I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.
For the last six days my son was visiting with the youngest of our grandsons, so I have not been very active here, as there was someone wanting attention. An so much more cooking to do than normally.
I did get a chance to get some photographs taken, as I had a lovelu and cute boy to aim my camera to. After the first time, he said to me: Mummi, if these are not good we can take more tomorrow. (Mummi – grandma in Finnish)
and we did the light in my bedroom was better than the the ones I took in the living room. He is a good sport, and a real pro in front of the camera. After some shot he would say to me, let me see? and came to look at the shots on the camera. I am not going to post all of them the first time I took 90 frames and second time 125 frames. Most of them are OK.
“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Boy, who can resist this smile!
“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”
Compare the color version versus the black and white one.
This last one was from the first time, we took in the evening and the light was low
It’s April and it still looks like winter, feels like winter even though next to a wall where the wind doesn’t blow you can feel the lovely warmth of the sun.
My grandson said to me, I will never forget the mountain next to your home 😀 ( it is a hill ) he always wants to climb it no matter what season it is. Today he conquered it with his father and grandpa
I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.
Not finding the book you want? I had just done my civil duty at the library, voted. I sat waiting for my husband to lend some books.
I liked the line of the windows and the shelves making a leading line. So I set the camera -phone to the floor level and took this photo of three people, they seemed to be nicely situated in also in this lowpoint photo. I also got a shot of the person sitting by the desk reading.
“The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say.” ~ Gregory Maguire
two men and books
“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A boy
“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”
Compare to edit, color versus black and white version. But I also with the shadows.
We went toenjoy a day at the beach. There we also saw these girls posing on the beach, slightly different kind of photos they were aiming for. They were well aware of lots of people taking photos of them. I even got direct looks and smiles 🙂 I took few and had fun editing them in different styles.
I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I also have a sweet spot for tmy grandkids. I can sit for hours and I watch them play and fight…no thats not true, I cannot watch them fight 🙂 I end up telling them to stop.
They are lively and to get them to sit down and giving me a chance to get a photograph of them is not that easy. This time I did not give them an opportunity to refuse. I sat them by thhe window so I could use the natural light and get nice contrast and shadows, Then I edited them in this moody way, I know childrens photos are not usually edited this way, but I liked them. What do you think?
Portrait #1
“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”
I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I was once again reminded about the importance of exposure, light. It is the key element in these photos.
There’s so much grey to every story – nothing is so black and white.
Roy’s solo rendition of “Crying” that night was flawless. Lang pours even more emotion into that song than he did in her subsequent solo performances of it, and her voice is unbelievably clear and strong. Two spectacular talents.
ArtByRitva – Crying
I was alright for a while I could smile for a while But I saw you last night, you held my hand so tight As you stopped to say, “Hello” Oh, you wished me well, you couldn’t tell
That I’d been crying over you Crying over you Then you said, “So long” Left me standing all alone Alone and crying
Roy Orbison was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as operatic. Many of Orbison’s songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers chose to project machismo. He performed while standing motionless and wearing black clothes to match his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses, which he wore to counter his shyness and stage fright.
k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter A mezzo-soprano,Lang has contributed songs to movie soundtracks and has collaborated with many musicians. I love her voice.
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
I am getting desperate, but I am crabbing to straws….Melanie or Melanie Safka, is an American singer-songwriter.
With her sweet, captivating voice, quirky yet insightful songwriting and bubbly, upbeat, free-spirited hippie persona, pop and folk singer/songwriter Melanie totally epitomized the whole “flower power” counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s.
Oh, I wish that I could find a good book to live in Oh, I wish that I could find a good book Well, if I could find a real good book I’d never have to come out and look at What they’ve done to my song
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
Today I am taking an easy way out AGAIN , I have spent so much time listening to music I like and find a song to go with it, and it is hard. I like wine, and I Like UB40 Red Red Wine!
I actually thought I’d have tons of pictures of wine, but surprisingly I didn’t. Have to drink some more to get few photos 🙂
The song in my opinion says what we need today – Red Wine
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
Today I am taking an easy way out, I have spent so much time listening to music I like and find a song to go with it, today well I have photos and will find easily a song to go with them. Viva Las Vegas! Song for my old hometown
So if I assume we all know Elvis Presley 🙂 Iwon’t be wrong
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
HIM (sometimes stylized as H.I.M.) was a Finnish gothic rock band from Helsinki. Music critics have referred to the music of HIM as gothic rock, gothic metal, alternative rock, alternative metal.
