MOUSTASHIE: February 2015

Friday, 27 February 2015

Robert Doisneau

ROBERT DOISNEAU

It was whilst walking around Liverpool city centre last weekend that my sister and I wandered into an interior design shop that happened to stock a book about the gorgeous monochrome work of acclaimed and iconic French photographer Robert Doisneau. Now because I love having a nosy through photography books to see if I can find any pretty pics, I obviously had to pick this Doisneau book up and have a flick through. Needless to say it was a rather good decision, because as I found out, Robert Doisneau was a rather incredibly talented photographer. I especially love his photographs of the beautiful city of Paris, capturing it in all its glory and character, and especially paying homage to the city's sparkling spirit. Doisneau was a Parisian through and through, and his adoration for his home city is so evident throughout, with each photo lovingly capturing different aspects and features of the city that when assembled together present a true representation of just what Paris was as a city many a year ago, and also continues to be in the modern age. Doisneau's photos are classy, timeless, chic, delightful, amusing, entertaining, stunning, and looking through them makes for a real aesthetic treat. By the time of his death in 1994 Doisneau had assembled 450,000 negatives, many of which can be seen on his website and are looked after by his daughters in the Atelier Robert Doisneau, and the more I research him the more I admire his adamant dedication to capturing the wonderful little moments that life has to offer, and respect the unique artistic vision he held as a photographer. Doisneau was a wonderful man, and to thank him for preserving such beautiful and precious moments of life for us to enjoy, here are a selection of my favourite Doisneau photographs...

http://www.robert-doisneau.com/

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Chris Buchholz

CHRIS BUCHHOLZ

It feels like a while since I posted some art on here, so I've decided that now feels like the right time for some art appreciation, and who better to shine the artistic spotlight on than a certain Chris Buchholz and his rather cleverly titled 'Sketchbuch'? I discovered Chris at the weekend when my sister came up to stay. She likes to show me cool things she's found on Tumblr, and Chris Buchholz's artwork was one of those very things, so I basically owe this entire blog post and my adoration for Chris' work to my sister. Art can be found in the craziest and most diverse of places, but I absolutely love it when you discover someone like Chris Buchholz, whose work inspires you and instantly captivates you from the very first image, and it's the best thing ever being able to share it on to you guys, like a wonderful little gift from one person to another. Chris is a serving Jehovah's Witness in Pennsylvania, USA, and his glorious artwork stems from his many travels across the world. He uses these adventures and explorations as artistic inspiration and documents them beautifully using mediums such as pen and watercolour to capture the stunning sights he sees before him. Chris' work features Disneyland, Italy, Valleys, the Dominican Republic, and so much more. He captures sights and imagery that you'd never normally notice, and he makes you truly appreciate the beauty of the world around you, as well as showcasing to you the best the world has to offer. It makes me want to be more observant of the world around me, and make an effort to jot down all the amazing little things that I come across on my way. I just adore Chris' work, and it's a real privilege to be able to share with you, and I hope you love it as much as I do!

http://www.sketchbuch.blogspot.co.uk/
(all images taken from above link & belong to the wonderful Chris Buchhholz)

Monday, 23 February 2015

Daytrippin' To Liverpool

DAYTRIPPIN' TO LIVERPOOL

To mark the end of what has been a very good week indeed, yesterday the sis and I decided to venture on the train to near-by Liverpool, where The Beatles, Cilla Black, Paul o'Grady and a whole lotta scouse-ness reign supreme. As some of my housemates and their friends were coming in from a wild night out and getting ready to go to bed, we were waking up and preparing to leave to catch our 9 o'clock train, which seems ridiculously early from the perspective of a gloomy Sunday morning. Anyhow, we made it on time and criss-crossed over to the West coast (unfortunately not as glamorous as that belonging to our friends across the pond) ready to begin our day. However for some strange reason, neither my sister nor I factored in the small possibility that it might actually rain during our daytrip, and so walking out of the station into Liverpool city centre to a greeting of pouring rain and blistering ice cold winds came as quite a surprise. Turns out good ol' Blighty is sharing some of the winter 2.0 that's battering America right now, hence the rather unfortunate weather we endured yesterday. But anyhow, what can you do but laugh about it and carry on through, because whether it be rain or shine, Liverpool is a truly amazing city, as my sister and I were reminded yesterday.

We first visited Liverpool in October 2013, and subsequently fell in love with the city and have been meaning to make our return ever since. It's a beautifully diverse and picturesque city full of culture, stories, stunning architecture both new and old, the friendliest of people, a seemingly endless list of things to do and explore, and if you haven't yet ventured up that way I'd whole-heartedly recommend it cos you will laaaaaav it. My sister and I didn't really come with a plan of what to do, and it ended up that our day was very much guided by both the weather and a little online exploration of Visit Liverpool whilst sat in a gorgeous little Wetherspoons we found for lunch. We ended up exploring most of the city, heading firstly to Cafe Nero for a cute early morning latte. We then battled our way down to the docks and explored Albert Docks, the Tate and Liverpool Museum, before heading back into town for lunch. After lunch we walked up near the Cathedral and discovered the amazing Bold Street (thanks to my course friend Chelsie for the recommendation) which was full of an eclectic mix of shops, cafes and restaurants, and then we walked back down to Liverpool One where we spent a few hours shopping and lusting after near enough every piece of clothing we saw. A hot chocolate in McDonalds (student lyf) finished our day and we finished by heading to Liverpool Lime Street to catch our train home to Manchester. Although the day wasn't perfect, it was still incredibly lovely and a lorra' lorra' fun (luv u Cilla Black), and I can't wait to visit Liverpool in the summertime when I'm sure it's even lovelier than normal. But till then, I'd love to share with you my photo diary from yesterday.....

http://www.visitliverpool.com/