Shadows

Me gustó cómo ha quedado esta foto. Es un efecto curioso, casi parece que el árbol encajaría perfectamente sobre la sombrilla si se pudieran superponer. ¿Qué os parece?

Love me

I work close to a Tourism Office that has an inner park where I sometimes go and sunbathe and relax at lunch time. But last week I saw there was a photo exhibit inside whose title drew my attention: “Love me”

So I went in and soon found it was a photographic reflection about our current beauty ideals and how people act or respond to them. The photographer Zed Nelson mainly shows to which extent some people go far beyond common sense in order to fit into them. Here we go with some of the pictures.

Belkis Estrella Maldonado is 31 and prisoner at Talavera Bruce maximum security women's prison (Rio, Brazil). She won the prison's annual beauty contest where the most beautiful prisoner is crowned "Miss Penitenciária". As a prize, she received a 14-inch colour TV, an electric fan and cosmetics.

Over-muscled man. Take a look at those upper legs and rear neck muscles...I thought this man was the black version of that TV-series main character ‘The incredible Hulk’, a man-monster that really scared me when I was small (click here if you wish to have a look at the green monster! ).

The following picture was just shocking. When I saw it I first thought it was the X-ray of a Chinese woman foot (following the tradition of binding little girls' feet in order to become small-feet adult women, a practice that results in painful, twist-shaped feet). But, to my greatest astonishment, the X-ray belongs to another "deformation": read the picture's legend, there's nothing else to add.   

"I've had three toes shortened - a portion of bone removed between the joints and fixed together with metal rods. I like to wear Jimmy Choo's, three-inch heels (7,5 cm) with a pointy toe."Foot X-ray. Toe reduction surgery. Kristina Widmer, 36 - New York, USA

Beauty Westernisation

Zed Nelson is quite critical about these beauty models. I agree particularly with his reflections about beauty globalization:  

"I travel a lot, and I had noticed that not only were places beginning to look the same, but people were beginning to look more similar too. Globalization hasn’t just given us Starbucks in Beijing and shopping malls in Africa, it is also creating an eerily homogenized look. I am fascinated and appalled at the commercially-driven export of ideas.
The modern Western beauty ideal has been sold to us, the modern Caucasian beauty ideal is now being packaged and exported globally as a crude universal brand.  Just as surgical operations to “Westernise” oriental eyes have become increasingly popular, so the beauty standard has become increasingly prescriptive. In Africa the use of skin-lightening and hair-straightening products is widespread. In South America women have operations that bring them eerily close to the Barbie doll ideal, and blonde-haired models appear on the cover of most magazines.

‘Westernising’ the human body has become a new form of globalization, and the homogeneization of appearance has made ‘Beauty’ into a crude universal brand.
As we align our sense of self-worth with self-image, the psychological and emotional consequences are tortuous".

Do you want to see more of Zed Nelson's work? Then visit his interesting webpage.

Did you like this article? Then leave me a comment!

Claude the Red Crab

The company I work for recently planned to exhibit at a congress so I went there to set up the stand and I took the chance to walk around and see what other exhibitors had to offer. Among all those beach apparel giveaways I couldn't help but falling for this sweet, red teddy-crab that was looking at me behind the counter from where a nice boy took it and handed to me. I asked politely if I could keep it and was answered by a smile.

As means of introduction, my new friend had a hanging label explaining the following story:

"Claude is a Redshank or hurricane crab, named after an old Cayman superstition. Locals say the mass arrival of Claude and friends is an indicator of an active hurricane season. At the season's onset, these crabs can be found covering roads throughout the islands."

Interesting! Was that true? First I needed to have a look where exactly the Cayman Islands are, and once found I thought in this order 1) its shape doesn't really look like a caiman, and 2) this place looks like a good holiday destination for this summer.

But back to the red crabs, it is widely believed by the Caymanians that when these creatures start migrating from see to inland, the hurricane season is approaching. And the bigger amount of crabs, the harder will be the hurricane season.

It seems that the beginning of their migration is related to tides, and tides are related to hurricanes, so the superstition might be right (read here a bit more about it)...traditional wisdom...

In any case the pictures are impressive, this natural phenomenon could be the central plot to a horror film, don't you think so?

Esto no sé qué es

Si le encuentras título me lo dices

Cinco años

Hace unos días se cumplieron cinco años desde que empecé este blog.  Aunque publico por medio de un teclado, la mayor parte de lo que podéis leer arranca en papeles escritos con mi mano izquierda, borradores de historias que duermen en el fondo de bolsos dispares.

Así que ahí os dejo a la creadora. Precisamente sobre el lado izquierdo, que recoge las chispas del hemisferio derecho, llevo tiempo preparando un post. Pero eso será otro día, ahora...¡felicidades!

Oxímoron gráfico

Oxímoron

Combinación en una misma estructura sintáctica de dos palabras o expresiones de significado opuesto, que originan un nuevo sentido; p. ej., un silencio atronador.

Instrucciones de uso para una burbuja de jabón (@otramaria)

Dibuje un círculo en el pavimento.

Agáchese hasta ras de suelo y sople el círculo.

Píntelo de diferentes colores.

Échele un poco de agua enjabonada.

Cierre los ojos y siga soplando. Tenga fe.

Busque a un niño, pídale que cierre los ojos y que sople con usted. 

Tienen que empezar a ver crecer una burbuja.

Si esta crece muy poco a poco y sin energía, tenga más fe. Y llame a otro niño, o a los que hagan falta.

Soplen todos más fuerte y al mismo tiempo. Háganlo con los ojos cerrados. La burbuja tiene que haberse levantado ya del suelo. 

Con la ayuda de sus manos, haga aspavientos por debajo de la burbuja para que esta suba más y más. Los padres de los niños a los que pidió ayuda le mirarán como a un tarado. No se preocupe.

Corretee detrás de ella y mírela maravillado. 

Permítale que siga su viaje hacia el cielo y alégrese por haberla conocido.