Angelina Jolie reveal and obsessive myth of female beauty

a perspective:

in reference to Angelina Jolie's article,

in New York Times, May 14, 2013.

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Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie's 
emotionally appealing article 
in New York Times 
has made ripples in mind !!

Her revealing is an appropriate attack..
on the age-old male obsessive concept of 
attraction and beauty for female,(Angelina)
which has been centralized to the organ specific. 

This has been so cruelly established 
in psychology of humans,
as a scale of female beauty
in their sub-conscious mind.

It is this 
organ-obsession..
which has affected all the art forms,
since our earliest period of civilization !!

Look at the stony sculpture
and 
drawings in old caves !!

Even camera has always been an instrument 
of the eye 
in the hands of licentious males. 

When camera is centered to eye 
contrary to the brain, 
it has always materialized 
into foolish and harmful results.

My medical choice, The New York Times.By ANGELINA JOLIE Published: May 14, 2013
share courtesy http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html

A human is not the sub total of his/her organs....
it is something more to it. 

Peelings of an onion is not the onion. 

Peel off all the layers....
smell still remains there,
and that's the essence of of it's existence. 

Likewise..
essence of any human is beyond it's organs.

Actress Angelina Jolie revealed she recently had a preventative double mastectomy and her breasts surgically reconstructed. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

Marcheline Bertrand, mother of Angelina Jolie, passed away from ovarian cancer at 56, following a 10-year battle with the disease. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

Angelina Jolie told her six children they need not fear any longer that their mom will fall victim to the deadly disease. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

Angelina Jolie (center) was all smiles with her mother Marcheline Bertrand (left ) and British actress Jacqueline Bisset at the premiere of her film 'Original Sin' back in 2001. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

Angelina Jolie credits Brad Pitt for being by her side the entire time she underwent procedures. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

Angelina Jolie, seen here with four of her children (Maddox, Zahara, Pax, Shiloh, left to right), is sad her late mom wasn't able to see and hold all of her grandchildren. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

Angelina Jolie's father, actor Jon Voight hugs her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, at the Filmex Film Festival, Los Angeles, California in this undated photo. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

Angelina Jolie opted for the surgeries because she carries a gene that puts her at an 87% risk of developing breast cancer. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

Angelina Jolie, seen here with Brad Pitt, only has a 5% chance of developing the disease following the procedures. share courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com

share courtesy http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html, http://www.nydailynews.com, dainik bhaskar/jpchowksey/16 may 2013.

Scientific visualizations

Connectivity of a Cognitive Computer 

Based on the Macaque Brain

The winning illustration comes out of IBM's initiative to develop computer chips inspired by the organization and function of the brain. This drawing shows a computer simulation of the connectivity of a monkey's brain.

 

X-ray Micro-radiography and Microscopy of Seeds

High-res, high-contrast X-rays provide this fascinating look inside plant seeds.

 

Cerebral Infiltration

This illustration shows the white matter, or connections and pathways, of a human brain with a tumor (the red mass to the left). The blue fibers are located a safe distance from the tumor, but the red are close enough that they could be damaged by its removal

 

Self-Defense

This 3D CT scan shows a living clam and whelk, two organisms evolved to defend themselves with their shells. The clam (left) has a simple hinge design, allowing it to close quickly to fend off attackers. But the smaller whelk (right) is far more complex: Its spiral shape allows the organism to burrow inward for safety. It can also drill through the clam's shell by softening it with chemical secretions, allowing it to make a meal of the larger creature.

 

Biomineral Single Crystals

These are sea urchin teeth. The biomineral crystals found in a sea urchin tooth have evolved to form in unique shapes. The color is added to help you identify each single crystal of calcite. Together, the crystals make each tooth hard enough to grind rock.

#share courtesy: http://www.popularmechanics.com

Last Roll of Kodachrome: Steve McCurry's film exposures from India

Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, was the last lab on the planet to process Kodachrome and stopped developing the iconic film forever. 

When Kodak stopped producing the film, they gave me the last roll. 
When I finished shooting the final frames, I hand-delivered  it to Parsons.

