Simon Marsden’s Photography

Simon Marsden (1 December 1948 – 22 January 2012) was an English photographer and author. He is known best for his uncommon black-and-white photographs of allegedly haunted houses and places throughout Europe. The first of his works were published in photography periodicals at the end of the seventies. Two grants from the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1975 and 1976 allowed Marsden to undertake extensive journeys throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, photographing the architectural subjects and varied landscapes he encountered.

Marsden’s particular interest was “eerie” motifs like graveyards and old ruins, as well as the legends and tales that are often connected with these places. Yet the gloomy atmosphere of Marsden’s pictures is not based on careful choice of the motifs alone, but to the same degree on Marsden’s photography technique, which included the use of infrared film. Marsden’s photographs already became world-famous and are exhibited at a large number of museums. [from Wikipedia]

Juan Cabana’s Mermaids

Mr Cabana has created an entire menagerie of mermaids, sea monsters and aliens, some of which he offers for sale on eBay under the name “seamystery”. Cabana does not specifically state that his creatures are sculptures in his eBay descriptions. Instead, he creates fictional cover stories to go with the sculptures that include such information as how and where the particular creature was supposedly washed ashore and subsequently discovered. In a Small WORLD PodCast interview, the artist claims that he gives the items a cover story to create excitement about the sale and add an element of fun. He says that he at first made clear in his auction listings that he had actually made the objects but that approach “seemed like it was boring”. Adding a story, he says, generates a lot more excitement. He assumes that most potential buyers will understand that the stories are tongue in cheek. Within the context of their original eBay listings, this assumption is not unreasonable. However, when the pictures and stories “escape” into cyberspace and get passed around out of their original context, they are apt to deceive many recipients. It should be noted that the images are taken from the ebay listings and distributed via email without Mr Cabana’s permission or knowledge.
Although his works may not be to every body’s taste, Cabana really is a talented sculpture. His bizarre but very lifelike creations are quite outstanding. The artist uses a variety of materials including fish and animal skin, animal skulls, steel and plastic. [from Hoax-Slayer]

To learn more about Juan Cabana and his mermaids, visit his website www.thefeejeemermaid.com.
To learn more about Feejee mermaids visit my other post on them.

Richard Teschner’s Puppets

Richard Teschner, puppeteer who developed the artistic potentialities of the Javanese rod puppet for western puppet theatre.

Teschner studied art in Prague and was already an accomplished puppeteer and stage designer when, in 1906, he established his own marionette company in Prague. Five years later, while travelling in the Netherlands, he became interested in the rod-puppet figures brought by Dutch explorers from Java. Returning to Vienna, he opened a small rod-puppet theatre called Figuren Spiegel (Figure Mirror). Teschner variations on the Javanese figure resulted in such figures as the woman whose chalk-white face changes into a skull and the gorilla whose lower and upper lips retract to bare fangs. The puppets were controlled by a central rod and had a network of internal strings to manipulate hand and leg movements, bending to the front or back, and sensitive facial expressions.

Teschner’s work with rod puppets influenced leaders of the 20th-century puppet revival and contributed significantly to the popularity of rod-puppet theatres throughout Europe and the United States. [from Encyclopedia Britannica]

Weegee the Photographer

Weegee was the pseudonym of Arthur Fellig (June 12, 1899 – December 26, 1968), a photographer and photojournalist, known for his stark black and white street photography. Weegee worked in the Lower East Side of New York City as a press photographer during the 1930s and ’40s, and he developed his signature style by following the city’s emergency services and documenting their activity.^[1]Much of his work depicted unflinchingly realistic scenes of urban life, crime, injury and death. Weegee published photographic books and also worked in cinema, initially making his own short films and later collaborating with film directors such as Jack Donohue andStanley Kubrick. [from Wikipedia]

Ape Woman Buried

This website doesn’t often feature recent news, but there was an interesting story that came out just over a week ago that I thought I would share.

Mexican ‘ape woman’ buried 150 years after her death

An indigenous Mexican woman once described as the “ugliest woman in the world” has been buried more than 150 years after her death and a tragic life spent exhibited as a freak of nature at circuses around the world.

She sang and danced for paying audiences, becoming a sensation who also toured Europeand Russia. She and Lent married and had a son, but she developed a fever related to complications from childbirth, and died along with her baby in 1860 in Moscow. Her remains ended up at the University of Oslo in Norway.

Mexican ambassador Martha Bárcena Coqui, who is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, formally received Pastrana’s coffin at a ceremony on 7 February at Oslo University Hospital before the coffin was flown to Mexico.

