Thomas Hawk: A Photography Factory

Thomas Hawk is one fascinating photographer. His photographs touch the soul of the viewer. He brings his emotions and thoughts to life through his artistic and somewhat abstract images. Secondly Hawk is so fascinating in that he is one of the most prolific photographers of the current day. Hawk, who currently lives in Oakland, CA, has more photos posted on the internet than any other photographer I can think of and what's so great about this is his photos are all excellent - not one bad photo in his library. 

- Randall Webb

Here's a link to Thomas Hawk's google+ profile page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/104987932455782713675/about 

Thomas Hawk in Death Valley (taken by Amy Heiden)

You can find Amy Heiden @ https://plus.google.com/u/0/106020745084647886919/about

The following is a short bio written by Thomas Hawk:

Sometimes I like to think of myself as a photography factory. I see my photographs mostly as raw material for projects that might be worked on at some point later on in life.

We all have but a short time on this earth. As slow as time can be it is also fast, swift, furious and mighty and then it’s over. Jack Kerouac is dead. Andy Warhol is dead. Garry Winogrand is dead. Lee Friedlander, Stephen Shore and William Eggleston are not dead yet, but probably will be at some point. Charles Bukowski once said that endurance was more important than truth. Charles Bukowski's now dead.

When I'm not taking or processing the pictures I'm mostly thinking about the pictures. I'm trying to publish a library of 1,000,000 finished, processed photographs before I die.

The absurdity of my obsessive compulsive view on photography is not lost on me. But it is the absurdity of life that I find most beautiful of all. Where Sisyphus had his stone I have my camera and a bag full of lenses.

Document, explore, lather, rinse, repeat. Photography for me then becomes a kind of hyperactivity, loosely arranged and presented. My work is less about individual images and instead more about the power of a massive amount of excessive and disjointed images where stories, characters and places sometimes stay and other times reappear or disappear entirely for no good reason at all.

Most of my images are Creative Commons licensed, non commercial with attribution.  If you'd like to use any CC licensed images for non commercial or personal purposes feel free.  If you'd like to use any of my images commercially, please contact me.

Pinned to Jack Kerouac's wall to inspire his writing:  "Art is the highest task and the proper metaphysical activity of this life." -Nietzsche

"Don't think about making art. Just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they're deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol 

If you want to see the best overview portfolio of my work you can find that here.

Now here are a few photos for you to enjoy!

Thomas Hawk Photographer

 Bay Bridge (2005)

 Cold Is The Color (2011)

 Colors and Shapes (2005)

 Keep Trying To Explain (2011)

 Nashville, Mt. Olivet and More

 Obey Melrose (2010)

 San Francisco Giants Neon (2008)

 The House Where I Was Born (2007)

 The Miles Were Good (2011)

 Wrap You In My Colors and Keep You Warm (2005)

You're The Color of the Colored Part of the Wizard of Oz Movie (2011)

Thank you Mr. Thomas Hawk for letting me feature you on this blog.

Fernando Cobos: Award Winning Artist and Architect

Fernando Cobos is an architect and artist who was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 1955 and currently lives in Southern California. He began drawing before he could read or write. He'd often lose concentration of what his school teachers were saying as he would daydream and draw pictures on any paper he could get his hands on. His artistic talents come from his mother who was a consummate artist. He began working with tempera, a fast drying water soluble medium, than graduated to other materials such as water color, ink, pastels, oil paints and color pencils. Throughout most of his adult life Cobos has made a living as a successful architect and has designed restaurants and homes around the world. He is most influenced by Oswaldo Guaysamin (a renowned Ecuadorian artist) and the world famous Pablo Picasso.

You can see more of Fernando Cobos's works at Artist Rising http://www.artistrising.com/shop/artist/57029/Fernando-Cobos.htm and Wix  http://www.wix.com/fernandocobos/wwwwixcomfernandocobosgallery

Fernando Cobos receiving award from the National Assembly of the Ecuadorian Republic

On April 17, 2011 Cobos was honored by the National Assembly of the Ecuadorian Republic. He received two awards at the ceremony held in his honor in Los Angeles, California. One of the awards was from the Ecuadorian government recognizing him for his achievements in architecture. The second award was from the U.S. government thanking him for his dedication to his community and was signed by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Award signed by U.S. President Barack Obama

The following is a statement made by Fernando Cobos:
I always liked the metaphysical and spiritual part of life. A daydreamer creates fantasy out of the normal issues in life. My paintings have been always like that. I get bored with dull colors and shapes and I'm always looking for new ways to change reality into something more appealing. Every artist is a little eccentric, otherwise he couldn't create his paintings. I create people in different situations. My "Nun" series has a figurative style, and is also very expressionist. Created in watercolor, tells the story of these mischievous and curious nuns in different and humorous situations in life.

