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imrainai · 7 years ago

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I’m going to try to answer people directly, but first, I am going to explain what The Stargazer’s Companion is, because it occurs to me that most people are probably not familiar with it (especially people who live outside of Voa)!

The Stargazer’s Companion is the magazine put out by Dar Publishing, a small publishing company mostly known for distributing speculative fiction aimed at children and young people. This isn’t all they do, but the primary mission of Dar is to make scientific concepts accessible to everyone, and to get young people of every caste interested in the space program, since “reaching the stars will take effort from all of us.”

The Stargazer’s Companion actually predates Dar; its editors created the publishing company in order to be able to release longer, standalone works. Dar was founded in 3413, while the magazine has been in circulation since early 3411. There’s no non-Voan version, and it’s fairly obscure even here; I didn’t learn about it until last year, because the libraries in my old city didn’t have it.

TSC is supposed to be what the title suggests it is--a magazine to take with you if you’re going to go out stargazing. It’s always been an eclectic collection of nonfiction articles, constellation charts, fiction, puzzles, and poetry. I don’t think its circulation numbers have ever been very high (perhaps because of the lack of focus), but it’s always been aimed at people (particularly young people) who want to expand their horizons and play with ideas they haven’t encountered before.

It has never been a solely green magazine. When TSC began circulation in 3411, it was a collaboration between grad students at Garen University (which primarily trains yellows, and is best-known for its editing department, although a majority of the students are secretary-track) and a collection of local teachers who wanted something to inspire their students with. It’s always accepted green writing, particularly fiction, but its early issues are also full of math puzzles designed by the yellow programmers, articles and features written by its orange creators, and (notably) a series of poems written by a grey astronaut. Its editors and owners are yellow (not green), but they have both greens and oranges on staff.

More recent issues are a little greener, but here’s a breakdown of the issue I was published in:

Pages 1-2, advertisements. No idea who designed these.

Pages 3-4, table of contents.

Pages 7-20, a chapter of an ongoing comic series called Near Planet. It is written and illustrated by Camazar (green, comic artist--not a real name, the magazine doesn’t require legal names) and colored by Melnade be-Endre (purple, house painter). Camazar also writes a webcomic, Birthright, which you can read here.

Pages 21-28, an article about supernovas and the life cycles of stars titled “When a Star Dies”. (Ves really liked this one.) It was written by Sanda be-Marin (green, textbook writer), and it made me want to check out the textbooks she’s contributed to (which are, interestingly, mostly about the ocean). It also contains pictures which are credited to the VCSEO, so obviously those were taken by greens, though I have no idea who was manning the telescope at the time.

Pages 29-45, a story titled “At the End of All Things”. It was written by Zanathor be-Enkaza (green, mathematics student). It’s the first time she’s published fiction, but I think it’s the strongest piece of writing in the issue.

Pages 46-53, a story titled “In the Shadow of the Moons”. It was written by Moran be-Elzet (green, fiction writer). Moran has been published in TSC before, and primarily writes comedies; this is the first time he’s written something comparatively more serious, though it still made me chuckle at the beginning.

Page 54, a poem titled “Candles Under Darkness”. It was written by Semavet, who gives no real name (again, the magazine doesn’t require one), but it does include the address of her blog, where she identifies herself as a security guard and combat veteran (and also posts more poetry).

Pages 55-80, the usual collection of star charts and calendars.

Pages 81-83, a series of mathematical puzzles. They’re credited to Lenore be-Delve (purple, mechanic) and Bera be-Mardan (orange, math teacher).

Pages 84-92, a story titled “The Golden Castle”. I wrote this one, so I guess (purple, pest control)?

Pages 93-132, a story titled “Without a Sound”. This is certainly the most unique piece of writing in the issue--it was written collaboratively by Elan be-Tayar (gray, former lunar colony worker) and Imi be-Kada (yellow, former journalist and currently a programmer). It alternates between a fictional horror story (written by Imi) and nonfiction explanations of the various dangers faced by astronauts (written by Elan), which are relevant to the story and very interesting in their own right. I think Zanathor’s story is still the best in the issue, but I’d love to see more from both of these writers.

Pages 133-137, more puzzles. I still haven’t solved the ciphering page. They were designed by Mas be-Janari (orange, nurse), Bere Kael (green, comic artist), Lutan be-Evka (green, linguist), Bar be-Sambav (yellow, programmer), and Mihan be-Pari (orange, writing teacher).

Pages 138-152, “Making it Go”, an article about the process of testing new engines and other devices at VCSEO. This is actually really exciting for TSC; the writer is Maten be-Kal, a professional journalist. TSC doesn’t normally have this sort of quality journalism work in it--the nonfiction articles are usually more like very well-written and exciting textbook excerpts--so it was really cool to see it in this issue.

Pages 153-160, “Ask an Astronaut”, aka the best part of every issue, a feature where Luze be-Ketzel (gray, former astronaut for Vartech) and Tarin be-Makre (green, VCSEO astronomer) team up to answer reader questions about space (although they seem super biased towards answering the questions of two and three-year-olds, which everyone is mostly fine with).

Pages 161-164. More ads.

Pages 165-174, “The Kidnapping of Professor San” a puzzle-story (an extended narrative problem in which players solve puzzles to decode the story) by Vana be-Ren (orange, math teacher).

Pages 175-177, “Star Reviews”. These are written by Kala be-Malkar, the head editor, who also reviews stars. They’re funny, if a bit hard to explain.

Pages 178-186, “The Asteroid Hunt”, by Malen be-Pala (grey, three-year-old). TSC hosts a contest twice a season where three-year-olds from around Voa can write space-themed stories from their classrooms. As long as their teacher pays the registration fee, they are guaranteed feedback, and one of them will be published. They aren’t good stories compared to what adults write--you have to practice, if you want to become good at what you do--but they are very different, and it’s a really cool way of motivating young people to hone their writing skills.

Pages 187-204, “Drawing Pictures In the Sky”, an article about the history and development of the well-known constellations, as well as others that are now no longer widely known. It was written by Linara be-Pade (green, actress and historian).

Pages 205-206, a map of Voa by light pollution, so you know where to go to stargaze.

My point in saying all this is that I did not specifically go to a greens-only, fiction-only magazine in order to intentionally Prove That I’m Better Than Greens (I’m not) or take opportunities away from green writers (I have no interest in doing this). Maybe I did end up taking an opportunity away! Maybe without me, they would have published another green in this issue. Maybe TSC shouldn’t exist at all, because maybe it’s taking market share away from more specialized green magazines. But the fact remains that it does exist, and that it has always explicitly welcomed submissions from people of every caste (with the tradeoff that the pay is Not That Great).

So I’m fine with people criticizing me for publishing, especially if that criticism comes from greens who feel that I’m taking away their livelihoods. I might disagree, but that doesn’t mean I’m definitely right, and I have no desire to be protected from people’s thoughts just because those thoughts are different than mine. But I think it’s important to note that not every fiction writer in the entire world is green, and that some of them are hobbyists who submit to obscure magazines that specifically try to be as varied and eclectic as possible, while still maintaining a basic focus on space.

If you don’t think that The Stargazer’s Companion should exist in its current form, again, that’s fine, but that’s what it means to say that only greens should submit to it.

#amenta rp

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xavierkat · 8 years ago

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On difference and (painful desire for) ownership It is strange how often, in thought, I go back to this film. Perhaps even too often; for, while it is exceptionally well-made, it is probably not AS GOOD of a film as I give it credit to be. But I find it to touch upon so many topics that are important to me, that with time it became almost like a dear, silent friend. I view it not as a critic or analyst, but a true fan. I thought of it twice in the last few days. Once, because it gave me a beautiful point of contrast to Enyedi’s ‘On Body and Soul’. In both films, there is an unproblematized, yet potentially problematic old-fashionedness to how love and romance are treated. In Enyedi’s film, the two potential lovers are asymmetrical in the levels of action they need to undertake (’suffer’) for a romance to be born, yet they both end up conforming themselves to simplistic, schematic ideas of what it means to fall for someone and act on it. Maria gets to basically re-invent herself, learning to touch and be touched, to embrace rather than dread sensory experiences. Yet she also learns to play a role: dress like this, converse like this, behave like this, even enjoy lovemaking like this. To an extent, Enyedi is onto something: we really do live in a world where there are schemes guiding our conversations (Maria’s replaying and practicing of them in the privacy of her own room and own head will be oh so familiar to anyone with social anxiety, but it goes beyond that: how our life is structured verbally is a thing we take for granted in everyday life, but sociology has long been onto it), our social interactions, our behaviour. But there is something terrifying about the film’s silent premise that, even between two kindred spirits, romance can never be anything else but schemata. And it becomes even more dreadful when one realises that the asymmetry is gender-based: the woman suffers and nearly dies; the man...does what exactly? The man makes love to a woman; the woman lies still. The man has breakfast, the woman wipes the breadcrumbs from the table. ‘On Body and Soul’ is also strange - old-fashioned, even slightly offensive - in how it treats ‘difference’. Among the first shots of the film is a closeup of Endre’s crippled arm. For Enyedi, no other hints seem to be needed to explain his ‘difference’: to be physically ‘damaged’ is enough. But is this not presumptive to the level of ofense? Why would a physical hardship immediately be so socially crippling, especially for a character who seems otherwise so skilled in social situations? Apparently, solely for the purpose of a plot. In Roskam’s film, there are also traces of old-fashionedness. For one, Jacky’s notions of love, relationships and the ‘opposite sex’ feel like they have themselves been derived from old-fashioned films. He hunts the woman like prey, fitting to the animal-like lens the director filters him through (something I disliked about the film, and have written about before). But there is a clear source of this: his own complete lack of experience, as well as the societal facade of “this is how it’s done” which is everywhere around him. Where Roskam shows to be much more intelligent than Enyedi is precisely in puncturing holes in the facade: the great machismo of the place is really slowly cracking. It is explicitly fake in Diederik’s open fancy for the young detective (and the latter’s willingness to play along for the sake of the investigation). But it is also fake in Lucia’s independent behaviour (she is not into being rescued), and in the care Diederik shows for Jacky as part of a deep male friendship (I do not, unlike some, think it is based on romance). Even Jacky’s own ‘disability’ seems to grow out more from the genre elements of Roskam’s script than from the surroundings, although his shame from the community (which will ultimately destroy him) speaks to the cultural level of gendered role-playing that is still very much alive. Interestingly, I think Roskam is more convinced of its relevance, and was not after making a progressive film - but that ‘Bullhead’ can still very much be read as one showing the slow, but inevitable progress in tearing down gender roles. Now, it would be unfair to say Enyedi doesn’t try to shake up the situation, mostly through episodic characters: the discrepancy between the words and deeds of Endre’s work colleague, the quick change in the perception of Sandor, the new ‘macho’ in the slaughterhouse. Yet she crams the two main characters into roles that, unlike in Roskam’s film, seem unmotivated and unnecessary. But there is also another reason why I thought of ‘Bullhead’ quite a lot this week: namely ownership. I have found myself recently obsessing over something from a medium that is not film, but is also in many ways about love, namely music. Strange music, of the kind I never thought I would embrace, yet in the process I became so deeply enamoured with it through and through, it almost feels by now like something I can touch, feel, immerse myself into (as I often do, missing tram stations as I forget myself in odd rhythms, or catching myself humming and dancing in crowded streets and packed classrooms). Music is, of course, often about love, lust, longing, desire, as is dance as its natural extension. Yet this became something on a whole new level for myself, as it had less to do with the songs themselves, and more with this passionate need to own the sounds and have them present all the time: an unlikely love for the unusual complexity of the accordion; the whirling tenderness of the violin feeling like it can literally take my breath away, kicking the air out of my lungs, stopping my heart. The dangerous feeling of wanting to hold on to every sound, to have it swirling around me all the time. A kind of obsessive madness. And then it dawned on me, thinking of Jacky’s one-sided besotedness with Lucia, how dangerous this can be. How self-consuming. But also how socially alienating: to live in your head, completely consumed by something that you simply cannot own, that doesn’t and cannot belong to you. As Jacky finally speaks, the world falls apart. As I finally spoke, the world did not do so much as tremble, yet my universe cracked. But it was for the better: the need to possess obsessively is always unhealthy, even if another human being is not the object of possession (except in an extended version, for it is always someone making the beautiful music). And it was only then that it dawned on me how excellently the film deals with such hard, entangled issue. The danger of trying to forget your own life by placing all your hopes on something ‘external’, living off of the beauty of someone/something else. The madness of hoping that the world, for once, plays along with your innermost thoughts. The severity of being overwhelmed by someone/something you glorify, and know you can never really reach. Roskam’s film nails this, even though it sometimes feels like it does so despite its director/writer: for him, such behaviour is animalistic. Yet it is, it seems to me, even more so deeply human, in the sense that we are all, somewhere inside, a bit mad. A bit possessive. A bit overwhelmed by at least something in the world. To its credit, ‘Bullhead’ jumps into dealing with this courageously, surpassing its genre constraints. And that makes it a truly remarkable film. Even if it is not, despite of what I make it seem, flawless (far from it) - but as a fictional friend and an encyclopaedia of feelings, it works flawlessly.

#bullhead #rundskop #michael roskam #ildiko enyedi #on body and soul

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museemagazine · 8 years ago

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#WHM Gerda Taro + Lee Miller

We’ll be tapping our incredible archives in support of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day and posting interviews from our Women issue throughout the month of March.

