Category Archives: collections

02 Nov
Bodie Ghost Town.

Bodie Ghost Town.

Bodie is now a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California – about 75 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe.

In 1876, a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore was discovered, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp comprising a few prospectors and company employees to a Wild West boomtown.

Rich discoveries in the adjacent Bodie Mine during 1878 attracted even more hopeful people. By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 5000–7000 people and around 2,000 buildings. Bodie had a Chinatown, the main street of which ran at a right angle to Bodie’s Main Street, with several hundred Chinese residents at one point, and included a Taoist temple. Opium dens were plentiful in this area. Over the years, Bodie’s mines produced gold valued at nearly US$34 million.

The first signs of an official decline occurred in 1912 with the printing of the last Bodie newspaper, The Bodie Miner. In 1913, the Standard Consolidated Mine closed. Mining profits in 1914 were at an all time low of $6,821.

Bodie is now an authentic Wild West ghost town. The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 it became Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remain, and Bodie has been named California’s official state gold rush ghost town.

Bodie Ghost Town. Bodie is now a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California – about 75 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe. In 1876, a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore was discovered, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp comprising a few prospectors and

08 Oct
No Heart, No Brain.

No Heart, No Brain.

Thought to have been around for over 650 million years, these primitive evolutionary survivors can range from the size of a pin head, to over 8ft in diameter with tentacles stretching out for up to 50 meters. Comprised of 95% water, Jellys have no need for respiratory or circulatory systems. They have no blood, no hearts, no bones, no eyes or brains, and do not posses a central nervous system like that of more complex lifeforms.

These ancient asexual marine creatures can be found drifting the ocean currents or using their bell shaped medusa heads to move through the worlds seas. Jellys manage to kill more people per year than Sharks, and one particular species of Jelly is said to be immortal, possessing the ability to revert back to its infant state after mating and reaching sexual maturity.

Jellyfish also provide us with somewhat of an evolutionary enigma. Given the complexity of the jellyfish’s anatomy and hunting techniques, it’s hard to imagine how “developmental” species could have survived while a non-jellyfish was evolving into a “modern” jellyfish.

Each of the jellyfish’s special features, from the sacs that keep it swimming upright to the sensory organs that alert it to passing prey and the nematocysts, critical for stunning or killing that prey – is vital for its survival. So, logically, any phase that did not have these features fully developed would have led to extinction fairly quickly. The only alternative, then, is that jellyfish must have always been jellyfish.

Either way these are truly fascinating creatures and give us a beautifully surreal glimpse back in time on life’s evolutionary journey.

No Heart, No Brain. Thought to have been around for over 650 million years, these primitive evolutionary survivors can range from the size of a pin head, to over 8ft in diameter with tentacles stretching out for up to 50 meters. Comprised of 95% water, Jellys have no need for respiratory or circulatory systems. They

05 Feb
Borneo – Indonesia

Borneo Indonesia

Orangutans are a species of great ape found only in South East Asia on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The gentle red ape demonstrates significant intelligence, with an ability to reason and think and is one of our closest relatives, sharing 97% of the same DNA as humans. Indigenous peoples of Indonesia and Malaysia call this ape Orang Hutan literally translating into English as People of the Forest.

Borneo Indonesia Orangutans are a species of great ape found only in South East Asia on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The gentle red ape demonstrates significant intelligence, with an ability to reason and think and is one of our closest relatives, sharing 97% of the same DNA as humans. Indigenous peoples of Indonesia

02 Feb
Land of the Gauchos

Land of the Gauchos

The term gaucho comes from the word ‘huacho’ meaning ‘orphan’ or ‘vagabond’. It was coined in the 18th century to refer to the errant horsemen of the pampa – the Argentine plain – who were often (but not always) wandering vagrants and petty thieves. During the Argentine wars of Independence these men were enlisted to fight the Spanish, and gaucho came to mean the militia horsemen who fought and died for their land.

At that time and through many centuries, cow leather was one of most traded goods between the old world and the colonies. The main importance of cattle was not the meat but rather the leather obtained from it. Since the commercial value of a cow was narrowed to such item once slaughtered, cows posed no interest except for gauchos who would use as much of it as possible feeding themselves.

