Posts Tagged ‘ Italy ’
Ilya Blinov is an incredibly talented photographer based in Russia. From fashion, portraits, beauty, and commercials he has been working as fashion stylist for about 10 years in Milan, Italy and Moscow, Russia. This former tutor of Fashion Styling courses at British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow, he works to find a delicate beauty and vivid expressions. You can see much more of his work here.
In Germany, the German-Italian beauty Sarah Valentina Winkhaus has become well known to sports fans since she started hosting for the sports channel “Sky Sport News HD”. In her second home, Italy, people have known her for a while. There, she has been hosting for Sky Italia as Formula-1-presenter, corresponding directly from the race track.
Sarah however doesn’t only love fast cars and race tracks, she also has a huge passion for soccer and has admitted to having a hard time choosing which team to cheer for, Germany or Italy since both countries are considered her home.
In the summer months, the rolling lavender fields of Provence teem with bright purple blooms as far as the eye can see.
This tiny island is stacked with charming candy-colored homes set against the brilliant blue backdrop of the Mediterranean.
Also referred to as “the river of five colors,” this biological wonder turns a striking red color every fall thanks to a flourishing, rare plant species.
This bubblegum-colored lake gets it’s otherworldy hue from a human-friendly bacteria that thrives in the salty waters.
Throughout spring’s prime months, the immaculately manicured tulip, daffodil and hyacinth fields of Holland bloom into a stunning and precise array of colors.
This wonder of the world is home to more than 400 coral species, 500 seaweed species and 1,500 fish species–and it’s got the color palette to prove it.
The sprawling farmlands of this dramatic, mountainous county in Eastern China become a “golden sea” when canola blooms are in season.
This World Heritage Site, set against the wilderness of the Himalayas, is covered in vibrant flowers. Add in a sunset and this view takes the cake.
In springtime, the fields at the base of Mount Fuji errupt with hundreds of thousands of moss blooms, or “shibazakura”, in varying shades of pink.
Davide Morettini is an Italian Illustrator from Recanati, Italy. His focus is on illustrations, fine arts and painting. You can check them out on his page http://www.davidemorettini.com (Original work and copyright with him).
Alessia – Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Try to remember your favorite toy ever- can you do it? Imagine if you had a photo to help jog your memory; you hugging your favorite teddy or a screenshot of you playing your favorite video game. What a concept right? Time flies and growing up can kind of suck, but childhood memories definitely make adulthood a bit easier. Whether it is remembering that time the first Barbie set you got or the stuffed bunny that your Grandma gave you that you slept with for longer than you would like to admit, childhood toys played a pretty integral part of memories that we hold onto so dearly.
Julia – Tirana, Albania
A photographer from Italy, Gabriele Galimberti came up with a super innovative came up with an idea to help capture those precious moments. Galimberti built a collection of photographs with children and their most prized possessions. Spending 18 months traveling the world and meeting children all over; Toy Stories is a remarkable collection.
Keynor – Cahuita, Costa Rica
Probably one of the coolest aspects of this photographic compilation is seeing what contrast exists between children in different countries. The economic standing of the country is evident in the amount of toys a child may show or the type or quality of their chosen possession.
Tangawizi – Keekorok, Kenya
Marco Sodano, an artist based in Milano, Italy, recreated Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, The Lady With the Ermine, and the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer using only LEGO bricks. The perfect mixture of colors used by the artist makes these famous masterpieces easily recognizable.
Fusing millimeter-thick slices of genuine slate with premium birch wood, portland-based Shwood Eyewear have developed their hand crafted limited edition hand-crafted ‘stone collection’. Hand-poured pewter inlays complete the look, creating the perfect balance between rugged and rugged, continuing to reflect on the companies experimental manufacturing approach with nature. The frames incorporate 100% UVA/UVB protection with carl zeiss lenses imported from Italy, and comes packaged with a custom felt pouch with an embroidered leather patch.
Milan-based architectural practice Studio Fabio Novembre have completed the Triennale Design Museum project. Completed in 2012 the stunning building can be found in Milan, Italy. According to the architects: “Protecting the arts and sciences in our times is no mean feat, so for this fifth edition of the Triennale Design Museum it has taken plenty of human endeavour alongside the intervention of the Muses.” In agreement with the curators, the director originally opted for an authentic mythological figure to do the interior design of the spaces for this edition, Enzo Mari, who was forced to decline due to an indisposition, leaving it up to yours truly to take on this Herculean task. It involved exhibiting something absolutely new compared to previous editions, a selection of carefully chosen items confirming the theory that there is only one Italian school of graphics, even though it has no proper structure, hardly surprising since the same could be said about everything connected with our dear old unpredictable country.
