Daintree Day 1 – Cape Tribulation (IR)

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, 22 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

In the last three (non-music) posts, we arrived at Daintree Village, explored some of the valley along the Daintree River and then had an early morning photographic cruise along the Daintree River. After that we crossed the river in a ferry and spent most of the next four days in the Daintree Rainforest, the area most people refer to as “the Daintree”. (Confusingly, the Daintree National Park is further inland to the south-west).

We’ve crossed the river in the ferry and this is the view from Mount Alexandra Lookout.

Of course the aim of photography is to be as realistic as possible. In a wild place like the Daintree, it’s surprising how completely the light can change, and the whole feel can transform from one moment to the next.

We were staying at the northern end of the Daintree, at Cape Tribulation (“Cape Trib”). The room we were staying in is at the end of the path.

These two and the next fifteen images are at Rainforest Hideaway. It was set up by a sculptor, Rob Lapaer, some years ago but became run down and the new owners are restoring it. While you can stay there, it used to also be open to the public for a small fee but this is no longer the case.

Our host Gaye gave us a guided tour of the Sculpture Trail and I also walked around later and took more photographs.

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Gaye arranged for us to visit the Jungle House while the current resident was not in.

View from bedroom at the Jungle House.

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The guest in the next room was driving around in a Citroen Deux Chevaux. We had seen more of them around Cooktown where there must have been some kind of rally.

In the late afternoon, we drove a short distance to Cape Tribulation Beach and the Kulki Boardwalk, where I found the mangroves of interest at lowish tide.

The light was changing quite rapidly….

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Getting close to dusk, brooding views looking along Cape Tribulation Beach.

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Red Beach and Akrotiri Lighthouse

Mar28

Thira (Santorini), Greece, 11 October 2018.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

Usually, the images in each post are chronological. But this time even after adjusting for one camera being 20 minutes out from the other, the order still didn’t make sense. Also, I took photos from similar places at quite different times in the morning. So I’ve worked out where I took them from and grouped them by location.

This is a view of the caldera coast of the main island, looking south, from just past the port of Thira.

With an extreme telephoto view from the same location, you can see Caldera Beach and the same launch and catamaran.

Not the same catamaran, this one is much smaller.

Another view of the same coastline from further on. You can just see some of the boats moored at Caldera Beach in the corner at the mid left.

Now we are past Caldera Beach and above it, looking north across the caldera.

A couple of the small boats moored off the beach.

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We have now driven a short distance to the south coast. I can’t find a name for this little seaside village so i presume it is just part of Akrotiri, which is also a historic site we shall visit later. The boats have just pulled up, spruiking customers to take on a tour to red, white and black beaches (but we didn’t have enough time).

Just to the left of the village you might be able to see part of the white outline of a tiny church.

This is a wider view, taken a few minutes before, prior to the boats tying up at the wharf.

This is an ancient boatshed. You can also see it at the right of the previous image if you click for a larger view.

The tiny Church of St Nicholas.

The bell tower.

A musician busking on the headland before Red Beach.

A bit further on, here is a view of Red Beach (left distance) and the walk in. We didn’t go any further. We weren’t looking for a swim and there’s not much room on the beach anyway.

A view further over to the left. This almost joins on the the photo of the musician but it’s not taken from quite the same place.

The yacht was evidently a commercial cruise for sightseers.

Looking back towards where we came from. The white building is Hotel Akrotiri and there are several boatsheds at the water’s edge.

We’ve now driven back, and then further on to Akrotiri Lighthouse at the far south corner of the island.

A view from the other side.

Looking north-west from near the lighthouse. The point is Akro Aspronisi.

A closer view. What a view those houses on the point must have as the weather changes!

Do you think the white covering of the top of the island is snow or perhaps pumice from the eruption?

Actually no, it’s the houses which are all white.

A passenger hydofoil from Thira Port heading towards Crete. The ferry is slower but a lot cheaper.

A launch below the lighthouse.

A bit further around, this is looking up the south coast now, but where we were previously is beyond that point. If you click for a larger image you can see Acro Beach Bar on the left, then White Beach (though mainly obscured) before the headland.

Curious the things you can see. I am reliably informed that this is not a relic from before the eruption, more than three thousand years ago. For one thing, they didn’t have bicycles with pneumatic tyres then.

National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Feb20

Athens, 10 October 2018.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

On the morning before our flight out to Thira, we visited the Archaeological museum, near where we were staying. Unfortunately, we missed the mezzanine floor with items from Crete, and by the time we realised this it was too late to turn back. Still, there was a lot to see. They are in the order we walked around the museum, which was roughly chronological for the exhibits. Descriptions are from the labels with the items.

Gold diadem with repoussé circles and rosettes, grave items, 17th to 16th centuries BC, Mycenae.

Elephant or hippopotamus ivory warriors’ head wearing boar’s tusk helmet. From a Mycenaean Chamber Tomb from the palace period of the 14th and 13th centuries BC.

