Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #112 – Pick a Word…

Pick a word and illustrate it with a photo! This used to be a favorite challenge of mine when held by Paula of Lost in Translation. Unfortunately she is not running it anymore. So – how about a revival at Lens-Artists? It is easy: Choose one (1) word or more – choose all of them if you like! The words available are the following:

Comfortable

Growing

Tangled

Crowded

Exuberant

In the header – Comfortable? Yes! If you are safe and living in the Galapagos Islands!

Swimming is normal for me. I’m relaxed. I’m comfortable, and I know my surroundings. It’s my home.  – Michael Phelps

 

Gunnera

Growing

Growth itself contains the germ of happiness.

 – Pearl S. Buck

19800 Cranes at Hornborgasjön, Sweden

Crowded

In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.  – Seth Godin

Double exposure from my windows to make tangled even more tangled…

Tangled

A word garden blooming within the tangled weeds.
― Jazz Feylynn

Holland, flower festival at Keukenhof

Exuberant

Exuberance is beauty.

 – William Blake

 

Thank you for a marvelous response to Patti’s Everyday Objects – you really made us all open our eyes and SEE what we have around us!

A new announcement: We have the pleasure of having Rusha Sams  of Oh the Places We See as guest host for September 5, #113. Be sure to visit her! Until then – stay well and safe, and be kind, to yourself as well.

Have you seen these:

• Sheetalbravon – pay a visit if you love mysteries…
• Viveka of Myguiltypleasures shows off her exquisite handbags
• At Photos by Jez you will find a colourful kitchen dream
• Elizabatz Gallery is extra creative here!

Another Masterpiece – Chernobyl

“We are dealing with something that has never occurred on this planet”

My husband and son just returned from Chernobyl last week – very taken with the 2 day tour and all the haunting sights. We all watched this series together this week. If you have not seen it yet – please do.

Among my friends, I have one of the first men who detected and reported the heightened radiation level in Sweden. He still remembers the chills along his spine in that moment. And I remember well when we all got the information from media. (The reindeer up north were forbidden food for many years after…) In February the same year, Olof Palme was murdered…Was this the beginning of the end of the world?

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe. Chernobyl dramatizes the story of the 1986 accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, and the sacrifices made to save Europe from the unimaginable disaster.

The number of lives lost are estimated to somewhere between 4000 and 93000. The official number from Russia is 31.

 

It recieved  a total of 10 Emmy Awards. Brilliant acting and as we all know – reality is more chilling than fiction. You cannot stop watching…despite the horrible scenes.

Craig Mazin and Johan Renck have created a masterpiece, in large part on the recollections of Pripyat locals, as told by Belarusian Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich in her book Voices from Chernobyl. Material also from the scientist Valery Legasov (superbly played by Jared Harris), the deputy director of the Kuchatov Institute brought in to aid cleanup efforts.

Watch it.

Contemplate the future, and the cost of lies.

 

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #60: Framing the Shot

You don’t need a framework. You need a painting, not a frame. – Klaus Kinski

I guess most of us love things framed to help us follow lines and reveal the artist’s intentions with his/her work. At least if we put them on our wall at home or go to an exhibition. Now Amy challenges us to consider framing – and in my selection (from Stettin all except the header) I try to show some very different ones as well. An important thing to remember is, that a frame doesn’t have to look like a frame, and it does not have to apply to the whole picture either.

You don’t buy a Picasso because you love the frame – Joss Whedonm

Photography is about finding out what can happen in the frame. When you put four edges around some facts, you change those facts – Garry Winogrand

What counts isn’t the frame, it’s what you put in it – Otto Preminger

I’ve often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us, unless it’s inside a frame – Abbas Kiarostami

I have a European frame of mind and Europe is my home – Andrea Bocelli

 

Thank you for all your inspiring Angles last week!  –  and thank you, Amy, for a beautiful set of frames and for all the fun with this challenge!