They would quickly cook the meat in an open fire before it turned bad. This habit of gauchos was considered rather unwelcomed and unhealthy and added a further negative note to their already low reputation. Eventually, after many many decades, the habit of grilling meat ‘the gaucho way’ in an open fire turned into a national pastime: cooking asado.

Land of the Gauchos The term gaucho comes from the word ‘huacho’ meaning ‘orphan’ or ‘vagabond’. It was coined in the 18th century to refer to the errant horsemen of the pampa – the Argentine plain – who were often (but not always) wandering vagrants and petty thieves. During the Argentine wars of Independence these men were enlisted

02 Feb
Jawa (Java)

Jawa(Java)

Indonesia

Java is the most populous island in Indonesia providing many contrasts of scenery, people, religions and cultures. With 120 million people crammed into an area half the size of Great Britain, Java is THE most densely populated island in the world.

Java lies between Sumatra to the west and Bali to the east. Borneo lies to the north and Christmas Island to the south. Java is the world’s 13th largest island.

The island boasts immense beauty, from peaceful villages and a beautiful, fertile countryside to smoking volcanoes and ancient monuments. However there is also an unattractive side visible in its dirty, overcrowded cities, particularly the capital of Jakarta, clogged with traffic and pollution, with evident differences in wealth and wretched poverty between the people. Java is a mosaic of sights and impressions. It is also Indonesia’s political stage and the cultural, educational and historical centre of the archipelago.

Camera: Canon G9

Jawa(Java) Indonesia Java is the most populous island in Indonesia providing many contrasts of scenery, people, religions and cultures. With 120 million people crammed into an area half the size of Great Britain, Java is THE most densely populated island in the world. Java lies between Sumatra to the west and Bali to the east. Borneo lies to the north and Christmas Island to

02 Feb
Vida Na Favela

VidaNaFavela

Rio de Janiro, Brazil

A ‘fevela’ is the generally accepted term for a shanty town in Brazil. Its approximated that almost 1.3 million people live in the approximately 750 favelas in Rio de Janeiro.

The favelas are ultimately run and ruled by the barons of Brazil, and each establish a strict regime within their grounds. No one may rob or kill anyone else within the favela without facing severe punishment. Degenerative drugs like crack and heroin typically aren’t allowed in though cocaine and marijuana is readily available. Most of the warfare in the favelas takes place against the military police who are always making surprise raids. The people in the favelas let off fireworks when the military police are making a raid and you soon learn to distinguish the sound of fire crackers from the gun shots that often follow soon afterwards.

But all this being said, the inhabitants of the favelas are hard working people who have chosen to be part of a city that does not offer opportunities for everyone. What makes the favelas so unique for Rio is their location on the steep hillsides. Here the extremely poor live on the hillside with the scenic views while the rich live along the bottom where conditions are less than favorable. Not only is the direct opposite of city development around the world, but it creates a dramatic contrast between the rich and the poor by putting the two directly next to one another. This is one of the advantages to living in this type of favela.

The rich provide many of the jobs, in way of services, that help sustain the the livelihood of the faveladors. Many of the rich rely on the cheap labor and service jobs that the faveladors supply, but this does not quell the criticism and negative image that they evoke.

Camera: Canon G9

VidaNaFavela Rio de Janiro, Brazil A ‘fevela’ is the generally accepted term for a shanty town in Brazil. Its approximated that almost 1.3 million people live in the approximately 750 favelas in Rio de Janeiro. The favelas are ultimately run and ruled by the barons of Brazil, and each establish a strict regime within their

02 Feb
Mujeres Bolivianas

MujeresBolivianas

La Paz, Bolivia

In January 2010, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales began his second term by appointing a new cabinet in which women are equally represented for the first time. Morales, Bolivia’s first president from the nation’s long-oppressed indigenous majority, is leading a revolutionary process of transformation.

However, despite such progressive reforms, many of Bolivia’s poorest women remain ignorant of and excluded from their country’s laws and policies. Limited access to basic education, health care and human and civil rights awareness continues to damage women’s lives and prevent them from playing a full, active part within their families, their community and their country.