Necklaces made of carnelian beads, Mycenae Chamber tombs, 15th-12th centuries BC.

Three-handled Palace Style amphora with three large octopuses within a marinescape of rocks and seaweed. A Mycenaean imitation of the Minoan Marine Style. 15th century BC.

Gold signet ring, the largest extant Mycenaean ring. It depicts a procession of lion-headed daemons holding libation jugs and moving towards an enthroned goddess. The goddess wears a long chiton and raises a ritual vessel. Behind the throne is an eagle-symbo! of dominion. The sun’s heel and crescent moon appear in the sky. 15th century BC.

The ‘Mycenaean Lady’. The serious and pensive expression of the goddess reveals the solemnity of the moment, as she accepts, slightly smiling, the gift, a necklace, which she holds tightly in her right hand. She wears a short-sleeved bodice over a sheer blouse, which delineates her ample bosom. Her intricate hairstyle and rich jewellery (necklaces and bracelets) are striking. Wall-painting from the Acropolis of Mycenae, 13th century BC.

The art of wail-painting first appeared in the Aegean in Minoan Crete and was closely associated with palatial architecture. Indeed, monumental painting was an official art, undertaken by artists who worked for the king. The iconography is inspired from the natural world or exhibits religious ceremonies from the royal court. The art of wall-painting spread to mainland Greece with the construction of the palaces at Myconae, Tiryns, Thebes and Pylos, after the Mycenaeans established themselves at the palace of Knossos in Crete, at the end of the 15th century BC. The Mycenaean artist used natural earth colours, made mainly of metal oxides, which he applied onto a wet plaster surface.

Fragment of a wall-painting depicting three women looking out of the windows of a festooned house. The scene’s festive character and women’s gestures of veneration and surprise indicate that they are watching a religious spectacle. From the ‘Ramp House’, Mycenae acropolis. 14th century BC.

Gold signet rings depicting religious scenes: ecstatic dances in open air sanctuaries, processions of women approaching sanctuaries, preparations for animal sacrifices and ‘sacred conversation’. Mycenae Chamber tombs, 15th-14th centuries BC. (Also next two images).

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In a landscape of olive trees, a bull is captured by peaceful means: a man ties a thick rope around the bull’s leg, while the beast flirts with a cow. (Though just the flirting shown in this image.)

In a landscape of olive and palm trees, a raging bull attacks and repels two hunters (and on the other side of the object, another bull is caught in a net).

Bronze statue of a horse and young jockey. Retrieved in pieces from the shipwreck off Cape Artemision in Euboea. The young jockey of the galloping horse will have held the reins in his left hand and a whip in his right. The contractions and furrows on his face, especially on the forehead, reveal agony and passion. The work is known as the “Artemision Jockey”. About 140 BC.

Female funerary statue. Marble. Found on Delos. The female figure is rendered in the type of the Small Herculaneum Woman. She wears a full-length chiton and a himation that covers her entire body and arms. Copy made in the 2nd c. BC of a famous original dating from about 300 BC.

Votive relief. Marble. Found to the south of the river Ilissos, Athens. The relief has the form of a naiskos with pilasters, an epistyle and a cornice. Herakles is depicted at the right holding the lion’s pelt and club. In the centre of the scene, a bull is led to sacrifice by a servant. At the left is depicted a family of worshipers with their maidservant, who carries a basket covered with a cloth on her head. The votive inscription on the epistyle mentions: Panis Aigirios to Herakles. The relief probably comes from the sanctuary of Herakles at Kynosarges. 4th c. BC.

Votive relief and base. Marble. Found in the cave of the Nymphs on Mount Penteli, Attica. The relief, in the form of a cave, is set on a tall, rectangular base, on which is carved an inscription stating that the relief was dedicated to the Nymphs by Agathemeros. The dedicator is depicted at the right holding in his right hand a kantharos, which a nude wine-server is filling. In front of them, seated on a rock, the goat-footed god Pan holds the pan-pipe. Next to him is Hermes, holding the caduceus and wearing a chlamys.
Three Nymphs are depicted behind him. About 330 BC.

Part of a marble disk with female head in relief. The goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, is perhaps depicted. Her rich hair is gathered in a sakkos (snood), which curves over the nape of the lean neck. An additional curl would be attached to the temple. The face emits grace and balanced beauty. From Melos. Around 460-450 BC.

Golden bracelets. Two realistically shown snakes, with red precious stones, were wrapped around the arms of a priestess, protecting her from all evil. The bracelet in the form of a coiled snake was the paramount type than predominated in the Hellenistic period. Unknown provenance (from the so-called Karpenissi Treasure). Late 3rd – early 2nd century BC.