Photographer from Roma, Italy, Erica Fava is young and talented. Even though she didn’t major in photography, starting her studies in webmastering, she stopped to make it into her passion, photos. She quickly started working with designers, stylists and magazines all over the world, and was featured into a couple of exhibits in Italy.
In the village of Oslob in Philippines this video was able to film an amazing and unique underwater project to be the world’s first whale shark fashion shoot. They used a GoPro HD HERO3 Black Edition and HERO2 camera to film the base jumping and the underwater shoot as well. The base jumping was filmed in many beautiful locations like Switzerland,Italy, and China.
These beautiful art photos of Italy. Teacher from Treviso, known as Giuseppe Desideri will show you his native land by a very unusual angle. Mysteriously, sometimes looks like they are in the middle ages.
The cool, clean, minimalist interior of the brand-new 100 square-meter retail store, the HITGallery, in the Times Square shopping center in Hong Kong. The elegantly retro store, designed by the talented Milan-based architect and designer, Fabio Novembre, is the first iteration of a new global multi-brand retail concept of the Pettoranello-based fashion house, Ittierre S.p.A. Ittierre holds the licenses, manufacturers and markets several brands, including Aquascutum, C’n’C Costume National, Galliano, GF Ferré, Fiorucci, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Pierre Balmain and Tommy Hilfiger Collection. The latest brand to sign with Ittierre is Jean Paul Gaultier, with his men’s collection launching in Fall/Winter 2013-14.
The HITGallery boutiques, slated to open around the globe, features several, if not all, of the lines Ittiere represents. The next store in line will be the Milan flagship but in the meanwhile, Ittierre has just opened a 1,000-square-meter temporary store, IT’S 30 MANZONI, at Palazzo Scotti Gallarati in Milan’s luxury neighborhood. In a media release, Fabio Novembre is quoted as saying that The HITGallery stores capture the essence and spirit of Italy by, for example, taking inspiration from the surreal atmospheres of the artist Giorgio De Chirico.
Check out Nic Fiddian-Green’s heart-stopping sculpture at Castello Di Reschio in Umbria, Italy. Fiddian-Green was at Reschio, working on a commission for the owner, Count Antonio Bolza. And, of course, the subject matter of his massive sculpture was the horse, in this case Count Antonio’s favorite stallion, Punto, born and bred at Reschio.
Ever since he saw a fifth-century B.C. carving of the head of a horse of Selene from the Parthenon at the British Museum he has worked at perfecting the form of the horse’s head, as well as mastering the ancient ‘lost wax’ technique. He works in clay, plaster, beaten lead and marble, and he oversees the casting into bronze himself. Fiddian-Green’s colossal, classically inspired equine heads are exhibited around the world in prominent locations, including ‘Still water ‘, the 30-foot head of a drinking horse right next to the Marble Arch in London.
Esther Stocker, born 1974 in Silandro, Italy, graduated in 1999 from the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. Stocker’s work oscillates between the exactitudes of formal minimalism and the ambiguities of abstraction. She builds deviations, optical breaks and hurdles, which simultaneously open-up and withhold the complex systems inherent in her thoroughly architectural forms.
Italy’s first private high-speed train, launched by Ferrari head Luca di Montezemolo’s company NTV and boasting sleek interiors and a cinema carriage, made its inaugural journey on Friday. The dark-red 200-meter (656 foot) bullet-shaped train — named “Italo” — set out from Rome’s Termini station, taking just over an hour to reach Naples. “Italo has arrived, the competition has kicked off… bringing real advantages to all those who travel,” NTV told its first passengers as they admired interiors styled by celebrated design house Italdesign Giugiaro. The trains have gold edging, panoramic windows, leather seats and wider carriages than the classic French TGV trains. They offer three different coach classes and travel at a top speed of 360 kilometers (224 miles) per hour.
France’s national rail company SNCF owns a 20-percent stake in NTV, which is led by a group of Italian businessmen including Montezemolo, NTV’s president, and Diego Della Valle, the head of luxury shoemaker Tod’s. The company hopes to take a bite out of the national state rail network’s market and gain an advantage with a pricing system where passengers can get cut-price tickets by booking early or traveling at off-peak times. “All our employees speak English as well as Italian, and each station we transit through will have an ‘Italo House’ for passengers wanting information or a rest,” Giuseppe Bonollo, NTV commercial director, told AFP.
