Edd Lloyd Films (May 24, 2023) – A journey through the Tràng An Karst Landscape Complex. The video features stunning aerial footage of the limestone karsts and caves, as well as close-up shots of the plants and animal life.
Situated near the southern margin of the Red River Delta, the Trang An Landscape Complex is a spectacular landscape of limestone karst peaks permeated with valleys, many of them partly submerged and surrounded by steep, almost vertical cliffs.
Exploration of caves at different altitudes has revealed archaeological traces of human activity over a continuous period of more than 30,000 years. They illustrate the occupation of these mountains by seasonal hunter-gatherers and how they adapted to major climatic and environmental changes, especially the repeated inundation of the landscape by the sea after the last ice age.
The story of human occupation continues through the Neolithic and Bronze Ages to the historical era. Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Viet Nam, was strategically established here in the 10th and 11th centuries AD. The property also contains temples, pagodas, paddy-fields and small villages.
Kyle McDougall Films (May 23, 2023) – “I’m back in North Wales for two days of film photography, exploring the old abandoned slate quarries and making work for my ongoing project. Lots of rain, a broken camera, and an incredible landscape.”
North Wales is a region within Wales, a country in the U.K. Snowdonia National Park is a vast, rugged area with waterfalls and trails, including routes up Mount Snowdon. Medieval Conwy Castle has 8 huge towers, plus battlements with sea views. It’s near the resort town of Llandudno, with North Shore Beach. Other castles include 19th-century Penrhyn Castle, with Gothic stairways, and waterside Caernarfon Castle.
National Geographic Magazine (June 2023): Into The Wild – Life and Death in one of America’s last great places; Underwater volcanoes in Italy; Ancient iron from Space.
Off the coast of Italy, the Mediterranean’s most active volcano system is extremely volatile—yet our photographer found that marine life clings on all the same.
The Art Newspaper May 11, 2023: This week: the Sudan crisis. How are artists responding to another war in the East African country?
The photographer Ala Kheir joins us from Khartoum to tell us about the conflict in Sudan and how it is affecting him and other artists. We talk to Alyce Mahon, the co-curator of Sade: Freedom or Evil, a new exhibition at the Centre Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) in Barcelona about the 18th-century writer and libertine the Marquis de Sade and his artistic and literary influence, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries.
And this episode’s Work of the Week is Gwen John’s La Chambre sur la Cour (1907-08), a painting of John herself in a Parisian interior. The picture is one of the highlights of an exhibition dedicated to John at the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, UK.Ala Kheir on Instagram @ala.kheir.Sade: Freedom or Evil, Centre Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, until 15 October.
Alyce Mahon, The Marquis de Sade and the Avant-Garde, Princeton University Press, $47/£40.Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 13 May-8 October. Alicia Foster, Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris, Thames and Hudson, $39.95/£30. Out now in UK, published in the US on 18 July.
National Geographic Traveller Magazine (June 2023). The latest issue features Canada’s greatest outdoor adventures, summer guides to Oslo and Lisbon, the quetzals and rivers of Costa Rica, and explores the Silk Road route of Central Asia.
Óli and Brim the dog, on the coast close to Velbastaður.
On their farm in the Faroe Islands, where the sheep roam the hillsides and the chickens put themselves to bed, Óli and Anna Rubeksen dish up a feast of local ingredients ranging from rhubarb to lamb hearts.
Also inside this issue:
Oman: A rich history and striking landscapes, from the Arabian coast to the Hajar Mountains. Costa Rica: Explore Central America’s wildest corners, where quetzals hide and rivers lead to jungle lodges. Laos: In a corner of this Southeast Asian country, life is shaped by the flow of the Mekong River. Lisbon: Tram rides, street art and al fresco meals: Portugal’s lively capital is best explored outdoors. Oslo: Summer is the perfect time to discover Norway’s flourishing premier city. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Discover this Balkan country’s turbulent history, wild nature and surprising food scene. Barbados: Inventive food and drinks projects are redefining the Caribbean island’s culinary landscape. Paris: The French capital beckons with accommodation options to suit every pocket.
Plus, it’s the anniversary of Vienna’s World Fair; new exhibitions in London; a taste of Corfu; archaeology and Indiana Jones in Syracuse; Manila’s design-led hotels; family trips to the UK seaside; sand, sherry and Spanish history in Cádiz; a Cornish escape to Falmouth; great reads on British nature; and packing essentials.
The Burlington Magazine – May 2023:Anxiety about the future of the two great photographic libraries housed in the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, can be traced back at least thirty years. In October 1992 we published an Editorial, ‘The Witt and Conway libraries under threat’, which was prompted by a demand from the University of London that the Courtauld – not yet a self-governing and self-financing entity – produce a business plan that would show how the libraries could develop commercial opportunities to offset a threatened reduction in university funding.
Although Mey Rahola (1897–1959) was one of the first women to become renowned for art photography in Spain, she remains a little-known figure today. Two linked exhibitions with a single catalogue dedicated to the Catalan photographer set out to rectify this and liberate an overlooked artist from the shadow of anonymity. Working with Rahola’s family, the curators, Lluís Bertran Xirau and Roser Martínez Garcia, have assembled 550 items from her collection, including 250 negatives and a number of photograph albums. That this material had been handed down and divided between the artist’s friends and family is testimony to her interest in her posterity. The fact that, nonetheless, Rahola has remained largely unknown, one is reminded in the exhibition catalogue, is a result partly of her status as a female photographer operating in the early twentieth century and partly of the events of the Spanish Civil War, which ruptured her burgeoning career.
World Photography Organization (April 24, 2023): Celebrating photography in all its varied brilliance, the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London, showcases a vast range of magnificent images from the 2023 Awards and places international talents centre stage.
National Geographic Magazine – May 2023: The groundbreaking, award-winning natural history franchise Secrets Of returns with its next installment, Secrets of the Elephants, from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer at Large James Cameron.
This small Balkan country won its independence from Serbia 15 years ago, but still waits for justice for wartime victims and global recognition as a new nation.
BBC Earth (April 9, 2023) – “The Rock” in Gibraltar is home to Europe’s only wild monkey, the endangered Barbary macaque. But these monkeys are competing for their habitat, as around one thousand tourists travel to their territory on a daily basis. Can they peacefully co-exist alongisde humans?
Animals are learning to survive and thrive in one very surprising habitat – cities. Join wildlife presenter Hannah Stitfall as she sets out on a mission to meet our new neighbours.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
Edd Lloyd
Kyle McDougall
Boomers Daily 
