A curated glimpse into a world of infinite beauty and creativity.
‘Outer Space’ – Since 2012 Thomas Rusch participates and follows the “outer space” project of Michael Najjar, a Berlin based artist. Together they visited international space facilities and took part in cosmonaut training units. Thomas Rusch is documenting this unique artistic project on film and photography under water, on parable flights and other unusual locations.
Kimiko Yoshida – The Mao Bride. Self Portrait, 2009
Will It Beard – Pierce Thiot and his wife Stacy Thiot have created a bizarre Tumblr called Will It Beard, which is devoted entirely to the couple sticking things into Pierce’s beard and photographing the results.
Shaving razors, lollipops, uncooked noodles, cocktail umbrellas and, yes, even lit matches, they have tried it all.
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Peru – unknown photographer
Hazukashi House, Kyoto by Alts Design Office
Claire Droppert – Silence series, 2012
Fantastic Dog Portraits by Elke Vogelsang
From the series ‘NomadsLife’ by Dutch photographer Jeroen Toirkens.
Since 1999 Toirkens has been following the lives of various nomadic tribes in Central Asia, Russia, Mongolia and the Arctic region. He discovered that globalisation, poverty and climate change are making it increasingly difficult for them to maintain their traditional way of life. With NomadsLife Toirkens creates a diverse and often poignant picture of nomadism in the 21st century.
In 1999 Jeroen Toirkens became fascinated by the nomad families high in Turkey’s Bolkar Mountains. He encountered the way of life of the Yörük, who were struggling with the pressures of a modernising Turkey. What were originally their nomadic pastures were being bought up by real estate developers, and many of the young people were departing for life in the cities. After that he visited other originally nomadic peoples who were encountering comparable problems. For instance, in 2005 and 2006 he and the journalist Jelle Brandt Corstius spent time with the Sámi and the Nenets in Russia. Before the Soviet era family units from these tribes were constantly on the move with their herds. Under the Soviet regime they were forced to become workers on collective farms, the kolchoses, a policy from which they are still suffering the consequences. Most recently Toirkens visited Barrow in Alaska, the centre for traditional whaling. There the nomadic life has already made way for a settled lifestyle.
In March 2011 the book Nomad was published by Belgian publisher Lannoo.
The Indian city of Bikaner hosts an annual camel festival in January. The designs are the results of trimming and dying the camel hair. Photographs by Steve Hoge and Osakabe Yasuo.
‘Aten Reign’ by light artist James Turrell’s, in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
‘Man & Mortar’ – photo series by Jason Paul, capturing fellow athlete parkour world champion Tim Shieff as he runs free around the city of London – naked.
The prints are now exclusively available to buy on Beautiful Crime and the project is supported by The Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver, with a percentage of all print sales going to his charity, the Fifteen apprentice programme.
This collection of stunning images was inspired by the juxtaposition found within the architecture of modern Greek cities, with surviving statues and monuments of the ancient world – which they’ve then transposed to the iconic urban landscapes of Central London. Both professional athletes and World champions within the discipline of Parkour, ‘The Art of Movement’, it was Tim and Paul’s physical abilities that facilitated their access to photographic locations beyond the reach of normal photographers and models.
Jason and Tim were interested in examining how within everyday life, we casually accept – or fail to even notice – artistic effigies of the naked human form such as statues or paintings, yet the sight of uncovered flesh within the same space generates consternation and surprise.
Talking about the project, leading parkour Jason Paul says: ”Lots of the London architecture we shot against has a square, rigid and linear feel to it, contrasting starkly with the curves of the athletic, natural human form.”
Tim Shieff, World free run champion and close friend of The Naked Chef Jamie Oliver adds that, “People are often disconnected from their own human form within their daily lives, we wanted to play with the idea of presenting our natural state within the urban straightjacket of conformity.”
Collectively they wanted to make a difference with this unique project and have therefore decided to donate a proportion of each print sold to Jamie’s charity for disadvantaged teenagers, the Fifteen apprentice programme.
