey her first starring role and her first Academy Award) and later for Breakfast At Tiffany’s (in which she played her most iconic part, the captivating Holly Golightly). In step with the times Beauty sleep Mother nature Speak easy
Ansel Adams Photographs In 1941 the National Park Service commissioned noted photographer Ansel Adams to create a photo mural for the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, DC. The theme was to be nature as exemplified and protected in the U.S. National Parks. The project was halted because of World War II and never resumed. The holdings of the National Archives Still Picture Branch include 226 photographs taken for this project, most of them signed and captioned by Adams. They were taken at the Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Kings Canyon, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Carlsbad Caverns, Glacier, and Zion National Parks; Death Valley, Saguaro, and Canyon de Chelly National Monuments. The Kings Canyon photographs were taken in 1936 when the establishment of the park was being proposed. In addition, there are eight photographs taken by Adams of Yosemite in the General Photographic Files of the National Park Service. To Order: All prints are labelled: "Carlsbad Caverns National Park."
World War II: The American Home Front in Color - In Focus In 1942, soon after the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order creating the Office of War Information (OWI). The new agency was tasked with releasing war news, promoting patriotic activities, and providing news outlets with audio, film, and photos of the government's war efforts. Use j/k keys or ←/→ to navigate Choose: This girl in a glass house is putting finishing touches on the bombardier nose section of a B-17F navy bomber in Long Beach, California, She's one of many capable women workers in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant. # P-51 "Mustang" fighter in flight, Inglewood, California, The Mustang, built by North American Aviation, Incorporated, is the only American-built fighter used by the Royal Air Force of Great Britain. Marine lieutenant, glider pilot in training, ready for take-off, at Page Field, Parris Island, South Carolina, in May, 1942. Answering the nation's need for womanpower, Mrs. Tank commander, Ft. U.S.
The 5 unusual habits of Ernest Hemingway Hey, we’re all creative, right? But what differentiates my papier-mâché Halloween masks or your colourfully crocheted undergarments from the Nobel Prize-winning artworks of somebody like, say, Ernest Hemingway? Well, maybe Ernest was just a little stranger than you or me. New studies show that both creativity and eccentricity may be the result of genetic variations that increase the brain’s ability to filter out useless distractions and just get on with it. Well, Papa certainly got on with it – but just how peculiar was he? Get Up, Stand Up In his lifetime, Hemingway published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. And lest you think he pulled up a chair to pound the keys, think again: Hemingway preferred to work standing up, spending hours and hours at a time on his feet, moving only to shift his weight from one leg to the other. Gunning For Fish Yet Hemingway himself was something of a cavalier angler and nobody better mess with his catch. Eye Spy
The Creative Process of Ansel Adams Revealed in 1958 Documentary Today marks what would be the 111th birthday of Ansel Adams, the American photographer who captured the sublime power of the wilderness, taking iconic images of the American West, most notably in Yosemite Valley. (See photo gallery here.) Original footage documenting the creative life of Ansel Adams is surprisingly hard to come by online. Ansel Adams, Photographer (1958) is available at YouTube and Archive.org. Follow Open Culture on Facebook and Twitter and share intelligent media with your friends. Related Content: Discover Ansel Adams’ 226 Photos of U.S. Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye, a Revealing Look at “The Father of Modern Photography” 1972 Diane Arbus Documentary Interviews Those Who Knew the American Photographer Best Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Decisive Moment
History of typography: Humanist Incunabula Every subject, from dentistry to dog handling has its own vocabulary — terms that are peculiar (unique) to it. Typography is no exception. Learning the lingua franca (lingo) of type will make typography that much more accessible; and that will, in turn, lead to greater understanding, and hopefully a greater appreciation for all things “type”. Today we’re going to take a look at just one of those terms, namely “Humanist”. Humanist | Old Style | Transitional | Modern Slab Serif (Egyptian) | Sans Serif By the end of this six-part series, you will be quite au fait with all of these terms; and just imagine the joy you will experience when you proudly exclaim to the delight of your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, neighbor, guy at the corner shop, Look at that Humanist inspired type! So, without further ado, let’s begin our journey — a journey that will take us from the incunabula to the present day. Characteristics So what makes Humanist, Humanist? Examples Further reading:
60 of the world's happiest facts 1. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. 2. If you fake laugh long enough you’ll start to really laugh, really, really hard. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.The kingdom of Bhutan use ‘gross national happiness’ as a key national indicator. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 2013 is the first year since 1987 that consists for four different digits. 59. 60.
Journeys - Yosemite National Park - What Adams Saw Through His Lens - Travel And then you’re there. Pale, curvaceous granite rocks dance in the skyline. Dozens of people stand along the edge of the pull-off, called Tunnel View, trying to capture the scene. Some snap two quick shots with disposable yellow cameras, and others set up their tripods for hours, watching the light strike Yosemite’s monoliths. On the left, El Capitan, a rock climbers’ mecca, appears the tallest. Many people know these sights by name, but more know them by sight alone, as captured through the lens of the legendary American photographer . Adams first visited Yosemite in 1916 when he was 14 years old. The park itself also remained a favorite. The first step on an Ansel Adams-inspired trip to Yosemite is to visit the gallery run by his family. I ordered three books written by Adams from the gallery’s Web site before my trip: Adams’s autobiography, his collected photos of Yosemite and a step-by-step explanation of some of his works called “Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs.”
Five fascinating facts you didn’t know about Albert Einstein What do we really know about Albert Einstein? Hair that would stump Vidal Sassoon, a lab coat that’s seen better days, a very complicated set of theories that, oh, revolutionised the way we think about time and space and just about everything – sure. But there’s more to a genius than grooming and publications. Here’s 5 facts about Albert Einstein you probably didn’t know. Physics may have rocked Albert’s world, but music was his other passion. His mother was a pianist, and little Einstein took up the violin at age six. He was batty about books Think book groups are the domain of bored housewives? He was passionate about civil rights Theoretical physicists aren’t all handcuffed to their blackboards and calculators; in fact, Einstein, having moved to the USA when the Nazis were rising to power in Europe, became an active member in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Princeton. He hated publicity We all know what Einstein looked like, right?
The Top 100 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2012 Dec 11, 2012 After the positive reception from last year’s Top 50 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2011, the Sifter promised to highlight the top 25 ‘Pictures of the Day‘ at the end of every quarter, eventually culminating in an epic Top 100 for 2012. That time has come! Below are the top 100 POTDs for 2012. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time out of your day to check out the site. *Please note the photographs themselves were not necessarily taken in 2012, they just happened to be featured as a POTD this year. Enjoy! COPYRIGHT© 2012 RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute