First Fisheye Photos

"Boat" Malahide, Co Dublin

"Boat II" Malahide, Co Dublin

"Boat III" Malahide, Co Dublin

"VW Bettle" Malahide, Co Dublin

East Point Park, Co Dublin

Fringe Festival, Co Dublin

Fringe Festival, Co Dublin

Fringe Festival, Co Dublin

Fringe Festival, Co Dublin

Photography by Nuno Goncalves. Dublin, Ireland 2006.

There Are No Evils in Nature/ There Are Only Evils of Man.

O austriaco Friedrich Stowasser (1928-2000), conhecido no mundo artistico como Friedensreich Hundertwasser ("Peace-Kingdom Hundred-Water"), foi considerado dos artistas mais importantes emergentes do Pos-Segunda Grande Guerra Mundial. A renuncia das linhas rectas, que ele apelidou de "utensilios do diabo", as cores fortes, as formas organicas e a reconciliacao da Natureza com o Homem, foram as principais linhas do seu percurso como pintor e escultor.

Hundertwasser teve como principais influencias artisticas, Egon Schiele e Gustav Klimt, mas ficou indiscutivelmente ligado a Antoni Gaudi devido ao uso de formas bio-morficas e mosaicos, caracteristicas bem visiveis no seu trabalho arquitectonico. Os chaos ondulados ("An uneven floor is a melody to the feet"), os telhados cobertos de terra e relva e grandes arvores saindo pelas janelas foram amplamente contemplados na sua casa, Hundertwasserhaus. O artista fascinado por espirais deixou a sua marca espalhada um pouco por todo o mundo, desde a Austria ate ao Japao, passando pelos Estados Unidos e Nova Zelandia.

There Are No Evils in Nature.

There Are Only Evils of Man.

When man thinks he has to correct nature, it is an irreparable mistake every time. A community should not consider it an honour how much spontaneous vegetation it destroys; it should rather be a point of honour for every community to protect as much of its natural landscape as possible.

The brook, the river, the swamp, the riverside wetlands as they are, the way God created them, must be sacred and inviolable to us. Correcting a stream only has evil effects, which are expensive in the end: the lowering of water tables, the destruction of forests, the transformation of large areas into steppes, no regeneration of the water, which runs off too fast.

The river wetlands can no longer fulfill their sponge-like function: the absorption of excess water and slow feedback in dry spells, like a good piggy bank in times of emergency. The regulated brook becomes a sewer. Fish die, and there are no fish in the brook because they cannot swim through the regulated channel.

Floods, with all their devastating consequences, all the more after regulation. Because too much water runs off too quickly, converging in great quantity without any chance of being absorbed by the earth and the vegetation. Only a stream with a high waterline flowing irregularly can produce pure water, regulate the water household and conserve the fish and animal populations to the benefit of man and his agriculture.

Now, almost too late, this age-old adage is being recognised and the courses of rivers and streams, which had been straightened in concrete channels, are being destroyed in order to restore the previous irregular state. What irony! So why regulate a stream if you have to deregulate it afterwards?

Hundertwasser, May 1990

Street Art in Vienna

"Current graffiti art is more reflective of the world around it. Using new materials and techniques, its innovaters are creating an original language of forms and images infused with contemporary graphic design and illustration. Fluent in branding and graphic imagery, they have been replacing tags with more personal logos and shifting from typographic to iconographic forms of communication. Subverted signs, spontaneous drawings, powerful symbols and curious characters represent an unstoppable worldwide outdoor gallery of free art." Street Logos by Tristan Manco.

Photography by Nuno Goncalves. Vienna, Austria 2006

Naschmarkt - Vienna

Dated from the 16th century and situated in the central sidewalk between two streets, the Naschmarkt is the place for shoppers that are looking for fresh fruits, vegetables and a mixture of traditional viennese products and oriental influences. Vienna, Austria 2006.

Photography by Nuno Goncalves

Buda Side

One of the symbols of Hungary, the Parliament was constructed between 1885 and 1905 and it's a mixture of different styles: Neo-Gothic facade, Renaissance and Baroque layout. Pest side. Budapest, Hungary 2006

No title. Pest side. Budapest, Hungary 2006

It's situated in Buda's "old town", the Church Of Our Lady or Matthias Church, was a cultural and strategic point for centuries. The Gothic-Style church was constructed between the 13th and the 15th centuries. Buda side. Budapest, Hungary 2006

No title. Buda side. Budapest, Hungary 2006

View of the Monastery roof (1243), situated in Castle Hill. This fortified district was constructed by King Bela IV, when he moved the population of Pest to Buda. Buda side. Budapest, Hungary 2006

"Pest-Buda" restaurant situated in Castle Hill. Buda side. Budapest, Hungary 2006

Corro Buda, corro Peste...

Chain Bridge, from Buda to Pest by night. Budapest, Hungary 2006

The silhouette of the upper façade of the old National Theatre at Blaha Lujza square can be seen lying in the water. Pest Side, Hungary 2006.

Another view of the silhouette of the upper façade of the old National Theatre. Pest Side, Hungary 2006.

Father and son. Riverside in Buda Side, Hungary 2006.

Tram 47 crossing the Liberty Bridge (Szabadság híd), in is way to Szent Gellért tér. Buda Side, Hungary 2006.

The Liberty Bridge was the third to be constructed in Budapest and was originally called Franz Joseph Bridge after the Habsburg Emperor. Buda Side, Hungary 2006.

Photography by Nuno Goncalves.

My first Leica!!!

The Leica III was a screw-mount, coupled-rangefinder built by Leitz Wetzlar in the early days of WWII: 1933-1939. Leica used different model designations, so the Leica III is known by some as the Leica Model F. It's a bit confusing because the variants of the Leica III are referred to as the IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, etc. using lower-case letters.

The Leica III was followed by the IIIa (1935-1940, 1946-1948), which was in turned followed by the IIIb (1938-1940) and then the IIIc which spanned through the post-War period (1940-41, 1946-). The IIIc is the preferred model by many collectors as it has a solid, die-cast body (rather than separate parts) and a redesigned shutter. The Leica IIIf is one of the most usable since it has flash synchronization, and the IIIg is the best of the III series with its large projected brightframe finder, but it was produced in small numbers, is rare, and very expensive.

Fotos e texto retirados do site http://www.photoethnography.com

FISHEYE NO. 2 CAMERA

The fisheye view – the way lomographers live and see life. Imagine everything above, below, and around you streaming through your eyes and compacting into a nice and compact little ball. Think about your best friend's nose being vacuum-sucked into your lens, all the while their eyes and forehead are s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d back. Visualize yourself bowled over by the devastating colors that only fine glass can deliver. The world's first honest-to-God Fisheye camera is here and waiting to swim into your life. Open your heart, stretch out your hands, and grease up your fins.

Specifications

Size: 4.25" (10.5cm) x 2.5" (6cm) x 2.5" (6cm)
Weight: 0.5lb (0.23kg)
Format: all 35mm (color negative, slide, b&w)
Field of Vision: 170 degrees
Approximate focal length: 10mm
Fixed Aperture: f/8
Fixed Speed: 1/100
Electronic Flash powered by one "AA" battery
Film can be processed at any 35mm lab, supermarket, drug store, swapmeet, etc.

Features

170-degree field of view
The heart, soul, and blood of the Fisheye's brilliance: an enormous field of view that takes in literally half of the world around you and compacts it into a nice and tight circular image. Barrel distortions twist and bend your subjects around the edges, stretch them towards and away from your lens, and converge their lines towards the center.

Extreme close-up potential
Get right up to their face, and watch their nose get sucked into your lens while their ears and forehead s-l-i-d-e-s backwards. Sharp, beautiful pictures are possible from even the closest quarters.

Huge depth of field
Super-wide-angle images like the ones spat out by the Fisheye come with a wonderful bonus: focused sharpness from the front to the rear of your image. Each fisheye image shows massive depth of field, so your subject and background will be nice and crispy clear.

Premium glass optics
Sitting inside that massive snout are several of the loveliest optical-glass lens elements that you have ever seen. They work together in perfect harmony to give you bright colors, punchy contrast, super-blue skies, ultra-red lips, and yellow bananas like you have never seen before.