Gerda Taro + Lee Miller the mighty

By Ann Van Lenten

Of the stars that mark the pantheon of pioneering war photographers, Gerda Taro (1910-1937) and Lee Miller (1900-1977) share a special place in how they adapted to conflict. They didn’t know one another, but in their careers both were powered by an ambition that blurred the line between adapting to, and creating, circumstance. In order to access the worlds they wanted to work in, they reinvented themselves on the fly. Early on, they changed their names as a business decision and partnered with lovers who helped them learn the camera. Afterward, they struck out on their own, but both produced pictures whose authorship was misattributed to those teachers. Time and again they flouted sexual convention while abiding by social: their friends and lovers functioned in their work lives, yet by all accounts the two were so intelligent, engaging—and good at taking pictures—they alienated few people.

Taro and Miller began covering war with photographic training in the fading “new vision” style—one that looked for fresh perspectives of reality via acute camera angles, close-ups, disorienting horizons, and a love of abstract forms. But by the time each entered her war—Taro the Spanish Civil, and Miller World War II—society and combat had mechanized by a quantum leap, and fascism’s intimidating violence demanded something else artistically. In the brutal and depersonalized conditions of war, both women responded anew by capturing soul, humanity, the lived reality of the everyday. Taro decided to use her camera to fight fascism as a participant, and war pushed her to capture moral, dynamic situations. Miller, with her compartmentalized emotional life and her artistic training, put aside Surrealism’s emphasis on the erotic and subconscious to confront the grim, incongruous truths of WWII’s most gruesome, intense events.

Miller, dead now thirty-eight years, continues to give us photo fever. As of this writing, her archive lists eleven current and upcoming exhibits of her work, shows that celebrate her standout roles as supermodel/It Girl of her day; business partner and model to Man Ray; experimental, fashion, and portrait photographer; and formidable war photographer. In war, arguably the most meaningful manifestation of her ingenuity, I see her well-seasoned visual sensibilities hooking into horror, humor, defeat, tenderness, absurdity, and valor as she covered WWII in Europe.

In contrast to Miller, Taro, dead now seventy-eight years, has a cultural reputation that is undeservedly pale despite her vivid pictures of the Spanish Civil War. It wasn’t always so. Her 1937 funeral in Paris drew tens of thousands of mourners who, in solidarity, claimed Taro as an anti-fascist martyr. Giacometti designed her gravesite in Pere Lachaise. For a second she was a heroine, but then history buried her: WWII and its plethora of pictures buried her, in part because her own career lasted 18 months so didn’t yield a large body of work; the death of her family in the Holocaust buried her because there was no one to continue her legacy; and Robert Capa, her partner and boyfriend buried her. He didn’t name her as co-author for Death in The Making, his book of their Spanish Civil War photographs published the year after Taro died. And, by virtue of his outsize fame, she fell into obscurity—Irme Schaber, Taro’s German biographer, says that their working partnership was boiled down to a love story.

Recently, there was a brief blip when the International Center of Photography mounted a 2007 exhibition of Taro’s work—well worth checking out online—but to this day, Schaber’s biography has never been translated into English. Yet Taro helped establish the practice of war photography as we have come to consume it, creating pictures that brim with life, drama, and insight.

By the standards of their day, Taro’s beginnings were more outsider-ish than Miller’s. She was born in Stuttgart, Germany to middle class, Jewish parents. She experienced WWI, air raids, food rations, dislocation. In 1933, Hitler was appointed German Chancellor and under the growing domination of the Nazis, Taro became politicized via her boyfriend. In Leipzig, where her family had moved, she got involved with the underground. She was jailed for three weeks for distributing anti-Nazi flyers and posters. By 1934, it was clear enough how inhospitable to Jews the climate was in Germany, and she left, like many others, for Paris.

But Taro had certain advantages as well. She attended Swiss boarding school, then business college. She spoke fluent English and French, a little Spanish, was a great dresser, and charismatically beautiful. In Paris she found work with photographer Fred Stein in the darkroom, then as a photo agent at Alliance Photo. She was poor but resourceful. When she fell in love with Endre Friedmann, a Hungarian Jewish photojournalist, she didn’t just make Endre dress smarter, she organized his office. She didn’t just run the business end of his career, she persuaded him to change his name to Robert Capa and changed hers to Gerda Taro (from Gerta Pohorylle): she grasped that with indeterminate surnames the French press would more likely accredit them. She didn’t just push Capa’s work out, she learned to use a camera herself and with him, went to Spain in 1936 and began to take pictures of its civil war. The activism that got her jailed by the Nazis and prompted her to emigrate to Paris deepened—she was steadfast in her devotion to workers, peasants, trade unionists, and political parties behind the Spanish Republic. In keeping with her malleability, she was given nicknames: the “little red fox” and La pequeña rubia (the little blonde)—un-feminist phrases today, but it tells you something of her appeal

At first in Spain, Taro and Capa took pictures side by side. She sent these to newspapers and magazines under his name—the name she’d given to their mutual enterprise. But soon she used Capa & Taro to label their photos. Then she turned down Capa’s marriage proposal, though not necessarily him, and returned to Spain to continue covering the war. She began sending her pictures out under the label Photo Taro. Regards, Life, Illustrated London News, and Volks-Illustrierte took her pictures. Ce Soir hired her, and by July 1937 she was the only photographer whose images refuted the Loyalist claims to victory in the Battle of Brunete.

Miller’s origins, in contrast to Taro’s, had every genetic and social blessing a body and soul could use. She was American, the daughter of a solid middle-class family in Poughkeepsie, NY. Her father was an engineer, progressive in his beliefs on nutrition and technological progress, and a town notable. As a young working model she was photographed and painted by the most famous artists of the 20th century including Hoyningen-Huene, Steichen, May Ray, Picasso, Cocteau. But modeling for other geniuses didn’t sustain her interest. Like Taro, she went to Paris and wore down Man Ray until he hired her as his assistant, developed her camera skills, and co-created the darkroom technique of solarization. Then she established her own portrait and fashion photo studios in Paris and New York. Vanity Fair named her one of the “most distinguished living photographers” in 1934. In essence, she leveraged her intelligence and appeal as ticket into many a closed club, and once in the door, often surpassed her mentors.

The playwright David Hare makes an interesting point about her free behavior. In the late ‘20s and ‘30s, the Surrealists, with whom she was working and socializing, espoused sexual liberation. Miller practiced the very long-leash values they held, much to their anguish, especially Ray’s. She did it again with her open marriage to surrealist painter Ronald Penrose. And again when she took in Time/Life photographer David E. Scherman as lover, mentor, friend. Restless after publishing Grim Glory, her photographs of the London blitz, on Scherman’s advice, she wrote to the U.S. Army and received accreditation as a war correspondent—rare for a woman at that time. She proceeded in the war by her own lights, fueled, not like Taro, by political involvement as much as emotional outrage.

But with Miller, keep looking and certain facts make you realize the complexities behind her golden girl aura. Although this incident was hush-hushed by her parents—and never mentioned by her, her brother identified it—at seven she was raped by a family acquaintance. On holiday with family friends, she was rushed home abruptly and treated for gonhorrea, suffering outbreaks of it the rest of her life. It’s reasonable to suppose that the trauma of the rape stayed with her—especially as she herself never told a soul about it. Her parents sent her to a psychologist however, who instructed her that sex and love were separate.

Another oddity in Miller’s life began a year after the rape, when her father began photographing her nude. Nothing suggests abuse; he also took nude pictures of Miller’s mother, and he photographed his clothed family all the time, as well as keeping written records of their days. He was a gadget enthusiast—he loved Thomas Edison, progress, cameras. Along with his love of the future and adherence to a whole foods diet, he believed in nudism as a way to absorb the sun. But Miller posed nude for him throughout her childhood and young adulthood, and one could speculate that so soon after her rape, this practice contributed to what her biographer Carolyn Burke speculates as Miller’s mind/body dissociation. Such a disconnect would have allowed her to control the male gaze she so often put herself in front of. And it would have served her in times of duress, such as when she was shooting the London blitz, or concentration camps. On the other hand, maybe it shortchanged her after the war when post-traumatic stress disorder made it impossible to reboot her civilian life without drugs and alcohol.

Like her, Lee Miller’s war photography is complicated and various. War shaped her pictures in a slightly different way than it did Taro’s. What persists throughout her body of war photographs is the breath of irony they allow, how it feels as if there is a backstory outside the frame. Her eye could be formal, as her fulsome photo of the nonconformist chapel in London, its mammoth doorway overflowing with rubble, as if it's a child’s plaything or the city vomiting its surfeit of bombing. Her eye could pick up what was monstrous and banal, as the dead German prison guard floating in profile in the canal. All the photos she shot in Dachau and Buchenwald reflect a mind unafraid to look straight on, as when she climbed inside a rail car over a dead deportee to photograph two soldiers standing outside it, looking at the body.

And her eye sought the absurd, as in her picture of the burn victim, entirely wrapped but for eye and mouth holes in white bandage, a living mummy. Her eye was fluid and powerful, as her dreamlike shot of Hitler’s house burning. It was comical, as with her photo of the sheep patiently standing in the cart, and it was theatrical, as with her pictures of Auxiliary Territorial Service women standing diagonally at the air raid searchlight, or the fashion photo of the two London models wearing fire protection masks.

Above all, Miller was unflinching, as in her picture of the Deputy Mayor of Leipzig suicided with his wife and daughter. Capa shot the same scene but from further back, to allow the entire scene. But Miller went right up to the daughter and mother, lying in a chair and sofa. You get to feast on the bizarre grace of their elongated bodies and the freakishness of their monstrous selves.

Taro’s pictures amount to a dramatic and intimate document of a war that was also a cultural and social revolution, remarkable in the extent of its propaganda, its explicit targeting of civilians, and its reliance on women to fight alongside men. Hers was a brief arc—she went to Spain with Capa in 1936, and died a year later. She believed that with her photographs she could promote the Republican cause and help push back fascism, so her early pictures are fairly propagandistic, favoring stylized posing—a haycart in a field, a militiawoman in profile posing with a gun, a refugee mother holding her infant as she waits for something, someone.

A turning point was early in the morning of May 28, 1937. While Valencia slept, its citizens were blasted by an intense aerial bombardment. Taro went the next day to the city morgue. It was closed, but she persuaded the guards to let her pass. Once through, she turned around and photographed people pressed against the gates outside, waiting to get in to identify their mothers, fathers, children. Once inside the morgue, she took close-ups of women and men dead in pools of blood. Then she went to the hospital and took pictures of bandaged bombing victims in beds.

Now Taro’s mind’s eye began to adapt, becoming quick, immediate—perceptive to the war’s tumult. And because the press was frequently censored, her charms and nerve were key to getting access to the action. Later that summer, her photo of Republican soldiers holding up the captured Fascist flag on their bayonets served as one of the few proofs that the Nationalist propaganda about who was winning at Brunete was a lie. By this point, she was shooting next to fighters, as in her photos of the truck on fire, the close-up of the gentle-faced wounded soldier on a stretcher, her picture of the soldier running to launch dynamite into a building, and one of her best, her picture of a soldier and a man pushing through the door of a burning building, taken from only a few feet behind them.

In short, she had become bold and intrepid. Cynthia Young, ICP’s curator and archivist, says, “I do believe he [Capa] learned a lot from her [Taro]… I think Capa saw and recognized her skills. She had a very aggressive sensibility, a fearlessness.”

Here’s a story about Taro just before she was killed. It speaks to her willpower and wits. She’d spent hours taking pictures from a foxhole in the midst of the ground assault and aerial strafing of Republican forces in the Battle of Brunete. This was July 25, 1937, a setback for the Republican fighters attempting to relieve Franco’s siege of Madrid 17 miles away. Finally, film spent, she was satisfied, invigorated even. She told Ted Allen, the journalist friend with her that she’d got fantastic pictures and could head back to Madrid. In fact, they would drink champagne and celebrate: shortly thereafter she was leaving for Japan with Capa to cover that country’s invasion of China for Life.

In the disorder of the retreating forces there was no room for her or her two cameras. She and managed to get onto the running board of a car, only to be sideswiped by a tank and badly injured. Her abdomen was slashed, her intestines spilled out. At the field hospital, it took her until the next morning to die. But at one point she came to and asked, “Are my cameras OK? They’re new. Are they OK?”

Here’s a story about Miller after she toured Dachau at the end of April 1945. It says a lot about her dissociated state and her intense humanity. She and her partner/lover Life photographer David E. Scherman stayed, along with other allied soldiers, in Hitler’s Munich apartment for a few days. They took many photos. One of the first things they did was bathe—apparently it had been weeks for both—they’d arrived directly from Dachau, where Miller had stood back from nothing in her picture taking.

In Miller’s pictures of Scherman washing off, he sits in the tub naked, his hands on his head, scrubbing his hair. He’s mock-grimacing at the camera. At the base of the tub stand his boots, the soil of Dachau on their soles. On the back rim of the tub, they set up a photo Hitler kept of himself, by his personal photographer. Catty-corner to this portrait, they placed a statue of a classical female nude by Rudolf Kaesbach, perhaps, says her son Antony Penrose, “a snub by LM to Hitler” for his assault of ‘degenerate art.’”