Tim, who regularly appears on Jamie’s Youtube channel ‘Food Tube’ as a leading figure within the contemporary Vegan and raw food movement, felt that the inspiring nature of the pictures – promoting body image confidence – sits perfectly with the values and goals of the Fifteen charity. (text via beautifulcrime.com)
‘Casa dos pátios’ in Sao Paulo, Brazil – designed by
A giant 60-foot maze at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C created by Danish architects BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
“Each Line One Breath” is a series of meditative drawings by artist John Franzen. He calls them morphogenetic freehand drawings.
He starts with a straight line all the way down a page, and then slowly draws another line beside it. He tries his best to copy the line exactly but inevitably there are tiny imperfections. These “mistakes” are amplified as he copies each new line, and the drawing begins to reveal itself like a curtain. (text via booooom.com)
‘Cut Food’ by Beth Galton and Charlotte Omnes /
Photographer Beth Galton and food stylist Charlotte Omnes have created a fantastic ‘Cut Food’ exhibition – a set of mesmerizing photographs of everyday foods and drinks sliced neatly in half. Some of the food items are relatively straight forward to cut cleanly in half, while others, like the ‘iced’ soda have to be set in gelatin first in order to solidify the liquid.
Penwald Drawings by Tony Orrico. Tony is an artist and dancer who has been called the human spirograph, performing for up to 4 hours continuously taking the concept to the next level by using his entire body in the drawing process.
The amazing ‘Factory’, Sant Just Desvern, Spain by architect Ricardo Bofill.
In 1973 Ricardo Bofill found a disused cement factory, an industrial complex from the turn of the century consisting of over 30 silos, subterranean galleries and huge machine rooms, and he decided to transform it into the head office of Taller de Arquitectura. Remodelling work lasted two years. The factory, abandoned and partially in ruins, was a compendium of surrealist elements: stairs that climbed up to nowhere, mighty reinforced concrete structures that sustained nothing, pieces of iron hanging in the air, huge empty spaces filled nonetheless with magic.
Mercedes Benz Museum, in Stuttgart, Germany – designed by UN Studio and photographed by Maik Lipp
Wonderful miniature world photo-manipulations by 14-year-old photographer “Fiddle Oak”
From the series ‘Reflexionen Eins’ by Matthias Heiderich. Matthias is a self taught photographer who lives in Berlin, Germany and loves architecture. He is a 32-year-old landscape photographer, heavily influenced by architecture, graphic design, colour and the urban landscape, seems primarily concerned about the composition and the colors. The symmetry and truth that comes out of every building as a living organism. Combining colorful and vibrant images he creates somehow unreal and yet timeless landscapes that represent Berlin in wonderful facets
Soft Light by Simon Frambach /
‘Container’ – a photographic series by German photographer Jakob Wagner who hitched a ride on the Emma Maersk, one of the largest ships in existence.
Anne-Catherine Becker-Echivard makes art out of fish. The Paris-born artist uses market-fresh fish to create her wacky scenes. After she is done photographing, she cooks and eats them.
“It is the perfect recycling of art. Nothing is left over – and I can live from it”
Hot Air Balloons over Cappadocia, Turkey / unknown various photographers
California-based photographer Karen Abad dressed up her friend’s adorable baby as popular TV show characters.
Beautiful wildlife photographs by Klaus Tiedge who in his series ‘African Wildlife’ showcases the amazing wildlife in Namibia, Botswana and Kenya
Dutch lab‘s ‘Gothicism’ is an aesthetically intricate device that uses the cold drip method to produce cups of coffee
‘Invisible’ – great creative photograph by talented 18 year old Laura Williams, from Cambridge, UK
Fantastic ‘Stickwork’ sculptures by American artist Patrick Dougherty
The Ma: Andalucia’s Museum of Memory, in Avenida de las Ciencias, Granada, Spain designed by Alberto Campo Baeza Architects. / photographed by Javier Callejas
From the series ‘Outer Space’ by photographer Thomas Rusch who since 2012 participates and follows the “outer space” project of Berlin based artist Michael Najjar.
