More than 100 Years before 3D Printers, We had Photosculpture

One of the most exciting technological advances of recent decades is arguably the 3D printer, allowing creators to turn their wildest inventions into real-life products. But 3D printers are far from the first foray into producing realistic, 3-dimensional replicas. Photosculpture is a process dating back to the 19th century, using a series of photos taken…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCXVII)

1. This Incredible Pumpkin Caramel Pie to kick off fall Recipe found on the Kitchen McCabe. 2. Painting of the Day Eclips of the Sun in Venice in July 8, 1842 by Ippolito Caffi. Zoom in on Wikimedia. 3. One of the churches at Geghard Monastery in Goght, Armenia (4th Century) Found on Legendary Scholar.…

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The Azores: Secrets of Europe’s Hawaii

Lost in the Atlantic Ocean, nine islands thrust out of the depth of the sea in a fiery birth created by seismic activity. The archipelago of the Azores, said by some to have even been the fragments left behind from the lost continent of Atlantis – the sunken land said by Plato to have been…

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In Japan, “Biker Chick” Fashion Breaks All the Rules

The many style subcultures of post-war and modern Japan are rooted in rejection; a succession of generations refusing to traditional parental values. Each one has formed its own unique uniform of rebellion, but some have taken it to further extremes than others, riding dangerously on the fringes of society… Anarchic, angry and restless, Japanese rebel…

When They Say ‘Haussmann’s Paris’, What Do They Mean?

Walking through Paris, as a tourist or a local, it’s hard to miss the sense of harmony that the city exudes. The standardized buildings, the parks, the long angular streets that seem to always lead to a landmark. Everything feels intentional, organized, and connected. This isn’t by chance, this sensation is largely thanks to the…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCXVI)

1. #TheQueuefortheQueen 2. The British royal family owns a not-so-nerdy stamp collection worth £100 million (The Royal Philatelic Collection also doubles as the family photo album). Queen Victoria’s son Prince Alfred started it all off with a pane of 6d stamps acquired in 1856, although the world’s first stamp had been issued several years earlier, on May…

A Brief Compendium of Third Genders

Expanding the concept of gender is a big conversation in western culture today. It can be viewed as a revolutionary act of freedom, or, on the other end of the spectrum, something to be feared and discredited. But the world is wide and history has its surprises – in the 1920s, pottery shards from Ancient…

America’s “Bohemian Queen”: A Sleeping Surrealist

“I am a witch, oh that’s true”, confirmed Gertrude Abercrombie to a Chicago radio host in 1977, the year she died. In truth, the strangest thing about Gertrude Abercrombie is that she isn’t a household name among the Surrealist greats of the 20th century. Sure, she wore pointy hats, cast spells, lived in a spooky…

The Legend of the Little Renault that Could

The French have arguably mastered the art of slow living in the name of joie de vivre, and perhaps nowhere else has this been best demonstrated than on the cobblestone streets of Montmartre, which for many years, played host to the world’s slowest race… The story goes that one New Year’s Eve in 1898, a…

Vogue’s Fabulous Five: The Golden Age of Illustration

When we think of Vogue we visualise a vibrant, striking, photographic image adorning the front cover of the seminal publication, but the first pictorial cover would not appear until 1932. Before the likes of Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Annie Lebovitz and Steven Meisel, it was the time of the illustrator. Early 20th century artists George…