Cowboys- A Vanishing World

- This book is a collection of photographs taken by photographer Jon Nicholson.

-It is a documentary photograph collection, detailing what life is now like for the real Cowboys in America.

- '' The cowboy remains on of America's enduring legends. Representing freedom, strength and individuality, the cowboy is an icon whose reputation is constantly reinforced in popular culture by the great Western stories and Hollywood films.'' 

The danger however, is with the vastly modernizing culture in America over the past few decades, with Walmarts popping up everywhere and taking away the countryside, their home land is being eroded. Cowboys now also come under conflict from environmentalists who are active in criticizing their ranch methods, forcing some ranches who are unable to obtain permits to break up their land and give up what is usually a family, multigenerational business and way of life.

''These photographs reveal a world undergoing fundamental and irreversible changes and provide a definitive record of the cowboy as this great icon moves into the 21st century.''

-The layout of the book cannot be faulted. There is good use of white space, there is no overcrowding, and the photographs are not obtrusively big and shoved in your face. Text is kept to a minimum and thus when read, intensifies the images.  The images are moving and completely depict the way of life of the Cowboys.

- As a photographer, Nicholson has worked with unicef, has just signed a 3 year contract with McLaren/Olympus to be their official photographer, and has taken photographs around the world in places such as Texas, India, Cornwall, Liberia, Ethiopia and the  Falkland Islands. He  has also published many books, as well as exhibitions around the world, including portrait books of Linford Christie and Damon Hill.

-If you want to see more of his work, go HERE

The broons

- The Broons is something I grew up with.

- For those who aren't from Scotland, or haven't witnessed the thick scottish accent you can find when you are walking around Glasgow and the rest, you might not like this quite as much as the type of colloquial humour is pretty localised  to Scottish people. But, these books are so much fun. It is a very different type of graphic illustration due to the language, but the basic structure is fairly standard. 

- The books are based on a large Scottish family, and focuses on things such as Christmas and other Holidays... poking fun at what happens with most families. 

-It is really spot on to the language and humour that surrounds the Scots, and my family are big fans of these books. 

- If you want a bit of light hearted fun and a giggle... as you do find yourself laughing out loud to some of this stuff...then have a read. 

royksopp-remind me

- One of the best things about this music video is its originality. It is unusal and a bit odd- but great to watch. The graphics are seamless and intricate... pretty advanced stuff really.  It pretty much follows a woman through her daily routine, matching it with virtual maps and graphs. It is a new take to a music  video and really is one of the greats.

mosh

- I wouldn't say I was Eminem's biggest fan, but I do really like this video. The illustration is a mix between looking like a computer game and an animated comic. It covers different types of illustration and detailing and is really interesting to watch. The choice of graphics is pretty powerful and you really can't fault this video for skill or execution. 

- It moves between stories and Eminem's life, and his performances smoothly without confusing you too much. There are a few little digs at politics and George Bush thrown in for good measure too. It clearly has been influenced by Emninem himself as the video matches the story behind his lyrics, and mimics his views on politics.

- I think anyone who likes animation or illustration should watch this video as a base for what can be achieved and combined in one 5min46sec piece.

take me on

- This might be a bit of a blast from the past but I love this video (and the song)

-  I am a big fan of illustration, so I love the comic book element to this video. Yes its corny, and a little bit embarrassing, when the comic book hand reaches out and pulls the woman into the story, but the change of human film to illustration between the band members is great.

- I love the sketchy, jumpy quality of the illustrations, and it goes so far beyond the normal comic book style we have seen so often. 

- At the time this video was released, the appreciation of illustration and graphic novel based illustration wasn't really existent to the extent that it is now, which makes it really creative and I think I will go as far to say as it was ahead of its time, even if only by a few years. 

- The song is a classic and so is the video... so watch and enjoy.

A Street Car Named Desire

- Streetcar Named Desire originally was a play written in 1947 by Tennessee Williams.

- The book won the Pulitzer for Drama in 1948.

- It opened on Broadway in December of 1947 and closed in December 1949

- In 1951, a film adaptation was released, starring Marlon Brando, who also starred in the Broadway productions. 

- The film won many awards, including an Academy Award for Vivien Leigh as best actress for the role of Blanche. 

- In 1995 it was made into an opera and was presented by the San Francisco Opera.

- I first read this book when we studied it at 6th form, however it has quickly turned into a book I have read many times. The play covers many themes, including reality vs reality, and the desperation to achieve the American Dream. 

- One of the intelligent things about this play is that you cannot easily take sides of certain characters. They are all complex characters and all have faults. You can see the side of each, yet I think ultimately the empathy you feel for Blanche overrides everything else. 

- What I found suprising was that the play was gripping and had an element of suspense... you always wanted to know what would happen next and what would ultimately happen to the characters. 

- It is a comment on the structure of society in America at the time, and debated wether abandonment of chivalric codes and manners was needed in the desperation to be successful.

- I think people should read the play before seeing the film, as it just isn't the same just watching the film, as more than anything else, large chunks of things get cut out and the ending is different to the play. To be fair though, the film is fantastic. Brando's and Leigh's chemistry and performances are faultless. They endear you, and draw you into the story. 

A Streecar Named Desire may be the book you studied and came to hate thanks to your annoying English teacher, however, if you go back to it...I think you might just change your mind.  

faeryland companion

- Put together by Beatrice Phillpotts, I got this book when I was studying G.C.S.E art and needed some reference images for a project on mythical stories.

- To be perfectly honest I have never sat down and read this book from cover to cover. Instead I have studied the images and artwork shown intensely and as a result have always been interested in the subject. The collection of work in this book is beautiful and varied... from basic illustration and sketches, to photography, to traditional art work.  

- The composition of this book is fairly jumbled and sometimes a bit visually confusing... it can also detract from some of the images, of which a few aren't really given as much space as they deserve. You get a lot of information and images on each page, which can get a little tiresome to see if you go through the book page by page, and there is a lot of text (probably why I didn't bother reading it all). 

- However, this book is a good reference book and easy to dip into now and again when you want to see a little bit of creativity. 

- I genuinely believe the woman who wrote this book is a little bit mad and totally obsessed with fairies, but there are some great pieces of art in this book.