It’s impossible not to appreciate that Jewish Scherman is both cleaning off and enacting what by this point in history is linked with a horrific prelude to death—all in the innermost, private chamber of the figure Miller named the “evil-machine-monster.” In fact, as Penrose notes, “she tilted her camera up to include the shower head. In Dachau the gas chambers were disguised as shower baths.” Implicit in this scene is the illusion that art elevates humanity—classical art could not prevent the Holocaust.

Miller’s take on this episode was that “[Hitler] … became less fabulous and therefore more terrible, along with a little evidence of his having some almost human habits; like an ape who embarrasses and humbles you with his gestures, mirroring yourself in caricature.”

There is no evidence Miller and Taro ever met, nor that Miller was specifically influenced by Taro, although she did form a friendship with Capa in 1944 at the liberation of Paris. Still, Penrose recalls his mother mentioning Taro. An oft-told tale recounts how 27-year-old Miller was nearly hit by a car on Fifth Avenue in New York City, only to be pulled back by a man standing beside her who turned out to be publisher Conde Nast. Penrose says, “I think Lee had a sense of the irony of Taro’s death [by a tank]. … A road accident would have finished Lee in 1927 if she had not been pulled to safety by Conde Nast. I think Taro’s death represented the other polarity of luck.”

Miller may have dodged death that day, but after World War II ended and PTSD destabilized her stormy energies, she was beset by profound depression and alcoholism. Taro was brutally killed in battle, the first woman photographer to die on the job. But she may have dodged the gas chamber herself, and she didn’t suffer the trauma of knowing her entire family was killed in the Holocaust. Ralph Waldo Emerson said “every hero becomes a bore at last,” but Taro—and Miller—merit recognition, not worship. In a way, the two lived alternating sides of the same good luck/bad luck coin. I see their knowing smiles as they wink and toss that coin up, the sun catching heads or tails.

Note to readers: Lee Miller’s archive wasn’t able to release any more photos than these four. Please go to www.leemiller.co.uk, filter for Germany/France/England pictures and dive in to a body of war photography work that truly reflects her wonderful eye.

A brief, by no means comprehensive, list of reading and watching:

GERDA TARO

- Life Magazine coverage of Taro’s death and funeral: http://bit.ly/1G959J0

- Link to ICP’s Gerda Taro archive: http://www.icp.org/exhibitions/gerda-taro

- Gerda Taro, Fotoreporterin, by Irme Schaber. If you read Italian or German—this is Taro’s biography by Irme Schaber: http://www.amazon.com/Gerda-Taro-Fotoreporterin-Irme-Schaber/dp/3894454660

- Gerda Taro: Inventing Robert Capa, by Jane Rogoyska:

http://www.amazon.com/Gerda-Taro-Inventing-Robert-Capa/dp/022409713X

- Talk by Gerda’s biographer Irme Schaber at the Frontline Club, London, 2008: http://www.frontlineclub.com/new_in_the_picture_with_irme_schaber_the_life_and_work_of_gerda_taro

LEE MILLER

- Link to Lee Miller’s archive: http://www.leemiller.co.uk/

- The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose, Thames and Hudson, London. Antony Penrose’s bio of his mother, Lee Miller, formed the basis for Carolyn Burke’s.

- Lee Miller: A Life, by Carolyn Burke: http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Miller-Life-Carolyn-Burke/dp/0226080676

- Through the Mirror, documentary about Lee Miller: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1jrxzu_lee-miller-through-the-mirror-1995_webcam

#WHM #Womens History Month #gerda taro + lee miller

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theokbrowne · 6 years ago

Text

Why Every Agent Should Be Rocking LinkedIn For Real Estate

If we told you that LinkedIn boasts a 2.74 percent visitor-to-lead conversion rate, would it make you consider using LinkedIn for real estate?

Yeah, it sounds pretty tiny, right? But, when compared to Facebook’s .77 percent and Twitter’s .69 percent, LinkedIn’s is positively huge.

In fact, according to Hubspot’s number crunching, LinkedIn’s conversion rate is 277 times higher than Facebook’s.

One of the reasons for this may be the fact that LinkedIn is pretty much business-oriented. No photos of kitties or what someone had for lunch or updates on family matters.

Because there are fewer social posts, “a business’ marketing posts are more likely to be noticed on LinkedIn than somewhere else,” according to Hubspot’s Rebecca Corliss.

Want a real estate website that’s built to get more leads? Learn more about LeadSites – and get started on your new site in minutes!

LinkedIn for real estate – The demographics are ideal

LinkedIn’s online user numbers are paltry compared to the giants, like Facebook and Twitter. But, the 29 percent of American adults who do use the platform boast demographics that are ideal for real estate agents – far better than any other social media platform:

The majority (77 percent) are age 30 and older

Nearly half earn more than $75,000 per year

Half of LinkedIn’s users are college graduates

90 percent of users make household decisions

These demographics neatly align with NAR’s profile of the average home seller and buyer.

So, who can you connect with on the platform? “ … home builders, construction companies, HR professionals who have to help new employees find housing, relocation services professionals — they’re all on LinkedIn,” according to John Nemo at bizjournals.com.

Not to mention that every single person on LinkedIn lives in a home and may be planning on buying or selling.

Still have your doubts about LinkedIn’s value for agents? How about some social proof to back up our claims?

“I have gotten more business from Linkedin than Facebook.” Agent Brenda Andrew, Corpus Christie, TX

“LinkedIn has become my number 2 source in driving traffic to my website.” Rochester, NY mega-agent Kyle Hiscock

“ … LinkedIn which is where most of my leads come from.” Milford, CT relocation wiz Wendy Weir

“I have received more business from LinkedIn than FB and Twitter combined.” Beverly Hills agent Endre Barath, Jr.

Connect to social media and get more leads with Social Share – Learn more

Let’s get you going on LinkedIn, starting with your profile

As with any social media platform, a complete, compelling profile is a must. If you’re familiar with Facebook’s profile process, LinkedIn’s will be a snap.

Start with a banner image (LinkedIn provides an image size guide here). Suggestion: Use the same image you use on Facebook.

Why re-invent the wheel? Besides, if you did the FB banner right, it includes your branding, like this one from Christophe Choo, YouTube real estate star with Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Group in Beverly Hills:

Using the same banner consistently across all of your social media platforms helps re-enforce that branding.

Or, use something easily recognizable, such as a photo of a local landmark:

Of course, you can also add text to your banner photo — perhaps a particularly flattering testimonial or sales statistic.

When using LinkedIn for real estate, pay special attention to your professional headline (your job title).

According to eye tracking studies, the headline on your LinkedIn profile page gets the most attention from viewers.

“In fact, it got more attention than anything else on the page,” according to mashable.com’s Sarah Kessler.

Avoid the generic and go for the more descriptive. Sure, it’s fine to use “Realtor,” but consider adding other attributes of your business, separated by pipes (hold the “shift” key and hit the forward slash key, typically located above the “Enter” key):

Or, show some personality, like Austin’s Kasey Jorgenson, who slings “the finest homes”:

Optimize your summary

Your profile summary is where visitors can get to know you a little better and the ideal place to show off your real estate expertise. While most LinkedIn for real estate summaries that we’ve viewed read more like resumes, don’t be afraid to warm yours up with both personal and professional information.

Then, boost your credibility by adding one or two of your best testimonials and listing your credentials.

Remember that any text over a certain number of words will be truncated, forcing readers to click on the “read more” button. The word count is especially short in the mobile version, so place the most important information at the beginning of your summary.

Create a custom URL

Just to the right of your banner, just above the box labeled “Promoted,” you’ll find a link that will take you to an area where you can customize your LinkedIn URL.

Customizing the URL makes you easier to find and it helps boost your credibility. Plus, it’s one of the easier tasks to do at LinkedIn.

Start adding content – and keep adding it

Like most social media platforms, LinkedIn loves your content, as long as it isn’t post after post about your new listings or open houses. Much like your real estate website, content matters.

Chip Leakas teaches LinkedIn seminars across the country and asked her network what they think about agents who post “ONLY listings in the activity stream. The typical response I get is:

‘On LinkedIn – Real Estate Listings look like classified ads to me and I roll right past them!’”

Kyle Hiscock agrees: “One of the biggest mistakes that agents use when posting on LinkedIn is they continually blast their newest listing,” he tells ressas.com’s Rachelle Brempong.

“This is a great way to fail at LinkedIn for real estate. The audience on LinkedIn is primarily professionals who are looking for helpful content, not the next home they’re going to buy.”

More appropriate content includes posts that provide marketing tips or topics that might attract real estate consumers. Industry news and market reports, both local and national, are also popular topics.

“I started using the articles EAP gave us – then I started writing my own – linking to others is major” as well, according to Wendy Weir.

Connect and group

“Send 10 connections to people every day,” advises Easy Agent Pro’s Tyler Zey. Once you’re linked to someone they’ll automatically see your posts and updates, you will have the ability to private message him or her and you can begin connecting with their connections.

So, take the time to start connecting with former and current clients, friends, former colleagues, members of organizations to which you belong, even your Facebook friends.

By the way, Zey claims he received a 30 percent increase in his response rate when he switched from cold emails to private messaging through LinkedIn. And, he even supplies a script that you can copy. You’ll find it here.

The experts suggest joining at least three groups on LinkedIn. Then, remain active in them. “By contributing weekly to discussions, (or simply starting discussions) your profile, phone number, and job description will literally be in front of thousands of people,” our Tyler Zey explains. “You can use groups to effectively get in front of decision makers and make cold connections warmer.”

Like anything new, LinkedIn for real estate may seem confusing at first. Concentrate on creating a brilliant profile, connecting with others and joining groups and you’ll be off and running.

Looking for a real estate website that doesn’t take a tech degree to operate? Learn more about LeadSites.

Generate more leads with these 53 tips – plus 1 secret that will blow your mind!

Want to generate more leads with LinkedIn but not sure where to start? Check out this video:

youtube

The post Why Every Agent Should Be Rocking LinkedIn For Real Estate appeared first on Easy Agent Pro.

from theokbrowne digest https://www.easyagentpro.com/blog/linkedin-for-real-estate/

#theokbrowne digest

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cleopatrarps · 7 years ago

Text

‘Stand by Me’: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Married

They both looked so happy, and so relaxed. They were beaming as they said their vows, and luckily, no one came forward to provide any reason that they might not be married. (This is always an exciting moment in a ceremony.)

It was an extraordinary mix of tradition and modernity, of centuries of history and up-to-the moment flourishes. Oprah was here, and so was Meghan’s mother, an African-American social worker who wore a conventional mother-of-the-bride outfit and also a nose stud.

It somehow looked charming and just right.

The entire royal family was here, along with a complement of English aristocrats and important personages. The music was stately and beautiful. The setting was awe-inspiring.

There was a flotilla of clergymen, an extraordinary mélange including the archbishop of Canterbury and — in a striking inclusion in this most ancient of places — the head of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Michael Curry.

Chosen to give the address to the congregations, Bishop Curry, who is African-American, quoted Martin Luther King. His voice rising and falling with emotion, he made a big, generous, impassioned case for love as the most important thing there is, in religion and in life.

His address came after a reading by Lady Jane Fellowes, Harry’s aunt (her sister was Diana, Princess of Wales) that was both full of joy and a signal, it seemed, that the sadness in Harry’s life since his mother’s death had finally lifted.

It was a passage from the Song of Solomon: “Arise my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.”

Continue reading the main story

The dress was a success: sculptural simplicity.

Photo

Meghan Markle arriving for the wedding ceremony. Credit Pool photo by Andrew Matthews

Our fashion critic, Vanessa Friedman, is also watching, and she has a quick take for us on Meghan Markle’s dress.

It was absolutely simple: pure and sculptural, in double bonded silk cady with a wide boatneck, long sleeves and sweeping train.

It was Meghan Markle’s wedding dress. It was by Clare Waight Keller, a British woman and the first female designer of Givenchy. And it was everything people had hoped.

This was not a Cinderella choice, not one that spoke of fantasy or old-fashioned fairy tales. Instead, it placed the woman proudly front and center and underscored Ms. Markle’s own independence.

At the same time, it celebrated female strength, promoted a local designer and reached a hand across to Europe (where Ms. Waight Keller has a day job).

The five-meter veil was of silk tulle, with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers in silk threads and organza, and contained embroidery representing the flora of all 53 Commonwealth nations.

Video

The Royal Wedding: Highlights

The guest arrivals, the royal family, the chapel, the vows: Watch scenes from today’s celebration of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

By SARAH STEIN KERR and NATALIE RENEAU. Photo by Pool photo by Owen Humphreys. Watch in Times Video »

And it was entirely a surprise. In all the rumors that had swirled around The Dress, from Ralph & Russo to Stella McCartney, Ms. Waight Keller’s name had never come up. In the end, Ms. Markle outthought us all. As this starts, long may it continue.

And the After-Party Dress

The newly minted Duke and Duchess of Sussex departed Windsor for their evening reception at Frogmore House in a very James Bond fashion. The duchess wore a second dress by designer Stella McCartney. You can read our fashion critic Vanessa Friedman’s reaction here.

Continue reading the main story

A good time was had by all (even before the cocktails).

Photo

Guests taking their places inside St. George’s Chapel. Credit Pool photo by Danny Lawson

Unlike a lot of weddings — and certainly unlike Kate and William’s wedding, just seven years ago — the guests inside hung out in the aisles, air-kissing and gossiping. It’s a great royal-and-celebrity cocktail party! (Sadly without cocktails.)

