Curio Cabinet / Photo Curio

It's Flashback Friday... and National Fast Food Day. Chew on this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

Ever wonder how burgers stack in commercials? Just ask photographer Steve Giralt, who combines photography and cinematography to create what he calls visual engineering. He begins each shoot by designing automations, like the custom contraption holding the burger pictured above, around the demands of each subject. The burger's components balance on tension wires, held by two digital wings, and as the wires release, the wings move out of frame. A camera on a robotic arm recedes, appropriately focusing the frame and snapping and filming away, as a strobe illuminates the burger parts' plummet. It all happens in a matter of seconds using Giralt’s custom-built Precision Arduino Timing Relay Imaging Controller. The controller operates as a sort of feedback loop ensuring all operations occur in tandem. If this all sounds complex, it is; Giralt considers himself a technologist, and fabricates electronics in creative ways to meet his needs. His novel methods have won him advertising gigs with Budweiser, Starbucks, and PepsiCo, to name a few, and he encourages all photographers to use developing technologies to find their own unique successes. Just keep a few towels on hand—the process can be… messy.
 

Below: more of Giralt's handywork and a video of him discussing his process.
 

Acclaimed writer Teju Cole knows a thing or two about creating space in his writing, as well as in his other passion: photography. When he's not drafting stories about intersections of African and American cultures across continents, Cole is an avid traveling photographer who often names his images after the locations where they were taken, like the above Brazzaville, named after the Republic of the Congo capital. "I am intrigued by the continuity of places, by the singing line that connects them all," Cole once wrote for his book Blind Spot. Whether it's an oceanside view in Brazzaville, beat-up busses at the base of an ancient and majestic mountainside, or the packed streets and sidewalks of New York, Cole manages to see these places like no one else, with an eye for age-faded colors and the geometry of closely-packed living quarters. With a knack for perfect snapshots and a monthly column On Photography for the New York Times Magazine, Cole is ensuring others get to see the hidden wonder in our everyday experiences, as well as catch glimpses of extraordinary travels across the globe.
 

Below: Cole's photos traverse landscapes across New York, Lagos in Nigeria, and Panjim, Goa.
 

Image credit & copyright: Teju Cole
 

Gulp. The 20 finalists of the 2018 Architectural Photography Awards were announced last month, with everything from Soviet sanitariums to German castles making the cut. The eerie shot shown above, The Ouse Valley viaduct in Sussex, UK by David Mocatta, resembles a chasm from sci-fi thrillers like Alien or Blade Runner, but depicts a 19th-century viaduct that looms 40 miles south of London. Standing 10 stories tall, the Ouse Valley Viaduct Bridge offered transport over the Ouse River's swampy wetlands. London-based photographer Andrew Robertson created the image by rotating his camera perpendicular to the viaduct's vertical arched vaulting supports. The openings, which diminish in size closer to the valley's other face, end up looking like a tapering pit that ends in an unfathomable black hole. Though Robertson was in no real harm, he'll be spending the next few weeks biting his nails, as the 2018 Architectural Photography Awards' finalists will be announced on November 30, and he stands a chance at winning the interior category and a $3,000 prize. We guess he'll cross that bridge when he comes to it!
 

Below: another look at the Ouse Valley Viaduct Bridge, Ryan Koopmans' A Soviet-era Sanatorium "Sacartvelo", and Dirk Vonten's Castle Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, Germany.
 

Image credit & copyright: Andrew Robertson / APA18 / Sto / Dornbracht / Dmitry Dzhus / Flickr / Ryan Koopmans / Dirk Vonten
 

This little guy could fit right in with Star Wars stormtrooper guards, if he wasn't a meager .4 of an inch long. The 2018 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition winners were recently announced, with the above image of a mango seed weevil (Sternochetus mangiferae) by Pia Scanlon taking 8th place. In most cases, the sight of this creature would be an unwelcome one to humans, as these little guys are known to burrow into mango fruits and lay eggs. Sometimes the mango seed weevil can devastate up to 80 percent of crop yields in southeast Asia and Australia, leaving no visual indications until the fruit is chopped open. Scanlon, who works in the Government of Western Australia's agriculture and food department, became interested in studying this scaled specimen as part of a national effort to prevent infestation in Western Australian crops. The portrait of this long-snouted weevil was taken with stereomicroscopy equipment, which increases a microscope's viewing area, 3D imaging capabilities, and gives scientists a more comprehensive look at specimen under study. Here's hoping more cool views of insects help everyone better understand their places in our ecological systems.
 

