Album was a British photography magazine founded by Bill Jay in 1970. It published photographs, essays and drawings without advertising or camera reviews, treating photography as an art rather than a technical hobby. Only twelve issues were produced.
Loli Bahia is a French model who studied trombone at the Lyon Conservatoire before making her runway debut for Louis Vuitton.
Abnormal antlers develop when injury, genetics or hormonal changes interrupt a deer’s annual growth cycle. The result can be twisted branches, uneven shapes or dense, coral-like clusters. An injury to a hind leg can even affect the antler on the opposite side of the animal’s head.
Zangbeto are traditional guardians of the night in Benin, Togo and Nigeria, appearing as towering cones of brightly colored raffia. During ceremonies, they spin and move without any visible person inside. According to tradition, the costumes are inhabited not by performers but by spirits.
The K9 Helm CS-1 is a professional-grade tactical head and eye protection system designed specifically for military and police working dogs.
The term okimono in Japanese literally means “object for placement”. Hyper-realistic ‘trompe-l’oeil’ ivory carvings of fruit, in the form of tangerines and bananas were very popular in Japan during the Meiji period.
Madame Grès was a French couturière who wanted to be a sculptor. She treated fabric accordingly, draping and pleating silk jersey directly on the body to create dresses reminiscent of ancient Greek statuary.
Giacomo Serpotta was an Italian sculptor, active in a Rococo style and mainly working in stucco. Serpotta was born and died in Palermo; and may have never left Sicily. His skill and facility with stucco sculpture appears to have arisen without mentorship or direct exposures to the mainstream of Italian Baroque. Rudolf Wittkower describes him as an aberrancy in an otherwise provincial scene, a "meteor in the Sicilian sky".
Martin Hürlimann was a Swiss publisher, photographer, and writer celebrated for his photographic documentation of European and Asian landscapes. Known for his meticulous approach, he spent hours perfecting shots to capture the interplay of light and architecture, focusing on historical sites and urban vistas. As the founder of Atlantis Verlag, Hürlimann oversaw every detail of his publications, producing high-quality art and travel books. His work, while sometimes critiqued as overly romanticized, remains a lasting record of cultural heritage and a testament to his singular vision.
The Ainu of Japan are typically said to descend from the Jomon people, who appeared in Japan around 16,000 years ago, and are also associated with the Emishi people and the Satsumon, who were both active around 700 CE and into the early 1000s CE. Like their ancestors, the Ainu were hunter-gatherers. During the summer, they would gather plants and fish for salmon, and during the fall and winter, they would hunt rabbit, bear and ezo deer. Tattooing among the Ainu was for women only. A specially trained woman would tattoo a girl’s face and perhaps forehead. The process of the tattooing began early, around age 6 or 7. A few dots at first, near the upper lip, made with small cuts from a ceremonial knife. Each year new cuts would be made, and the cuts rubbed with charcoal (specifically birch charcoal, for its rich, dark color), and then the wound would be cleaned in an antiseptic made of boiled ash bark. The process continued until her wedding day, when the groom would make the final cuts that turned the tattoo into a smile.