“Passport Photos” looks at one of the most mundane and unexciting types of photography. Heavily restricted and regulated, the official passport photo
requirements include that the subject needs to face the camera straight on, needs a clear background without shadow, no glare on glasses and most importantly; no smile.
It seems almost impossible for any kind of self-expression.
The series tries to challenge these official rules by testing all the things you could be doing while you are taking your official document photo.
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I love this weird, wonderful, and truly surreal photography project. Especially in this modern age in which a passport photo does not necessarily involve a photo booth – you’re often
permitted now to trim down a conventional photo or even use a born-digital picture snapped from an approved app or via a web application – it’s more-feasible than ever that the cropping
of your passport photo does not reflect the reality of the scene around you.
Max’s work takes this well beyond the logical extreme, but there’s a wider message here: a reminder that the way in which any picture is cropped is absolutely an artistic
choice which can fundamentally change the message. I remember an amazing illustrative example cropping a photo of some soldiers, in turn
inspired I think by a genuine photo from the second world war. Framing and cropping an image is absolutely part of its reinterpretation.
Hurrah! Another video from the Map Men, this time about the Cassini map of France and its legacy on contemporary cartography, presented in their usual hilarious style.
The tradition of buying cheap, joke souvenirs for your loved ones while travelling dates back at least two millennia.
During an archaeological excavation at a Roman-era site in London, researchers found around 200 iron styluses used for writing on wax-filled wooden tablets. One of those styluses,
which just debuted in its first public exhibition, holds a message written in tiny lettering along its sides. The inscription’s sentiment, according to the researchers who translated it, is
essentially, “I went to Rome and all I got you was this pen.”
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Also found in this excavation, I assume, were t-shirts printed with “I ❤ Pompeii” and moneyboxes in the shape of the Parthenon.
My last cache in the USA before I fly home to the UK this afternoon. Seeing
the lake (which, aside from human intervention in creating a reservoir, fundamentally exists because of a millenia-old fissure along the fault line) really helps put the scale of the
fault into perspective. A delightful walk to the GZ with only a smattering of drizzle plus a chance sighting of a doe and her fawn made
this expedition perfect. If I find myself in this part of the world again, I shall try to hire a bike in order to better explore these trails. TFTC; FP awarded for the assistance in putting this world-famous fault line into perspective.
GPSr started playing up for the last 15m or so but I’d already got a good idea where I was going and soon had the cache in hand. Nice to
see a good-sized container! TFTC.
Took a few minutes to find, a few minutes longer to wait for the muggles to pass, then a few minutes longer still to work out how to retrieve the cache. Got there in the end!
TFTC.
Finding the cache – easy! Getting the log out, though? That was harder. Eventually I resorted to picking up the entire hiding place and shaking it, which worked.
Shame about the litter here. Wish I’d brought CITO gear.
Right, time for me to go back down the trail, find the car, and get ready to fly back to the UK! TFTC!
Even with the hint, I stared for a while before I saw this one. I guess it’s like those magic eye pictures or something. A bird in the tree was not happy that I was stood
around for so long!
Nice camo; needed the hint, but once I’d worked out what I was looking for I spotted it quickly. Drizzle’s coming, guess brining a jacket was the right move after all.