In shades of electric blue, ruby red and black and white, photographer Lucas Zimmermann transforms mundane traffic lights in Weimar, Germany into an enchanting light show. The project is simple in concept, but absolutely beautiful in execution. ‘Traffic Lights’ was captured late at night on a foggy, vacant intersection. Lucas Zimmermann created the pictures taking 5-20 second long exposures. As all the colours and lights melt together, your eye is drawn further and further into the photographs.
‘By the Hour’ – a concept prototype that looks to tell time without using numbers
but instead looks to use an alternating surface, designed by Jess Fügler
Spectacular black & white Tokyo cityscape photography by Martin Stavars
From his photography project ‘Vedema’ – a selection of enchanting photographs portraying the famous Greek island of Santorini from a different point of view, by Petros Koublis.
Words from the photographer:
The concept of this project was to bring into surface and reveal a different face of Santorini, its hidden aspects and less known parts. The idea was to turn our eyes away from the famous caldera of the island, one of the most breathtaking and photographed parts of the world, and investigate the peculiarities, the secrets and the mysteries of the landscape that spreads towards the eastern part of the island.The project was realized in the April of 2014. We approached Santorini as the equivalent of a dream.The island of Santorini rises like an enchanting secret, both hidden and revealed, both real and mythical, wrapped in the captivating drama of its prehistoric volcanic creation. The Spirit of fire still wanders among the black rocks of the island, reciting an ancient, hypnotic poem, vigorously narrating the story of its origin through the hieroglyphics that the lava ecstatically engraved in the untamed land. A strange, murmured voice that enchants like a Siren’s song echoes from the steep cliffs of the Caldera; this song is the sound of the muddled, common memory of our very own origin. It is the sound of a whispering that escapes the crater, the deep blue sea, the irregular cracks in the scattered stones, the dark lunar soil, the carved caves, the breathing of the grazing horses as they dream of their mythological ancestors; Eos, Aethon, Pyrois and Phlegon, the horses that carried the chariot of god Helios, the ancient personification of the Sun.For in this island everything is somehow linked to a dream; like that of Euphemus, who dreamt one night that he made love to a nymph, the daughter of Triton. In his dream, the nymph who got pregnant and feared the wrath of her father, asked Euphemus to get a clod of earth from Anaphe, the island they were at, and throw it to the sea, so she could hide there and safely give birth to their child; even if it was a dream, he followed the nymph’s request and the new island appeared.Dreams are a part of a subconscious that the island itself seems to project on our thoughts, this primitive seduction that connects us with a forgotten Hysiodic theogony, ritually offering to our senses the sacred philosophy of imagination.
Installation of miniature houses by Savona and Milan based artist Daniele Del Nero from the “Brockenhaus” series. Using black paper, Del Nero constructs architectural scale models of deserted towns. To create the effect of neglect and abandonment, the artist covers the black paper with construction paste and flour.
In his artist statement, Del Nero writes, “My purpose is to talk about the sense of time and destiny of the planet after the human species, through the sense of restlessness which abandoned buildings are able to communicate.”
A Gym transformed into a concert hall in the Pannonhalma Archabbey, Hungary by three young Hungarian architects Dániel Baló, Dániel Eke and Zoltán Kalászi. Photography by Tamás Bujnovszky.
Words from the architects: >> In order to create an interior which was suitable for classical concerts, first of all we had to somehow fade out the gym’s characteristic appearance and find a suitable cover. But further on, we were eager to form an atmosphere that would compliment musical events and to then partition the homogenous space through gentle transitions. We therefore created a spatial structure built from two items: This included the creation of an interacting translucent media system and a geometric grid of point lights. The media system’s hanging layers are made out of a thermally bonded non-woven geotextile fabric. As the fabric dominates over the beams and walls, we then blurred the room’s boarders through the use of different outlines and the translucent, opalescent texture of the fabric’s layers. We also defined the locations of the two main functions, these being the auditorium and stage. The point lights themselves are made from light bulbs which emit equal intensity light and hang in equal distance at the nodes of a square raster. These bulbs are hidden among the waving textile layers above the auditorium, and come into view above the stage thus bringing the musicians into focus. With the use of the textile layers, we succeeded in improving the room’s acoustics whereby the hanging ribs dampened the sharp reflecting sounds dispersing them through the space. This in turn, generated a more comfortable atmosphere and optimized the musical experience.<<
Beautiful landscape photography series ‘East/West’ by Jonathan Smith
Cosmopolitan Las Vegas – Stunning photos of seemingly empty buildings in Vegas by Tim Navis
Photographs portraying New York City during the night; capturing its beautiful illumination. Unknown photographer
“Sand comes alive and creatures are born in frozen moments of weightlessness…”
from her series ‘Sand Creatures’ – beautiful photographs by Claire Droppert
‘Houses of the Holy’ – stunning photographs of colorful vaulted mosque ceilings, captured by Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji
House in Fukawa, Japan by ‘Suppose Design Office’
‘Miss Maple’ designed by Elisa Strozyk and photographed by Sebastian Neeb /// Text from the designer’s website:
MISS MAPLE
pendant lamp, 85 x 85 x 35 cm
material: wooden textile, steel
The pendant lamp “Miss Maple” is showing the use of a familiar material in an unconventional way. We usually experience wood as a plain surface, but here it is broken down into a grid of triangles. This makes a flexible lampshade which can be transformed manually in three-dimensional ways.
While the lamp generates warm light at night the surface outside becomes more evident with daylight and turns the lamp into sculptural object.
Wandering in the Woods, photography art by ‘Oer-Wout‘
‘Minimal Greece’ – Rich Blues and Bright Whites from the baron islands of Greece by Tom Blachford
‘Golden Connection’ – light installation in the Four Seasons Hotel for the Art Basel Show in Hong Kong, 2013 by artist Grimanese Amoros
India by Drone – Photographer Amos Chapple’s remarkable aerial views of India were shot by attaching his camera to a ‘quadcopter’ drone
In her series ‘Landscapes’ – Peruvian artist Cecilia Paredes Peruvian has mastered the art of camouflage and by using body paint is able to disappear into her surroundings. With the help of her assistants, she paints herself into the background of floral wallpapers. Her dark hair and the whites of the eyes are often the only thing that shows there’s a person hiding.
However, her series called “Landscapes” doesn’t just create a disappearance illusion, it also shows Paredes’ quest for belonging.
“The theme behind all is re-location after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin. The theme behind all is re-location after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin.”
(via demilked.com)
Final Wooden House in Kumamoto, Japan by Sou Fujimoto Architects / Photographed by Iwan Baan
Words from the architect: I thought of making an ultimate wooden architecture. It was conceived by just mindlessly stacking 350mm square.
Lumber is extremely versatile. In an ordinary wooden architecture, lumber is effectively differentiated according to functions in various localities precisely because it is so versatile. Columns, beams, foundations, exterior walls, interior walls, ceilings, floorings, insulations, furnishings, stairs, window frames, meaning all. However, I thought if lumber is indeed so versatile then why not create architecture by one rule that fulfills all of these functions. I envisioned the creation of new spatiality that preserves primitive conditions of a harmonious entity before various functions and roles differentiated.
There are no separations of floor, wall, and ceiling here. A place that one thought was a floor becomes a chair, a ceiling, a wall from various positions. The floor levels are relative and spatiality is perceived differently according to one’s position. Here, people are distributed three-dimensionally in the space. This is a place like an amorphous landscape with a new experience of various senses of distances. Inhabitants discover, rather than being prescribed, various functionalities in these convolutions.
This bungalow no longer fits the category of wooden architecture. If wooden architecture is merely something made from wood, then wood itself surpasses the architectural procedures to directly become a “place where people live” in this bungalow. It is of an existence akin to primitive conditions before architecture. Rather than just a new architecture, this is a new origin, a new existence.
