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Week 8 – Marie Skłodowska Curie

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For the past three weeks, we’ve been exploring more contemporary but less famous human beings. This week, we are back with a more famous person that most people know at least by name, Marie Curie.

Born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, she was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, first in physics in 1903 and then in chemistry in 1911, for her work on radioactivity and the discovery of two elements.

Born in the 19th century in modern days Poland (back then part of the Russian Empire), she then moved to France where she married Pierre Curie with whom she shared her first Nobel in physics.

Impact of her scientific work

Her pioneering work on radioactivity was based on earlier work of Henri Becquerel. In particular, she is known to have discovered two radioactive elements: polonium and radium. She is also the one who coined the term radioactivity.

Radioactivity can often have a negative connotation because of its relation with bombs, catastrophes, and accidents. Indeed, Marie Curie herself died from prolonged exposure to radioactivity because of her research. But radioactivity has also numerous applications that benefit humanity.

Think about the use of radium in medicine to fight cancer or conduct radiography. Or carbon-14 dating. Or generating truly random numbers. And of course the maybe more controversial use of nuclear fission as a source of energy.

Marie Curie as a person

Marie Curie’s influence is not limited though to her scientific discoveries. She also had an important societal impact. Because she was a woman, she had to face and overcome many cultural barriers to achieve such a successful scientific career. In many ways, she was a precursor feminist figure in science.

She was also a fervent promoter of science and making it as universally accessible as possible. For example, she didn’t patent the process to isolate radium so that it would be freely available to the scientific community for further research. She also advocated for monetary compensations for scientific awards to be given to scientific institutions rather than her.

Your photo

What will you create this week? Will radioactivity and its positive or negative uses inspire you? Or will you rather be inspired by Marie Curie’s life and personality? Be sure to let us know and don’t forget to tag your photos with #SiPgoes53 and  #SiP_Marie Curie on social media.

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Toy Photography Rembrandt Lighting

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On Monday I mentioned Rembrandt lighting as one of the characteristics of Annie Leibovitz photographic style. Following that, I felt the need to play with toys and lights… at home. Something unusual for me who mostly plays outside.

Just out of curiosity, I wanted to see how easy (or difficult) it was to get something close to Rembrandt lighting with toys, and in particular with LEGO Minifigs.

Rembrandt lighting

A Rembrandt lighting is a technique used in portrait photography that imitates the lighting style of Dutch painter Rembrandt. One characteristic of many of Rembrandt’s paintings is the specific use of low-key light creating a shadow shaped like a triangle below one of the eyes of the subject. The goal is to create interesting shadows and lights driving the eyes of the viewer through the frame.

Self-Portrait of Rembrandt (1658)

In photography, this is usually achieved by placing the main source of light above the subject at a 45° angle.

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Week 6 – Annie Leibovitz

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Annie Leibovitz is an American photographer, most well known for photographing John Lennon on the day of he died.

She made her debuts as the chief photographer of Rolling Stone magazine, her career led her to take photos of celebrities for the cover of magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair. From touring with the Rolling Stones (the band this time) in the 1970s, to the controversial photo of Miley Cyrus in 2012, without forgetting the iconic photo of John Lennon naked next to Yoko Ono, taken a few hours before being murdered.

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Everything is Awesome

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This blog post is part of a series about the new LEGO Movie 2 Collectible Minifigures Series. Thanks to the folks from LEGO for providing us a box of Minifigures that we sent to 9 creative toy photographers to review for the blog.

Even before seeing the first pictures of the LEGO Movie 2 new Collectible Minifigures Series, we knew we would have a box to review. When I saw the first pictures of the minifigures, even though I wanted to get most of them, I didn’t have any specific idea for photos.

When we finally got our box, I decided to go with the four “Everything is Awesome” singers. I just had got one of the new LEGO Friends set for a photo of #SiPgoes53 and it was the perfect opportunity to use the main build of the set.

So like with the Harry Potter Series, my review would again feature a band…

Everything is Awesome goes live in Northern Finland
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Looking back at SiPgoes52

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Now that we’re reaching the end of Week 4 of SiPgoes53, we thought it was about time to create a gallery of photos from those who took part in SiPgoes52.

The main point of SiPgoes52 (and SiPgoes53) was not necessarily to make 52 photos but to find inspiration around a theme. We’ve asked people who shared a picture for at least 12 of the words to send us their personal favorite photo (or word) of SiPgoes52. The one that inspired them most. And to tell us why.

Interestingly, (almost) everyone chose a different word…

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Week 3 – Charles Darwin

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This week, our human being is the father of biological evolution, Charles Darwin. Originally a naturalist and geologist, his famous voyage around the world in the 1830s led him to make observations. As a result, he noticed differences between species and varieties of living organisms and fossils. These observations led him to conceptualize natural selection as the mechanism responsible for biological evolution. Moreover, it led him to believe that all living organisms descend from a common ancestor.

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The Elves are going 53

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At the end of 2018, while I was about to complete #SiPgoes52, I was already looking to what was coming next. As soon as we started to discuss #SiPgoes53, I was excited. But at the same time, after putting so much effort in #SiPgoes52 during 2018, I didn’t know whether I could do it again for a whole year.

Like last year, I wouldn’t be home during the holiday season, and defining a project revolving around a rather specific idea (like Julien did) wasn’t really an option as I wouldn’t have time, energy, motivation and/or inspiration for taking new photos.

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Week 2 – Cleopatra

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For this second week of #SiPgoes53, our human being is the oldest woman of our list.

Cleopatra

Descendant of Ptolemy I, a general of Alexander the Great,
Cleopatra was the last Greek ruler of Egypt. She is also the first member of the Ptolemy dynasty to have learned the Egyptian language. She is famous for having had an affair first with Julius Caesar, and then Marcus Antonius. In addition, Caesarion, the son she had with Caesar, was the last pharaoh of Egypt. Following her suicide (with a snake), Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.

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Week 1 – John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

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As the first of the 52 human beings we will explore in 2019, we chose J.R.R. Tolkien as a relatively easy one.

Tolkien is most famous for being the father of modern fantasy literature and creating the world of Middle-Earth, filled with Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves and Dark Lords. The books of the Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion have inspired for the past 70 years, generations of movie makers, modern fantasy writers, illustrators, role players, game makers, musicians and of course… toy makers an photographers.

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Misadventures on a photo assigment

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I’m not into cars.
For me, a car is mainly a utility object and not something I find particularly interesting to look at. If there’s one type of car I still find remotely beautiful, it’s the old and classic ones though.

So, when we got the assignment from LEGO to photograph the Creator Expert cars, I wasn’t too thrilled. The only Creator cars I didn’t own were the ones I found the least interesting. And those that fit the least in the Finnish Wilderness. Like the Aston Martin.
Nevertheless, I decided to finally build my VW Camper Van (which I bought more than 2 years ago…) and join the project.

Photographing it was one of the most difficult photographic exercises I’ve ever done. Not only for me but for my subject too.

Here are the (mis)adventures of my camper van…

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