Oh girl we are the same We are young and lost and so afraid There’s no cure for the pain No shelter from the rain All our prayers seem to fail
In joy and sorrow my home’s in your arms
In world so hollow It is breaking my heart In joy and sorrow my home’s in your arms In world so hollow It is breaking my heart
The band has referred to its music as “love metal”, the title of the group’s fourth studio album. According to Ville Valo, the term “love metal” was coined as a response to people having difficulties categorizing HIM’s music. Regarding HIM’s reputation as a “goth band”, Valo stated: “We can’t do anything about that [label], but I think we are a special shade of goth, more tender than others. In Finnish tradition, our music is very melancholic.”Valo has also described HIM’s sound as “sentimental, hard-hitting rock music”. The band’s intent has always been to combine more melodic and melancholic elements, with its heavier influences.
Lyrically the songs of HIM largely deal with themes of love. According to Valo: “I feel like there is no subject more important for a song than relationships. It’s the only thing that moves me.”Valo also takes inspiration from literature, but only certain aspects of it, explaining: “As a guy who writes songs, I get excited about an idea, or a book, or a sentence. I don’t necessarily get excited about the whole of Tolkien, I just get excited about Uruk-hai. Just a little detail that just makes my mind work overdrive.” Valo’s lyrics have been described as “oozing with blood-dripping hearts and gothic melodrama”.
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
Thinkin’ about the world as it is Why must we go on hating? Why can’t we live in bliss?
Yusuf/Cat Stevens wrote “Peace Train” as a call for unity and understanding on his storied Teaser and the Firecat album of 1971.
Now I’ve been happy lately Thinking about the good things to come And I believe it could be Something good has begun Oh, I’ve been smiling lately Dreaming about the world as one And I believe it could be Someday it’s going to come
Now I’ve been crying lately Thinkin’ about the world as it is Why must we go on hating? Why can’t we live in bliss?
‘Cause out on the edge of darkness There rides a peace train Oh, peace train take this country Come take me home again
Oh, peace train sounding louder Glide on the peace train
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
Jukka “J.” Karjalainen is a Finnish singer-songwriter. His first album came out in 1981.”He states that his music is a mix of “Blues, Rock´n´roll, Folk, Country, Soul, Funky, New Orleans stuff.”
Karjalainen is one of Finland’s most popular singers and songwriters of all time. Karjalainen is one of the most significant pioneers and developers of 1980s Finnish rock.
Karjalainen has written and composed all the songs he has recorded, with a few exceptions. Karjalainen started his recording career with blues, folk and country-influenced music, which was colored by the brass instruments of the Mustat Lasit group with their soul tones. In the 1990s, he moved into a more pop- and rock-influenced direction
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
Baker Street, I have no photos of that street, but I went to Helsinki during the weekend and these are from there. Also a dream of countryside This was very popular back when I lived in Australia, so it always brings back memories from that period of time.
Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty wrote it for his second solo album City to City, released in 1978.
Named after Baker Street in London, Rafferty wrote it during a period when he was trying to get out of his Stealers Wheel contracts. He was regularly travelling between his family home in Paisley and London, where he often stayed at a friend’s flat on Baker Street. Everybody was suing each other, so I spent a lot of time on the overnight train from Glasgow to London for meetings with lawyers. I knew a guy who lived in a little flat off Baker Street. We’d sit and chat or play guitar there through the night.
This city desert makes you feel so cold It’s got so many people, but it’s got no soul And it’s taken you so long To find out you were wrong When you thought it held everything
He’s got this dream about buying some land He’s gonna give up the booze and the one-night stands And then he’ll settle down In some quiet little town And forget about ev’rything
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001. The Killers have been grouped with various genres, including alternative rock,indie rock.
Don’t want your picture on my cell phone I want you here with me Don’t want your memories in my head, no I want you here with me
Spent the summer just layin’ out in the sun Time seems to move so slowly, when you’re taking it as it comes Maybe we were just too young
Your body was tan and your hair was long You shot me a smile and my cares were gone
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
Postmodern Jukebox, also widely known by the initialism PMJ, is a rotating musical collective founded by arranger and pianist Scott Bradlee in 2011. PMJ is known for reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early 20th century forms such as swing and jazz.
I went to see them when they were in Helsinki last time, I might have to go and see them when they come back in March. A real talented group of entertainers and great show.
This time I am posting All About That Bass, originally by Meghan Trainor. Body positivity.
I’m all about that bass, ’bout that bass, no treble I’m all about that bass, ’bout that bass, no treble I’m all about that bass,
Yeah, it’s pretty clear, I ain’t no size two But I can shake it, shake it, like I’m supposed to do ‘Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase And all the right junk in all the right places I see the magazines (ah-ha) workin’ that Photoshop (ah-ha) We know that shit ain’t real Come on now, make it stop If you got beauty beauty (ah-ha), just raise ’em up ‘Cause every inch of you is perfect From the bottom to the top
Yeah, my mama she told me don’t worry about your size She says, boys like a little more booty to hold at night And no I won’t be no stick-figure, silicone Barbie doll So, if that’s what’s you’re into Then go ahead and move along
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
I had a real bad day yesterday, I had no energy at all. I chose this song due to its title, I am not suffering from love sorrows. Just pain. But I do like soul.
