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Documenting Disappearing London

I pass these stores every day. I pass hundreds every week, maybe thousands each month. It’s rare that I look for longer than I need. But Emily Webber sees them.

Based in Hackney, Emily shoots images of the urban furniture of 21st-century London. Her photos show chicken shops and nail bars; laundromats, kebab shops, hairdressers, cab offices, newsagents, and thrift stores all feature. In an increasingly chainified city, she zeroes in on the beauty and originality of the garish and the mundane. On London Shop Fronts, she has published over 1,200 images so far, running one every morning for almost four years.

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Ice Hotel - Balea Lac, Romania

Standing at 2000m above sea level, between the icy peaks of Fagaras Mountains, the remote Ice Hotel can only be accessed in the winter via cable car. The hotel is hand carved each year by local craftsmen using traditional techniques, this way each corner of the hotel is unique and re-designed every year. All rooms are individually sculpted and feature ice beds covered with insulating reindeer fur then topped with mattresses for extra comfort. The colored lights embedded into the ice creates a magical atmosphere when lit up at night.

thisbelongsinamuseum:

Every year the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago has a Day of the Dead exhibit. The only Latino museum accredited by the American Association of Museums, it has the country’s largest Mexican art collection. So it’s fitting the museum also has one of the biggest displays of Día de los Muertos. There are numerous altars and related art by local and international artists. And that’s not it. There is also a sugar skull demonstration along with foot pedal loom weaving and wood carving. And it’s all FREE!!! Well, except if you want to take home a souvenir Day of the Dead ceramic figure, that will cost you. 

In case you didn’t already know, Día de los Muertos is a day to celebrate the lives of deceased loved ones. It is believed that on this day, the souls of the dead travel back to earth. Leaving an altar with an offering for the souls ensures that they will find their way home. This year the ancient ways and traditions of Hanal Pixán (food for the souls) from the Yucatan Peninsula was the theme of many of the ofrendas (installations) in the museum. I remember a number of years ago the exhibit honored late Chicago artist Ed Paschke, well, this time Mayor Daley’s late wife Maggie was represented with not just an altar, but an entire room. Hey, it pays to be related to the king, I guess, even in death. Anyway, I’ll let the art speak for itself. Enjoy.

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!