The baldacchino, in Saint John Lateran in Rome. Nov. 2014.
Saint John Lateran in Rome. Taken Nov. 2014.
Why have a Feast for this day?
A lovely post from the indispensable VultusChristi
More history on Saint John Lateran, from the Catholic Encyclopedia.
From the Yazidi people who fled the approach of ISIS, some got the chance to take a UNICEF workshop, apparently connected with a school there, on photography, and proceeded to make pictures of their lives as they are now, with family and friends, with their suffering and hope. One girl said:
And I’ve learned so much. I’ve learned to communicate with people. But most importantly how to communicate with people – what is the right approach.
Until this, there have been no services where I feel like I’m part of something bigger, part of society. So with this program it feels like a breath of fresh air – to be a part of something again.
See the rest, with a lot of photos by the workshop participants and of them, at the Guardian.
Richmond Times-Dispatch photographer Dean Hoffmeyer has done a fine series of portraits of World War II veterans, and he has used WWII-era equipment:
All of these portraits were made on a 4×5 Speed Graphic film camera from the period, fronted with a 1943 Kodak lens designed for use in military aircraft. The camera is old and sturdy, like the men standing in front of it.
By all means go see the images and read the article that goes with it . (The details of the equipment are in a box on the left side of the article). Fine faces, well-captured, and you can’t beat the gorgeous range of tones in that film and paper. Let us thank these men for serving.
So wonderful to learn new things about Pluto. Then again, our own moon never fails to amaze. Tonight it put on a show with Venus. (Supposedly Jupiter was nearby but either I was too late out or something was in the way of it).
Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora Luna e le stelle:
in celu l’ài formate clarite et pretiose et belle.
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;
in the heavens You have made them bright, precious and beautiful.
From the Canticle of the Sun by Saint Francis of Assisi.
Handheld but leaning against a building for steadiness, necessary at 200mm.
Saint Longinus the Centurion. Photo taken in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Nov. 2014. If you look closely you can see bees sculpted into the pedestal. There are many of these Saint Peter’s…. a subject for an upcoming post.
Forma Fidei 