Steve McCurry, recognized universally as one of today's finest image-makers, is best known for his evocative color photography. In the finest documentary tradition, McCurry captures the essence of human struggle and joy.

Here are a few of those last 36 frames.

(post title, pictures and information thankfully shared from Steve McCurry) 

sculpture studio, Mumbai, India, 2010

Amitabh Bacchan, Film, Mumbai, Bombay, India, 2010

Tribesman, Rajasthan, India, 2010

Nandita Das, Film, Mumbai, Bombay, India, 2010

Shenaz Treasurywala, Film, Mumbai, Bombay, India, 2010

Rabari girl, Rajasthan, India, 2010

Rabari woman, Rajasthan, India, 2010

Rabari woman, Rajasthan, India, 2010

Rabari woman, Rajasthan, India, 2010

Kevin Carter and African famine

Somalia famine killed 260,000 people. The crisis was caused by a severe drought, worsened by conflict between rival groups fighting for power. 

Half of them were children under the age of five. 

The number of deaths was higher than the estimated 220,000 people who died during the 1992 famine.  (bbc.co.uk, 2 may 2013)

Oxfam report says rich donor nations waited until the crisis was in full swing. (http://abcnews.go.com)

It reminds the conscience of a photojournalist Kevin Carter, who covered Sudan in the last African famine of 1992, which cost him his dear life..unfortunately.

Somalia famine in 2010-12 'worst in past 25 years.
Nearly 260,000 people died in parts of Somalia between October 2010 and April 2012, including 133,000 children (Liz Ford guardian.co.uk,  Thursday 2 May 2013 13.29 BST)

A Western official briefed on the new report — the most authoritative to date — told AP that it says 260,000 people died, and that half the victims were 5 and under.(http://abcnews.go.com)

The study covered all of southern and central Somalia,
the areas most affected by famine and food insecurity
between 2010 and 2011. Photograph: Ho/Reuters

A report last year by the aid groups Oxfam and Save the Children found that rich donor nations waited until the crisis was in full swing before donating a substantial amount of money. The report also said aid agencies were slow to respond.(http://abcnews.go.com)

*Kevin Carter (13 September 1960 – 27 July 1994):

In March 1993, while on a trip to Sudan, Carter was preparing to photograph a starving toddler trying to reach a feeding center when a hooded vulture landed nearby. Carter reported taking the picture, because it was his "job title", and leaving. He came under criticism for failing to help the boy, Kong Nyong:

The St. Petersburg Times in Florida said this of Carter: "The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of him suffering, might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene."

Carter's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph

Sold to the New York Times, the photograph first appeared on 26 March 1993 and was carried in many other newspapers around the world. Hundreds of people contacted the Times to ask the fate of the boy. The paper reported that it was unknown whether he had managed to reach the feeding center. In 1994, the photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

Kevin Carter's sensitivity: 

On 27 July 1994 Carter drove to the Braamfontein Spruit river, near the Field and Study Centre, an area where he used to play as a child, and took his own life by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the passenger-side window. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning, aged 33. Portions of Carter's suicide note read: "I am depressed ... without phone ... money for rent ... money for child support ... money for debts ... money!!! ... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners ... I have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky."

*Kevin Carter detail thankfully shared from wikipedia.org

Macro photo with regular lens

Cheap way to take macro shots without spending hundreds on a new lens, call it a 'Reverse Macro Technique' for any DSLR.

#The things we need is a camera with detachable lens, some tiny subjects and a steady hand. 
Avoid dusty, dirty, windy area. One may use suitable filters to protect lens.

#Release lens, flip it around, use hand to hold on to place, move closer to your subjects and amazement is yours.

#In P mode, it will do all the metering work for you.

#In M mode do the experiments with shutter speed.

#High ISO, faster shutter speed, you can avoid 'Motion Blur' in your pictures.

#1/400 shutter speed and ISO 1600 is best recommended take ....

Some of the pictures from Nikon D3000 DSLR with regular 18-55 mm lens are being shared herewith.

tip of a ball pen

book leaves

a bed sheet of fine cotton

antenna of an ant

a house fly on a plant stem

tendril of a creeper plant