Drizzle

GREAT BRITAIN. England. London. Hyde Park in the grey drizzle, 1937.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
c. Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos

Oh so many beautiful photographs but I simply adore this one.

Cartier-Bresson started out as a painter before discovering photography and interestingly left photography after 45 years and spent the remained of his life pursuing drawing.

"He explained his approach to photography in these terms: 'for me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. ... It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.' " (Magnum Bio)

The Magnum website is great, offering images, biographies, exhibitions, books and more on its member photographers.

See more Cartier-Bresson photos here.

Leo Belgicus

Map of S&N Netherlands "Leo Belgicus"
1617/1622?
Pieter Van der Keere (1570/71-1630)


I discovered this great 17th c. map in an exhibition catalog of Dutch Maritime paintings from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. While maps were produced for use, they are also a gorgeous art form (and a common collector's item).

Van den Keere was a highly skilled and prolific engraver in Amsterdam. This is a map of the Seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries, which was depicted in the form of a lion, "Leo Belgicus" due to the shape of the coastline and the commonality of the use of the lion in many of the provinces coats of arms.