TheAppWhisperer

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 29 March 2020

2020-03-292020-03-29 by Joanne Carter

It is a glorious spring day outside, there was a beautiful dawn chorus emitting from the garden birds this morning, the flowering bushes are starting to blossom. There’s a cold east wind but the piercing sun heats up our glass roofed conservatory, where I am writing this column with so much warmth, I envisage I am basking on a warm coastline, cocktail in hand. Of course, the realisation that Coronovirus was going to be a very serious problem came to me several weeks ago. My husband was interviewing a photographer in Northern Italy, before the lockdown, but after the schools had closed. He spoke about all the teenagers hanging around, everywhere and how closing the schools had only pushed all the kids out into the streets, none were staying home. Our schools were still open at this stage, my daughter attending daily assemblies with hundreds of other children. I am on immunosuppressant drugs for a chronic disease and in the high risk category. I took my daughter out of school before they closed, I explained that she needed to socially distance and of course, my popularity ratings hit rock bottom. Now all the schools are closed and new measures will be implemented next week to restrict our movements further. The supermarket shelves are empty, I have seen the photos online, hunter-gatherers we maybe but with the support of freezers and fridges we will reach a point where we run out of storage space. I’ve had one or two tearful days this week, much like all of us, none of us can know what’s next but we can try to reduce our anxiety. What we must do, is respect the measures to keep us all safe and healthly, to respect our healthcare workers and most of all, to continue, to create beautiful art. Stay safe.

Thank you to all the talented artists for submitting your works to our showcase this week. If you would like your work to be considered for entry in to our weekly Mobile Photography and Art Flickr Group, please submit it to our dedicated group, here. You can also submit images to our Instagram tag for this section #mobilephotographyandimagery.

Mimi Svanberg @imagomimago, Paul Yan @cresting_wave, Anita Elle @hipstanitaelle, Jenny Pieters @sodium_light22, Cintia Malhotra, p.a. hamel, Diane Neubauer, @luison_street, Sabine Gromek, @nadvodnuk – Nadvodnuk Galina, @povaliaeva – Povaliaeva Tatl, @pause.and.breathe – Susan Latty, @_jenbeezy_ – Jennifer Bracewell, @klimtt M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, @roberamitchell9675 – Roberta Mitchell, Lorenka Campos. @sunflowerof21_365 – Elaine Taylor, Eliza Badoiu, Manuela Matos Monteiro, @ebuka__michael, @remintrusions – Damian De Souza, @lizanderson48, @guryanova_phone, @coeiphoneart – Gerry Coe, @ja_graham – Jennifer Graham, Deborah Morbeto, @artistunveiled – Margot, @wphotonick, @marshadraws – Marsha Estes, @salwa_afef Salwa Afef, @honingdruppels, Christine Mignon, Robin Cohen @psychephoto, Jane Schultz, Jon Arne Foss, Jun Yamaguchi, Clint Cline, Rita Colantonio, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Catherine Caddigan, Andy Alexandre, Gianluca Ricoveri, Peter Wilkin, Judy Wahlberg, Karen Axelrad, Hanni K, borisbschulz2009, Candice Railton.