Below: Eye of a Metapocyrtus subquadrulifer beetle and Balanus glandula (acorn barnacle), both winners in the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition this year.
 

Image credit & copyright: Pia Scanlon, Government of Western Australia
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Yousef Al Habshi, Charles B. Krebs, Nikon Small World
 

Man's best friend took on an unforgettable role in World War II. Originally bought in New Guinea for $6 by Corporal Bill Wynne in 1944, Smoky the Yorkshire Terrier "served in the South Pacific with the 5th Air Force, 26th Photo Recon Squadron [and] flew 12 air/sea rescue and photo reconnaissance missions," according to Wynne. Along the way, Smoky once saved Wynne by guiding him to safety on a ship that was under projectile fire. Perhaps her bravest effort came in 1945, when she pulled a communication wire on her collar through an eight-inch pipeline at a Luzon airbase in the Philippines, saving over 250 crewmen from a three-day digging task that would have left them exposed to enemy fire. When Smoky returned from her tour of duty that same year, she became a celebrity television personality in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and a favorite therapy dog at veterans hospitals—one of the first of her kind. Smoky's role in supporting the troops was honored on Veteran's Day in 2005, when a bronze statue of her was unveiled at her final resting place in Lakewood, Ohio. Who knew four pounds of bravery could go such a long way!

 

Below: Cpl. Bill Wynne with Smoky in hand; Smoky's memorial featuring three animal hero medals from the U.S. and Australia.
 

Image credit & copyright: William A. Wynne, Robert Wynne
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives in honor of Movember.
 

This isn't your average neighborhood parade! We can't decide what we like most about this image: the dignified-looking camels decked out in pom-poms, the mustachioed men in their matching outfits, or the fact that the photo was taken by a preteen. 12-year-old Sanya Jain took the photograph last fall while vacationing with family in Pushkar, located in the state of Rajasthan, India. It earned her a first place winner in National Geographic's 2017 International Photography Contest for Kids. The bright cheeriness we're seeing is a parade from the Pushkar Fair, one of the world's largest camel fairs. It occurs annually over five days in October and November. If you're wondering what a "camel fair" consists of, it includes the buying and selling of livestock, performances, beauty contests, camel races, and our personal favorite: the longest mustache competition.
 

Yikes, we wouldn't want to bear the brunt of that customer! Photographer David Yarrow staged this photo in Montana's secluded Jersey Lilly, one of the few remaining final frontier saloon bars in the country. To create the daring shot, Yarrow had his fixer negotiate the use of the bar from its owner, a cowboy with the delightful name "Boots," before pegging Dallas, Texas, celebrity Roxanna Redfoot for the task of staring down Adam, a 1000-pound trained brown bear. According to Yarrow, Redfoot showed no signs of anxiety, and she and Adam worked determinedly to achieve the perfect shot. Yarrow, who placed great importance on positioning both of his subjects' heads equidistant from the camera, lucked out; though Adam became restless, as bears are known to do, he became fascinated with the rabbit head mounted on the wall behind the bartop, eyeing it like a rambler would his whiskey of choice. The resulting photo, a product of all the cards falling in the right place, is certainly one to frame—but more than anything else, we're just glad Redfoot got through her shift in one piece!
 

Image credit & copyright: David Yarrow
 

Here's a tradition that's sure to brighten anyone's day. The woman in the above picture is lighting clay lamps in Colombo, Sri Lanka for a religious ceremony associated with Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. A Hindu may arrange these candles in a row in front of their homes, in a symbolic gesture of letting in light and banishing evil. Called deepa, these rows give the holiday its name. Across India, the origin story of Diwali takes on various incarnations, with a prominent northern story being that of King Rama's return to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana. In any case, the five days of Diwali bear traditions like cleaning the house on the first day, decorating with clay lamps and colored powders called rangoli on the second, and taking part in Lakshmi puja—a prayer and feast devoted to the goddess Lakshmi—on the third day. The fourth day marks the new year (according to the Hindu lunar calendar), and the fifth and final finds brothers visiting married sisters. Sounds like a lot to be joyful about at the end of the year!