Gold chain-net head jewel. A fine chain net, adorned with red gems and blue enamel. The goddess Artemis, wearing her arrow case on her right shoulder, is shown on the medallion. It was perhaps made to fasten the gathered up hair of a priestess. Unknown provenance (from the so-called Karpenissi Treasure). 4th – early 3rd century BC.

Hexagonal wooden pyxis. Wooden box, decorated with rectangular gold plates, ornamented in the repousse technique. Three decorative themes are repeated on the side panels of the pyxis: a lion chase of a deer and a roe in a tropical landscape, and a running spiral pattern. From Mycenaean Grave Circle A, Shaft Grave V. Second half of 16th century BC.

Grave stele of an athlete. The athlete is depicted naked, holding a javelin in the left hand. The treatment of the musculature in the torso and hands follows the archaic conventions but it is marked by plastic contours and soft transitions. The elaborate headdress is tied with a ribbon and combed in twisted braids and tresses with spiral and helicoid terminals. Red paint is preserved in the background of the relief and on the hair. From Athens. 550-540 BC.

From Delos (“Palaestra of Granite”). A distinctively realistic face of an anonymous figure carrying the burden of ephemeral thoughts and evryday concerns. Wrinkles on the forehead, at the edges of the eyes, melancholic expression of a wet look, made more lively by the colour variegation of the eyes, are characteristics that contrast the idealism of the classic rule. Early 1st c. BC.

Bronze helmet of illyrian type and gold funerary mask. From Chalcidice. 530-510 B.C

Goddess on a throne. Attic workshop. Terracotta. End of 6th/beginning of 5th century BC.

Statue of the princess-priestess Takushit. Found on Kom Tourougka, near Lake Mareotis, south of Alexandria, in 1880. The woman’s name means ‘the Ethiopian’ and may refer to her relation or marriage to an Ethiopian. Her father was Akanosh Il, great chief of the Ma tribe from Libya. The figure’s characteristic garment is executed with inlaid decoration, a technique in which the engraved design is inlaid with precious metal wire. The motifs are hieroglyphs and deities of the northeast region of the Nile Delta, Takushit’s homeland. The statue had a ritual, votive, and funerary use. Copper alloy with precious metal inlay. End of 25th Dynasty, approximately 670 BC.

Copper alloy statuette of the god Sarapis Amun Agathodaemon. One of the rare preserved statues of this deity.

Copper alloy statue of Isis with Horus the child.

Copper alloy sarcophagus for a cat.

Helmet of Corinthian type. A fragmentary inscription on the right cheekpiece indicates that it was dedicated by the Athenians. Late 6th-early 5th century BC.

Grave stele. Thespian marble. Found in the outskirts of Thebes. Two figures, a bearded man with a staff on the right and a spinning (?) woman on the left, sit facing each other. Three more figures, two men and a woman, stand in the background. A very small female attendant is represented at far left. Characteristic attributes are the pomegranate and torch (?) held by the standing bearded man in his left hand, as well as the aryballos in the right hand of the beardless youth. The solemnity of the relief, which is emphasized by the rhythmic arrangement of the magnificent figures in two levels, points to the heroization of the dead —a fact that accords with the Boeotian origin of the stele. End of the fifth century BC.

Grave stele. Marble. Found northeast of Athens, in Chalandri (ancient Phlya). A bearded man supported on a staff offers a bird to a young boy standing before him. Both figures are draped. The inscription identifies them as Philokles and his son Dikaios, and also records their patronymics. ca. 410 BC.

Head of a bearded god. Pentelic marble. Found in Piraeus, in a sanctuary of Eetioneia. It represents Zeus or Hermes. This may be the head of the herm dedicated by Python from Abdera in Thrace, a work of the Parian sculptor Euphron. 450 – 440 BC.

Votive relief. Pentelic marble. Found in Sounion, near the Temple of Athena. It represents a self-crowning athlete and was probably dedicated by a victor in local games. His wreath was made of metal and fitted to the drilled holes that are visible around the head. ca. 460 BC.

Statue of a Sphinx. Pentelic marble. Found in Spata, Attica. One of the earliest known Archaic Sphinxes, it was once used as finial of a grave stele. About 570 B.C.

Statue of a kore. Parian marble. Found in Merenda (ancient Myrrhinous), Attica. The fully
preserved statue stood atop the grave of Phrasikleia, as is indicated by the inscription on the pedestal. The expression of the face and the rendering of garment that follows the curves of the body underneath are remarkable. The chiton retains in many places its painted decoration with rosettes, swastikas, stars and meanders. An extraordinary work, one of the most important of the ripe Archaic style. Made by the sculptor Aristion from Paros. 550-540 B.C.

Monumental Attic grave-amphora. From the Kerameikos cemetery. The main scene, shows the prothesis and mourning for the dead. Over the bier is the shroud. Men, women and a child lament with the hands on their heads, in the usual mourning gesture. Work by the «Dipylon Painter». Late Geometric Period. 760-750 BC.