Music this week is ‘Utopia’ by Goldfrapp

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 20 October 2019

2019-10-202019-10-18 by Joanne Carter

This week it was my husband’s birthday (and excuse me but I have to interject within this sentence as ‘husband’ just sounds such a formal a title to give to a man who has and continues to sustain our romantic union on the basis of deep mutual trust and desire, so forever and into the future when I mention him, I will refer to him as the ‘brunette’; it amazes me, like his mother, despite the gravity of time, he has not one grey hair, so my brunette he is), and as with each recurring birthday year, at least for the past 24, it almost always coincides with Lee Child’s latest novel being released. Child is so systematic with his writing schedule, that each October he drops another. I haven’t purchased it this year, our eldest son has pre-ordered it for him and will continue the tradition as I’ve stepped up to offer other gifts. But, no matter what I give, I know, the brunette loves nothing more than settling down, very close to me, one hand on my thigh, the other holding Lee Child’s latest novel. I think it’s Jack Reacher’s 6ft 5in, 250lb former US army military policeman that offers him all the fantasy he needs, or so it appears. Reacher is a loner, a wanderer, after leaving the army, he’s never settled into a normal life. There are similarities I can see, there’s no one that would ever accuse us of living a ‘normal’ life, it’s just not. But, saying that, I have to say the brunette normally carries more than a toothbrush when he lives the house. It has been said that there are many women that love Child’s books too, including leading academics. It’s interesting to me, to ponder what they crave, apparently, for some, it is his formal passages. Simple words but strung with a real mastery of rhythm, nothing complicated. His landscape visions in dusty American nowhere-towns also get some women swooning. Of course, we can’t be forgetting that Reacher is the perfect archetypal hero, the handsome stranger in town that avenges the wrongs. This years offering ‘Blue Moon’ apparently turns on male agression towards women and sexual exploitation, it’s seen as a female revenge drama. ( I’ve picked up that cue in the song title to this weeks mobile photography and art showcase, you’ll hear me, listen closely) . So, I’ll be reading it as soon as my guy hands it over. And despite Jack Reacher being a female sexual fantasy so…I’ve heard, I think I’ll stick with the real thing, the birthday boy does it for me…

rain.is.poetry, Lydia Cassatt, Filiz Ak, Anca Balaj, Anastasia Potekhina – @nassavva, @ja_graham – Jennifer Graham, Peter Wilkin, @marshadraws, @kimmartinodiaz – Kim Martino, @ipiotrxs, Ile Mont, @john_nieto, @berlewenjolixor, @to_be – Tuba, Emilio Nadales, Laurie Amerson – @laamerson, @pause.and.breathe – Susan Latty, @patragraphy, @clau_clara, @theartofmayte – Mayte artist, @schwitter.li – Liliana Schwitter, @lorenka – Lorenka Campos, @sandralbmartins – Violet Martins, @effe5, @jenvoigt – Jenny, @marymodale, Jane Schultz – @before.1st.light, Sukru Mehmet Omur, Robin Robertis, @tatteredphotograph, @hipstanitaelle, @klimtt – M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Deborah McMillion, Clint Cline, Catherine Caddigan, Rita Colantonio, Andy Alexandre, Judy Wahlberg, Damian De Souza, Susan Blase, Linda Hollier, Tomaso Belloni, jilllian2 – Jill Lian.

Music this week is ‘Read all about it’ by Emile Sande – another of my favourite British singer/songwriters

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 6 October 2019

2019-10-182019-10-06 by Joanne Carter

One of the treatments I have commenced at hospital this week, is to take part in a six week course of Chi Kung and I’ve been practising it at home ever since, much to the amusement of those who I share my life with. Chi is considered to be the flow of energy through the universe. It is said to flow through channels in the human body and if blocked can lead to poor health. Chi kung involves performing movements that stimulate the flow of chi through the body. As such, it is often referred to as “meditation in motion”. You don’t need to be fit or athletic to do it, it can be adapted to your physical prowess. Chi Kung is very gentle on the body and arguably the most important thing to do when practising this ancient Chinese art is to relax, physically and mentally. To relax, you need to hold a position and take some deep breaths through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. In today’s society where we check our phones every 12 minutes, the lost art of concentration and relaxation is a concern. We need to switch off, as creatives, in order to create, make love, at least I do. When overwhelmed with mental stimulation, I have a few techniques up my sleeve, that I can call upon, these include, music – especially the music of Sade and I have included one of her tracks in this weeks showcase, this song speaks for me, another is photography, of course, I also read avidly, and particularly, when overwhelmed with physical pain, I love to descend into a very warm solitary bath and now I also have Chi Kung.

Whilst creating this weeks showcase, I have viewed all of the art through a Chi Kung lens and with each and every inspiring image, I have created a meditation, of your art. Feel the rhythm, the surging uplift, as we fall into mutual devoted freedom….

