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« November 2011 | Main | January 2012 »
Despite numerous claims to the contrary, nobody knows what the new year will bring.
I'm hoping yours is sparkling with verve and fizz. Here's to you, my friends! Happy new year!
Photos: Signs hanging in the French quarter, New Orleans and light trails from a staircase at Antoine's shot through glass.
My daughter Jordana, pictured in May making cake balls for her grandfather's 80th-birthday.
Please indulge a little sentimentality as I wish a very Happy birthday to my wonderful daughter! I couldn't be more proud of her.
This is also the day David and I signed the final documents for the house we're buying just north of Amsterdam! All being well, we will move on January 26th.
Later in the year, Jordana will spend her vacation time with us in the Netherlands. I suspect we'll also take a quick jaunt to Paris (where Jordana graduated high school).
Happy days! We are truly fortunate.
In 2009, I took the above photograph in my Paris apartment, using my Sony A900. I posted the photograph on my blog Paris Parfait. But the image you see on today's post didn't come from my photo files; instead I downloaded it from Pinterest.
How did it get there? Someone "pinned" it, giving another photographer credit. That photographer is Lara Rossignol, who happens to be a brilliant photographer and author of the lovely blog Piewacket. Lara owns a pink Royal typewriter exactly like this one. But she didn't take the photo; I did (and Lara has no direct role in this comedy of errors). Yet on Pinterest, the photo source is listed as "From Google.com" and the credit given to "Lara Rossignol."
This is just one example of erroneous photo credit on Pinterest.com. In a Pinterest search I found hundreds of my photos displayed under Paris Parfait and Tara Bradford. I don't have time to check every photograph; a quick run-through suggests most images have proper photo credit listed. But I noticed a few "pinners" list Google as the source and no direct attribution is provided. Obviously, Google is not a photographer and doesn't take photographs (other than for Google Maps).
Some people argue that having one's photos used on Pinterest is good publicity. Maybe, but only if proper photo accreditation is provided. I found several Pinterest examples where another photographer's work is listed under my name! For instance, photographs from the divine Fifi O'Neill's book Romantic Prairie Style - used in my blog piece, with permission - are wrongly listed on Pinterest as mine. Instead, they should be credited to Mark Lohman, who took all the photographs in Fifi's book.
To report a copyright violation, Pinterest requires filling out a separate form for every single image wrongly attributed or falsely credited. This seems like a lot of paperwork (and time) to safeguard images already protected by copyright law. It's no wonder many photographers are dismayed by having to track their images on Pinterest.
So all you lovely people who see online images that interest you, if you want to use them, make sure you 1) ask permission and 2) give the photographer proper credit.
Please do not "pin" my photographs on Pinterest! I would never use your work without giving you credit; please show the same respect for mine.
In two extreme cases, I applied for a Google takedown notice. After finding my photographs used without permission or without credit, I emailed the sites in question, politely asking that the photos be removed. The site owners ignored several requests, so I issued takedown notices. They were forced to delete my images.
Read more about copyright protection:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation: Teaching Copyright
Sheep in a deer park, the Netherlands.
Politicians seem to expect us to follow along like sheep, even as they violate the US Constitution's Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process. If you're an American, please take a few moments to read about the US Congress's latest attempts to rob us of our civil liberties and human rights. Even the Bush-Cheney administration, with all its failures, never dared to impose such Draconian measures on American citizens. President Obama's decision not to veto this bill is an outrage!
"Congress is essentially authorising the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens, without charge. We are not a nation that locks up its citizens without charge." - Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Laura Murphy of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said President Obama “should more carefully consider the consequences of allowing this bill to become law.”
“If President Obama signs this bill, it will damage both his legacy and America’s reputation for upholding the rule of law,” Murphy said in a statement. “The last time Congress passed indefinite detention legislation was during the McCarthy era and President Truman had the courage to veto that bill. We hope that the president will consider the long view of history before codifying indefinite detention without charge or trial.”
Read Glenn Greenwald's excellent assessment of the bill and how it affects our rights in Salon.
Sign of the times.
Suspicion.
What, no guards? This boy turned his bike around and rode in circles, apparently looking for a gatekeeper.
Echoes of uncertainty:
Human rights abuses in the Middle East
Every newspaper or news bulletin is rife with similar reports of upheaval and turmoil. So how do we counter the constant flow of negativity and alarm??!!
I think we have to remember who we are and embrace our strengths, no matter what difficult challenges we may face.
On the side of the angels, we have children hungry for knowledge...
Inquiring minds and faith that better days are ahead...
Enduring beliefs, even when exiled from one's homeland...
Songs of peace that can't be silenced...
Comforting rituals of devotion...
Flickering flames of hope.
Prayers sent spinning into the universe.
...community efforts that make a difference.
Let's light a thousand candles...
...and then a thousand more...that the best and the brightest of human endeavours always will prevail.
All photos taken in Bhaktapur, Bungamati and Kathmandu, Nepal in November, 2010.
Rossetti's Collected Works, Volumes I and II, 1870, from my private collection. The books were featured in The Cult of Beauty Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900 exhibition earlier this year at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. I purchased them from Liberty's 2011 Annual Arts & Crafts Selling Exhibition in London. I am mad about Arts & Crafts design and am lucky to own a few original pieces.
A page scanned from Stephen Calloway's book The Cult of Beauty, which accompanied the V&A exhibition. The poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti's books are blocked in gold on blue-green publishers' cloth (pictured upper left). Algernon Swinburne's 1873 Songs before Sunrise (upper right) was also designed by Rossetti. Love Is Enough was written and designed by William Morris in 1873 (bottom left). Architect Philip Webb designed Morris's book Volsunga Saga: The Story of the Volsungs and Niblungs, published in 1870 (bottom right).
These books were featured in Liberty's 2011 Arts & Crafts Selling Exhibition. The book at right - The Roots of the Mountains - was written by William Morris and is extremely rare. It is a first limited edition of 250 copies, printed on Whatman paper and bound in original Merton Abbey block-printed linen “Honeysuckle” designed by William Morris. The book is inscribed ‘with love,’ possibly by Morris. It was printed at the Chiswick Press and published by Reeves & Turner, London, 1890. The book was also exhibited at the 1890 Arts & Crafts Exhibition.
Liberty's Arts & Crafts Yuletide Selling Exhibition is currently underway on the 4th floor through Saturday, December 24th.
The Guardian has a fascinating article about making beautiful books in an era of e-books. When traveling, I read books via Kindle. But in my home, an electronic device never will replace actual books.
I have an antique iron book press from Scotland. Every time I glance at it, I am reminded of the care and attention with which so many beautiful books once were made by hand. It's a part of history I'd like to help preserve.