Working as closely as models as I do now a days, I’ve become well aware of the fact that it takes quite a bit of work before guys see the photos they fawn over. Having a photographer is an obvious must, but his/her assistants, background artists, wardrobe coordinators, and stylists are all just as crucial to making a photo shoot work as having a skilled model is. I was on the hunt over the last few days to find a stylist for an upcoming shoot, and came across an incredible stylist from Los Angeles, CA.
The bio on her professional site reads:
Nicoletta Gauci is a unique blend of Los Angeles native with European flair. She received formal artistic training first from the Academy of Art University where the very different worlds of art principle, application, and business would first collide. Thanks to a strong line of fundamental training, most notably from the Paul Mitchell School, and a continual thirst for education and experience, she has been able to achieve great heights early in her career. This now even-stronger combined foundation outlined a path that would take her to new depths as a hair stylist.
Nicoletta has styled hair for numerous editorial and beauty shoots as well as for celebrity personalities and marketing campaigns. Her work has also taken her into the world of art direction for magazine submissions as well as education for both future and current hairstylists. Currently Nicoletta is based outside of Milan, Italy and splits her time between being lead colorist at Italys premiere Paul Mitchell Focus Salon, collaborating as part of Paul Mitchell Italias Artistic Team, and shooting Internationally. Her days are spent traveling with a smile on her face, brush in her hand and desire to share her bliss with the world.
Now, aside from her body of professional work, she runs a blog that would make even the most seasoned stylist feel a tad bashful. On NicolettaGauci.WordPress.com there are a staggering amount of interesting concepts, ideas, styles, pictures videos and content by which virtually any reader could become hooked. I don’t normally site too many other blog sites through my own, but this one is site to take a look at. Click the photos either above or below to see Nicoleta Gauci’s blog.
What do you get when you combine the ultimate summer playground with a fun, cool brand that is willing to play with you? You get life-size Mini convertibles, inflatable beach toys that are as much fun for adults as they are for kids. Most likely kids will have no chance at all to play with these toys as the Mini inflatable screams grown-up fun in an irresistible way. This is the ultimate beach accessory; too big for the ordinary pool but perfect for the warm waters and sandy beaches where the in crowds gather to see and to be seen.
Beach-goers can just grab one and play in the sand or on the water. They will be able to enjoy the sun, catch the waves, look cool, pose for some pics. These are pictures they will want to broadcast and post online because the beach Minis will not appear on every beach. People will want their friends to know where they are so that they can join the fun. Mini Inflatables were created by Access Agency after the unveiling of the Mini Indoor Drive-in for the new Countryman in Italy.
Access’s cool car experiences for Mini include the recently launched Sephora’s new Same Day delivery service using the Mini Clubman. The Mini Inflatables are incredibly flexible as promotional and entertainment tools. They can be used not only at the beach over summer but in many other environments as well. Additional uses for the beach include fun Mini rides in Mini Inflatables pulled by speedboats or jet skis. Mini Inflatables are effective as massive “balloons” on top of actual Minis in showrooms, outdoor picnic promotions, parks, special events such as Art Basel and other large-scale festivals.
Alice Pasquini is an illustrator, set designer, painter but most of all, a visual artist, specialized in manual animation drawing for cinema and television at the ARS ANIMACIóN school. She is able to reproduce the early XXth century animation system: a sequence of almost identical drawings, that take life through a speed movement. She lived and expressed herself in Spain for three years, in Madrid. Here she worked for ‘El Corte Inglés’, as set designer for ‘Cortylandia’, drawings children playgrounds in Spain and Portugal. Alice collaborated with the prestigious illustration, graphic and design review ‘Experimenta’. Now Alice is based in Rome and exhibits her art in several Italian galleries.
I might not have the most child-friendly vocabulary on the planet, but sometimes I like to switch it up and use hand gestures to express myself. But flipping the bird gets repetitive after a while, so why not get a bit diverse with it. “Rude Hand Gestures of the World” by Romana Lefevre is a photographic guide to the many ways of using hand gestures to offend people in different parts of the world. The book’s photography is by Daniel Castro, and published by Chronicle Books of San Francisco.
Chin Flick
Meaning: Get lost
Used in: Belgium, France, Northern Italy, Tunisia
In France, this gesture is known as la barbe, or “the beard”, the idea being that the gesturer is flashing his masculinity in much the same way that a buck will brandish his horns or a cock his comb. Simply brush the hand under the chin in a forward flicking motion. While not as aggressive as flashing one’s actual genitalia, this gesture is legal and remains effective as a mildly insulting brush-off.
Note: In Italy, this gesture simply means “No.”
Idiota
Meaning: Are you an idiot?