@pause.and.breathe – Susan Latty, Eliza Eliza Tsitsimeaua-Badoiu, clau_clara, Nicole Christophe, @mitrydate, Kerry Mitchell, @dunga_brook, @rejanerubino, @sandralbmartins – Violet Martins, @impro_visions, sunflowerof21_365 – Elaine Taylor, @patragraphy, @marymodale – Dale Bradshaw Botha, @marianne.rieter Marianne Rieter, Jane Schultz, @marian.rubin – Marian Said Marian Seid Rubin, @ilemusi – Ile Mont, @janisbrandenburg Janis Brandenburg Lee, accidental_artist3 – Ransom Candice, @fichristian – Fiona Christian, @clarisse_debout – Clarisse Debout, @schwitter.li – Liliana Schwitter, @ange_ombre – Ro Lannes, @klimtt – M. Cecilia Sao M. Cecilia São Thiago, ja_graham – Jennifer Graham, @peterwilkin1 – Peter Wilkin, @remintrusions – Damian De Souza, Susan Maxwell Schmidt, Jill Lian, Karen Axelrad, Yasuo Furue, Rita Colantonio, Gianluca Ricoveri, Catherine Catherine Schell Caddigan, Clint Cline, p.a.hamel, Susan Rennie, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Lorenka Campos, Rob Pearson-Wright, Paul Yan, Mark Walton1.

Music this week, another of my favourites – Sade with ‘Somebody already broke my heart’ (lovers live)

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 29 September 2019

2019-09-292019-09-29 by Joanne Carter

Susan lived “in constant terror that [her mother] would withdraw suddenly and arbitrarily.” […] In the house she grew up in, love was not given unconditionally. Instead, it was extended temporarily, only to be dropped at will: a winnerless game whose rules the girl learned far too well. I am currently reviewing new literature by Benjamin Moser, a heavy tome of a book, entitled “Sontag: Her Life and Work”, sent to me by Allen Lane the publishers and a subsidiary of Penguin Books. I’ve not finished this book, not by a long way (yet). This week has been a tough one personally, not least with the resurgence of early years’ abuse, which actually coincided while I was reading the beginning chapters of this book and I’ve been staggered at some of the similarities with my own early life, as it pushed me back. I experienced much the same but was also berated for it and when it returned again this week, out of the blue, I struggled to climb out of the misery I felt. Fortunately or unfortunately I had other more pressing distressing problems to cope with and these took priority and I think that helped, funny how things work out. Of course, I will publish the full review of this book, in due course, but it will require two or three reads first. What I would say is Sontag was a controversial figure, but I have always truly admired her work. Unlike Sontag, I do know exactly what my feelings are and in respect of mobile photography and art, my perspective is demonstrated brilliantly in this weeks showcase. Enjoy!

@pause.and.breathe – Susan Latty, @ringuin – Dieter Gaebel, @elizabadoiu – Eliza Badoiu, @patragraphy, schwitter.li – Liliana Schwitter, @christinemignon – Christine Mignon, @mitrydate – , @clixit2020 – Clint Cline, @loveanalogcollage1 – Jen, jilllian2 – Jill Lian, Deborah McMillion, Cintia Malhotra, Sergiy Beliayev, Lorenka Campos, Hanni K, Sheldon Serkin, Jun Yamaguchi, Russ Merz, Robin Robertis, Rita Colantonio, Jeremy Cassell, Sherrianne100, Karen Axelrad, Lindy Ginn, Laila, Ginaluca Ricoveri, Judy Wahlberg, p.a.hamel, Susan Rennie, Rob Pearson-Wright, Clint Cline, Linda Hollier, @imaco57 – Isabel Afonso, Sandra Martins – Violet, Clarisse Debout, @berleyart – Kim Clayton, Sukru Mehmet Omur, ja_graham – Jennifer Graham, clau_clara, @harkinjoyce – Joyce Harkin, @rkreationsmi, Ilise Harris, hedgehogstudio – Julie Denning, @wallopart.

Music this week is by Laura Doggett entitled ‘Old Faces’