{rebecca[jane].b.}

122 notes

History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again.
A Song of Ice and Fire (via mediumaevum)

72,472 notes

hometown-unicorn: My eye caught a dark form lying on the river bottom. It took me a few moments to comprehend what I had stumbled upon. Lying peacefully in the shallow waters of the river, only a few meters from shore, was a full-grown cougar. The contrast between the serenity of the scene I was witnessing and what must have played out here in the cougar’s final moments made me shiver. It was the first shiver of many, as I stripped down and waded out into the icy water to get this shot. x

hometown-unicorn:

My eye caught a dark form lying on the river bottom. It took me a few moments to comprehend what I had stumbled upon. Lying peacefully in the shallow waters of the river, only a few meters from shore, was a full-grown cougar. The contrast between the serenity of the scene I was witnessing and what must have played out here in the cougar’s final moments made me shiver. It was the first shiver of many, as I stripped down and waded out into the icy water to get this shot. x

(via ichthyologist)

89,224 notes

climateadaptation:

From Michael Marten’s series, Sea Change, which explores rising sea levels from regular tides and also climate change. His statement:

‘Sea Change’ is a study of the tides round the coast of Britain. The views in each diptych are taken from identical positions at low tide and high tide, usually 6 or 18 hours apart.

I am interested in showing how landscape changes over time through natural processes and cycles. The camera that observes low and high tide side by side enables us to observe simultaneously two moments in time, two states of nature.

Recent landscape photography often focuses on human shaping (and reshaping) of the environment - urbanisation, globalisation, pollution. Even when critical and committed, this approach can emphasise, even glamorise, humankind’s power over nature. I’m interested in rediscovering nature’s own powers: the elemental forces and processes that underlie and shape the planet.

The tides are one of these great natural cycles. I hope these photographs will stimulate people’s awareness of natural change, of landscape as dynamic process rather than static image. Attending to earth’s rhythms can help us to reconnect with the fundamentals of our planet, which we ignore at our peril.

‘Sea Change’ also comments on climate change. The tide floods in and quickly recedes again, but rising sea levels will flood our shores and not recede for thousands or millions of years. Many of the views in these pictures may have disappeared in 100 years’ time.

— Michael Marten

Lens Culture

312 notes

coolchicksfromhistory: Qin Liangyu (1574-1646) Art by Sertan Saral (tumblr) From an early age, Liangy learned martial arts, horseback riding, and archery.  At the age of 20, she married a local Sichuan commander named Ma Qiancheng.  Together they maintained the peace in an area rife with warlords and insurrections. Qiancheng died in 1613 and Liangyu took over his position.  In 1620, the Nvzhen ethnic minority declared independence from the Ming Dynasty.  Liangy led an army to defeat them, selling her own belonging to fund the campaign.  Ten years later the Manchu threatened Beijing. Liangy once again led an army supported by her own funds and defeated the insurgents.  The Chongzhen Emperor commemorated her victory with commissioned poetry.   The Ming Dynasty fell in 1644.  Amid the turmoil, Liangy’s lands remained relative calm and agriculturally productive.  She is believed to have helped 100,000 refugees find homes in Shizhu. An active leader until her death at age 75, Liangy was named Grand Protector of the Crowned Prince by the Southern Ming Emperor  She remains one of the highest ranking female warriors in Chinese history. Qin Liangyu is not the real Mulan.  Mulan is fictional character who predates Liangyu by several hundred years.

coolchicksfromhistory:

Qin Liangyu (1574-1646)

Art by Sertan Saral (tumblr)

From an early age, Liangy learned martial arts, horseback riding, and archery.  At the age of 20, she married a local Sichuan commander named Ma Qiancheng.  Together they maintained the peace in an area rife with warlords and insurrections.

Qiancheng died in 1613 and Liangyu took over his position.  In 1620, the Nvzhen ethnic minority declared independence from the Ming Dynasty.  Liangy led an army to defeat them, selling her own belonging to fund the campaign.  Ten years later the Manchu threatened Beijing. Liangy once again led an army supported by her own funds and defeated the insurgents.  The Chongzhen Emperor commemorated her victory with commissioned poetry.  

The Ming Dynasty fell in 1644.  Amid the turmoil, Liangy’s lands remained relative calm and agriculturally productive.  She is believed to have helped 100,000 refugees find homes in Shizhu.

An active leader until her death at age 75, Liangy was named Grand Protector of the Crowned Prince by the Southern Ming Emperor  She remains one of the highest ranking female warriors in Chinese history.

Qin Liangyu is not the real Mulan.  Mulan is fictional character who predates Liangyu by several hundred years.