New Flashbook – The Search (Lucian)
note: Flashbooks have sounds, so LOWER YOUR VOLUME! When it finishes downloading (may take a bit), right click on black square, press PLAY, and flip pages! NOTE: If the right column interferes with the Flashbook then ZOOM OUT (CTRL-)
The American photographer Diane Arbus (1923-1971) took striking pictures of people living in the margins of society. It is almost impossible not to be moved in many different ways by some of her photographs; her subjects may be freaks, but they also look at us intently, unashamed of their strange condition.
Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York City (1962) – Image taken from Wikipedia
This is the first part of a documentary on her:
Lhasa de la Sela, Image taken from wikipedia
Today (so very late I should say) I read the news that one of my favorite singers / songwriters passed away on January 1st, 2010. Lhasa de la Sela was born in Big Indian, New York, though her nomadic life took her around Mexico, the US, France and Canada (here is a good article on her). She was 37 years old, and during her short life she recorded 3 outstanding albums. She sung effortlessly in English, Spanish and French, and could transform different types of music (rock, Mexican, folk, etc) into her own personal language.
Arnaut Daniel, image taken from wikipedia
The 12th century minstrel Arnaut Daniel (born in what is now Dordogne, France) has had a cult following that goes from Dante to Petrarch and from Ezra Pound to T.S. Eliot. A student of Latin turned into a poet / singer, this passionate troubadour could be as sensual and arrogant as complex and obscure.
One of my favorite pieces from the song cycle “The Winter Journey” (Die Winterreise), by the German composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) is “Der Leiermann” (“The Hurdy-Gurdy Man”). Schubert used a series of poems by Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827) to create this gloomy cycle, which follows a wanderer’s path from unrequested love to isolation and perhaps death. Der Leiermann is the last song from the cycle, and the images of the poor, old, and lonely organ player against the hypnotic and repetitive piano is staggering.
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