 

Below: more Diwali celebrations at Madan Mohan Malviya stadium in Allahabad, India, shopping for fireworks, and a Sikh in Amritstar celebrates the festival, though his religion would mark the day Guru Hargobind Ji, the Sixth Sikh Guru was released from prison.
 

Image credit & copyright: Dinuka Liyanawatte, Verma, Raminder Pal Singh, Narinder Nanu, EPA, AFP, Getty Images, Reuters, Shuttershock
 

This Election Day, we're taking some time to remember the first African-American man to ever cast a ballot in a U.S. election, Mr. Thomas Mundy Peterson. The son of ex-slaves, Peterson cast his vote on March 31, 1870, one day after the ratification of the 15th Amendment, in an election to decide whether the citizens of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, should revise or abandon the town charter. By all accounts, Peterson was an upstanding citizen who worked as a school principal, held elected office on the Middlesex County Commission, and was the first black person to serve on a jury in Perth Amboy. Peterson was so beloved by his town that in 1880, the citizens raised $70 to award him a medallion for his accomplishments, which he can be seen wearing in the above photo. We wonder how many "I voted" stickers we'd have to collect before cashing in on the Peterson medallion?

 

Below: a closer look at Peterson's award, which features a medallion with a shaved President Lincoln in half-profile.
 

Quick—somebody throw them bread! If you mistook this photo for a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 American horror-thriller flick, The Birds, photographer and movie director Alex Prager has struck again. Prager, born on November 1, 1979, in Los Angeles, specializes in color-saturated photography inspired by classic movies and the '60s go-go aesthetic. Take Eve (2008), which features a Tippi Hedren-lookalike flailing against an onslaught of angry pigeons. To create the feather-laden homage, Prager positioned an animal trainer just out of frame, at the feet of the model, and tasked the specialist with releasing the birds from boxes on her signal. Her inspiration for the shot stemmed directly from irksome comparisons between her and Hitchcock's visual styles—namely their mutual use of surreal tension and vibrant color palettes. Rather than deny the claims, Prager flouted critics. "It was like, 'Okay, you guys want Hitchcock? Here's your Hitchcock!'" she said. "After this, let's all try and move on." Through criticism or praise, we'll always find Prager in fine feather!
 

Below: more of Prager's eerie photos, including: 2pm, Interstate 110 (2012); Face In The Crowd (2013); and Compulsion (2012).
 

Image credit & copyright: Alex Prager/Chronicle Books
 

It's Flashback Friday and Look for Circles Day! Come full circle with this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

As gorgeous as it looks, Jupiter's south pole would not be a fun place to visit. Those hazy swirls set against that entrancing blue backdrop? They're violent cyclones spanning 600 miles across. At their worst, Jupiter's cyclones can be as big as Planet Earth and plunge deep into the gas giant's surface! This image is a composite of several photos captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft. The spacecraft entered Jupiter's orbit in July 2016 after a five-year journey and circled the planet a total of 37 times before ending its mission in February 2018. Besides collecting stormy insights and ogle-worthy images, Juno has already made yet another fascinating observation: Jupiter's magnetic field is 10 times stronger than the strongest found on Earth, much higher than scientists previously predicted. (For the extra curious, Jupiter's magnetic field clocks in at 7.766 gauss—a unit named after none other than magnetometer inventor Carl Friedrich Gauss.) As long as Jupiter keeps her cyclones to herself, we'll keep eyeing her beautiful surface.

 
Image credit & copyright: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Betsy Asher Hall/Gervasio Robles
 

To nap, or not to nap, that is the question. A few years back, Italy-based photographer Dan Bannino gave voice to homeless shelter pups by juxtaposing their evocative expressions with those of famous writers. Shown above is William Shakespeare and his spaniel doppelganger wearing matching ruffs, the floppy ears of the dog resembling Shakespeare's receding curtains of hair. Other canine comparisons include a bearded Leo Tolstoy, a cackling Charles Bukowski, and ever brooding Edgar Allan Poe. But Bannino's lighthearted series belies its sobering backstory; according to the photographer, he thought up the project after saving his pooch, Rothko, from neglectful owners. Bannino quickly learned that, as quiet and somber as Rothko is, his doggy friend communicates messages through palpable expressions, sounds, and movements. "They're telling you everything saying nothing, just like an author would do with words in a fine poem," said the photographer of shelter dogs after winning their trust, and delicately photographing them. Just lock eyes with the pups down below, then their writer counterparts, and see for yourself how ruminating man's best friend is beneath the furry surface.
 

