The Lens-Artists Challenge this week is by Sofia, who asks us to present images depicting “anything that has had an existence of many years. It can be ancient buildings or places, or unchangeable landscapes. It can also be traditions, whose origins are lost in time, or obsolete objects of everyday life.” This is a great theme, and Sofia offers many good examples. It’s a tough one for me, though, because I do not travel hardly at all anymore, and I don’t have pictures of the many ancient buildings and sites around the world. But I think I can find a few images that address the theme, if somewhat sideways. I’ll start with the Frontier Cabin.
One-room frontier cabins were first built by Swedish settlers in the 1600s, then became a standard home for settlers moving westward across the American frontier during the 18th and 19th centuries. The typical frontier cabin was ten by twenty feet, regardless of the number of inhabitants. Typically, frontier cabins featured only one room, which served as kitchen, dining room, living room, workroom, and bedroom. It was not uncommon for a family of six to ten people to live in a single log cabin.
The Wupatki ruins in northern Arizona is the oldest site of human habitation in northern Arizona. It was occupied more than 1,000 years ago by the indigenous people of Hopi, Zuni, and Ancestral Puebloan tribes. The settlement became an agricultural and trade center for hundreds of miles in all directions.
(Click on each image for a larger picture and full-screen option.)
I’ve already posted pictures of the Acoma Pueblo more than once, but I don’t think I’ve shared these ones yet. (Click images for larger and full-screen.)
The Acoma Pueblo, believed to have been established in the 12th century or even earlier, is a community atop a 367-ft mesa in north-central New Mexico. It is the oldest continuously occupied place in the United States.
When I lived in Southern California, The San Gabriels were my favorite mountains for exploring. Considered a relatively young mountain range (!), the San Gabriels started forming 5-7 million years ago, although some of the bedrock is as old as 1.8 billion years. That fits the definition of “ancient.” But what’s more, they’re still growing! 2-5 millimeters per year!
Finally, I want to share this recent image that I created in the style of Ukiyo-e. It’s a digital creation, though not entirely so. The picture is recent, but the art form should qualify as relatively ancient.
Ukiyo-e is a Japanese art form developed in the early 17th Century during the Edo period, depicting scenes of everyday life in Japan. Initially done on hand-carved wood blocks, Ukiyo-e later embraced painting. Ukiyo means “activities of people”; e means “picture.” The Edo period in Japan was relatively happy in Japan’s history, and Ukiyo-e evolved to reflect that.
Ukiyo-e included pictures of nature and landscapes. The genre is characterized by minimalistic designs, usually created through simple lines and gently flowing curves and then finished with bold colors. This contrast between simplistic, focused design and vibrant, dramatic color helped to bring the flat, two-dimensional design to life. The form evolved to include subjects like beautiful women, kabuki actors, historical and mythical scenes, and, later, detailed landscapes by artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige. The art form’s popularity waned with the end of the Edo period and the rise of photography but heavily influenced Western art movements like Impressionism and Art Nouveau.
Those are my offerings for this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge. Thanks to Sofia for creating such a stimulating theme; I hope my entries here qualify. Next week is Ritva’s turn to host; stay tuned! If you’d like to know more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, please click here.
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