Tag: Photography

Exploring Gender and Identity in Michael Davis’s “Madam XY” | August 18 2025, 14:09

We arrived in Sheperdstown yesterday, where there is a studio of a local artist, Michael Davis. His works are very interesting. In the studio, an enormous painting hangs on the whole wall, which immediately brings a smile to those somewhat versed in art, as it’s a riff on Madam X, and the artist decided to add Y — clearly alluding to transgender identity. At first, I thought it was his wife he painted (she seemed to be in charge at the studio yesterday, but perhaps they just resemble the XY model, so I didn’t ask). The strap on Madam XY has fallen, just like in Sargent’s original version before he repainted it and relocated it to avoid complete moral outrage.

A very talented artist. I will definitely visit his classes. Initially, I said “as much as 50 minutes to ride”, but now I think about it and will say “only 50 minutes to ride”.

#artrauflikes

Michael Timothy Davis Fine Art

Dreamlike Realities: Exploring the Surreal Art of Nicola Pucci | August 14 2025, 12:58

Nicola Pucci. Some of his paintings feel like snapshots from a dream. He has a very interesting technique, strong stylistic consistency, and a wild imagination.

Journeys and Challenges: From Washington to Mount Rainier | July 20 2025, 20:31

From Washington to Washington. Moments

From Washington to Washington. Moments. #mountrainier

I shoot three times a year, and it’s quite engaging. I wanted to say that carrying a heavy camera for 15 km (with an elevation >100 floors) while hopping on rocks in the mountains is not easy, until we met a girl there who walked the whole way barefoot.

Exploring the Luminescent Life of Fireflies | July 05 2025, 05:02

While walking with Yuka, suddenly the owner falls on his knees and digs around in the grass for a while. That’s when I found a firefly and wanted to capture it lighting up. The firefly Photinus pyralis is quite common here, but I never got around to studying it closely.

Interestingly, the females of another genus of fireflies, Photuris, use the flashes of Photinus males to locate and eat them. It has been discovered that the females acquire special steroids called lucibufagins from their prey, which repel spiders.

(While figuring this out, I learned something new. Luciferase, an enzyme responsible for the glow, is extracted from these fireflies. It’s named after the word Lucifer, Latin for “light-bearer.” Interestingly, Greece also had its Lucifer, “light-bearer,” known as the god Phosphorus. Incidentally, the element Phosphorus was discovered by alchemist Hennig Brand through the evaporation of urine. He named the discovered element phosphorus mirabilis, from Latin meaning “miraculous light-bearer.” This just shows how many things in the world are connected.)

Understanding Lens Distortion in Oil Painting from IKEA Photo References | July 02 2025, 21:55

Before painting it with oil, I study the perspective in a specific photo from IKEA. And here it is very noticeable why photo references should be used cautiously for drawing: camera lenses introduce significant distortions (this was already known and visible, the question is which ones and how to fix them when transferring onto a canvas). Look at this, the ellipses in pink and green were added by me, as well as the vanishing point and lines to it. Everything on the edge is distorted. Pay attention, for instance, to the neck of the bottle on the left.

A good exercise to prepare everything in advance on the canvas.

Alone Against the Ocean: A Tale of Feng Shui and Sargassum | June 26 2025, 19:26

On the shore, a lone woman was seen engaging in an unequal battle with the world ocean. Armed with a shovel, she heroically moved the sargassum two centimeters to the left, apparently to a place designated for them by feng shui. To the left and right to the horizon—nobody.