Introduction to Infrared Photography

Jan9

1982 to 2022, various locations.

Links go to original posts. These are likely to be IR or Mono posts with little detail but there may be detailed information in a preceding normal-colour post. (Some images have no corresponding posts, so no link).

Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

I’ve just finished posting on Istanbul/ Constantinople and next I will post on the Acropolis in Athens. First, this post.

I have upgraded my IR camera and am selling the old one so one purpose of this post is to provide information to a buyer who may not well understand IR photography. The IR explanation may be of general interest to photographers and others may just be interested in the images (there’s lots of text but also lots of images further down).

In ancient days of yore, decades ago, we had both colour and black & white infrared film. Colour infrared film seems all but unavailable now whereas there are a few avenues for B&W IR film.

Normal photographic colour film has layers of red, green and blue. Infrared light comes in below the red frequencies and ultraviolet is above blue, though ultraviolet is not relevant here. Infrared colour film had layers of infrared, red and green, and missed out the blue. Since infrared light is not visible, arbitrary colours were associated to the layers, so it was also called false-colour film. You could also change the colour combinations by putting colour filters on the end of the lens. This didn’t just add a colour caste but changed all the colours (since the infrared is invisible) and stacking filters changed all the colors in strange and mysterious ways.

Black and white infrared film was simply much more sensitive to infrared light. It was also very sensitive to visible light and had to be loaded and unloaded from the camera in total darkness. It was often grainy and could have an ethereal effect.

I never shot black & white infrared so I can’t show you any images of that but I did shoot colour IR. I must have quite a few processed colour IR rolls in my film drawers but I’ve scanned hardy any of them but I can show you one example.

Aboriginal Performance, Canberra, 1982.

This is a curious example. I was shooting an Aboriginal performance when I ran out of regular fim so I continued with infrared. Then, after I sent it to the lab to be processed, it came back with Sabattier Effect. They must have left the inspection port open in the processing machine so that created a partial reversal of the shadows – resulting in a negative audience. I had tried this myself several times but never got it to work as well as that.

Of course we now live in a digital age and we can take infrared images with digital cameras. This is not entirely equivalent to colour IR film – you would actually need to combine digital regular and IR images for that, but it offers lots of scope for artistic effects and experiments and can also work particularly well for monochromes.

St Kilda, 2013.

The cheapest way to take a digital IR image is to attach an R72 (or similar) filter to your cameras lens. (This works for most cameras but some have too strong an infrared-blocking filter.) This is how I took the above image and the next two.

Jarlshof, Shetland, 2013.

The problem with using an R72 filter is that it is almost opaque so you need to use a tripod (or extremely high ISO) and if you’re using a DSLR, you will need to have the filter off to focus and compose. A converted camera you can use hand held, just like a normal camera.

Manvar Desert Camp, Rajastan, India, 2014.

This image is to some extent reminiscent of IR b&w film which could have heavy grain but it does not include the characteristic ethereal blurring of highlights. I could have tried to replicate that with the Orton Effect in Photoshop but I have no interest in copying appearances from another era without a good reason.

Much more convenient than an R72 filter is an IR camera but it is more expensive as you have to send a camera off to get converted. Mirrorless cameras are more suitable than DSLRs (unless you just plan to use live view) because focusing has a separate sensor to taking the image and they may get out of synch.

Most people use a custom camera white balance, usually taken off foliage. Otherwise your captured image will start off different shades of a single colour. There can also be different kinds of conversions. A 720nm conversion gives you an image suitable for black and white with very little processing (perhaps even none, out of the camera). A conversion with a lower number such as 560nm or 590nm has more colour in the image and is suitable for either colour or B&W IR but requires processing.

Not all lenses are suitable for infrared photography. Many perform flawlessly but many have “hot spots”, a circle of diffusion and flare in the centre of the image. Some lenses are also OK at wider apertures but have hot spots when stopped down. There are a few guides to this online such as this one from Kolari or this one from Life Pixel, but you can also easily test your lenses yourself (with either an IR camera or R72 filter).

Processing is an important part of creating infrared images, though most people seem to take a relatively minimalist approach. So while I have generally taken a complex approach to processing using Lightroom and Photoshop, I decided to see what I might get with relatively quick processing just in Lightroom.

This is what you see in your camera without a custom profile or as the RAW file in Lightroom without any processing.

This is the change from applying a custom Lightroom profile made using the Adobe DNG Profile Editor, as described here, then making a few minor changes to Temperature and Tint. This is useful because Lightroom and Camera RAW by default give you a constricted colour range to play with for infrared images. It is not necessary for Capture One. This is similar to what you see in your camera with a custom profile there. (Actually I did not do this in processing this image but clicked the White Balance Selector on foliage instead. For this image, it provided a similar result.)

Beijing Garden, Canberra, 2022.

I created this just using Lightroom.