Below: more photos from Poetic Dogs, including: canine comparisons of Leo Tolstoy, Charles Bukowski, and Edgar Allan Poe.
 

Image credit & copyright: Alamy / Sherer & Nabholz / Mark Hanauer / Edwin H. Manchester
 

These portraits may not feature any eye of newt or black cat bones, yet what Francis Denny has captured is equally mystical. Shine (New York, NY) above is part of the New York-based ClampArt gallery's exhibit Major Arcana: Witches in America, which chronicles Denny's exploration of contemporary witches. For each portrait, Denny asked the women to wear an outfit or bring items which represent their practices: for some it was elaborate jewelry or decorated walking sticks; for others, accoutrements were foregone for rich natural surroundings. The women who are portrayed self-identify as a range of mystical beings including "self-proclaimed green witches, white witches, kitchen witches…." With such a variety of characters shown in these photos, Denny has tried to move away from stereotypical depictions of witches as green-skinned villains and towards a confluence of individuals who operate outside of conventional ideals of femininity and power. Are some of the images a little spooky? Maybe, but that's perfectly fine for Halloween!

 

Below: more witch portraits from Denny's project, including Bloody Mary (New Orleans, LA), Deborah (Nyack, NY)
, and Karen (Brooklyn, NY).
 

Image credit & copyright: Francis F. Denny
 

Decorated sugar skulls might be the symbol most associated with Día de los Muertos around the world, yet the marigold flower may play just as important of a role in the Latin American holiday celebrations. The orange-gold bloom has even been nicknamed "Flor de Muerto" ("the flower of the dead") and often has a prominent place at Dia de los Muertos altars—which serve as tributes to those who've passed away. The marigold petals strewn across the steps leading to a gravesite in the above image are said to guide the deceased to offerings from family and loved ones with their delightful scent (think the marigold bridge from Pixar's Coco). The fall perennial is native to Latin America, and it was treated as a sacred and medicinal plant by the Aztecs, whose lunar goddess Coyolxauhqui wore a headdress decorated with the flowers. The marigold is practically synonymous with Día de los Muertos, and its place at any altar or other space reserved for remembering the dead this week is a sign of respect that transcends this mortal coil.

 

Below: a floral decoration for Día de los Muertos features skulls, candles, and marigolds; dancers in a DdlM parade feature the flowers in their headdresses; an altar features orange petals alongside family photos and favorite treats and tools of those who've passed.
 

Image credit & copyright: Hector Vivas, Getty Images, Flavors of the Sun, Eduardo Verdugo, Associated Press
 

This Halloween season, we're taking a look at one of the scariest photo series in recent memory: Nicolas Bruno's depictions of sleep paralysis. The 25-year old photographer suffers from the sleeping disorder which can cause overlaps in REM sleep and waking, making nightmares seem particularly vivid and inescapable in the moment. It wasn't until he encountered Henri Fuseli's The Nightmare painting, which depicts a demon sitting on a woman's chest, that Bruno realized he could use his own artistic skills with a camera to engage his troubling real-life experience. His sleep paralysis photos depict Bruno as the victim of the horrors, but in a twist, he also takes various shots of himself as the headless attackers. Being able to draw from his dream journals and create images which share the horrors and anxieties have been a therapeutic way for Bruno to address the parasomnia which he suffers from. "I aim to give the viewers who have not experienced these night terrors a visual taste of what lies within the in-between realm of sleep and consciousness." Come to think of it, we may need to leave the light on while viewing these at night.

 

Below: more from Bruno's sleep paralysis series.
 

Image credit & copyright: Nicolas Bruno
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this seasonal favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

That's one mega-holiday we wish we could've seen! Before Thanksgiving was about turkey and football, it included trick-or-treating. In the above image taken around 1910, four maskers pose outside a restaurant offering traditional Thanksgiving food like roast turkey and cranberry sauce. The gauzy material covering the face of the youngster second from left was popular with those disguised as wealthy characters. Though dressed as a woman, this kid may actually be a boy; it was also common for young rascals to sneak into their sisters' rooms on the big day and filch some clothes while Mom was fussing over the bird and side dishes. By the 1920s, government officials were growing frustrated with hordes of trick-or-treaters filling the streets. New York City's superintendent of schools was so fed up he issued a public complaint: "Modernity is incompatible with the custom of children to masquerade and annoy adults on Thanksgiving Day," he wrote. The holiday was toned down by mid-century—and all the revelry moved to Halloween. But if any kid wants to dress up again next month, we'll put our slice of pumpkin pie down and lend a helping hand.
 