This month I have listened to more music that I have for a long time, over the years it has gradually become less, which is unfortunate. This has been a trip to memories in new discoveries, this band is one of them. This song Pain and Misery is heartbreaking song that pays homage to the soul music of the early 60’s.
I must keep this up after this month, listening to more music that is.
Won’t you stay with me? ’Cause since you gone, it’s all Pain and misery
The Teskey Brothers -The Teskey Brothers is a blues/neo-soul band from Melbourne, Australia named for two brothers who formed the group
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
I found Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit through my husband, as I find lyrics important, also the tone of his phone speaks to me, this band is one of my new favorite finds.
I myself am not prone to depression, but I know several people close to me who have been effected by it and this song speaks to me in that way. Worth a listen. One of my favorite songs from them is is cover me up.
Whereas his most recent records have been credited to Isbell alone, this latest effort has his longtime crew, the 400 Unit, front and center, not only on the album cover, but throughout the proceedings. Shires (Isbell married singer-songwriter and violinist Amanda Shires),also makes her contributions known, particularly on “Anxiety,” a composition that addresses the effects of mental illness. This rare co-writing situation was something Isbell felt necessary to capture the nuances of this malady, particularly how people suffering from it also have to grapple with other people’s perceptions of what they’re going through.
“I don’t have a clinically diagnosed anxiety issue or these sort of crippling attacks where I can’t function,” Isbell says. “But I did want to cover that and represent that aspect of things in the song. So I went to my wife, who has more experience with that kind of stuff, and we co-wrote that song. I wanted to be specific and describe people’s experiences when they have these sort of moments where they’re disconnected from reality and things get overwhelming. So I went to her about that.”
sitting alone
Michael Jason Isbell is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007.
Isbell has spoken about the importance of his northern Alabama roots: “I definitely don’t feel like I would be the musician that I am, or the type of songwriter, had I not come from that particular place,” he says now. “The soul music that came out of there, and a lot of the soul-influenced rock and roll and country music that came out of the studios in north Alabama in the 1960s and 1970s had a big influence on me.” Isbell said that working at FAME Studios was “everything” to him, that it was “a gateway towards the music that he wanted to play”. In addition to citing Neil Young as a big influence, Isbell is a fan of singer-songwriter Ben Howard and guitarist Blake Mills.
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
Rod Stewart I saw in Las Vegas 2019, I enjoy the rasp in his voice and many of his songs. He is a great entertainer.
The song I chose goes with the header photo I chose. I think this song has a message of compassion for all people, which is something we all should have.
Sir Roderick David Stewart is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 250 million records worldwide.
The song tells the life story of Georgie, a gay friend of the narrator.When young Georgie reveals his sexuality to his parents, his father asks, “How can my son not be straight, after all I’ve said and done for him?” Georgie, cast out by his parents, heads for New York City where he becomes successful and popular in Manhattan’s upper class, “the toast of the Great White Way”. The narrator visits him in Summer 1975, when Georgie tells him he’s in love; the narrator is pleased for him. Georgie attends the opening night of a Broadway musical, but has no interest in lingering afterward so he leaves “before the final curtain call” and heads crosstown. He is attacked near East 53rd Street by a New Jersey gang of thieves that was waiting in a car on a “darkened side street” and one thief inadvertently kills him. The narrator remembers Georgie’s advice on living life to the full while young, before it ends. The second part of song has the narrator pleading that Georgie stay.
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
“Common People” is a song by English alternative rock band Pulp, released in May 1995 as the lead single off their fifth studio album Different Class. It reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming a defining track of the Britpop movement as well as Pulp’s signature song.
I took her to a supermarket I don’t know why But I had to start it somewhere So it started there I said pretend you’ve got no money She just laughed and said Oh you’re so funny I said; yeah I can’t see anyone else smiling in here Are you sure?
Good thing I have pictures of supermarket 🙂 to go with this song.
The idea for the song’s lyrics came from a Greek art student whom Pulp singer-songwriter Jarvis Cocker met while he was studying at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Cocker had enrolled in a film studies course at the college in September 1988 while taking a break from Pulp. He spoke about the song’s inspiration in NME in 2013:
Cocker has said, I’d met the girl from the song many years before, when I was at St Martin’s College. I’d met her on a sculpture course, but at St Martin’s you had a thing called Crossover Fortnight, where you had to do another discipline for a couple of weeks. I was studying film, and she might’ve been doing painting, but we both decided to do sculpture for two weeks. I don’t know her name. It would’ve been around 1988, so it was already ancient history when I wrote about her.
