Tag: fine arts

Camera in Motion

I moved the camera at the same time I pushed the button that opens the shutter allowing the sensor to capture the image. On the one hand, I think looking at the picture makes it rather obvious that I moved the camera, whether intentionally or otherwise. On the other hand, to the viewer, I don’t think it matters all that much what I did with the camera. Either you like what you see, or you don’t, or you look and give the pic a mental shoulder shrug. Whatever, in this age of way too much information whether you want or need it or not, moving the camera has its own name – intentional camera movement. Who knew? And what would a name be without an acronym – ICM – compelling curious non-photographers (and some photographers like me) to fire up a search engine to sate their curiosity, and in the process, collect yet another virtually useless piece of information. There is a Wikipedia entry for ICM as well. Just to dot the final i.

The Albertina Museum, Vienna

I took time off from exploring to visit the Albertina. I spent most of my time looking at the museum’s marque exhibit “Michelangelo and Beyond,” an examination of how the master’s treatment of the human body, based on his extensive study of human anatomy, has had an enormous impact on painting and sculpture that can be seen in the works of numerous artists who followed Michelangelo. Definitely worth the price of admission.

The Burghers of Calais, Auguste Rodin

A visit to the Rodin Museum in Paris was not on my list of things to do. But I walked by, needed a break from the hot day, there was no line, and in I went. Talk about a voyage of discovery. My exposure to Rodin prior to this visit amounted to The Thinker and in the case of that work, I learned during my museum visit that there are multiple castings and different versions of the statue. I found The Burghers of Calais pictured here awe-inspiring. The work was commissioned by the city of Calais to commemorate the city’s role in an event during the Hundred Years’ War. Rodin’s design was chosen from among several submissions. The final work caused considerable controversy when it was unveiled in 1889 – it was not the larger-than-life heroic allegory the city had had in mind. Instead it is a very engaging study of the six very human burghers who were central characters in the historical event commemorated. Like many of the works in the Paris Rodin Museum, this is a plaster cast of Rodin’s design.