Kate and William’s wedding was solemn, stately, stuffy, full of dignitaries, politicians, and the sort of boring personages known here as the great and the good.

But this looked totally fun for the guests — even more fun than, say, the Academy Awards — because no one was competing for anything and no one was forced to talk about their outfits to television reporters.

Part of the change in tone is down to the passage of time and to how much Britain, or perhaps the royal family, has changed in the last few years.

Another reason, of course, is that Harry, being the second son and not a future king, has the freedom to be more relaxed, less constrained by tradition, and less conventional than his brother. This wedding has nothing to do with dynasty, or ensuring the security of the royal line. (We hope they have kids! But only because it’s fun to have kids, not because it would be some sort of international crisis if they did not.)

This wedding had everything to do with two people who are totally into each other and wanted to have a great big happy celebration.

Oprah, Beckhams and Clooneys, oh my!

Photo

The guests included the British actor Idris Elba; his fiancée, Sabrina Dhowre; the British singer James Blunt; and Oprah Winfrey. Credit Chris Radburn/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

One of the great excitements about any wedding, of course, is the moment you learn who has been invited and who has not. Meghan and Harry’s list was kept secret, until the very moment that dozens of mysterious figures started to enter St. George’s Chapel.

It was very exciting. There was none other than Oprah Winfrey, in a snug pink dress, a pair of very cool sunglasses and a massive broad-brimmed hat spectacularly festooned with flowers. If anyone qualifies as American royalty, it is surely Oprah, with her ability to transcend race and background, and her great gift for openness and emotional candor.

Continue reading the main story

Kate Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael, were there. They have always done such a good job of wearing appropriate outfits, smiling tastefully and saying nothing.

There was Charles Spencer, the Earl of Althorp, Diana’s brother, perhaps known best for his active love life and his impassioned attack on the British media after his sister’s death.

It turned into Celebrity Central. George and Amal Clooney made their stately, Hollywood-y entrance (She was in yellow with an interesting train).

David and Victoria Beckham, a.k.a. Posh and Becks, came in and graced some people in the crowd with their conversation.

From an American bishop, an extraordinary speech.

Photo

The Most Rev. Michael Curry Michael Curry, head of the Episcopal Church, gave a passionate address in which he quoted Martin Luther King. Credit Pool photo by Owen Humphreys

For many people, the most striking thing was the sermon by the charismatic Bishop Curry, who preached a ringing message of love — with references to Martin Luther King Jr. and to the legacy of American slavery — with such joy and such enthusiasm that it was impossible not to feel joyful and enthusiastic right alongside him.

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is as strong as death; passion as fierce as the grave. It’s flashes of fire, of raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it out.” — Bishop Michael Curry.

It was as if a Southern Baptist preacher had suddenly wandered onto the set of “Downton Abbey.”

The speech began trending on Twitter, with people marveling at the spectacle of seeing such a man saying such things in such a place.

A black reverend preaching to British royalty about the resilience of faith during slavery is 10000000% not what I thought I was waking up for, the royal wedding is good

— Elamin Abdelmahmoud (@elamin88) May 19, 2018

While reporters in the British press corps struggled to render the bishop’s remark that “we gotta get y’all married” (the BBC rendered it “you all”), they also pronounced themselves thrilled — and in a completely unironic way, which does not always come naturally to them.

“If Pippa was the unexpected star of Kate’s wedding, Michael Curry is the star of this one,” tweeted Fraser Nelson, editor of the conservative-leaning Spectator, which is about as tradition-bound as they come. “Wonderful, wonderful sermon,” he added.

The preacher is doing 50 in a 30 zone and it’s brilliant #RoyalWedding2018

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 19, 2018

Monica Drake, an assistant managing editor at The Times, writes that Bishop Curry’s address was a nod to Ms. Markle’s heritage.

‘I never thought it would happen.’

Photo

Royal enthusiasts on the first train from London to Windsor on Saturday. Credit Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA, via Shutterstock

Stephen Castle, who usually writes about Brexit and other serious matters but today has been promoted to matrimonial correspondent, based in Windsor, met two San Franciscans, Aaron Endre and Alex Conlon, dressed in wigs and white dresses.

Continue reading the main story

“I have had a crush on Harry my entire life, and this is my last-ditch effort to get him,” declared Mr. Endre, who described himself as a gay activist and performer. He was almost entirely kidding.

“Harry, what does it take?” he asked.

Different people had different reasons for coming.

Denise Crawford, who was raised in Jamaica, traveled from her home in Brooklyn to attend a wedding she considered a historic event.

“One of the children of slaves is marrying a royal whose forerunners sanctioned slavery,” she said. “The lion is lying down with the lamb.”

Alexa Koppenberg had come from Germany because she didn’t trust her web browser. It crashed when she watched the 2011 wedding of William and Kate.

“I think it’s great that she’s half African-American,” she said of Meghan Markle. “I never thought it would happen, as Harry always dated blondes before.”

A TV takeaway: Get off the red carpet.

Photo

Watching the wedding on a television in Windsor. Credit Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Margaret Lyons, one of our television critics, checks in from New York with a sense of how things played out on the air.

Continue reading the main story

Red carpet coverage for awards shows, particularly the Oscars, is strained, frequently sexist and often cringe-worthy — yet it persists. But if the varied and even decent live coverage of the royal wedding has anything to teach us, it’s that moving off the red carpet is the way to go.

Three hours of breathless coverage before an event even starts is … a lot.

Starting at 4 a.m. Eastern, every major outlet and several minor ones began broadcasting, but because no one was interviewing the actual high-profile guests, there was a lot less fawning.

Instead, the BBC broadcast had a brief discussion of the value of poetry with George the Poet (who, yes, is a poet). There were explanations of heraldic iconography, and interviews with people who run charities supported by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The American networks were also largely genial, discussing floral design, Princess Diana, naves and what defines a “morning suit.” Everyone gushed about celebrity guests and Oprah’s early arrival.

Talking about fashion is fun and interesting when the people talking about it are fashion experts, not just celebrities. If there’s a lesson here, it’s this: The shift to a color commentary model, from the current locker-room interview one, is something is all red-carpet coverage should embrace.

Welcome to Windsor (you probably should have stayed home).

Photo

Residents of Windsor have been told that around 4,000 police officers will be deployed. Credit Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

Anyone who found themselves in England on Saturday and thought about hopping on a train and heading to Windsor at the last minute came to a quick conclusion: bad idea.

First, there were the eager royal fans who, having arrived perhaps days earlier, had already snagged all the good spots along the procession route.

That was in addition to the thousands of police officers, some on horses, with their sniffer dogs, their metal fencing, their vehicle recognition technology, their closed-circuit TV cameras, their helicopters and their marine patrols of the river.

Continue reading the main story

Windsor was no place to fly a drone, either. The police designated the area an exclusion zone for low-flying traffic on Saturday.

More than 100,000 people were crowded into the little town today. No one is saying how much the security operation cost, but the current (unconfirmed) estimate is that it will come to as much as 30 million pounds.

That’s about $40 million, with the bill to be paid by British taxpayers.

Continue reading the main story

The post ‘Stand by Me’: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Married appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2kbWjrH via News of World

#Daily World News #Daily Entertainment #Daily Sports #Today News #World The News

0 notes

dragnews · 7 years ago

Text

‘Stand by Me’: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Married

It somehow looked charming and just right.

The entire royal family was here, along with a complement of English aristocrats and important personages. The music was stately and beautiful. The setting was awe-inspiring.

It was a passage from the Song of Solomon: “Arise my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.”

Continue reading the main story

The dress was a success: sculptural simplicity.

Photo

Meghan Markle arriving for the wedding ceremony. Credit Pool photo by Andrew Matthews

Our fashion critic, Vanessa Friedman, is also watching, and she has a quick take for us on Meghan Markle’s dress.

It was absolutely simple: pure and sculptural, in double bonded silk cady with a wide boatneck, long sleeves and sweeping train.

It was Meghan Markle’s wedding dress. It was by Clare Waight Keller, a British woman and the first female designer of Givenchy. And it was everything people had hoped.

This was not a Cinderella choice, not one that spoke of fantasy or old-fashioned fairy tales. Instead, it placed the woman proudly front and center and underscored Ms. Markle’s own independence.

At the same time, it celebrated female strength, promoted a local designer and reached a hand across to Europe (where Ms. Waight Keller has a day job).

The five-meter veil was of silk tulle, with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers in silk threads and organza, and contained embroidery representing the flora of all 53 Commonwealth nations.

Video

The Royal Wedding: Highlights

The guest arrivals, the royal family, the chapel, the vows: Watch scenes from today’s celebration of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

By SARAH STEIN KERR and NATALIE RENEAU. Photo by Pool photo by Owen Humphreys. Watch in Times Video »

And the After-Party Dress

Continue reading the main story

A good time was had by all (even before the cocktails).

Photo

Guests taking their places inside St. George’s Chapel. Credit Pool photo by Danny Lawson

Kate and William’s wedding was solemn, stately, stuffy, full of dignitaries, politicians, and the sort of boring personages known here as the great and the good.

Part of the change in tone is down to the passage of time and to how much Britain, or perhaps the royal family, has changed in the last few years.

This wedding had everything to do with two people who are totally into each other and wanted to have a great big happy celebration.

Oprah, Beckhams and Clooneys, oh my!

Photo

The guests included the British actor Idris Elba; his fiancée, Sabrina Dhowre; the British singer James Blunt; and Oprah Winfrey. Credit Chris Radburn/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Continue reading the main story

Kate Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael, were there. They have always done such a good job of wearing appropriate outfits, smiling tastefully and saying nothing.

There was Charles Spencer, the Earl of Althorp, Diana’s brother, perhaps known best for his active love life and his impassioned attack on the British media after his sister’s death.

It turned into Celebrity Central. George and Amal Clooney made their stately, Hollywood-y entrance (She was in yellow with an interesting train).

David and Victoria Beckham, a.k.a. Posh and Becks, came in and graced some people in the crowd with their conversation.

From an American bishop, an extraordinary speech.

Photo

The Most Rev. Michael Curry Michael Curry, head of the Episcopal Church, gave a passionate address in which he quoted Martin Luther King. Credit Pool photo by Owen Humphreys

It was as if a Southern Baptist preacher had suddenly wandered onto the set of “Downton Abbey.”

The speech began trending on Twitter, with people marveling at the spectacle of seeing such a man saying such things in such a place.

A black reverend preaching to British royalty about the resilience of faith during slavery is 10000000% not what I thought I was waking up for, the royal wedding is good

— Elamin Abdelmahmoud (@elamin88) May 19, 2018

The preacher is doing 50 in a 30 zone and it’s brilliant #RoyalWedding2018

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 19, 2018

Monica Drake, an assistant managing editor at The Times, writes that Bishop Curry’s address was a nod to Ms. Markle’s heritage.

‘I never thought it would happen.’

Photo

Royal enthusiasts on the first train from London to Windsor on Saturday. Credit Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA, via Shutterstock

Continue reading the main story

“Harry, what does it take?” he asked.

Different people had different reasons for coming.

Denise Crawford, who was raised in Jamaica, traveled from her home in Brooklyn to attend a wedding she considered a historic event.

“One of the children of slaves is marrying a royal whose forerunners sanctioned slavery,” she said. “The lion is lying down with the lamb.”

Alexa Koppenberg had come from Germany because she didn’t trust her web browser. It crashed when she watched the 2011 wedding of William and Kate.

“I think it’s great that she’s half African-American,” she said of Meghan Markle. “I never thought it would happen, as Harry always dated blondes before.”

A TV takeaway: Get off the red carpet.

Photo

Watching the wedding on a television in Windsor. Credit Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Margaret Lyons, one of our television critics, checks in from New York with a sense of how things played out on the air.

Continue reading the main story

Three hours of breathless coverage before an event even starts is … a lot.

Starting at 4 a.m. Eastern, every major outlet and several minor ones began broadcasting, but because no one was interviewing the actual high-profile guests, there was a lot less fawning.

Welcome to Windsor (you probably should have stayed home).

Photo

Residents of Windsor have been told that around 4,000 police officers will be deployed. Credit Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

Anyone who found themselves in England on Saturday and thought about hopping on a train and heading to Windsor at the last minute came to a quick conclusion: bad idea.

First, there were the eager royal fans who, having arrived perhaps days earlier, had already snagged all the good spots along the procession route.

Continue reading the main story

Windsor was no place to fly a drone, either. The police designated the area an exclusion zone for low-flying traffic on Saturday.

That’s about $40 million, with the bill to be paid by British taxpayers.

Continue reading the main story

The post ‘Stand by Me’: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Married appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2kbWjrH via Today News

#Daily News #Daily World News #Daily Business News #Daily Sports News #World The News

0 notes

dani-qrt · 7 years ago

Text

‘Stand by Me’: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Married

It somehow looked charming and just right.

The entire royal family was here, along with a complement of English aristocrats and important personages. The music was stately and beautiful. The setting was awe-inspiring.

It was a passage from the Song of Solomon: “Arise my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.”

Continue reading the main story

The dress was a success: sculptural simplicity.

Photo

Meghan Markle arriving for the wedding ceremony. Credit Pool photo by Andrew Matthews

Our fashion critic, Vanessa Friedman, is also watching, and she has a quick take for us on Meghan Markle’s dress.

It was absolutely simple: pure and sculptural, in double bonded silk cady with a wide boatneck, long sleeves and sweeping train.