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
The first time I saw him was with my sister 1985, and it was the first time I had a crush on a singer, he was in black suit, intensely present, sexy, older man. I was sold. Voice of honey and soul. I was 22 years-old and smitten.
I have seen Leonard Cohen in concert three times, this tour also came to Helsinki 2008 and 2010, needed to be there also. It is an unbelievable charisma that man had, just simply by standing on the stage and singing he got the attention. A huge arena and he was able to make intimate atmosphere to it. That is something not everyone is able to do.
“Sharon Robinson, a writing collaborator of Leonard Cohen. She recalled to Uncut: “Leonard had most of the lyric done when he handed it to me. There’s a profound honesty in it. He’s exposing something we all know and talk about with those close to us, but not publicly. It says we’re not really in control of our destiny, there are others running things, and we go about our daily lives with that in the background.””
This photo due to one line in the song. Finding photos to go with his poems/songs is nearly impossible.
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking Everybody knows that the captain lied Everybody got this broken feeling Like their father or their dog just died Everybody talking to their pockets Everybody wants a box of chocolates And a long-stem rose Everybody knows
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
I was not broken or wounded when I heard this song, but it definitely spoke to me on an emotional level.
Haunting…” That is how I would describe this song written by bassist and singer-songwriter Aimee Mann. “Save Me”
Mann has gained critical success for the soundtrack of dramatic film “Magnolia”, starring Tom Cruise and Julianne Moore.
“You look like… a perfect fit, For a girl in need… of a tourniquet. But can you save me? Come on and save me… If you could save me, From the ranks of the freaks, Who suspect they could never love anyone”
The words “save me” have been mentioned many, many times in the song that tells of a wounded woman who has been to different relationship and gets out broken-hearted every time. Mmm… a girl in need of tourniquet is quite a harrowing picture in mind.
“You struck me dumb, Like radium Like Peter Pan, or Superman, You have come… to save me. Come on and save me…”
The meaning of this song…?
Basically the world is full of folks who have issues with intimacy–the so-called “freaks who suspect they could never love anyone”. And one day you wake up and realize that you’re sick to death of looking for that one person who’s not an emotional basket case.
She wants the new relationship to work out, but she’s unsure, because her man would have to practically have superpowers to help her forget all shit she’s been through. I particularly love the last verse– because, of course, the universe is also brimming with folks who are so fucked up that the only people they can love are people who don’t love, period.
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
What you have to do to get an image for a this song. I like the song, I don’t like whiskey. I asked my husband if he had some at home, well he did. I asked for it, he said in the middle of the day??? and I was Yeah, I need to take a photo. What you do to get a shot. I took ten and still wasn’t happy, but since I took them I am going to share most of them. Sorry! Thought you are getting the idea of my editing to cover the fact that they are not the best of shot.
“Tennessee Whiskey” was first recorded by David Allan Coe for his 1981 album of the same name, and then by George Jones, who took it to No. 2 on the country chart in 1983. This is the version by Chris Stapleton.
Stapleton’s musical influences range from outlaw country and bluegrass to rock and roll and blues, he is a soul singer[with a tenor vocal range with lots of different influences from various artists.
Used to spend my nights out in a barroom Liquor was the only love I’ve known But you rescued me from reachin’ for the bottom And brought me back from being too far gone
You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey You’re as sweet as strawberry wine You’re as warm as a glass of brandy And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
I find this challenge harder than I thought, finding an image to go to a song is harder that I thought. Some of the songs that I like are hard to connect to a photo. This It took me quite some time to come up with an image.
This is singer, I love his voice, he is one of my absolute favorite artists, this man is able to touch every single part of my brain, soul and body just with his voice.
Paolo Nutini is a soul-influenced alternative singer-songwriter from Paisley, Scotland. He grew up listening to a range of folk, opera, jazz, and his father’s R&B favourites. Nutini’s debut album, These Streets, released in 2006 achieved double-platinum status and sent the four singles ‘Last Request’, ‘Jenny Don’t Be Hasty’, ‘Rewind’ and ‘New Shoes’ into the Top 40.
His catalogue has also ‘Sunny Side Up’ as well as 2014 album ‘Caustic Love’ which produced the hit singles ‘Candy’, ‘Let Me Down Easy’
From the corner of my eye To the back of my mind I recognize what you mean to me And though the corners of our pictures Are a long time frayed They still symbolize what you mean to me
You ask me to remember A kiss is but a kiss Like I’d be a fool to want more from you
At the ‘How to Survive November‘ monthly theme we will combine photo and sound. You can select a piece of music to your taste and find a photo to portray the song or you can make a drawing, painting or collage. The picture can be from your archives or you can get it fresh. Enjoy and have fun!
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 