Blue and Yellow

↑ Private

I took this picture in the fall. I was sitting on my bed thinking about how blue the gloaming was and how yellow the light melting in from the kitchen felt. I think this photo captures that moment perfectly. The nights were starting to frost around this time - a chill that I love, when the sharpest colds are still distant enough to feel romantic.

Ama 海女

↑  by Fosco Maraini (via)

↑ by Eishin Osaki (via)

 

↑ by Yoshiyuki Iwase (via)

The ideas and fishing practices of the Ama pearl divers are so different from the ones used in the community where I live. These ladies are so legendary to me. They have such a strong faith in nature and the ocean. The picture above gives me a great feeling of summer and what is like to be a human.

"Ama – The Pearl Diving Mermaids of Japan"

One of the lesser-known but fascinating parts of Japanese culture is that of the Ama pearl divers. Ama (海女 in Japanese), literally means ‘woman of the sea’ and is recorded as early as 750 in the oldest Japanese anthology of poetry, the Man’yoshu. These women specialised in freediving some 30 feet down into cold water wearing nothing more than a loincloth. Utilising special techniques to hold their breath for up to 2 minutes at a time, they would work for up to 4 hours a day in order to gather abalone, seaweed and other shellfish. ...

- Michael Gakuran (via)

This is an awesome short documentary on the Ama and features a great interview with a real live woman of the sea!


I highly recommend checking out this article ("Ama – The Pearl Diving Mermaids of Japan") by Michael Gakuran if you'd like to learn more!

Gouro Zaouli Dance

As far as seduction dances go, I say this is a pret-ty good one. 

Red Velvet

↑ The World Nightclub, NYC 1980's (via)

I love when people use the word 'underbelly' to describe the darker plane of society. Underbelly makes me feel that everything on culture's opposite side can be exposed all in one go, like flipping an alligator over. Truth is: not so.

Onfim

"This is my Dad! He is a warrior. When I

grow up, I want to be a warrior just like him!" 

This is a little birchbark drawing by a boy named Onfim. He lived in Novgorod, Russia sometime during the 11th - 15th century. I wish my dad had rakes for hands. For more on Onfim and his drawings check The Art of Onfim.

Fully Dressed at the Seashore

↑ Students in Amsterdam, 1960's (via)

↑ Nova Scotia, 1962 by Volkmar Wentzel
for National Geographic (via)