Used in: Brazil
A South American gesture indicating stupidity, this requires improv skills and an actorly flair. To perform, put your fist to your forehead while making a comical overbite. The gesture is most effective when accented with multiple grunts. When executed correctly, you will be rewarded with appreciative laughs, though not, perhaps, from your subject.
Moutza
Meaning: To hell with you!/I rub **** in your face!/I’m going to violate your sister!
Used in: Greece, Africa, Pakistan
The Moutza is among the most complex of hand gestures, as elaborate and ancient as a Japanese tea ceremony. Perhaps the oldest offensive hand signal still in use, the Moutza originated in ancient Byzantium, where it was the custom for criminals to be chained to a donkey and displayed on the street. There, local townsfolk might add to their humiliation by rubbing dirt, feces, and ashes (“moutzos” in medieval Greek) into their faces.
Now that the advent of modern sewage systems and anti- smoking laws means that these materials are no longer readily available, the Moutza is a symbolic stand-in. In Greece, it is often accompanied by commands including par’ta (“take these”) or órse (“there you go”). Over the years, the versatile Moutza has acquired more connotations, including a sexual one, in which the five extended fingers suggest the five sexual acts the gesturer would like to perform with the subject’s willing sister.
Five fathers
Meaning: You have five fathers, i.e., your mother is a whore
Used in: Arab countries, Caribbean
If you are looking to get yourself deported from Saudi Arabia – possibly amid a riot – you can do no better than the Five Fathers gesture. The most inflammatory hand gesture in the Arab world, this sign accuses the subject’s mother of having so many suitors that paternity is impossible to determine. To execute, point your left index finger at your right hand, while pursing all fingers of the right hand together. The insult is extreme and almost certain to provoke violence.
Pepper mill
Meaning: crazy
Used in: Southern Italy
In southern Italy, craziness is indicated by this gesture, in which one mimics the grinding of a pepper mill. The implication is that the subject’s addled brain is whirring as fast as the mill’s blades.
Corna
Meaning: Your wife is unfaithful
Used in: The Baltics, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Portugal, Spain
Informing a friend that his wife has been unfaithful is an unhappy and delicate task. Fortunately, in many countries, it is simple to do: one simply gives him the Corna. A very old sign, the Corna dates back at least 2,500 years and represents a bull’s horns (bulls were commonly castrated to make them calmer).
Be warned that while the gesture is used throughout the world, its meaning varies greatly from country to country.Should you be on the receiving end of the gesture, before you cast out your wife, remember that your pal may simply be saying she is a fan of American college football or heavy metal bands.
Note: In Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Lebanon, one makes a similar gesture with an identical meaning by fanning out the fingers and placing the hands by the ears to mimic a stag.
Write-off
Meaning: I am ignoring you
Used in: Greece
The literal translation of st’arxidia mou, the phrase that accompanies this gesture, is “I write it on my testicles.” And while there may well be people who, out of a strange psychological compulsion or simply boredom, actually write on their testicles, here the threat is simply metaphorical and tells the subject you’re ignoring him. One needn’t possess testicles to use the gesture, which is employed by men and women alike.
Cutis
Meaning: Screw you and your whole family
Used in: India, Pakistan
Should you find yourself in India or Pakistan, wishing to insult not just your host but your host’s entire family, look no further than the Cutis gesture. Its origins are unknown, but its effect is swift and severe. Simply make a fist then flick the thumb off the front teeth while exclaiming “cutta!” (“Screw you!”). In short order, you will find himself ejected from the premises, your mission to offend thoroughly accomplished.
Tacaño
Meaning: You’re stingy
Used in: Mexico, South America
Just as the heart is associated with love, so, in many Latin American countries, is the elbow with stinginess. In Mexico the two are so closely linked that a miser is described as “muy codo” (very elbow), the idea being that he rarely straightens it to pay the check. If your compadre makes a habit of failing to pick up the check, you may wish to correct his behaviour with this sharp gesture. For extra emphasis, bang your elbow on the table.
Note: In Austria and Germany the same gesture means “You’re an idiot,” suggesting that the elbow is where the subject keeps his brain.
Fishy smell
Meaning: I find you untrustworthy
Used in: Southern Italy
In business, it is important to let your associates know you can’t be taken advantage of. This gesture informs them you are on to their attempts to deceive. To perform, move your nose side to side with the index and middle finger. The movement suggests that something stinks, and you are trying to rid yourself of the odor.