Apart from the custom white balance, I adjusted some hues in HSL, I played with some settings in Calibration, I optimised individual colour channels in curves, and I made some adjustments to shadows with colour grading. I’m not suggesting a recipe; I made some adjustments I thought appropriate at the time and I might do completely different things with a different image or at a different time.

This is the result of a quick B&W conversion in Lightroom. I usually do my conversions in CaptureOne and Photoshop is also powerful, though may be more complex.

Beijing Garden, Canberra, 2022.

This is another one from the same place on the next day. We’ll get to Photoshop soon and one of the things you do in Photoshop with infrared images is swapping channels. There’s a way to get a profile in Lightroom that does this so I was able to incorporate a red/blue channel swap in this image. Such a profile is complex to set up, though you can read of this process or purchase swap profiles here.

Ducks and Ducklings, Mt Ainslie, 2021.

This is an image from out the back of where I live, during a COVID lockdown. Processed entirely in Lightroom except for neutralising the colour of the water at the bottom in Photoshop, because even with recent Lightroom improvements, masking in Photoshop is much better (Capture One was also possible).

Carillon in early Spring, Canberra, 2021.

I recently tried processing infrared images in Capture One (which I have been also using for three years now). It has very powerful capabilities for adjusting colours and masking, and has layers. It’s better than Lightroom in many ways though channel swapping is not offered and Photoshop is more powerful for this purpose but can be much more complex. (However, channel swapping is possible. You can select, say, a blue 120 degree third, make the maximum -30 degrees hue shift four times, do the same for red (except +30) and save as a preset.)

The above image and the next two are processed in Capture One.

Bushland on Mount Ainslie, 2021.

Kangaroo on Mount Ainslie, 2021.

Kangaroos on Mount Ainslie, 2014.

This was one of the first images I took with my old IR camera. All the following images are from that camera and also half the preceding ones. The image you end up with is more important than the camera you take it with.

All images from the one above down were primarily processed in Photoshop.

Grand Canyon by Helicopter (IR), 2014.

Infrared is good for aerial images because it cuts through the haze, even before any processing.

Zion Canyon (Mono) (image is actually near Zion Canyon), 2014.

Infrared can also be good for monochrome. This was processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro but in the last couple of years I have gone to using Capture One.

Louisiana Bayou Monochromes, 2014.

IR can facilitate deep blacks and high drama in mono.

Louisiana Bayou Monochromes, 2014.

Photographing people can be interesting in infrared. Easier perhaps in mono; colour image can require delicate tweaking.

Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail, 2015.

All of these later images were mainly processed in Photoshop, but what you can do there depends on what you start with. It’s advantageous to process the images first in Lightroom (or ACR) and you can do this in a number of different ways which each led to a different set of possibilities in Photoshop.

Waimea Canyon and Na Pali Coast from Above (IR), 2015.

Though some people always process their images the same way, for me there is no set way of doing this, in Photoshop, or in Lightroom or Capture One. It seems as though each time I process an image I think of a new way to do it..

Taxi! Taxi!, 2015.

So I’m not providing any recipes because I don’t believe in them and don’t use them. The key is to look at the essence of each image and creatively explore its potential.

Kipahulu/ Haleakala National Park, 2015.

In Photoshop, the first thing to do is often channel swapping, usually red and blue channels. But there are lots of things you can do with channel swapping and you can also combine different effects with layers and masks.

Kipahulu/ Haleakala National Park, 2015.

Then I may use a Hue/ Saturation layer to adjust or change individual colours.

Oonartra Creek IR, 2015.

I may use a Black and White adjustment layer in luminosity mode to intensify individual colours.

Dream Lemurs, 2015.

I may make some tweaks with a Selective colour layer.

Ocean Harbour Dreaming, 2015.

I may also make a range of adjustments using luminosity masks (for which I use TK Actions though there are other alternatives that may be less complex).

Ocean Harbour Dreaming, 2015.

Of course, you don’t need to use the most complex method possible. Simple methods are fine if they work for you (and complex methods may not). I do think it’s important though to always be experimenting and learning….

Cazneau Tree, Brachina Gorge and Edowie ruins (IR), 2016.

There is potential technical complexity in processing infrared images but it will not work if it becomes just a technical exercise. It’s the image that you create that is important, not the process you used to create it. Whether you spend a lot of time doing complex things is ultimately irrelevant, the objective is simply to create Great Art.

Flinders Ranges Monos 3 IR, 2016.

Cazneau Tree, Brachina Gorge and Edowie ruins (IR), 2016.

Parachilna Ruins (IR), 2016.

Return to Adelaide (IR), 2016.

Yaxha and Topoxté (IR), 2016.

Tikal Monochromes, 2016.

Salton Sea (IR), 2016.

Salton Sea Monochromes, 2016.

Sculpture Garden, NGA, 2016.

KL to KK (Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu), 2019.

Mount Tamborine, 2021.