Built-in electronic flash
Whenever you need him, this bright little hombre is ready to light up and fire a solid burst of white. Your Fisheye pleasure is no longer limited to daylight hours.

Sleek Goldfish embossing
Swimming off the right side of your camera is a beautifully detailed "koi" goldfish. One part children's illustration and one part yakuza tattoo - it's a real looker on the Fisheye.

Forget the Viewfinder
Because it doesn't work anyway. With the Fisheye's massive field of view, it sees much more than any simple viewfinder or even your own eyes can see. The Fisheye truly invites you to "shoot from the hip" and capture everything from the Earth to the heavens in the process.

Agora, esta na hora de por maos a obra...

MIKIMOTO

Fotografia tirada por Nuno Goncalves. Toquio, Japao.

Carta de Carlos Tena a los amigos de Cuba

Queridos compañeros:
Al objeto de compensar la desinformación, manipulación y rumorología de todo tipo que impera en la llamada "prensa libre", paso con estas breves líneas, a narrar la verdadera situación en la isla, tras la operación que ha sufrido el Jefe del Estado cubano, Fidel Castro Ruz,
A grandes rasgos, el común denominador en Cuba es la tranquilidad, la serenidad, amén de una cierta y logica preocupacion sobre la salud del líder de la Revolución, que desgraciadamente hoy está quebrantada, como lo fue tras la lipotimia que sufrio en el 2001 en el barrio habanero del Cotorro, el posterior accidente en Villa Clara que le supuso varias fracturas, y ahora esto. Pero el ciudadano cubano, aunque sabe que Fidel no volverá a ser el mismo de hace diez años, conoce tambien que los mecanismos de la Constitucion han funcionado perfectamente. Que su Revolucion (la nuestra) permanecerá como ejemplo a seguir en el continente latinoamericano.
La TV, la radio y la prensa han informado con prontitud, transparencia y sin las habituales repeticiones de los medios occidentales cuando un mandatario sufre tan importante operación quirúrgica, que el propio Fidel, por medio de otro mensaje lanzado hoy a su pueblo, definía como "secreto de estado", pidiendo comprensión por esa medida, diseñada para que los halcones mafiosos de Miami y los medios de propaganda yanqui no se aprovechen de la situación. El Comandante afirmó, en el comunicado que se dio a conocer en la Mesa Redonda de hoy, que se recupera lentamente y que precisará de muchas semanas (se dice que un minimo de tres meses) para comenzar a hacer una vida mas activa.
Por cierto que en el programa de la TV cubana se emitieron ltambién imágenes de los fastos y juergas varias que protagonizaron algunos miembros de la gusanera de Miami, incluyendo entrevistas en las que llegaban a decir que "rezaban por la muerte de Fidel", lo que provocó el rechazo inmediato de las personas que veian el espacio, asi como la indignación de la audiencia. La catadura moral de esos cubanos pro-Bush, ha quedado al descubierto, aunque bien es cierto que se ha recalcado que el número de asistentes al jolgorio miamense es ridiculo comparado con los 700.000 habitantes de origen cubano que residen en Florida. Y, por fortuna, miles de ellos no practican el odio como método para arreglar el mundo.
Los medicos guardan un absoluto mutismo sobre la naturaleza de la intervención, ya que es el propio afectado quien traslada lo que los doctores le dicen, pero, insisto, el ambiente en los centros de trabajo, en las calles, es de absoluta serenidad. A ello contribuye la normalidad en la programacion de TV, que sigue con su ciclo veraniego de peliculas, novelas, concursos, música, etc. No ha habido ningun aumento de policías en la calle, ni se nota nada fuera de lo normal. El estado de salud del lider no ha alterado la cotidianedad en la vida ciudanana (excepto en los primeros minutos tras la lectura del primer comunicado, donde hubo un lógico nerviosismo) y la tranquilidad de los habitantes de la isla es, repito, sorprendentemente absoluta. Los mercados siguen abiertos, sin aglomeraciones de ningún tipo, las tiendas continuan atendiendo a sus clientes, las discotecas estan abiertas, los turistas pasean tranquilamente y se sorprenden de ese ambiente de paz y sosiego.
El cubano ha comprobado que la Revolución sigue adelante, se sabe protegido por Raúl Castro, su nuevo Comandante en Jefe, por sus ministros y miembros del partido y por las Fuerzas Armadas. Un detalle simpatico es que los creyentes rezan por su lider y confiesan que Dios le va a dar a Fidel veinte años mas de vida.
En resumen, no habrá muchos más comunicados oficiales sobre la salud de Fidel, que segun él mismo se recupera muy lentamente; los mecanismos y organismos del estado han funcionado de manera coordinada y perfecta, y la poblacion, aunque preocupada, continua su vida habitual, marcada en Agosto, como es natural, por las vacaciones, la playa, el sol, el mar y la relajación.
Desde La Habana, un abrazo a todos los amigos de ese mundo mejor, que es más que posible.

Carlos Tena

Fidel Castro nao cumpre com os seus compromissos, pela primeira vez desde 1959!

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has temporarily delegated power to his brother Raul after suffering intestinal bleeding which required surgery.
The proclamation on the handover - the text of which follows - was read out on Cuban TV by Castro's personal assistant Carlos Manuel Valenciaga on 1 August.
Proclamation by the commander in chief to the people of Cuba:

As result of the great effort exerted to visit the Argentine city of Cordoba, to participate in the Mercosur meeting, the closing of the People's Summit in the historic University of Cordoba, and to visit Alta Gracia, the city where Che [Guevara] grew up, together with my participation in the commemoration in Granma and Holguin Provinces of the 53rd anniversary of the assaults on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Garrisons on 26 July 1953, days and nights of nonstop work with hardly any sleep lead my health, which has withstood every test, to undergo extreme stress and a breakdown.

This resulted in an acute intestinal crisis with persistent bleeding which forced me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure. All the details of this health incident are evidenced in the x-rays, endoscopies, and video record.
The surgery makes it necessary for me to take several weeks of rest away from my duties and posts.

Since our country is threatened by the US Government under circumstances such as these, I have made the following decisions:

1- I provisionally delegate my functions as first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba to its second secretary, comrade Raul Castro Ruz.
2- I provisionally delegate my functions as commander in chief of the heroic Revolutionary Armed Forces to the aforementioned comrade, Army General Raul Castro.

3- I provisionally delegate my functions as president of the Council of State and Government of the Republic of Cuba to the first vice president, comrade Raul Castro Ruz.

4- I provisionally delegate my responsibilities as head of the national and international public health programme to the Politburo member and public health minister, comrade Jose Ramon Balaguer Cabrera.

5- I provisionally delegate my responsibilities as head of the national and international education programme to comrades Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and Esteban Lazo Hernandez, members of the Politburo.

6- I provisionally delegate my responsibilities as head of Cuba's national Energy Revolution programme and collaboration with other countries in this area to comrade Carlos Lage Davila, member of the Politburo and secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers.

The corresponding funds for these three programmes; health, education, and energy, should continue to be managed and administered, as I have personally done, by comrades Carlos Lage Davila, secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers, Francisco Soberon Valdes, minister and president of the Central Bank of Cuba, and Felipe Perez Roque, minister of foreign relations, who worked with me in these duties and should form a commission to that end.
Our glorious Communist Party, with the support of the mass organisations and all the people, has the mission of taking on the task given them in this proclamation.

The summit of the Non-Aligned Countries, which will be held from 11-16 September, should receive the greatest attention of the Cuban nation and state and be held with the highest level of excellence on the planned date.

I plead that the thousands of personalities who so generously planned to celebrate my 80th birthday this 13 August postpone the celebration until 2 December of this year, the 50th anniversary of the Granma landing.

It is my request that the party's Central Committee and the National Assembly of the People's Government firmly support this proclamation. I have not the slightest doubt that our people and our Revolution will fight until the last drop of blood to defend these and other ideas and measures that may be necessary to safeguard this historic process.

Imperialism will never be able to crush Cuba. The battle of ideas will continue.

Long live the fatherland.

Long live the Revolution.

Long live socialism.

Hasta la vitoria, siempre! "

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