It was Meghan Markle’s wedding dress. It was by Clare Waight Keller, a British woman and the first female designer of Givenchy. And it was everything people had hoped.

This was not a Cinderella choice, not one that spoke of fantasy or old-fashioned fairy tales. Instead, it placed the woman proudly front and center and underscored Ms. Markle’s own independence.

At the same time, it celebrated female strength, promoted a local designer and reached a hand across to Europe (where Ms. Waight Keller has a day job).

The five-meter veil was of silk tulle, with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers in silk threads and organza, and contained embroidery representing the flora of all 53 Commonwealth nations.

Video

The Royal Wedding: Highlights

The guest arrivals, the royal family, the chapel, the vows: Watch scenes from today’s celebration of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

By SARAH STEIN KERR and NATALIE RENEAU. Photo by Pool photo by Owen Humphreys. Watch in Times Video »

And the After-Party Dress

Continue reading the main story

A good time was had by all (even before the cocktails).

Photo

Guests taking their places inside St. George’s Chapel. Credit Pool photo by Danny Lawson

Kate and William’s wedding was solemn, stately, stuffy, full of dignitaries, politicians, and the sort of boring personages known here as the great and the good.

Part of the change in tone is down to the passage of time and to how much Britain, or perhaps the royal family, has changed in the last few years.

This wedding had everything to do with two people who are totally into each other and wanted to have a great big happy celebration.

Oprah, Beckhams and Clooneys, oh my!

Photo

The guests included the British actor Idris Elba; his fiancée, Sabrina Dhowre; the British singer James Blunt; and Oprah Winfrey. Credit Chris Radburn/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Continue reading the main story

Kate Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael, were there. They have always done such a good job of wearing appropriate outfits, smiling tastefully and saying nothing.

There was Charles Spencer, the Earl of Althorp, Diana’s brother, perhaps known best for his active love life and his impassioned attack on the British media after his sister’s death.

It turned into Celebrity Central. George and Amal Clooney made their stately, Hollywood-y entrance (She was in yellow with an interesting train).

David and Victoria Beckham, a.k.a. Posh and Becks, came in and graced some people in the crowd with their conversation.

From an American bishop, an extraordinary speech.

Photo

The Most Rev. Michael Curry Michael Curry, head of the Episcopal Church, gave a passionate address in which he quoted Martin Luther King. Credit Pool photo by Owen Humphreys

It was as if a Southern Baptist preacher had suddenly wandered onto the set of “Downton Abbey.”

The speech began trending on Twitter, with people marveling at the spectacle of seeing such a man saying such things in such a place.

A black reverend preaching to British royalty about the resilience of faith during slavery is 10000000% not what I thought I was waking up for, the royal wedding is good

— Elamin Abdelmahmoud (@elamin88) May 19, 2018

The preacher is doing 50 in a 30 zone and it’s brilliant #RoyalWedding2018

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 19, 2018

Monica Drake, an assistant managing editor at The Times, writes that Bishop Curry’s address was a nod to Ms. Markle’s heritage.

‘I never thought it would happen.’

Photo

Royal enthusiasts on the first train from London to Windsor on Saturday. Credit Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA, via Shutterstock

Continue reading the main story

“Harry, what does it take?” he asked.

Different people had different reasons for coming.

Denise Crawford, who was raised in Jamaica, traveled from her home in Brooklyn to attend a wedding she considered a historic event.

“One of the children of slaves is marrying a royal whose forerunners sanctioned slavery,” she said. “The lion is lying down with the lamb.”

Alexa Koppenberg had come from Germany because she didn’t trust her web browser. It crashed when she watched the 2011 wedding of William and Kate.

“I think it’s great that she’s half African-American,” she said of Meghan Markle. “I never thought it would happen, as Harry always dated blondes before.”

A TV takeaway: Get off the red carpet.

Photo

Watching the wedding on a television in Windsor. Credit Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Margaret Lyons, one of our television critics, checks in from New York with a sense of how things played out on the air.

Continue reading the main story

Three hours of breathless coverage before an event even starts is … a lot.

Starting at 4 a.m. Eastern, every major outlet and several minor ones began broadcasting, but because no one was interviewing the actual high-profile guests, there was a lot less fawning.

Welcome to Windsor (you probably should have stayed home).

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Residents of Windsor have been told that around 4,000 police officers will be deployed. Credit Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

Anyone who found themselves in England on Saturday and thought about hopping on a train and heading to Windsor at the last minute came to a quick conclusion: bad idea.

First, there were the eager royal fans who, having arrived perhaps days earlier, had already snagged all the good spots along the procession route.

Continue reading the main story

Windsor was no place to fly a drone, either. The police designated the area an exclusion zone for low-flying traffic on Saturday.

That’s about $40 million, with the bill to be paid by British taxpayers.

Continue reading the main story

The post ‘Stand by Me’: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Married appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2kbWjrH via Online News

#World News #Today News #Daily News #Breaking News #News Headline #Entertainment News #Sports news #Sci-Tech

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trendingnewsb · 7 years ago

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Woman Shares What Energy Drinks Did To Her Husband While She Was 9 Months Pregnant

For some of us, energy drinks are the only way we make it through the day. Most people, however, rarely consider how all of that caffeine and sugar is really affecting their body. Back in April, a teen in South Carolina died suddenly from a caffeine overdose aggravated by energy drinks. Now, a new father named Austin is lucky to have made it out with his life after overusing them for months to cope with a hectic work schedule, and has been physically changed forever.

His wife, Brianna, who was just weeks away from giving birth to their first child at the time, recently took to Facebook to share the harrowing story of how her world almost completely fell apart. Sara Endres, a photographer from Sacramento, CA, has also taken a series of moving portraits that document the young family’s daily struggles in the wake of Austin’s hospitalization.

Scroll down to read about what happened in Brianna’s own words, and share this with anyone who may doubt that energy drinks can be harmful.

A new mother has bravely come forward to tell the story of how energy drinks almost cost her husband his life, and changed hers forever

Image credits: Endres Photography

“Hello, my name is Brianna, and this is my story…

Love is not the little things. It is not the phone calls, the dates, or even the memories. Love is knowing you would sacrifice things that you didn’t even know you could sacrifice. Love is selfless.

Have you ever felt your life shake ? Have you ever been hit with so much emotional turmoil to the point where everything around you becomes fuzzy and shaken? Your lungs feel tight and for a brief second you can’t do anything. You are unable to move, unable to think, unable to even react. I have. I experienced something I never thought I would experience…all while nine months pregnant with my first child.

Being pregnant is supposed to be one of the most amazing journeys you will ever embark on. You’re creating a new life. You are experiencing unconditional love for someone you have not even met.

Austin and I were so excited to meet our little boy. To bring him home. To be a family.”

Austin had picked up the habit to cope with a hectic work schedule, never imagining they would land him in the hospital

Image credits: Daniel Juřena

“I never imagined as I went to sleep that night, that my whole world would be shattered within hours.

I still remember my mother in law waking me up that morning. ‘Austin had an accident’ she said.

All I knew was that my husband was in the hospital. The worst part? I didn’t know why.

After a two hour drive to the hospital, I learned that my husband, the father of my child, the person I am so deeply in love with, had had a brain hemorrhage. Why? The doctors concluded (after running his tox screen and ruling out drugs) that this horrible event was due to his recent excessive energy drink consumption (a habit he had built when he started working longer hours and commuting).

Surgery was already in motion… and after an agonizing 5 hour wait, we got to see him. But while everyone was focused on the almost unrecognizable face hooked up to all sorts of machines and tubes, all I could see was his parents. I saw the light leave his mother’s eyes as she saw her motionless son laying in that hospital bed. I saw his father break down crying as he held onto his wife.

They didn’t know if the life they created together would even wake up.

Watching this family — my new family, who I have grown to love and be a part of, be so shattered and broken…that is the worst feeling I have ever felt.”

One tragic brain hemorrhage and multiple surgeries later, Austin was left with an irreparable hole in the front of his skull, and a wife on the verge of giving birth to their first child

Image credits: Endres Photography

“The next day was round two of brain surgery. Following this were strokes, seizures, swelling, and more things we weren’t prepared for.

There was a moment, sitting by his hospital bed, just praying he would be okay, that I knew I would never give up on him. No matter how messy our life would become. I was going to be by his side through all of it.

After two weeks of living in a hospital, wondering if he would survive or be taken from us, we made our way back home.

The time had come for me to deliver our baby.”

Still under the stress of dealing with Austin’s recovery, Brianna faced the monumental task of bringing their son into the world

Image credits: Endres Photography

“I’m not going to lie to anyone, it was so hard. I had planned on Austin being a part of this huge moment. Being by my side. Holding my hand. Being there to cut the cord. Being there to welcome our son into the world. It didn’t feel right…

But a beautiful miracle happened as I delivered our son. Austin woke up. I went about a week without seeing him. I thought about him every day. I cried as I looked at my child who looked just like his daddy.

When the baby was only a week old, I left him with my in-laws.

I knew I needed to see Austin. I needed to tell him that our baby was here. To tell him how much we needed him.”

Miraculously, Austin awoke from his traumatic experience shortly after the birth, and finally met his baby boy 2 months later

Image credits: Endres Photography

“Weeks went by. We chased him all over the state as more operations and procedures were ordered. I saw him every chance I got.

At a little over 2 months old, our son finally met his dad. A day I wasn’t sure I would ever see. That was the day that my heart gained some of its happiness back.

Some time after that he could finally come home to me. Our life isn’t normal. There are doctors visits and hospital trips — so many that I loose count.

But we are here. Fighting.”

Brianna now spends each day caring not only for her new son, but for her permanently disabled husband, a role she accepts with strength

Image credits: Endres Photography

“I wake up every day to take care of our beautiful little boy and my husband. I prepare the meals, do physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. I help him with personal hygiene. I help him walk. I help him with every aspect of his life.”

These poignant photos, taken by Sacramento-based photographer Sara Endres, capture the beauty and pain of this young family

Image credits: Endres Photography

“And in between these tasks I take care of our very busy eight month old. It is hard, and I am tired, but we make the most of it.”

Their story is harrowing, but also a testament to the existence of true love and self-sacrifice

Image credits: Endres Photography

“He isn’t the same man I fell in love with, but I still fall further everyday, We are fighting to help him recover. To make his life better. One day we will get there.

Until then, I will never give up on him. Because love is selfless, and I love him more than life itself.”

Image credits: Endres Photography

Should people be taking the health risks of energy drinks more seriously? Tell us your thoughts below

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#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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writerfae · 7 months ago

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Okay! Here's the promised ask! (Idk if I'll get to everyone's parents, so sorry for everyone who gets left out)

Now, I don't know if you meant writing for them before they had kids, so this will probably be a mix

Starting off with Ranva and Milan, of course! (Their's will probably be the longest because... yeah)

Milan seeing Ranva for the first time and he's jaw drops, because look at her!

I think hearing about the time when Milan helps Ranva get away from the fae realm would be really interesting (plus baby Henry 🥺)

Ranva having the exact opposite problem of Henry, as in he had to adjust to the fae realm and her to the human realm (the parallels of these two kill me every day)

I'm actually really interested in the time before Aiden was born (as in they're already in the human realm, but he's not born yet), because we never hear about it

(or rarely)

Fenna and Cyrus

Ngl I keep thinking about modern au them, because cute baker Fenna is top tear!

Also, that thing you mentioned about Fenna holding Cyrus after their son died

Also, them just bickering 🥺

Hela's parents

I don't think I know a lot about her dad (or if I do, I forgot again)

And her mom looking for her, and her being mischievous is adorable ❤️

Now... I know very, very little about Maya's mom... so... sorry❤️

And meanwhile I want to come up with something fluffly for my guys but I've got nothing...

But listen 👏 (I think I made a post like this actually, but I was listening to the song again, so:)

Bendegúz: The soldier

Ákos: The poet

Endre: The king

Adél: The one who's singing

(Yes, I love going on rants about songs and my ocs. When I go on a rant about an Odette song that will be... well, you know what she's like🤣 there'll be emotions( but her playlist is one of the best)

Also, can you imagine Endre holding up Ákos to your ocs lion king style 🤣

Thanks, that’s so nice of you ^^

My initial thought was to write fluff for them as couples (with no kids) but since I have no actual plans for this god knows when I’ll even get around to do this I’m open for everything!

Milan was completely star struck when he met Ranva. Ranva’s sister noticed it first and told her. They were both giggling like crazy stealing glances at him stealing glances at Ranva xD and at one point he gathered his courage and really formally introduced himself, with hand-kiss and all.

To be honest, Ranva’s sister, her teacher and her maid were the ones who had the most part in arranging her and Milan’s “escape”. More interesting is probably the time before that (their secret meetings, Ranva telling Milan about Henry and about wanting to leave with them) and after (Milan helping her adjust, helping her with Henry, refusing to hunt for people who talked bad about his wife).

The way Henry’s story is mirroring his mother’s (but reverse) is one of my favorite things about the two. Also how different yet similar their way of freedom looks like!

When Aiden was born, Ranva already spent six years in the human realm. In the time till his birth a lot of her adjusting and dealing with missing home happened. Her learning some customs she had to adopt. Her making friends with Holly. Her, Milan and Henry being a happy little family despite some sullen grumbles from other villagers.