Ashoka (he’s actually a red Burmese), 2021.

I have deliberately refrained from giving detailed methodology and screen shots partly because the article would get too long but more because I think it’s counter-productive. There is no correct way of doing this and your own individual approach is for you to discover.

I will however, supply a couple of links for further reading. You can find more with web searches:

Salton Sea Monochromes

Jan23

1 to 5 October 2016, Salton Sea, California, USA.

Links go to colour posts (for more information and context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies.

Click on any image to see it larger.

This car may be going cheap, though also not going at all.

Salton Sea (IR).

North shore palms.

Dead fish by an endangered sea.

Bombay Beach.

Salton Sea

Slab City.

Salton Sea (IR).

Salton Sea.

Mud Volcano.

Birds and Mud Volcanoes.

Hummingbird.

L.A. and Salton Sea Monochromes

Jan16

1 to 5 October 2016, Los Angeles and Salton Sea, USA.

Links go to colour posts (for more information and context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies.

Click on any image to see it larger.

Colombian Mammoth (Mammathus Columbi)

La Brea Tar Pits.

Chest of drawers from the 18th century Japan.

Netsuke Gallery, LACMA.

Netsuke.

Buddha Shakyamuni, Sukothai, Thailand, 14th-15th century.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Eagle-headed demon (Assyria).

Borrego Palm Canyon.

Desert cacti, perhaps clavellina cholla.

Gomphothere.

Encounters with Megafauna.

A locust or grasshopper and a scorpion.

Ground sloths.

Chinese dragon.

Humans in vehicle.

Salton Sea.

Dead fish on the salt.

The end, but of what?

Near Salton City.

Salton Sea (IR).

Probably at Desert Shores.

Trees in the desert.

Slab City

Dec12

California USA, 1 October 2016

With Jeni Bate of Skyscapes for the Soul ..

(Click on any image for a larger view).

You may recall from the previous post that Leonard Knight, the creator of Salvation Mountain initially came to the nearby Slab City.

Currently we are in the desert between Salvation Mountain and Slab City but the sculptures belong more to Slab City than Salvation Mountain.

The more observant amongst you may notice some artistic differences in the style of the sculptures here as compared to Salvation Mountain.

The materials used can be somewhat different too.

It appears that cycling around in the desert may sometimes have been uncomfortable.

There’s a conundrum here. Is it a political statement, a sculpture or a theme park?

We are now in Slab City and the rows of bottles indicate boundaries for vehicles.

Before there was Slab City, there was Camp Dunlap.

This was a World War II military base, chosen for suitability for desert warfare training and proximity to San Diego. It opened in 1942 and ran for three years. By 1956 all the buildings had been removed but the concrete slabs they were built on remained.

It’s reasonable to assume the array of sculptures wasn’t created by the Army in the 1940s to give a sense of normalcy to their soldiers.

From the 1980s, people came to stay here. Originally there were “snowbirds”, seasonal refugees from the cold northern winter, taking advantage of the concrete slabs as a place to park a mobile home.

It has expanded to include artists, squatters, survivalists, people trying to escape and homeless people.

The population is around 4,000 during winter months and 150 during the summer. It is a harsh place to spend a summer. In the hottest four months June to September, maximum monthly temperature is likely to be around 50ºC (122ºF) and maximum daily temperatures are likely to be around 40ºC to 42ºC (103ºF to 107ºF).

There is no electricity, running water, sewers or rubbish services provided by government. There is also an absence of law enforcement, taxation or administration.

So it might sound like a libertarian paradise and it is self-styled as “the last free place”. Life must be hard for most of the people here though. In recent years there has been an increase in drug use (particularly chrystal meth), theft and rubbish build-up. Currently they are hiding out, closed to outsiders and trying to avoid COVID-19. Many or most of them will have no health insurance and be unable to afford a doctor or even transport to see one.

There are times when the light changes and an eerie glow descends over the area.

This might be the Earth trying to fight back and defend itself from commercial exploitation and Climate Change.

One might mistake it for the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse. But it is due to permeation by future ghosts of the wealthy political figures who are currently striving to overwhelm Democracy by propaganda and legal manœuvres and end up here, despised by other residents and bereft of personal resources.

Salvation Mountain

Dec3

California USA, 1 October 2016

With Jeni Bate of Skyscapes for the Soul.

(Click on any image for a larger view).

Next we visited Salvation Mountain, near the south west corner of the Salton Sea.

Leonard Knight created Salvation Mountain.

He came to this area in 1984 with a massive 230-foot high hot air balloon he had sewn together over a six year period. It had ten-foot high letters on the side; “God is Love”.

He came to Camp Dunlop or Slab City, near the south west corner of the Salton Sea but more on that in the next post.

He had help from the locals at Slab City to launch the balloon but when it came time for the launch, he discovered that the material had rotted so the launch never took place.

Inside the Hogan.

