As any avid shell collector knows, seashells are the hard exoskeletons (external coverngs) of marine molluscs which serve both as their home and their armour. They are the remnants of creatures that have long passed away. As a photographer, my aim in this set of pictures was to try to give seashells a new kind of life and vitality. These are actual photographs, not manipulated digital images. I hope you enjoy viewing each one.
Seagulls can be quite pesky. The loud, harsh sounds they make are no music to the ear. An Encyclopedia Britannica article describes seagulls as “adaptable opportunists” that feed on whatever food they can find. “Some of the larger gulls,” it notes, “prey on the eggs and the young of other birds, including their own kind.” Despite their notoriety, these birds continue to captivate many people with their beauty, resilience and freedom.
The United States Geological Survey ranks the Mississippi River fifth amongst the world’s longest rivers and the second longest in North America. From its source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota through the center of the continental United States to the Gulf of Mexico, its waters flow 2,340 miles (3,766 kms). But more significantly, the Mississippi River brims with history and culture. The following works of art are but a small collection but they tell a story about the great Mississippi. The three quotes are from Mark Twain’s 1883 memoir, ‘Life on the Mississippi’.
If one can admire the beauty of seashells and see in them the grandeur of cathedrals, why can’t one adopt the same attitude towards the female body? As the English artist and poet William Blake wrote in his Proverbs of Hell (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell), “The nakedness of woman is the work of God.” The following photographs of nude women at the beach are stricty for those who can view nudity as art.
A humpback whale shooting up suddenly from the depths of the ocean is something to behold. Not everyone, though, will ever get the chance to witness such a spectacle. I hope that the following works of art would give Marine Café Blog readers the pleasure of seeing whales as artists through the centuries saw them: as beautiful, mysterious and awe-inspiring creatures.
Most men are fascinated with cars. I am fascinated with seashells. Odd as it may sound, they remind me of the grandeur of cathedrals. I find the shell of the nautilus particularly interesting. Its spiral form is simple yet beautiful and elegant. Indeed, it is an architectural marvel as complex and enigmatic as the sea itself.
Anything in excess is bad. It can also be tiresome. So, instead of talking yet again about seafarers’ rights or the sins of the maritime press, I thought I would share some photographs I took recently in the backyard garden of the house where I live.
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was Time’s 2019 Person of the Year. Given the amount of bashing the 17-year-old has had to put up with from adults, she deserves another title: Punching Bag of the Year. Greta has been called more names than Donald J. Trump, Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un combined — or Hitler and Stalin, for that matter.
The personal attacks on Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden, have highlighted the current state of the climate change debate. It is no longer a dialogue or even an argument that people are having. It is a verbal brawl. Those on opposite sides...
Frankie the Sage Cat loves gardens as much as he loves shrimps and tuna. He says gardens help preserve the sanity of cats and humans. Of late, however, he has been spending his afternoons indoors, just sitting quietly or taking long naps. I decided to find out if...
It has been several months since Marine Café Blog last had a chat with Frankie the Philosopher Cat. Although he didn't have his favourite smoked oysters for lunch today, he was not, thankfully, more grumpy than usual. He was lounging about in the garden, looking a bit...
Unlike the ancients, modern man does not see Mother Earth as some kind of goddess like Gaia, the ancestral mother of all life in Greek mythology. He has de-mythicized her, reduced her to an object, a specimen, to be studied by scientists and exploited by corporations...