 

Thursday’s Special: Pick a Word in August – 4

For Paula this month – my favorite prompt!

Ursine – hope Milo counts…

Earthward – Morocko mountains in the header and Bhutan dogs seen from our window.

Coeval

Connubial

Adorned

 

Thursday Thoughts – Things That Caught My Eye in Łódź

I love things new and things old, architecture and juxtaposition of styles. Things dilapidated, things science fiction, things…Well, maybe we all do. Hope a mix will be enjoyable this Thursday!

 

A walk in contemplation…

– as always…

The old Jewish cemetery

Abandoned places in the middle of the city

In between old and new apartments – he was selling fresh fruit and vegetables

One of the many impressive street art works – this city is considered one of the major cities in the world for graffiti artists

View from the new railway station

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Reflection

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Reflection

Good morning! Reflections are hard to resist, so I was too tempted not to send an entry…from Łódź, Poland, and the Light Move Festival. Hope it is not too late to join in!

In the header picture, the Butterfly tree, standing in Piotrkowska Street, is reflected in the opposite window of an art and craft’s shop. People are reflected as well.

The second photo is a string art exhibition in the park at the end of the street (opposite Manufaktura), reflected in the little pond.

CFFC: Mirror, Reflection, Frame in Frame

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Week 4 Photo – black and white, mirror, air plane, power lines, etc.

Some years ago I remember walking into a hotel – where I never got any longer than to the lobby…because of all the mirrors and chandeliers. Here it is again!

Lofoten – Å – Oh!

Road nr.10 ends in Å on the southernmost part of Lofoten. An old fishing village with rorbuer and  – fish.

And charm…

Many galleries,  and flowers in the small gardens.

We had a great view from our hostel Salteriet.

Down the road we felt almost Chinese… I half expected an artist standing there, painting.

When we left in the early morning, the whole landscape felt dreamy and unreal.

Almost supernatural.

But that is what Lofoten does to people…

 

Thursday Thoughts – From Narvik to Svolvær

Narvik was developed as an all-year ice free port for the Swedish Kiruna and Gällivare iron mines. In my youth I was here once, but did not go further out to Lofoten. This time we also took the train to Riksgränsen and back again. We got an interesting view of the new bridge connecting islands – not finished yet.

Riksgränsen (the border to Sweden) – and as you can see there is no activity during summer – it seems. Abandoned cafées and all lifts still waiting for passengers.

Back in Narvik again I marvelled at the abundance of red clover overlooking the harbour. Flowers everywhere along the roads in Sweden and Norway – a wonder for me used to the brownish yellow burnt landscape at home.

We spent only a day here – then left for Lofoten and its beautiful, varied landscapes.

For the Swedish ”Fika” this first day, we found a lovely place with the sound of running water and a soothing mountain view.

Milo would have loved this place. Low water and easy to splash around and play.

The common butterwort grew on the banks of this little river – did you know this is a carnivorous plant? I didn’t before I looked it up in the flora.

Just before darkness, we arrived in Svolvaer – the main town in Lofoten – which will be in the next post!

 

Leaving Abisko – for Norway and Lofoten

In the header is Lapporten (Swedish: ”The Lapponian Gate”) or Tjuonavagge (Northern Sami: Čuonjávággi, ”Goose Valley”). This is a U-shaped valley in Lapland in northern Sweden, and one of the most familiar and famous natural sights of the mountains there.

Driving towards the Norwegian border, we left lake Torne Träsk behind us heading for the coast and Narvik, Norway.

This is a rough, high mountain area with not that much vegetation. The Norwegians seem to love it and their cottages (No. ”Hytter”) are everywhere perched on the flat rocks.

Staying in your own hytte is in the Norwegian national soul just as our cottages are in the Swedish soul. They vary in standard from no water or electricity (the ”real thing”, according to many) to luxury houses.

The view was tightening, but we relished every minute of the chilly fog and the fresh air. Three months in a sauna is not my cup of tea.