So, instead of the balloon, he decided to display his God is Love message on the face of a small nearby mesa. However, concrete was expensive and he used too much sand. So after three years of hard work, when he must have thought he was making progress, his creation slithered down the face of the mesa into a gloopy mess.

Undeterred, in 1989 he started again, using a small donated front-end loader to cut more deeply onto the hill and using metal scrap to anchor his new façade into the hill.

He proceeded without needing regular income, scavenging materials and receiving donations of paint, money and food.

Inside “The Museum”.

In 1994 there was some controversy about the presence of a private monument on public land and the local government threatened to bulldoze the mountain due to the claimed presence of lead in the paint. This produced public support, including a documentary from a Los Angeles film maker and the local authority relented. An independent assay also showed no lead in the soil.

It was declared “a folk art site worthy of preservation and protection” by the Folk Art Society of America in 2000. In 2002, Senator Barbara Boxer of California entered Salvation Mountain into the Congressional Record as a national treasure.

Leonard Knight aimed to repaint the mountain every year to ensure the paint remains thick but he died in 2014. In his absence, volunteers continue this maintenance.

This is his truck. He initially used it to transport scavenged materials and at least later, lived on the back of it.

“He lived in the funky camper on the back of his old flatbed”. I presume this is it (or perhaps, was it).

Encounters with Megafauna

Oct31

Galleta Meadows, Borrego Springs, California USA, 30 September 2016

With Jeni Bate of Skyscapes for the Soul.

A few days before, we saw the remains of prehistoric megafauna that had been trapped in the La Brea Tar Swamps. There are still a few places you can see them though such as here at Galleta Meadows.

Their brown colour is an evolutionary adaption for living is a desert environment. Indian and African elephants by contrast are grey because they evolved to live in black and white forests before the age of colour. You can see this in old films and nineteenth century photographs.

This appears to be a small group of gomphotheres which are usually very hard to find in the wild. Not sure of the actual species though.

Getting up close and personal with a gomphothere.

A very large locust or grasshopper and a scorpion. Quite a bit larger than a human.

They were just sitting there sizing each other off, hardly moving at all. Well if they were moving at all, I didn’t notice it. Perhaps I shouldn’t have got quite so close. I understand scorpions can move quite quickly when they have a mind to.

Grasshoppers and locusts are essentially the same but they are locusts when they swarm. Younger readers may not remember bygone decades driving through a plague of locusts when they would hit your windscreen like hail. These days the thoughtful agricultural chemical producers have solved this problem by eliminating something like 90% of insects world-wide in the last forty years or so. Before long they could well take this wonderful profit-based progress even further and eliminate all flowering plants. Then we will all be able to experience the extraordinary privilege of living in a desert.

In the meanwhile, Californian residents must have interesting times in locust plagues. Having one of these coming through your car window could make quite a difference to your day.

There was also a group of agricultural workers. They are protesting about low rates of pay for agricultural workers in an insufficiently regulated economy and involved in a form of industrial action known as a go-slow. They are taking this very literally.

You will notice that behind to the right is a tall thin sculpture from the prehistoric era before wifi. It is called a telegraph pole. No-one is sure what a telegraph was. Some kind of precursor to wifi, it seems, using fender telecasters and some kind of drawings.

Here are a couple of ground sloths but they were too preoccupied to notice me. When photographing wildlife you have to be quite sensitive to the situation and not for example wander right up to a ground sloth or a bear to take a selfie.

The largest ground sloths come in at four tonnes and six metres long (20 feet). I’m not sure how big this one was and I didn’t weigh it.

You might think it is surprising to see a Chinese dragon in California but their range has been increasing.

You can see it is shimmying along through the desert sand and this is because it has burrowed through all the way from China.

I didn’t see it breathing any fire but if you sneak up behind it and touch its skin, you can see that it can get very very hot.

Some say that the Chinese Dragon is casting a larger shadow these days but I didn’t really notice that while I was here.

That massive tongue looks almost like the trunk of an elephant so perhaps dragons evolved into elephants.

This looks to be just an ordinary elephant. Perhaps it escaped from a zoo.

There were also a couple of locals here, who appeared to be having navigational difficulties with their vehicle.

I asked them what they were doing there but they didn’t want to talk to me or even acknowledge me so I went off in a huff. (A huff is a somewhat impractical motor vehicle that is a cross between a Hummer and a Fiat 500).

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Oct17

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LA California USA, 1 October 2016

The previous post was at the Pavilion for Japanese Art at LACMA; this is from our viewing of the rest of the Art Museum. (Click images for larger size).

Royal Peacock Barge, West Bengal, India, late 19th century.

Miniature ivory depiction of pleasure boat of the Nawab of Bengal.

This is a very modern installation, dated to just before the time we were visiting. It is perhaps somewhere between pop art, dada and surrealism. The artist is not credited.