I wouldn’t really know what to tell you about it though, if you don’t have specific questions…

Fenna is already adorable, but baker Fenna from the modern au is even more so! Her and young Cyrus meeting in France is so cute too. I like thinking about younger them lately, even in canon. Not that they’d play any role significant enough for me to think about them, but I do and I adore them xD

The thing is that Fenna loves Cyrus. She remembers the man he used to be and she still sees that man in him, deep down. She’s hoping to one day get him back out. He might never be the same like he was before they lost Thorin, but she holds on to him because she knows deep down he’s still a good man. Flawed, but good. And she loves and believes in him still, though she doesn’t approve of the way he handles his relationship to their kids.

Halea’s parents’ names are Arian and Sofia. They are actually least developed, so I can’t tell you much about them. Except for that Sofia is originally from the Oak court, where her mother was one of the queen’s ladies. And Arian is head of the House of Hummingbirds, who married her and took her to the Willow court with him.

It’s funny how you know little about Maya’s mother, yet she’s the first parent beside Milan and Ranva that actually got a backstory xD

Gwen is a witch. She and her family before her, like many witches, were follower of the old ways. Which is what you call people in the human world that still believe in the old religion (the goddesses, the existence of fae and magic…) and follow old customs.

She grew up living with her grandmother and mother in their little cottage by the forest. She learned the old ways and her craft from them. Now she couldn’t do real magic, since humans are incapable of it, but she knew old rituals and little “spells” and knew how to make potions and (lucky) charms and she knew lots about herbs.

She and Maya lived from what Gwen sold on the big market in their hometown. Things like wool, eggs and goat milk and woven baskets. Dried herbs, balms and medicine. But also charms, potions and other stuff for the more “superstitious” people. Ranva was one of her customers, too.

Gwen was never interested in marriage. But she did want a child. Which is why she wished for Maya!

Oh yeah I remember you mentioning that! I think it fits your characters very well (both the song and the positions you applied to them like who’s the king and who’s the poet��)

Music can be a very good way to get close to our characters! I like doing that a lot too!

#under the cut cause otherwise this is too long in general xD #writer speaks #writeblr #wip: the knights of the alder

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photomaniacs · 7 years ago

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The Woman Who Invented Robert Capa http://ift.tt/2wg8XwU

Gerta Pohorylle was born in 1910 in Stuttgart, from a middle-class Jewish Galician family. She attended a Swiss boarding school, where she learned English and French and grew up receiving a secular education. In spite of her bourgeois origins, she became part of socialist and labor movements while still very young.

At the age of 19, she and her family moved to Leipzig, just before the affirmation of the German Nazi party. Gerta immediately showed her dislike and opposition to the regime, joining leftist groups and taking an active part in anti-Nazi propaganda activities.

In 1933, she was arrested and detained with the charge of handing out flyers. Gerta was released after 17 days and decided — or perhaps her family decided for her — to leave the Nazi Germany. She went to Italy for a short period and eventually moved to Paris.

The Legend of Robert Capa

Life was not easy in Paris. Gerta lived with some friends and held several jobs, including waitress, au pair girl, and model. In those days, Paris was the center of a vibrant artistic, literary and political life, and many of the young intellectuals who visited the cafes in the center of the town were immigrants. Gerta’s proximity to the left-wing movements helped solidify her anti-fascist views, despite the influence of Nazi Germany beginning to feel heavy all over Europe.

In September 1935, Gerta was attending a shoot with one of her friends when she met a young Hungarian photographer. His name was Endre Friedmann, but he referred to himself as André. Like herself, André was a Jewish refugee fleeing the growing Nazi threat in Berlin.

André and Gerta soon fell in love. They started living together, and André taught Gerta everything he knew about photography. With his help, she got a factotum job in the Anglo agency Alliance. It was there that Gerta learned about photographic and print processes, and she began to become interested in photojournalism, eventually working as picture editor for the same agency.

In 1936, Gerta received her first photojournalist credential, but André was struggling to find clients for his photo work. They were both determined to find their place in the photojournalism industry. In order to overcome the increasing political intolerance prevailing in Europe and get access to the lucrative American market, they decided to get rid of their Jewish surnames and started to sell their pictures using the fictional name “Robert Capa.”

The deal was simple: Gerda would sell the pictures by Capa, an American, rich, famous and elusive photographer, temporarily living in Europe, who only communicated through his assistant, André.

Using this pseudonym, Gerta and André covered the events surrounding the coming to power of the France’s Popular Front in 1930. Their secret was soon revealed and, still working together, André kept for himself the artist name Robert Capa, while Gerta adopted the professional name Gerda Taro.

A photo of Gerda Taro and Robert Capa in Paris by photographer Fred Stein. The photo is from the International Center of Photography and The Robert Capa and Cornell Capa Archive, Promised Gift of Cornell and Edith Capa

Spain

In 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out, and Gerta and André decided to move there to closely follow the events. Gerta soon became very emotionally involved in the Spanish Civil War, empathizing with the suffering Spanish people and cementing her hate toward the fascist ideology of the rebellion, openly supported by the German regime.

They made several trips to Spain, documenting the Republican soldiers’ departure to the front and the refugees moving from Malaga to Almeira. Next, they covered the war events in Aragon and Córdoba.

Although Gerta mostly used Rollei cameras and André preferred Leica, they often exchanged their gear — making the pictures indistinguishable based on camera format — and sold the images under the brand “Capa-Taro.”

Gerta soon began working more independently. She became publicly connected to a circle of anti-fascist European intellectuals and begun to publish her work, under the “Photo Taro” label, for magazines such as Life, Regards, and Illustrated London News.

In July 1937, while reporting on the Valencia bombing, she shot the pictures which are her most celebrated: the images depict the inside of the morgue where dead bodies from the recent attack lay, as well as the crowd outside filled with desperate people looking for news of their friends and relatives.

A few days later, André went to Paris, France, to discuss business with some photography agencies while Gerta moved to Brunete, Spain, where the Franco’s troops were preparing to retake the small town from the Republican forces. The battle turned against the Republicans, and Gerta was trapped in the trenches, where she kept taking photographs until she ran out of film. She then joined the Republican army retreat headed toward Madrid, traveling on board a car full of injured soldiers. On the way, the convoy was attacked by German planes supporting Franco’s troops.

In the midst of the attack, a tank lost control and ended up against the car Gerta was in. The photographer fell to the ground and was hit by the tank. Gerta was taken to the hospital, but it was immediately clear that her wounds were too serious. After a brief surgical procedure, the doctor asked to give her all the necessary morphine to relieve the pain in her last hours. The next morning, Gerta passed away at the age of 26.

A funeral was held a few days after in Paris and was attended by thousands of people. News of Gerda Taro’s death spread all over the world and caused a great response, particularly in France where the public opinion was particularly sympathetic toward the anti-fascist figure. And because of her dedicated reporting of the Republican effort during the Spanish Civil War, she was declared an anti-fascist martyr. She was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris on August 1st, 1937, the day that would have been her 27th birthday.

The Mexican Suitcase

After Taro’s death, Capa kept shooting pictures of the Spanish Civil War. Another photographer, David “Chim” Seymour, who met Capa and Taro in Paris, was working in Spain, documenting the exodus of the Republican Spanish refugees heading Mexico. They both sent negatives to Paris, where Imre “Csiki” Weisse, Robert Capa’s assistant, cataloged and kept them in special cardboard boxes.

In October 1939, while German troops were moving to Paris, Capa was forced to flee to New York, leaving all his gear and negatives in his lab in Paris. From that point, Capa’s negatives of the Spanish Civil War were missing, and so was much of the memory of Gerda Taro.

In 1975, in a letter to Robert Capa’s brother Cornell, Imre Weisse remembered the Spanish War negatives. He wrote:

In 1939, while German forces were approaching Paris, I put all Bob’s negatives in a bag, then took my bicycle heading to Bordeaux, hoping to find a boat to Mexico and put the negatives on it. On my way to Bordeaux, I met a Chilean who promised me to take in custody the bag and deliver it to the Chilean embassy.

The bag with the negatives eventually made its way into General Francisco Aguilar González’s hands. At the time, González the was a Mexican ambassador to the Vichy government in France. González then brought back it to Mexico with him when he returned.

Cornell made countless attempts to trace the negatives but with no luck. The negatives finally reappeared in 1995 when Mexican film producer Benjamin Traver inherited them from an aunt who was a close friend of General González’s. Traaver contacted New York’s Queens College professor Jerald R. Green to ask advice on how to preserve the negatives and eventually make them available to the public. Green was also a close friend of Cornell Capa and informed him about the letter.

In 2003, during the preparation of an exhibition dedicated to Capa and Taro, museum curator Brian Wallis contacted Traver asking to return the negatives. Traver refused. He knew the negatives belonged to Capa and believed the Capa Foundation should take possession of them. But he also knew they represented one of the most important documentations of the Spanish Civil War.

It was only in 2007 that an independent curator and director living in Mexico City, Trisha Ziff, convinced Traver to pass the boxes to the Capa’s International Center of Photography in New York, which had more resources to make them available to the world.

The rediscovery of the Mexican suitcase shed a new light not only on the events of the Spanish Civil War but also on the personal life and work of Gerda Taro. She was not just Robert Capa’s partner: on some occasions, she actually was Robert Capa. She was a figure who was partially forgotten about over almost 70 years. Taro’s family lost their lives during the holocaust and Capa met his death in 1954, so there was no one else to testify to her bravery in shooting pictures in extremely dangerous situations, as well as her capacity to empathize with the suffering Spanish people.

Some of the pictures originally attributed to Robert Capa were later discovered be Taro’s. The images in the Mexican suitcase showed her innovative way of working close to the soldiers in the trenches rather than in the offices where strategic decisions were made. But they also showed how her work, with the same relevance of the work of her more celebrated lover and colleague, had made a huge contribution to the definition of the role of the modern war photographer and photojournalist.

About the author: Manuel Sechi is an Italian photographer living and working in London. His work is mainly focused on documenting the urban environment and its regularly published on his website. Manuel is also an active contributor for The Black Frame magazine. You can follow it on Facebook and Twitter. This article was also published here.

Go to Source Author: Manuel Sechi If you’d like us to remove any content please send us a message here CHECK OUT THE TOP SELLING CAMERAS!

The post The Woman Who Invented Robert Capa appeared first on CameraFreaks.

