In a recent newsitem,
tilted ‘Taking Selfies to new heights’ – Daily Mail reports of a photographer
snapping nauseating photo from 2,722ft on top of the world's tallest building
in Dubai. The British photographer, Gerald
Donovan took a remarkable selfie atop Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest
building. Donovan, 47, captured a
remarkable shot of himself while completing the Dubai 360 project, which allows
anyone anywhere in the world to take an interactive tour of the city. 'I'm not
usually one for selfies, in fact, I think this could well be the very first one
I've ever shared,' he said. Cheltenham-born
Donovan, who has been based in the United Arab Emirates for seven years, used a
special panoramic camera controlled by an iPhone app to take his selfie at
2,722 feet. The timelapse is just a
single component of a city-wide interactive tour of still photography, video, and
timelapses - all presented in fully interactive 360 degree views.
Selfie may
be the newfound addiction of people, taking photos of Self and posting them on
Social network …… perhaps it not entirely new – as centuries ago, there existed
the practice of portraits (equivalent to photographs of the modern day) and
‘Self-portrait’ – the equivalent to ‘Selfie’ !!
Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853
– 1890) was a Post-Impressionist painter of Dutch origin whose work, notable
for its rough beauty, emotional honesty, and bold color. After years of
painful anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness, the much acclaimed
painter of now, died aged 37 from a gunshot wound, generally accepted to be
self-inflicted. He began to draw as a child, and he continued to draw throughout
the years that led up to his decision to become an artist. In just over a
decade, he produced more than 2,100 artworks, consisting of 860 oil paintings
and more than 1,300 watercolours, drawings, sketches, and prints. His work
included self portraits, landscapes, still lifes, portraits as well as
paintings of cypresses, wheat fields and sunflowers.
In 1885, he painted his
first major work, entitled The Potato Eaters. His palette at the time consisted
mainly of somber earth tones and showed no sign of the vivid coloration that
distinguished his later work. In March 1886, he moved to Paris and discovered
the French Impressionists. The extent to
which his mental health affected his painting has been a subject of speculation
since his death. The precise chain of
events that led to the celebrated incident of van Gogh slicing off his ear is
not known reliably in detail. In one evening of Dec 1988, Van Gogh severed his
left ear (either wholly or in part; accounts differ) with a razor, inducing a
severe haemorrhage. By some accounts, he
bandaged his wound, wrapped the ear in paper, and delivered the package to a
brothel frequented.
The
self-portrait [a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or
sculpted by the artist] shows the artist in three-quarter profile
standing in a room in the Yellow House wearing a closed coat and a fur cap. His
right ear is bandaged. It was in fact his left ear that was bandaged, the
painting being a mirror image. Van Gogh shows the bandage on his mutilated ear
like a saint displaying the stigmata; the act of self-mutilation changed Van
Gogh.
Photo credit : smarthistory.khanacademy.org
Getting
back, Jeffrey Howard Archer’s novel revolves around this artwork ‘bandaged ear’
– the central characters being the rich but cruel Bryce Fenston, his aid with
criminal past Leapman, art expert Anna Petrescu, Jack Delaney, besides Japanese business magnate and English
countess who owns the portrait and whose estate is sinking in debts.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
24th Nov. 2014.