The assemblage is somewhat anachronistic amongst historical exhibits but does include some references to 19th century Indian works. It is perhaps intended to depict the sense of wonder at the extent to which modern art styles can sometimes diverge from the traditional.

Panel, Gururat, India, early 18th century.

Wood applique with bone; brass roundels.

Altar cabinet, Kham region, eastern Tibet, 19th – 20th century.

Wood with mineral pigments and gilding; brass fittings.

Hindu God Vishnu, Angkor, Cambodia. c. 950AD (sandstone).

Folio from a Buddhist manuscript illustrated with Buddha’s birth stories (Thailand c. 1860-80), atop Sutra Box (Thailand 1920-40, wood laquer and gold leaf).

Buddha Shakyamuni, Sukothai, Thailand, 14th-15th century (copper alloy).

Maharishi (Great Sage) Agastya, Lakhi Sarai, Bihar, India, 12th century (chloritoid phyllite).

Dancer’s headpiece in the form of Hindu Godess Kali, Kerala, India, late 15th century (wood with paint).

The Goddess Sarasvati, Gujurat, India, 1153 by Jagadeva.

Sarasvati, goddess of wisdom and knowledge, embodies the mediæval Indian concept of feminine beauty. Jagadeva was commisioned to create this sculpture to replace an earlier sculpture of Sarasvati that was dedicated in a Jain temple in 1069 but damaged in 1152.

The Hindu Goddess Kali, Kerala, India, 17th century (wood with traces of paint).

Athena, 2nd century Roman copy of Greek original from the late 5th century BC School of Pheidas.

Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom and of war waged for just causes. She wears a breastplate decorated with the heads of gorgons, the monsters whose piercing gaze turned people who met their eyes to stone. The hollow eye sockets indicate that eyes were originally inlaid and of course, as with all ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, she would originally have been painted in bright colours. The statue was excavated at Ostia, the port of Rome, in 1797.

Portrait of Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519-1574), c. 1572 by Giovanni Bandini (also called Giovanni dell’Opera) (marble).

Madonna and child in a landscape c. 1496-1499 by Cima de Conegliano (Oil on panel).

Saint Crispin (France, c. 1500 (limestone with traces of polychromy).

Saint Crispan is the patron saint of shoe makers. He and his brother Saint Crispian were tortured for their Christian beliefs and beheaded in 285AD.

The Swineherd, 1888, by Paul Gauguin (oi; on canvas).

La Place du Théâtre Français, 1898, by Camille Pissaro (oil on canvas).

Le Havre, bâteaux de peche sortant du port (fishing boats leaving the port), 1874, Claude Monet.

Cabinet, c. 1650-75, from Grand Ducal Workshops (Galleria dei Lavori), (ebony, marble, jasper, lapis lazuli and various hard stones, and bronze with gilding).

The birds and flowers that appear to be painted are actually hundreds of pieces of richly hued pietre dure or hard stones, so the designs are laboriously painted in stone.

Eagle-headed demon ritually expelling sickness and evil spirits from the house, possible purifying anyone entering the King’s living room.

This and following reliefs once adorned the interior walls of the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883-859 BC). They are from ancient Kalhu (now called Nimrud). He was the first Assyrian king to use stone panels on the interior wall of his palace which was built in mud brick on a stone foundation. The reliefs were originally painted in black, white, red and blue.

In 879 BC Ashurnasirpal held a large festival to celebrate the construction of his new capital which remained the centre of the Assyrian Empire for 150 years. It was surrounded by a massive city wall forty-two feet high (thirteen metres) and five miles long (eight kilometres). At that time it bordered on the Tigris River.

A winged human-headed genie wearing a double bull horn mitre that may be a supernatural projection of the king.

He holds a conical fruit that he has presumably dipped in the bucket of pollen held in preparation for fertilisation of the Tree of Life, an important symbol in Assyrian religious belief.

The king holds a libation bowl and a bow, and he is accompanied by a human-headed genie carrying a bucket. Both are engaged in ritual ceremony.

Fragment of a painted Assyrian relief, Neo-Assyrian dynasty, Northern Iraq, 7th century BC (limestone).

It probably depicts King Sargon (reigned 722-705 BC) and still shows traces of the colourful paint that once adorned all Assyrian reliefs.

Head of a Royal Guard from Persepolis, Achæmenid period, Southern Iran, 5th century BC (limestone).

This fragment once belonged to the inner decorated panel of the eastern staircase of the Apadana, the sumptuous audience hall of the Achæmenid kings at Persepolis.

20th century sculpture but I missed the label. Giacometti maybe?

Murray Foote

Tag Archives: Sculpture

Daintree Day 1 – Cape Tribulation (IR)

Red Beach and Akrotiri Lighthouse

National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Introduction to Infrared Photography

Salton Sea Monochromes

L.A. and Salton Sea Monochromes

Slab City

Salvation Mountain

Encounters with Megafauna

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)