August 16, 2017 at 10:04PM

#photo photography art camera cameras

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quynhchan · 8 years ago

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hay

When Mily Balakïrev composed his oriental fantasy Islamey in 1869, it was declared by many to be unplayable. Still, after its premiere by Nikolai Rubinstein, many tried... Alexander Scriabin even crippled his right hand in a fanatical attempt to master it (meaning we have Balakïrev to thank for Scriabin’s switching to composition). Today, Islamey is standard fare at piano competitions, and concert pianists play it faster, louder and cleaner than ever before. And there are more of them out there – a surfeit of fleet-fingered virtuosi, churned out every year by conservatoriums from Beijing to Belfast. But if everyone can play Islamey, what are the pianistic heights to which musicians must aspire? Clearly, it’s not just a matter of technique. That is why we set out in search of pianists who have set the standard with performances that are not only technically, but also musically, exceptional. Rather than choose our favourites, we asked more than 100 leading pianists to name the pianist who has inspired them most. As the answers flowed in, ten masters of the instrument emerged. But one legendary musician outstripped all others (by a healthy margin). If the piano is the king of instruments, this pianist is the king of kings. But who is he? 10. ARTUR SCHNABEL (1882-1951) Who was he? An Austrian pianist who specialised in core German composers and made the first complete recording of the Beethoven sonatas. What makes him great? A commitment to plumbing the intellectual and spiritual depths of a work, while eschewing displays of technical bravura. Essential recordings BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas Nos 1-32 (Complete) EMI 7637652 SCHUBERT 4 Impromptus, D899; 4 Impromptus, D935; Allegretto in C minor, D915 EMI 5868332 Jonathan Biss On Schnabel’s living sound “If I was asked which pianist I loved the most, I’d never be able to answer -– too many possibilities! But if it’s a question of who has inspired me, that’s easy: Artur Schnabel. My first exposure to his recordings of the Beethoven Sonatas came in my early teens, and quickly led to an obsession with those works which I expect to last for the rest of my life. I could not understand how he could convey so much meaning – spirituality, even – between two notes, or how he managed to produce from this instrument of keys and hammers a sound which was so buoyant, resistant to gravity, alive. Those two aims – to make a sound that lives, and to find music not only in the notes, but around them – are still primary for me, nearly two decades later. When I went to study with Leon Fleisher, I was touched to hear him speak of Schnabel, his own teacher, with the same kind of awe. Fleisher’s own ideas about music are compelling, and he is matchlessly eloquent in expressing them, but it was often that he would simply tell us what Schnabel had told him about this piece or that, in a tone of voice which suggested that there was no greater authority. I like to think I may have learned something through this lineage, and each and every day I try to bring to my music something of the devotion, understanding and, above all, love, which emanates from every note the man played.” Also chosen by András Schiff, Ronald Brautigam, Garrick Ohlsson… 9. Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991) Who was he? A German pianist who focused on the greats of German music and played concerts well into his eighties. What makes him great? Rhythmic inventiveness and a talent for bringing out the lyricism, charm and spontaneity in music, particularly in intimate pieces or passages. Essential recordings LISZT From Années de Pèlerinage: Sposalizio; Il penseroso, Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa; Sonetto 47 del Petrarca; Sonetto 104 del Petrarca, Sonetto 123 del Petrarca. Gondoliera, S162 No 1 (from Venezia e Napoli). Two Legendes for piano, S175 DG 4779374 BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas Nos 8 in C minor, Op 13 Pathétique; 14 in C sharp minor, Op 27 No 2 Moonlight; 21 in C major, Op 53 Waldstein; 23 in F minor, Op 57 Appassionata DG 4474042 Cyprien Latsaris On Kempff in concert “I first heard Kempff live in Paris when I was about 13 years old and then I bought some Beethoven and Brahms recordings of his. He did not have the greatest pianistic technique, but he was very special. He created some sublime, divine musical moments that transported us towards the heavens. I am sure he would have been just as successful in concert today, because the most important factor for a musician is to have a very special personality, and he had that characteristic. He has also influenced what I do at the piano by getting me to put myself in a second state, a spiritual state, before playing. There are so many recordings of his that I treasure, as Kempff excels in Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert and Bach. But, in particular, I would name the Klavierstücke of Brahms, the Beethoven middle sonatas and Concertos Nos 2 & 4, the Bach transcriptions, and the Schubert Klavierstücke.” Also chosen by Michael Endres, David Fray, Eldar Nebolsin 8. Alfred Brendel (born 1931) Who is he? An Austrian pianist and teacher now based in London, who has recorded four complete sets of the Beethoven sonatas. What makes him great? Rigorous adherence to the score without ever sounding dry or academic, and a knack for finding unexpected moments of humour, particularly in Classical repertoire. Essential recordings BEETHOVEN The Five Piano Concertos Vienna Philharmonic/Rattle Philips 4627812 SCHUBERT Complete impromptus Philips 4560612 Paul Lewis On studying with Brendel “I had lessons with Alfred Brendel in the 1990s, and he has been a great inspiration. He would talk about music and I would think, “Yeah, that really makes sense”. And then he would sit down and demonstrate things, and that’s when the light bulb really went off. The first time I met him was when I was 20 at the Guildhall School of Music. I remember feeling very nervous and intimidated. Seeing the silhouette of the glasses and the hair coming through the hall, I remember thinking, ‘Oh my god, it’s him!’ I played a Haydn sonata for him and it was clear from the very start that he was interested only in the music. That’s all that matters. You may feel worried about yourself but that’s not the important thing because he’s not the least bit worried about anything but what you’re playing. That tallied with the impression I’d had of him before I met him, from his concerts and recordings – that of an incredibly serious-minded musician. It was a great inspiration and privilege to work with him over those years.” Also chosen by Steven Osborne, Imogen Cooper, Till Fellner… 7. Glenn Gould (1932-1982) Who was he? A highly eccentric Canadian pianist who, after a stellar concert career, shunned the stage at the age of 31 to focus on recordings and experimental projects. What makes him great? A prodigious ability to sculpt the multiple lines of polyphonic music, such as Bach’s, with unsurpassed clarity. And a seeming incapacity for technical error. Essential recordings BACH Goldberg Variations, BWV988 (1981 recording) Sony 88697148532 BACH The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2 Sony SM2K52600, Sony SM2K52603 BACH, MOZART, SWEELINCK Schoenberg Salzburg Recital (1959) Sony SMK53474 Pascal Rogé On Gould the recreator “I first heard Gould play rather late, since in my youth at the Paris Conservatory he was completely unknown. None of my colleagues or teachers ever mentioned his name – until in 1966 I met Bruno Monsaingeon, who revealed Gould to me and the French audience through his marvellous documentaries. It is hard to say what makes Gould’s playing so special, since everything in his playing is special. One can mention the touch, the phrasing, the articulation… But most important is the conception, the architecture, the personal and ‘creative’ approach to every single piece he plays. He is a creator, much more than an interpreter: each time you hear a piece played by Gould, you discover the piece for the first time. I always refer to his line: ‘If you are not convinced you can play a piece in a completely new and unique way, don’t play it.’ It’s an extreme affirmation, but so full of truth! A case in point is his two recordings of the Goldberg Variations, an example of Gould’s genius in even being able to ‘re-create’ himself. They are both masterpieces, and his legacy for all musicians of the world. I am always blown away when pianists dare play (or even touch) this piece after Gould. Are they totally unconscious or utterly pretentious? In Bach he is completely unmatched. In fact, I am unable to hear, accept or conceive any other interpretation of Bach than his. I’d like to say he has been an influence on me, but no one is deranged enough to try and imitate Gould’s playing! Still, I remember when I recorded for French TV the complete First Book of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. It was a project conceived for him by Monsaingeon, but Gould died before he could film it… And I was the one chosen to ‘replace’ him. Can you imagine the pressure? I think the legacy of Gould for any artist is ‘the freedom of creation’ towards any composer, but at the same time respecting the logic of the music and the spirit of the composer – a very challenging equation!” Also chosen by Vladimir Ashkenazy, Fazil Say, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet 6. Alfred Cortot (1877-1962) Who was he? A French pianist and professor at the Conservatoire de Paris. He was called a “poet of the piano” for his mastery of the lyrical works of Chopin, Schumann and Debussy, producing landmark recordings, and meticulous editions, of their music. What makes him great? A highly personal, subjective style that favours intuition and feeling over precise technique, resulting in performances of lush, transcendent musicality. Essential recordings CHOPIN 24 Preludes, Op 28; Prelude Op 45 in C sharp minor No 25; Prelude Op 28 No 15 in D flat major Raindrop; Berceuse in D flat major, Op 57; Tarantella in A flat major, Op 43; Impromptus Nos 1-4 EMI 3615412 CHOPIN, SCHUMANN Chopin: Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor, Op 35 Marche funèbre; Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op 15; The Prophet Bird Op 82 No 7; Carnaval Op 9 Naxos Historical Great Pianists 8.111327 FRANCK, RAVEL, SAINT-SAËNS Franck: Symphonic Variations for Piano & Orchestra, M46; Ravel: Piano Concerto in D major (for the left hand); Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No 4 in C minor, Op 44; Étude en forme de valse, Op 52 No 6 Naxos Historical Great Pianists 8110613 Stephen Hough On Cortot’s individuality “Cortot is sometimes remembered as the pianist who played lots of wrong notes. This is unfair – not just because he had a dazzling finger technique, but because he never allowed striving for accuracy to distract him from the bigger picture. His mistakes can sometimes be heard even in the first notes of pieces, but I find these fallible moments endearing: the pianist is consumed by spiritual inspiration and oblivious of the physical risks involved. Cortot was a great virtuoso, conscious of the power to excite and thrill that Romantic piano music has, but you never feel manipulated in his musical company. You feel that even his most extravagant interpretative choices come from complete inner honesty; he is not sitting in a spotlight forcing you to look at him, but rather holding a torch, leading you forward to enlightenment. I never tire of hearing his recordings, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann from the 1920s and ’30s. His combination of utter interpretative freedom (sometimes with a touch of eccentricity) and penetrating insight into the composer’s wishes is unique, in my view. There are artists who delight listeners with their wild and daring individuality, and there are others who uncover the written score for us with insight and reverence – but there are few who can do both. Cortot had a vision which saw beyond the academic or the theatrical to some wider horizon of creativity from whence the composers themselves might well have drawn inspiration.” Also chosen by Alfred Brendel, Benjamin Grosvenor, Stanislav Ioudenitch… Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd 201 5. Emil Gilels (1916-1985) Who was he? An Odessa-born pianist who moved to Moscow in 1935, becoming, along with Richter, the leading Soviet pianist of his day. He and violinist David Oistrakh were among the first Soviet musicians allowed to concertise in the West. What makes him great? His “golden” sound – an ability to execute the most taxing passages without compromising his burnished tone or depth of feeling. Essential recordings BRAHMS Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor, Op 15; Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major, Op 83; Fantasies (7 piano pieces), Op 116 Berliner Philharmoniker/Jochum DG Originals 4474462 LISZT, SCHUBERT Piano Sonata in B minor, S178; Piano Sonata No 17 in D major, D850 Sony 88697858242 BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No 28 in A major, Op 101; Piano Sonata No 29 in B flat major, Op 106 Hammerklavier DG Originals 4636392 Cédric Tiberghie On the grandeur of Gilels “Gilels has this mixture of fantastic tone quality and an ability to make everything seem simple when you listen to him. Even when he plays a simple Bach prelude, or the Bach-Siloti Prelude in B minor, you think it’s simple to play, but then you buy the music and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is impossible!’ I first heard Gilels when I was eight or nine – his recording of the Brahms Second Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic. I wasn’t aware it was Gilels – or even a Brahms concerto – just one of my dad’s huge collection of cassette tapes. But it was my favourite music, and still today I think it’s one of the most beautiful recordings ever made of a piano concerto. The quality of tone and line, the inspiration and the beauty of the sound – everything is so perfect. It’s actually quite intimidating when you have to play the concerto yourself. He plays the first movement so slowly, and you think, OK, I’m going to do the same – which is a big mistake because he’s Gilels and you’re not. You need that golden sound Gilels possessed – more than anyone in history – as well as a clear idea of the structure and direction; and for this you need a lifetime of experience. Also, if I compare my hand to his, his was probably twice as heavy as mine. It’s like Oistrakh on the violin, there’s that question of flesh, pure matter creating the sound. If you have extremely thin hands, the quality of tone will probably be clearer than Gilels’. So I don’t try to imitate an artist like him, but I try to keep in my head the grandeur of what he does. It’s something I always try to find, not artificially, but perhaps just to feel. So he’s a model for me in that respect.” Also chosen by Alice Sara Ott, Olli Mustonen, Lars Vogt… 4. Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982) Who was he? A Polish pianist who left Europe after WWI, settling in the US. What makes him great? His interpretations of the music of Chopin, to which he brought a glowing tone and endless variety of phrasing. Essential recordings CHOPIN Nocturnes Nos 1-19 Sony 88697690412 LIVE AT MOSCOW GREAT HALL DVD Medici Arts 3078548 CHOPIN, BRAHMS Chopin: Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, B43 Op 21; Brahms: Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major, Op 83 Altara 1021 Roger Woodward on sharing the legacy of Rubinstein “When I was studying at the Chopin National Academy in Warsaw, our class sometimes met Professor Drzewiecki’s illustrious friends, one of whom was Arthur Rubinstein. He played for us and some students had the privilege of playing for him. Everybody in the class knew his recordings, as they were the classical Chopin interpretations that Drzewiecki had taught us. Grace, poise and thorough research were the hallmarks of his art, one that showed mastery but also enormous modesty and, contrary to what some ‘authorities’ had to say, a flawless technique. Rubinstein’s critics, and there were many, tended to forget how thorough he was in researching the repertoire he played. Where others posed and only pretended they had researched their subject, Rubinstein’s performances reeked of integrity. The earliest of Rubinstein’s three complete Mazurka recordings provided a high point for us in our study of Chopin, although for me it was his performances of the Nocturnes that provided the key to all other Chopin. I remain eternally grateful to Rubinstein for his recordings and what he had to say about them. Rubinstein was not blessed with the sheer virtuosity of Rachmaninov or Horowitz, but he developed a mastery of legato cantabile and tempo rubato second to none. This is evident in such miraculous pre-war ‘live’ performances as his historic recording of the Chopin Piano Concertos with Sir John Barbirolli, although his performances of the same with Witold Rowicki were even more beautiful – completely unforgettable. I will never forget his kindness and generosity to our class, and his charm, modesty and scrupulous research. Although I remain a student all my life and continue to listen to his many wonderful recordings, I consider myself fortunate to share such rich experiences with my own students.” Also chosen by Simon Trpceski, Jayson Gillham, Margaret Fingerhut 3. Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997) Who was he? A Russian pianist of German descent who became the USSR’s pre-eminent musician. What makes him great? Rock-solid technique combined with an astonishing variety of sound. Essential recordings THE SOFIA RECITAL Philips 464734 REDISCOVERED: CARNEGIE HALL RECITAL RCA Red Seal 09026 63844-2 PROKOFIEV Piano Sonata No 2 & 9; Visions fugitives Nos 6, 18 Melodiya MELCD1001677 Barry Douglas On the intensity of Richter “I heard Richter play many times in England, France and America and what I loved about him was that he was able to make the piano sound not like a piano – it sounded like an orchestra or sometimes like a choir. Also, anything he did at the instrument always seemed totally right. It didn’t seem like his ideas; it seemed like the only way to do it. Every artist should aim, if they’re serious, to remove themselves from the equation and go to the heart or the essence of the music. Very few artists can do that, but for Richter it was totally natural. He was also a very serious musician: after concerts he’d often decide he needed to practise, and would go home and practise for another two hours. He also insisted that each recital program contain at least one new piece. So his repertoire was vast. I don’t think his studio recordings were that successful: they didn’t really represent him. It’s the live recordings which are amazing. Everyone talks about the Sofia recital from 1958 where he plays Liszt’s Feux Follets and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Still, his recordings of the Beethoven sonatas are also second-to-none, not to mention the Russian repertoire – the little pieces of Tchaikovsky – and Prokofiev, who wrote his Seventh Sonata for him. When I was at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1984 he sent messages to me through others saying how fantastic he thought I was, which was very sweet. I wish I’d had a chance to get to know him better. I will always look up to Richter. A performing artist mustn’t copy, but you can be inspired by the essence of what someone stood for, and that’s what I do with him. I know very deep inside myself I’m trying to grasp what Richter had, which is an amazing, fiery, burning intensity of passion for music – that’s what came across when he played. He was absolutely obsessed, and possessed, by music.” Also chosen by: Howard Shelley, Anna Goldsworthy, Piotr Anderszewski... 2. Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) Who was he? A Russian-born pianist who left for the West at age 21, where he was described as a “tornado unleashed from the steppes”. Most famous for his performances of Romantic piano repertoire and, surprisingly, Scarlatti, he returned to Russia for a triumphant farewell recital in 1986. What makes him great? Sparkling virtuosity and extraordinary use of tone colour, combined with a talent for thrilling his audience, creating a furore at his live recitals. Essential recordings SCARLATTI Horowitz plays Scarlatti Sony 88697806402 LISZT, CHOPIN, SCHUMANN The London recordings 1932-1936 Archipel Records ARPCD0246 HOROWITZ IN MOSCOW DVD Sony SVD64545 Ingolf Wunder On the god-like gifts of Horowitz “Horowitz combined high-class pianism with a unique taste in music and interpretation. What made him unique was his ability to chisel his feelings and moods out of the structures and harmonic material of the score. I think I first heard Horowitz when I was 14. I was just astonished by his tone and the variety of colours he could produce. And he always played as his hand was built, never betraying his taste and his view of music. He was always himself, and everything he touched became his own. His playing is never mediocre, it either works or it doesn’t. But if it does work, it’s simply god-like – incomparable with anything you’ve ever heard. In a way, Horowitz is the product of a time that produced so many great pianists. I believe the way of thinking and our life has changed since then. Now musicians can go on the Internet and hear almost every recording of any piece; back then they were forced to think for themselves. Small things were given greater importance because it wasn’t possible to go anywhere instantly. It was not necessarily about who can play the fastest or any other competitive aspect, it was more about the music. There are still a few musicians that are like Horowitz and those old greats, and that’s the school we ought to come back to.” Also chosen by: Freddy Kempf, Gerard Willems, Konstantin Scherbakov 1. Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) Who was he? A pianist and composer born in Russia, who graduated from the Moscow Conservatorium in the same class as composer Alexander Scriabin. Among his compositions is the Piano Concerto No 2, often voted the most popular piece of classical music of all time. He left Russia in 1917, embarking on a career as a touring pianist in order to support himself and his family. He became a US citizen shortly before his death. What makes him great? An almost superhumanly clean finger technique, which allowed him to maintain clarity even in the knottiest passages. This was partly due to his famously large hands, able to span 12 inches, or a 13th (C1 to A2) on the piano. He also had a beautifully singing tone, likened to that of violinist Fritz Kreisler, permitting him to wring infinite sweetness from a melody. Essential recordings CHOPIN•SCHUMANN Piano Sonata No 2; Ballade No 3, Carnaval Naxos Historical Great Pianists 8.112020 RACHMANINOV Concertos Nos 1-4; Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini RCA 09026616582 BEETHOVEN, GRIEG, SCHUBERT Violin Sonata No 8 in G major, Op 30 No 3; Violin Sonata No 3 in C minor, Op 45; Grand Duo for Violin and Piano in A Major, D574; Fritz Kreisler v Naxos Historical Great Pianists 8.110968 Leslie Howard on the greatest pianist ever to make a record “What’s remarkable about Rachmaninov’s playing is how honest it is. Nothing gets between his playing and his idea of why the piece of music was worth recording. His playing is never cluttered, it’s never fussy and there’s a complete absence of cheap tricks – quite unusual for the time he was recording. I think he’s the greatest pianist of his age and I’m sure he’s the best pianist who ever made a record. Of course, his technique is extraordinary, but the gift of all good technique is that you’re not aware of it when you’re listening to it. If you hear him play Si oiseau j’étais by Henselt, for instance, it sounds like the most charming salon piece. But if you’ve ever sat down to play it, you’ll know perfectly well it’s an absolute terror. Rachmaninov also has a way of dealing with rhythm which makes him instantly recognisable. Sometimes he does it by playing a rhythm that’s not exactly what’s in the score, but it comes out sounding like what should have been in the score. Take his recording with Fritz Kreisler of the Opus 30 No 3 Sonata of Beethoven, for example. You hear every single note and every single note is as important as every other, which is how Beethoven ought to be played, but seldom is. Being a composer, Rachmaninov also possessed a formidable musical mind. He dissected every piece before he put his hands on the keyboard. And he could do that because his compositional skills were so refined. I sometimes think when he plays his own music he’s less careful – almost as if he doesn’t quite think there should be so much fuss made about him. But when you hear how utterly unsloppy, in the emotional sense, his playing of his own music is, it discourages pianists from wallowing in it, as so many of them do. Then, if you want romantic playing he can do that too, and again I think of one of the recordings with Kreisler of the Grieg Sonata No 3. The second movement is heartrendingly marvellous and the way he plays the tune is completely different from the way Kreisler plays it. It makes the piece sound more eventful than it actually is – it’s a cracker of a recording! There’s a reason why Rachmaninov didn’t record more, and that’s because of the strained relations he had with the people at the Victor Talking Machine Company, who thought he was getting too much money for his recordings, and who turned down many of the things he offered to record. For instance, he was going to give a free recording of Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto, as long as they would let him record his orchestral Symphonic Dances, and they refused the offer. The reason why the recording we do have of him playing his Third Concerto is, to many ears, a bit inadequate is because he had to go back and record the first side again four months later. He put cuts in it at the last moment because the producer Charles Connell gave him grief, saying he couldn’t play the piano and couldn’t compose either. In short he made the whole thing deeply unpleasant for Rachmaninov. So we’ve got this Mr Connell to thank for not having the Liszt Sonata, the Hammerklavier Sonata, the Waldstein Sonata, and the Chopin B minor Sonata. Of the recordings we do have, it’s very difficult to choose a favourite, but I absolutely love his recording of Schumann’s Carnaval. I think that’s perfect piano-playing from start to finish.” Also chosen by Stephen Kovacevich, Denis Matsuev, Alexey Yemtsov... Why are there so Many great Russian Pianists? “From the 19th Century there has been very systematic children’s musical education in Russia, which started back with the foundation of the Moscow Imperial Conservatory. Rachmaninov came to study there at the age of 14. He lived at the home of Nikolai Zverev, who had created a boarding school for young students, who were required to practise six hours per day, apart from their school study. [Other boarders with Zverev were Scriabin and Siloti]. That school transformed into the Central Music School in the Soviet era, and the system expanded throughout the country. Today in Russia there is serious musical education for kids starting from when they’re big enough to reach the keys. Vladimir Ashkenazy, Grigory Sokolov and Mikhail Pletnev are products of this rather strict Soviet school. So children study for seven or eight years at a special music school, then at 15 they go to music college for three years. And that’s all before they enrol in the Conservatorium. So if a kid is talented, by the age of 16 they can play basically everything. That means when Russian students come to the Conservatory, they are already professional pianists. They have almost no technical boundaries to overcome, and can just focus on becoming an artist. So it’s not like just having piano lessons with a teacher – it’s systematic and totally free musical education. Geniuses are born everywhere, but only in Russia are they nurtured in this way.” Elena Kuznetsova Dean of piano, Moscow Conservator - See more at: http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/features/greatest-10-pianists-all-time#sthash.IghNbRez.dpuf