Captions for each picture written by Randy Webb (founder of the Pictures, Photos and Images Blog)

 This painting is done on a shiny chrome paper and was drawn in a style called pointillism

 This work is titled "Nightmare" and is my particular favorite

 "A Votre Sante Pour La Belle Nuit" 

Cobos speaks English, Spanish and French. This title translated from French to English means "At Your Beautiful Night"

 "Surprise"

 "Cunshi"

 "Unfinished Woman In Black"

 "Victoria at Five"

Victoria is one of Fernando's daughters (he has five children in total). She was five when he painted this portrait.

 Thank you Mr. Fernando Cobos for letting me honor you on the Pictures, Photos and Images Blog
- Randall Webb

Reflections by Vee

 Vee is an avid traveler, who is currently on a journey around the world. Wherever she goes her camera tags along. Vee has a fantastic collection of photos from all around the world. She has a keen eye in capturing the moment and the great skill of chronicling her journeys through the photographers lens.

If you wish to see more of Vee's photos you can visit her blog called Travels. She's posted many picutres there with complete details about the places she visits.

Travels: http://vee-travels.blogspot.com/ 


The following is a sort bio which Vee wrote specifically for this post.


Although I take numerous photos when I travel, I don't really consider myself a photographer. I have no formal training and I own a very basic pocket-sized camera. None of my photos are taken using fancy lenses and none of them are photo-shopped. I have been told that I have an eye for a shot and I guess that's true. I seem to have a knack for looking at something and thinking it would make a great photo. I do enjoy taking photos but I'm not someone who spends their whole time viewing the world from behind the lens. While I'm travelling, I prefer to look with my own eyes; to be present in the moment, while enjoying the smells, the sights, and the sounds. 

REFLECTIONS

Bangkok, Thailand

Beijing, China

Beijing, China

 Beijing, China

 Summer Place, Beijing, China

 Houhai Lake, Beijing, China

 Houhai Lake, Beijing, China

Bruges, Belgium

Sunrise in Brunei

Brunei, Darussalem

Gold Coast

Laos

Misty Morning, Pai, Thailand

Yangshou, China

Friendship Bridge, Nong Khai, Thailand

Thank you Vee

"Nature Motivates Me" by Angela (aka AMP)

This post features nine photographs taken by an outstanding photographer named Angela (aka AMP). Angela is a young lady who is just trying to figure everything out. she has a great love of music from a variety of genres including alt-rock, pop, jazz, techno, chill and other various sounds.

Angela is also an avid blogger and on her blog named; "to put it simply, it quite complicated" she's posted 115 so far in 2001 and 63 in 2010. you can check her blog out at http://findyourselflove.blogspot.com/

Angela uses a Canon Powershot 1400 SD, digital camera to capture images of life and emotion. She uses sites like Picnik.com and Pixlr.com/o-matic to fix them up. What motivates her the most is nature, she love taking pictures of flowers. Photography is a source of relaxation for her. Angela says, "Living in the city, I use nature as a getaway from all of the noise and constant moving. It's nice to see something so beautiful, but still." She also take pictures of her cats. It's pretty much just a hobby that she started and has tried to develop (pardon the pun). She got started by going to a bunch of parties over the summer, and took pictures of her friends. To quote Angela she hopes to "eventually own a fancy camera with fancy filters and all those awesome things."

 

soft

Riley at the Beach

Blue-eyed Cat

Thank You Angela!

Big Cats

This post features the family of big cats (and some small ones too). Big cats have several traits in common. The most prominent is that they are all meat eaters (carnivorous) and they're all territorial marking their territories with urine or claw marks.

Lion, Leopard, Tiger

LION

Lions are social animals. they live in groups of about 15 individuals called a "pride". The pride's social system is based on cooperation and division of labor. They hunt together and can catch animals that would generally outrun a single lion. Male lions grow up to nine feet long and on an average weigh around 415 pounds. The males most prominent feature is their mane, which gives the illusion of size.

TIGER

Tigers are the only "big cat" with striped fur. Their stripes are unique, like fingerprints, no two tigers have the same pattern.

LEOPARD

A leopard has the ability to growl and roar loudly when they're mad and gently purr when they're content. Leopards eat anything they can kill (lizards, rodents, insects, birds, bats, etc). their broad diet gives them the ability to survive in a variety of habitats. They range from all across Africa, Asia and parts of the Americas. 

CHEETAH

This graceful and elegant animal is the fastest of the "big cats" reching a speed of up to 70 mph in just 5 seconds. 

JAGUAR

The coat of the jaguar is generally yellowish to reddish-brown and covered with rosette like spots. Their coat helps to camouflage them in their habitat. 

PANTHER

The panther is a black leopard. They are elusive and almost ghostlike in their habitat (usually a rainforest). They are master at hiding and making themselves invisible. Panthers are the strongest climbers of the cat family and can pull other objects (such as their dead prey) up into a tree with them. 

COUGAR

A cougar is defined as a small cat because of their ability to purr instead of roar. Cougars have the loudest recorded purring ever documented. Cougars can jump as far as 25 feet across a stream and up to 18 feet into a tree.