“Today, it’s almost incomprehensible that a circus used corpses for entertainment purposes. Hers was used in a way we today would consider to be completely reprehensible,” he said. “It’s important that we now have a clear end to the way she was treated.” [read more from The Guardian]

Antikamnia Calendar (1899-1900)

The Antikamnia (Opposed to Pain) Chemical Company of St. Louis, Missouri produced several calendars (1897-1901) illiustrated with Skeleton Sketches–chromolithographed series based on watercolors by the local physician-artist Louis Crucius. The limited edition calendars were mailed to physicians who provided business cards or letterhead correspondence as evidence of their medical standing. Antikamnia was a proprietary product consisting of acetanalid (antifebrin) combined with sodium bicarbonate, citric acid and caffeine. [from UCLA Library]

The Haunted House (1908)

The Haunted House (La maison ensorcelée) is an amazing little short silent film from 1908 by French director Segundo de Chomón. It’s very strange and definitely worth a viewing!

Vent Haven: Ventriloquism Museum

Founded by William Shakespeare Berger, a Cincinnati businessman and amateur ventriloquist, Vent Haven Museum is the world’s only museum of ventriloquial figures and memorabilia. The museum is in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, just 5 miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio. [from venthavenmuseum.com]

Influential American celebrity photographer, director, and creative director Matthew Rolston turns his eye for portraiture to a new cast of characters with the launch of Talking Heads, The Vent Haven Portraits. Using techniques he has honed over decades of celebrity portraiture, and marking his first foray into the world of fine arts, Rolston has captured the inherent humanity of a rarely-seen collection of unique entertainment figures: ventriloquist dummies. Unearthed from the intimate and obscure Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, Rolston used a rigorously formal photographic approach to bring out the power in the faces of these figures through a series of 100 portraits, or “headshots.” [from Pointed Leaf Press]

 

Krampus

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Krampus is a beast-like creature from the folklore of Alpine countries thought to punish bad children during the Christmasseason, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards nice ones with gifts. Krampus is said to capture particularly naughty children in his sack and carry them away to his lair.

Krampus is represented as a beast-like creature, generally demonic in appearance. The creature has roots in Germanic folklore. Traditionally young men dress up as the Krampus in Austria, southern Bavaria, South Tyrol, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatiaduring the first week of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December, and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells. Krampus is featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten. There are many names for Krampus, as well as many regional variations in portrayal and celebration. [from Wikipedia]

L’Inferno (1911)

A scene from L’Inferno in which Satan devours humans.

Steve’s Weird House

I was recently in Seattle and researched some things to do before I got there. One thing I found extremely interesting was Steve’s Weird House. It’s literally the house of a man named Steve and it looks nuts. It’s a mansion obsessively decorated head to toe with the strangest things on earth. I sent him an email asking if there was any way I could get a tour, but alas, no response. Not to disappoint, however, I was able to find a detail high-res interactive panorama for each of the rooms of the house. I highly recommend visiting this site to take the virtual tour. Your mind will be blown.

Steve, let me see your house!!

 

 

Faces of Belmez

The Faces of Bélmez is an alleged paranormal phenomenon in a private house in Spain which started in 1971 when residents claimed images of faces appeared in the concrete floor of the house. These images have continuously formed and disappeared on the floor of the home.

Located at the Pereira family home at Street Real 5, Bélmez de la Moraleda, Jaén, Spain, the Bélmez faces have been responsible for bringing large numbers of sightseers to Bélmez. The phenomenon is considered by some parapsychologists the best-documented and “without doubt the most important paranormal phenomenon in the [20th] century”.

Various faces have appeared and disappeared at irregular intervals since 1971 and have been frequently photographed by the local newspapers and curious visitors. Many Bélmez residents believe that the faces were not made by human hand. Some investigators believe that it is a thoughtographic phenomenon subconsciously produced by the owner of the house, María Gómez Cámara (“Thoughtography” is considered a form of psychokinesis among parapsychologists).

Skeptical researchers point out that unlike other psychic claims this case is falsifiable. Since the faces of Bélmez are fixed on whitewash of cement, scientists are able to analyze the molecular changes that took place in such mass of concrete. Skeptics have performed extensive tests on the faces and maintain they have demonstrated that fakery has been involved. [from Wikipedia]

The Devil’s Manor (1896)

by Georges Méliès

Jose Posada

Happy Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)!

Johanna Parker’s Halloween Folk Art

You can learn more about Johanna’s amazing Halloween themed works (and even find out where to buy some) at her website! I got a reproduction of one of the cats for my parents.

Horror Show

I recently made this podcast for Halloween.
It features retro-horror radio ads mixed in with the dark and macabre sounds of Post-Punk and Goth music.

stream it or download for later!

Bill Sienkiewicz

Max Headroom Pirate Broadcast

The Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion was a television signal hijacking in Chicago, Illinois, on the evening of November 22, 1987. It is an example of what is known in the television business asbroadcast signal intrusion. The intruder was successful in interrupting two television stations within three hours. Neither the hijacker nor the accomplices have ever been found or identified. [from Wikipedia]

Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1919)

Harry Clarke’s book “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” contains amazing Poe inspired illustrations from the early 20th century.

Early McDonalds Ads