The Italian automaker founded in 1963 by feisty Ferrari hater Ferruccio Lamborghini built a long line of swoopy exotics that demanded passionate, dedicated drivers — with an equally passionate and dedicated mechanic on speed dial. Several ownership changes over the years, including an ill-fated union with Chrysler in the 1980s didn’t help the cause. Lamborghinis inspired lust, but consistency of build and reliability proved elusive… Until the Germans got involved.
Audi’s takeover of the company in 1998 instigated dramatic changes in how the famed cars from Sant’Agata Bolognese were conceived, developed and constructed. Eager to retain the brand’s “Italianness,” the Germans kept company headquarters in Sant’Agata, much like how Bugatti remained stationed in Molsheim, France, and Bentley didn’t stray from Crewe, England, once Volkswagen took over.
The German influence not only resulted in shared platforms (like the Audi R8/Lamborghini Gallardo aluminum spaceframe), it also brought a sea change in how emerging technologies are researched, developed and incorporated into the ever-evolving world of supercars.
Lamborghini hit a landmark when it sold its 10,000th Gallardo in 2010, a figure that represents more than all other models produced since the company’s founding. As a replacement for the mighty Murcielago approached the zenith of its three-year development, camouflaged mules were spotted darting through Italian countrysides and along the famed Nürburgring Nordschliefe, and the 691-horsepower flagship was being “fine optimized” in preparation for production.
Italian fashion label Gucci inaugurated a museum in Florence Monday, showcasing the luggage and high-end clothing that have fueled the company’s success. Located in the Palazzo della Mercanzia, the museum is only a few steps away from the 13th century Palazzo Vecchio and Michelangelo’s David. The museum features an exhibit showing how their logo has evolved since Guccio Gucci, a former porter at the London’s Savoy hotel, founded the company in 1921. Covering 18,460 square feet over three floors, the Gucci Museo is arranged by theme and not in chronological order. In the private basement are the Gucci archives. On the ground floor will be a coffee shop and bookstore just downstairs from a display of handbags, red carpet outfits, and other archival pieces from Gucci. On the second floor of the museum is a display of garments and artworks that are emblazoned with the GG logo. Ahead of the public opening, some 200 celebrities, including the Vogue magazine chief Anna Wintour and US artist Bill Viola, attended a party held in the 14th-century palace in central Florence where the exhibits are installed. Admission to the museum will be 6 euros with half going to help restore the City of Florence.
Tons of people are just coming back to the bay from summer vacations, but if you’re like me, you’d take your vacation to somewhere warm in the winter. Most people across the globe prefer to escape to some exotic beach destinations where they can spend some quality time with their friends and family regardless of the time of year though. There are tons of beach destinations in Europe, but only a few beach destinations can gather more crowd because of their exotic landscape and climate. I picked my favorite five to go to. Now before we start, I haven’t been to all of these locations, (Croatia and Turkey are among some of the spots I have yet to travel through) but I chose them all because of their exclusivity, scenic beauty, and the male to female ratio.
Navagio Beach – Greece
Many people want to escape the crowd when they think about beach destinations which makes Navagio Beach really popular. It’s a small beach which can only be reached by boat from Port Vromi. This beach is also known as Shipwreck Bay and is rated as one of the best beach in Europe.
Playa Papagayo – Spain
There is no doubt that when we think about Europe, we think about top tourism countries like France and Spain. The Playa Papagayo is a virgin beach that attracts a lot of people from across the globe. The beach can only be reached through a dirt road and therefore not many people prefer to come here but it still gets the most number of votes during destination and tourism surveys which is why it is second on the list.
Zlatni Rat – Croatia
If you’re looking for some exquisite beach destinations then don’t miss this one, there are very rare beaches like Zlatni Rat that can change shapes right in front of your eyes. This golden pebble beach also known as Golden Horn has the ability to change shape and position depending on wind directions. This is truly unique in its own way and many tourists flock from different parts of the world only to see it change shapes.
Zlatni Rat is the most spectacular beach on Adriatic Sea, located on Island Brac nearby a spot called Bol
Spiaggia Sabbie Nere – Italy
Are you tired of watching those pristine white beaches in Bahamas and Hawaii? Well, you can take a break and come down to Italy where you will find this volcanic beach which is also known as Black Sands Beach. The beach is made up of volcanic pebble sand giving it a look unique from other white sand beaches.
Patara – Turkey
Some folks like virgin beaches where there is no human intervention. If you want to be one with nature then head to Patara Beach at Turquoise Coast in Turkey. The beach does not have any buildings around or any human civilization and it is one of the few beaches in the world where Loggerhead turtles come to lay their eggs.
Patara is a birthplace of St Nicholas (Santa Claus), with a long beach on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast