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The Annunciation
The Annunciation The mysterious moment when Maria is informed that she is chosen to carry the son of God inside her womb and to bring him into the world, has inspired many a painter to exceptional works of art. All great painters of the Renaissance will have an ‘Annunciazione’ to their name. A very beautiful example…
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Holland in Kochi
Holland in Kochi One of the first things I saw at the 3rd edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was a little painting of a Dutch landscape. Holland in Kochi! I immediately felt at home again. Daniele Galliano, an Italian artist, likes combing flea markets in search of paintings by anonymous Sunday painters. He dusts them…
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Ambrosia
Ambrosia According to one creation myth of ancient Mesopotamia, the gods created humankind because they were fed up of having to look after their own food. Yes, gods also need food to survive, and they want man to provide it. As we can see here, man, religious man, still acquits himself faithfully of his task.…
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Ελαιώνας
Ελαιώνας Elaionas is the Greek word for olive grove. On the island of Aegina there is a genuine, centuries-old olive grove with trees that are 500 years old and one specimen that is even more than 1,500 years old. What astonishing creatures! The fact that they have reached such a venerable age, with all those…
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Blissful sleep
Blissful sleep After their lovemaking ▲ and ▼ are plunged into a deep, blissful sleep. It must be one of those hot Californian summer days in the 1960’s. As a work of art it may be fragile and look dated, but the tender sweetness of the scene is able to touch the heart. Photo of the…
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The joy of sex …
The joy of sex … … is of all time. This lovely scene was immortalized in stone 1000 years ago. It is part of hundreds of erotic sculptures that adorn the ancient temples of Khajuraho (India), a Unesco World Heritage Site. Rightly so! Photo of the week: Lakshmana temple, c. 1000 AD, Khajuraho, India 2007
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Living doll
Living doll Apart from the phallus shrine that I showed you in last week’s post, I also came across – at the same flea market – this exquisite Geisha doll. The doll almost seems alive, radiating the modesty of a real Geisha. A masterly example of true Japanese craftsmanship! Photo of the week: Geisha doll…
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Phallus shrine
Phallus shrine A wooden phallus in a small wooden shrine. How did this piece end up at the flea market of Kitano-Tenman-gu? Has it figured on someone’s house altar – or bedside table – and fallen out of favour? We can only fantasize about it and think up vivid stories, but we don’t know. It…
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The umbrellas of Kinkaku-ji
The umbrellas of Kinkaku-ji Again three, and well placed, like in last weeks picture! The fact that these three colourful umbrellas have come together in Kinkaku-ji Park is pure coincidence.Whether it’s deliberate or by chance: for me, as a photographer, it’s only the result that counts. Photo of the week: Kinkaku-ji (Golden Temple) park, Kyoto,…
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Two or three
Two or three Sometimes I can be perfectly happy with two, at other times it has to be three. So it seems. If it had been two I would not have annoyed you with this picture, would not have taken it in the first place. Three makes all the difference here. See how beautifully they…
καιρός remembered
… the right moment, position chosen, shoot …
καιρός remembered 