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writerfae · 10 months ago

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Hi!

So, I just now noticed that the link for The first regents of fae alignments was working, and I read what their each of their regalia can do, and I have a lot of thoughts!

(I apologize if I misspelled any names)

First:

Cathan's is a bow and arrow that never misses... do I remember correctly that you said Rook and his relationship was similar to Henry and Aiden? Because if so, then: OH MY GOD!

Even if I don't: someone give that thing to Aiden! Let him play with it!

Second:

I would like Brynn's dagger that never strikes down someone innocent, please! That one's my favorite, I think.

It also got me thinking about what regalia my ocs would want/have, and I think it's really interesting:

Starting with Endre:

While I don't think I would actually give him one since he's magic is already so powerful by itself I will say that Caitria's shield that can cast a protective barrier kinda does a similar thing to Endre's wings:

They say that even one triarhist can grow their wings to be so large that they can hide the whole country behind them.

A triarhist's first and most important job is to protect. Even beyond that, Endre is a very protective person. If someone he loves is having problems, he tries to step in to help.

Ákos:

Fionn's spear that always spends warmth and light.

While Ákos doesn't know how to use a spear that well, some of his fondest memories are when Bendegúz showed him how to use his spear. Not only that, but what he learned from Bendegúz came in very handy in the Black swamp.

The Black swamp is cold, wet, and endlessly dark. When Adél and Bendegúz found him and finally warmed him up, that was one of the best feelings in the world. A feeling that I'm sure he'd want to share with others, too. That's why i'd give him the spear.

Bendegúz:

Bendegúz is a fighter, yes, but despite the fact that he jokes about fighting people constantly, when it comes down to it he is one of the first people to take a situation seriously (even if he continues to joke around).

Also, to him, wielding a weapon isn't just about conquering an enemy. It can be fun and creative.

This is why I think he'd either have Rook's sword or Cathan's bow and arrow. I think he'd use them quite wisely and creatively

Adél:

For Adél I actually think what would be fun if she was actually in a position like Cryptan, someone who serves her king, maybe even as a guard (Bendegúz in this case, because I think it'd be fun switching up which one of them is royalty)

(Though she'd look magnificent with Rook's sword)

Bonus:

Someone give Odette the dagger for dramatic irony

Hi! I only fixed the link yesterday, actually! It took me forever to find that damn post. I don’t even know if it’s still correct, there might’ve been some changes, but I need to check that first…

You do remember correctly! Rook and Cathan were pretty close. They liked to go hunting together, the bow came in quite handy there.

The dagger is a good choice! Then again, all are. I’d rather go for the shield, personally.

It’s interesting to see what regalia your ocs would want! The only remaining question now is what they would get, since the regalia were a gift from the gods and therefore couldn’t be chosen! The first regents all got the regalia that fits best to them.

I think since Odette is more than willing to sacrifice innocent people, the dagger would refuse her. That mindset, however noble the intentions might be, is completely against the nature of the dagger. So I’m not sure if she’d get to keep it 🙈

#writer speaks #writeblr #wip: the knights of the alder

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trendingnewsb · 7 years ago

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Woman Shares What Energy Drinks Did To Her Husband While She Was 9 Months Pregnant

Scroll down to read about what happened in Brianna’s own words, and share this with anyone who may doubt that energy drinks can be harmful.

A new mother has bravely come forward to tell the story of how energy drinks almost cost her husband his life, and changed hers forever

Image credits: Endres Photography

“Hello, my name is Brianna, and this is my story…

Being pregnant is supposed to be one of the most amazing journeys you will ever embark on. You’re creating a new life. You are experiencing unconditional love for someone you have not even met.

Austin and I were so excited to meet our little boy. To bring him home. To be a family.”

Austin had picked up the habit to cope with a hectic work schedule, never imagining they would land him in the hospital

Image credits: Daniel Juřena

“I never imagined as I went to sleep that night, that my whole world would be shattered within hours.

I still remember my mother in law waking me up that morning. ‘Austin had an accident’ she said.

All I knew was that my husband was in the hospital. The worst part? I didn’t know why.

They didn’t know if the life they created together would even wake up.

Watching this family — my new family, who I have grown to love and be a part of, be so shattered and broken…that is the worst feeling I have ever felt.”

One tragic brain hemorrhage and multiple surgeries later, Austin was left with an irreparable hole in the front of his skull, and a wife on the verge of giving birth to their first child

Image credits: Endres Photography

“The next day was round two of brain surgery. Following this were strokes, seizures, swelling, and more things we weren’t prepared for.

After two weeks of living in a hospital, wondering if he would survive or be taken from us, we made our way back home.

The time had come for me to deliver our baby.”

Still under the stress of dealing with Austin’s recovery, Brianna faced the monumental task of bringing their son into the world

Image credits: Endres Photography

When the baby was only a week old, I left him with my in-laws.

I knew I needed to see Austin. I needed to tell him that our baby was here. To tell him how much we needed him.”

Miraculously, Austin awoke from his traumatic experience shortly after the birth, and finally met his baby boy 2 months later

Image credits: Endres Photography

“Weeks went by. We chased him all over the state as more operations and procedures were ordered. I saw him every chance I got.

At a little over 2 months old, our son finally met his dad. A day I wasn’t sure I would ever see. That was the day that my heart gained some of its happiness back.

Some time after that he could finally come home to me. Our life isn’t normal. There are doctors visits and hospital trips — so many that I loose count.

But we are here. Fighting.”

Brianna now spends each day caring not only for her new son, but for her permanently disabled husband, a role she accepts with strength

Image credits: Endres Photography

These poignant photos, taken by Sacramento-based photographer Sara Endres, capture the beauty and pain of this young family

Image credits: Endres Photography

“And in between these tasks I take care of our very busy eight month old. It is hard, and I am tired, but we make the most of it.”

Their story is harrowing, but also a testament to the existence of true love and self-sacrifice

Image credits: Endres Photography

“He isn’t the same man I fell in love with, but I still fall further everyday, We are fighting to help him recover. To make his life better. One day we will get there.

Until then, I will never give up on him. Because love is selfless, and I love him more than life itself.”

Image credits: Endres Photography

Should people be taking the health risks of energy drinks more seriously? Tell us your thoughts below

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2i8QJbu via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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