squirrels

moss and moisture

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Sculptures by Geoffrey Gorman
[Via] Sweet Station

sweeter than sweet

[the] Wednesday Wedding was beautifully very wonderful,

It was very touching and extremely special to get to be a part of the JJ Bot Experience. We almost missed
the 3:33PM ceremony but by some genuine actual miracle we made it first for that sweet scene, the delicious
dinner too, the rowdy reception, amazingly all.

We also took 4 cards worth of fotos and footage which I will set to work upon perhaps this weekend.
Enjoy for the moment these animals being all of amazing, awesome, adorable and sweeter than sweet sweet
sweet.

elegy

Few photographers have ever considered the photography of wild animals (as distinctly opposed to the genre of Wildlife Photography) as an art form. The emphasis has generally been on capturing the drama of wild animals IN ACTION, on capturing that dramatic single moment as opposed to simply animals in the state of being.

I’ve always thought this something of a wasted opportunity. The wild animals of Africa lend themselves to photographs that extend aesthetically beyond the norm of 35mm-color telephoto wildlife photography. And so it is, that in my own way, I would like to yank the subject matter of wildlife into the arena of fine art photography. To take photographs that transcend what has been a largely documentative genre.

Aside from using certain impractical photographic techniques, there’s one thing I do whilst shooting that I believe makes a big difference: I get extremely close to these very wild animals, often within a few feet of them. I don’t use telephoto lenses. This is because I want to see as much of the sky and landscape as possible – to see the animals within the context of their environment. That way, the photos become as much about the atmosphere of the place as the animals. And being that close to the animals, I get a real sense of intimate connection to them, to the specific animal in front of me. Sometimes a deliberate feeling that they’re almost presenting themselves for a studio portrait.

Why the animals of Africa in particular? And more particularly still, East Africa?

There is perhaps something more profoundly iconic, mythical, mythological even, about the animals of East Africa, as opposed to say, the Arctic or South America. There is also something deeply, emotionally stirring and affecting about the plains of Africa – the vast green rolling plains punctuated by the graphically perfect Acacia trees.

My images are unashamedly idyllic and romantic, a kind of enchanted Africa.
They’re my elegy to a world that is steadily, tragically vanishing.

Nick Brandt April 2004
[Via] Young Gallery

waiting womb

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Animal In Utero by National Geographic
[Via] Sweet Station and This Blog Rules

daan and jacob

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Pet Portraits by
Maarten Wetsema

sabaka

Dooce is a beautiful woman who lives in a beautiful home with her two beautiful young daughters and her two beautiful dogs. She’s a professional blogger whose supportive loving husband quit his day job to support and love her: She is the creative beginning, he is the business finish, it’s clearly a good and successful arrangement and it seems to work.

What I like best are the wonderful portraits of the dogs Chuck and Coco.

The greatest pictures are made in the style of “Chuck-Holds-Something-To-Head.” Aside from the likable novelty of dogs holding something to head, the pictures themselves are brightly warm and uniquely beautiful, every time. The dogs too clearly are loved and lovable (not to mention wonderfully patient, almost preternaturally compliant and beautifully sweet).