In addition, a powerful combination of tradition and deeply entrenched cultural concepts, particularly that of machismo, restricts social change and hinders women’s ability to fully participate in, and benefit from, their country’s gradual economic and political development. Bolivian men continue to receive more and better, education, health care and higher incomes when employed. Bolivian women, particularly indigenous women, are subject to a patriarchal culture which promotes humiliation and domestic servitude and sees all too many women suffer as victims of widespread domestic violence.

Bolivian women also face significant discrimination and inequality in terms of employment. Of those women who can find work, they generally earn half the income of a man employed in the same position and with the same education.

But with the help of Morales new transformation of the country, the women of Bolivia are proving that women can fight and win for their rights as women and for a radically new type of society based on equality and self-determination by the people.

Camera: Canon G9

MujeresBolivianas La Paz, Bolivia In January 2010, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales began his second term by appointing a new cabinet in which women are equally represented for the first time. Morales, Bolivia’s first president from the nation’s long-oppressed indigenous majority, is leading a revolutionary process of transformation. However, despite such progressive reforms, many of Bolivia’s

02 Feb
Fiberglass Salvation

FiberglassSalvation

Tierra Santa, Buenos Aires

Parque Tierra Santa was built in 2000 as the world’s first religiously themed amusement park. Amid controversy and spectacle the sets were designed, the costumes sewn and the vaguely middle-eastern theme music composed. Tierra Santa, literally Holy Land, is now a tourist attraction drawing the religiously pious and the cynically intrigued alike. Boasting all manner of family friendly attractions the park has a variety of shows, live performances, restaurants, shopping and the unavoidable half-hourly resurrection of an 18 meter Christ accompanied by recorded Latin choir singing.

The parks attractions are divided into thirty-seven of the main events as told in The Bible. Most of these focus on the life of Jesus, but there are a few introductory phenomenons, such as The creation and Moses freeing the slaves. Continue through the park and you can admire the various highlights, and the admittedly low points, in Jesus’ life: Jesus pardoning the prostitutes, Jesus healing the sick, the Last Supper. There are also statues and exhibits for some of Christianity’s more modern popular figures, such as Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II. In an effort at religious freedom the park also has a small Temple and a Mosque, which briefly introduce the two other main Western religions.

From the moment you arrive, having bought your ticket from a women wearing a modest head scarf and surrounded by plaster donkeys and oxen, you are constantly inwardly asking yourself: “Is this place for real?” The answer, while a bit outrageous and totally surreal, is a resounding yes.

Camera: Canon G9

FiberglassSalvation Tierra Santa, Buenos Aires Parque Tierra Santa was built in 2000 as the world’s first religiously themed amusement park. Amid controversy and spectacle the sets were designed, the costumes sewn and the vaguely middle-eastern theme music composed. Tierra Santa, literally Holy Land, is now a tourist attraction drawing the religiously pious and the cynically intrigued

27 Jan
Amazonia (Iquitos)

Amazonia

Iquitos, Peru

Nearly 2,000 miles up-river from the mouth of the Amazon lies the jungle-locked city of Iquitos. Accessible only by boat or plane, Iquitos holds the title of being the world’s largest city that cannot be reached by road.

Iquitos was known for its rubber industry through the rubber boom of the first decade of the 20th century; it attracted thousands of immigrants from around the world, mostly young, single men who hoped to make their fortunes in rubber. The rise of the automobile and related industries had dramatically increased the worldwide demand for rubber. Some men became merchants and bankers, and made their fortunes that way. Many of the European men married indigenous women and stayed in Peru the rest of their lives, founding ethnically mixed families. The immigrants brought European clothing styles, music and other cultural elements to Iquitos.

The wealthiest Europeans built great mansions in the late 19th century, some of which survive. Casa de Fierro (Spanish for the Iron House) was designed by Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower.

After rubber seeds were smuggled out of the country and began to be cultivated in quantity elsewhere, the Peruvian boom came to an end. The city is still an important trading port in the Amazon basin.

Camera: Canon G9

Amazonia Iquitos, Peru Nearly 2,000 miles up-river from the mouth of the Amazon lies the jungle-locked city of Iquitos. Accessible only by boat or plane, Iquitos holds the title of being the world’s largest city that cannot be reached by road. Iquitos was known for its rubber industry through the rubber boom of the first decade