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Watch Kathleen Collins’ LOSING GROUND (’82) tonight at 12am ET / 9pm PT.

A key word in LOSING GROUND is “ecstasy,” which comes from a Greek root meaning to “stand outside” oneself in a state of wonder or exaltation. Sara is researching the spiritual and theological possibilities of ecstasy, which seems to be in shorter supply in the modern world than it perhaps was in the ancient past. Ecstasy is what Sara and Victor are searching for in different ways, and if they fail to find it, blame may go to Victor’s habit of gliding through situations and encounters with more easygoing good nature than deep-seated engagement, and to Sara’s habit of intellectualizing things instead of simply and straightforwardly experiencing them.

Crucially, however, Collins’s involvement with cerebral matters like these doesn’t make her film conspicuously cerebral in itself. It’s unquestionably a thoughtful, intellectually probing work, but first and foremost it’s an emotionally affecting human drama that cares profoundly about the moral and psychological dilemmas of its characters, and makes it easy for audiences to care about and identify with them. Some critics point to LOSING GROUND as the first feature film ever directed by an African-American woman, and while historical firsts can be difficult to verify, it’s certainly one of the first. Collins names herself as director of the movie but credits cinematographer Ronald K. Gray with the “cinematographic direction,” acknowledging his contributions to the nuanced compositions and subtle colors of the film, which never looks cheap even though it was made as a low-budget independent production.

Read More: This Month - Losing Ground

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Female inmates of San Quentin State Prison and their very fine hats. 1/?.

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The Blue Passion Flower, for Robert John Thornton’s Temple of Flora (London, 1799–1812) - Philip Reinagle

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A crowd gathers after Jumbo the elephant is struck and killed by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario. Sep 15, 1885

via reddit

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Santa Cruz

35mm

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The Mitford sisters :

Nancy Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973)

Pamela Mitford (25 November 1907 – 12 April 1994)

Diana Mitford (17 June 1910 – 11 August 2003)

Unity Mitford (8 August 1914 – 28 May 1948)

Jessica Mitford (11 September 1917 – 22 July 1996)

Deborah Mitford  (31 March 1920 – 24 September 2014)

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Caesar Chavez Building | San Francisco

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ANDREY REMNEV.

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Henri Eugène Augustin Le Sidaner (7 August 1862 – July 1939) was an intimist painter.

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The writer Colette, 1930, by Germaine Krull

from amadelio

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Wiktor Pental :: Swimming pool at Czyżyny, Poland, late 1950’s / more [+] by this photographer

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Henri-Le-Sidaner-Pavilion-of-Music-in-Autumn

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He had schizophrenia. He didn’t recognize her. She did everything she could to connect with him, but he refused treatment, medication, food, or new clothing.

Eventually, he said to her: “Diana, I am so sorry for not being in your life. I am so happy that you have a family of your own now. Do better for them…

… Don’t worry about me or what everyone says about me. If you want to make me proud and happy, be there for your family the way your mom and I never were. Stop trying to save everyone…just worry about yourself and your family. And don’t forget why I named you Diana, you are the light within the darkness.” So she refused to give up.

After suffering a heart attack, he agreed to get help and slowly took control of his own life.

One day he suddenly called her to invite her out for coffee. Later that afternoon, she wrote on her blog: “I feel like I just met my father for the first time today.��

“I struggled to reconcile my feelings toward my father’s absence in my life, while continuing to care deeply for him and other homeless individuals.”

“Over time, I learned to navigate through my feelings of desperation and became more vocal in my community about my father’s condition and what it’s like to watch a loved one battle mental illness.”

He is now doing very well, and they are rebuilding their relationship from the ground up. “So long as we are alive in this world, every day is an opportunity to take hold of that ‘second chance.’ There is no failure unless you give up, and he never gave up. And I haven’t given up on him.”

Source

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Cartas | Elizabeth Catlett | 1986

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JAN LIEVENS (1607-1674)

Young Man in Yellow , c.1631-32