Below: A Thanksgiving masker goofs around with his friends.
 

Image credit & copyright: Bain News Service / Library of Congress
 

Don't adjust the screen's color balance: this city really blue it. The city of Chefchaouen, which translates to "blue pearl," is located in Morocco and is a popular tourist destination because of its countless buildings awash in blue paints. The North African Moorish city was founded in 1471, with Jewish and Spanish population influxes over the next few centuries. No one knows for certain how the town originally got its azure tones, though some speculate the Jewish population doused their homes in the divine tekhelet pigment of the sky and sea after fleeing Europe during the Spanish Inquisition; others believe the cyan hues serve as insect repellants. Whatever the cause, it's said that the entire town needs a fresh coat of paint every two years, a task that's accomplished with bags of powdered paint and dried grass brushes, which can be seen outside of shops in the city. While tourism is driving up property prices for locals, Chefchaouen doesn't yet operate like a hustle-and-bustle city: travelers are offered mint tea all day in nearby cafes, and the fresh-squeezed orange juice is said to be an incomparable experience. It's just the thing to sip while getting those early morning "blue hour" photos of the local landscape!

 

Below: more images of Chefchaouen's blue streets.
 

Image credit & copyright: Lonely Planet, Christine Wehrmeier, David Santiago Garcia, Getty Images
 

United Nations Day is celebrated around the world on October 24th, though the day of the signing of the UN Charter was just the beginning of what the alliance accomplished. Seen here with a poster copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Appointed by President Truman, Roosevelt became the first woman to represent the U.S. at the UN, and set to work with an 18-person international committee on the Universal Declaration. Contained in the final draft of the document, which was ratified in December of 1948, are 30 rights and freedoms believed to belong to all humans. With Roosevelt's guiding hand, the Universal Declaration addresses equality "in dignity and rights" with simple and brief language inclusive to a wide audience. In a 1953 speech at the UN, Roosevelt further reiterated her position that all communities should share and support human rights. "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?" she asked. "In small places, close to home…. where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere."
 

These basalt pipe organs on Madagascar's Mitsio Island might resemble a system of Jenga towers, but they were actually formed from lava flows. Photographed by acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado, whose exhibit Landscape is showing at New York's Sundaram Tagore Gallery through November 10, these flows cracked similarly to mud. While mud cracks into hexagonal shapes as it dries, lava forms hexagonal pillars as it contracts from cooling. And this is no mere coincidence; when it comes to geometric shapes, nature clearly prefers hexagons. Examples include the shapes of honeycombs, snowflakes, and turtle scales. The reason for the frequency of hexagons in the universe is that they are symmetrical, tessellate (tile) well, and circumscribe more area than other geometric shapes. Simply put, they make convenient building blocks for Mother Nature. It really makes us wish we'd paid more attention in geometry class!
 

Below: from the structure of snowflakes to the surface of Saturn, hexagons proliferate the universe.
 

Image credit & copyright: Sebastião Salgado / Don Komarechka / Pixabay / NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Kevin M. Gill / Tokugawapants / Chmee2
 

Here's one photographer's inspiration that isn't all washed up. For 63 years, Eleanor Callahan was a muse and subject in countless photographs by one of the world's most significant post-World War II photographers, Harry Callahan. Born on this day 106 years ago, Harry Callahan first met Eleanor in 1933, after she saw a photo of him and proclaimed she thought he was good-looking. Callahan wouldn't become a professional photographer until nearly a decade after they met, though Eleanor would prove a supportive and willing subject for his budding skills behind the camera. As Callahan's reputation for experimenting with images of "nature, buildings, and people" grew, so too did his collection of intimate images of Eleanor, who began posing with their daughter Barbara when she was born. While some of Harry's photos of Eleanor may seem too risque to be considered typical family photo fare, his ability to frame her in wildly different perspectives and lightings always meant that he was getting her good side—which is a trait any model can appreciate in her cameraman.

 

Below: more views of Eleanor and baby Barbara from Harry Callahan's camera.
 

Image credit & copyright: Harry Callahan, Museum of Modern Art