University of Arizona professor uses an SLR to examine paintings in the infrared

Charles M. Falco's inexpensive, modified digital SLR camera has thrilled art conservators with what it can do at infrared wavelengths.

By Lori Stiles, University Communications

December 4, 2009

[edited from article at University of Arizona news]

A scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson has modified a commercial 8-megapixel digital SLR camera for infrared use, creating an inexpensive, portable new tool that even amateur photographers can use to quickly see through layers of paint in artwork to reveal drawings, defects or other features on the original canvas.

Conservators have been using infrared, or IR, cameras to examine and document artwork since the late 1960s. "But these cameras can cost upwards of $100,000, so the number of paintings studied by this technique has been extremely limited," said UA optical sciences and physics Professor Charles M. Falco.

‘The technique is based on the fact that many common pigments are partially transparent to infrared light, making it possible to use appropriate infrared sensors to capture important information from surfaces that are covered by layers of paint," he said.

Early last year, Falco – an experimental physicist who has been interested in photography and in art since childhood – had an idea that he thought might work

He realized that modern digital cameras use silicon sensors sensitive to the germane infrared wavelengths and that such cameras might be modified to capture high-resolution infrared photographs – or "IR reflectograms" – of works of art.

Falco bought a one-generation-old Canon 30D camera on eBay.

"If this didn't work, I would have been out the better part of $1,000. But I was willing to accept that," he said.

For about another $450, Falco converted the camera by removing the infrared-blocking filter and replacing it with a visible-blocking filter, thereby allowing only IR light to reach the camera's sensor. He also adjusted the electronics so that the autofocus feature automatically offsets the camera lens to bring infrared light into sharp focus.

Then he began visiting museums to photograph art.

In a little over a year, Falco has tested his system under a variety of conditions in a dozen museums on three continents, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the National Museum of Western Art in Toyko, Japan.

The first paintings Falco studied were in the Samuel H. Kress Collection at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Among these works is a painting titled "The Man of Sorrows with Saints and Donors." It was painted by an unknown French artist, probably sometime between the years 1525 and 1550.

"My camera let me discover something about that painting that nobody knew existed - that there are guide lines under the paint that the artist used to create the pedestal in perfect perspective," Falco said. "These lines reveal that this Early Renaissance artist understood and based his drawing on the constructed laws of perspective."

Falco's converted camera, including its 35mm f/2 lens purchased for less than $250, cost about $2,000 total.

Editors of the "Review of Scientific Instruments" invited Falco to write a technical description of his high-resolution imaging instrument and published the paper as the cover story of their July 2009 issue. The paper, titled "High resolution digital camera for infrared reflectography" is published online.

Twelve Hats of Christmas

* The Twelve Hats of Christmas (after a fashion)
* Photo Essay of Our Venture into TVland

Jean says: In anticipation of our cable TV debut on December 14 as "Timeless Girls in Hats" on Susan Finelli's Behind the Shadows (click here to see her website) we thought we'd give you an up close look at the chapeaux we featured on TV. We each changed hats six times, more or less at the same time. We didn't (couldn't!) take pictures during the show, so we've reproduced the hats for you here in different settings. In order of appearance, they are:

Hats 1 and 2: Two Ignatius hats.

Jean's: Our more rabid fans will recall our road trip to the Philadelphia Craft Show in early November and the fabulous milinery creations of Ignatius Creegan and Rod Givens (www.ignatiushats.com) from Petersburg, Virginia. I confess and throw myself on the mercy of the court: I held out on you! In addition to the three Ignatius hats shown in our November 15 posting, I did indeed acquire a fourth hat, which made its maiden voyage on TV. A new favorite, this spare, jet black deco number, made of wheat straw plaits and a de-nuded peacock feather, was the perfect Bauhaus counterpoint ("less is more") to Valerie's majestic Guggenheim hat (where, obviously, "more is in fact more").

In front of a jungle print textile, I'm wearing the hat and black wool scarf with white polka dots (which reverses to black polka dots on white), black coral earrings and brass pinky ring by Kirsten Hawthorne (e mail her at klh-nyc@worldnet.att.net), black skull ring by Meredith Katz ( www.MadeHerThink.com), my black vintage bakelite ring and the five gold rings cited in our last posting.

For another view of Valerie's Guggenheim hat, see the photo of us in front of the Guggenheim Museum, below.










Hats 3 and 4: Two Black Feathered Hats.

Jean's: a black velvet and cock feather vintage hat. After location shooting at the tree at Rockefeller Center and at Radio City on Saturday night, in a veritable sea of humanity, we crossed Fifth Avenue and took advantage of this great gamecock graphic on a truck parked next to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I'm wearing the hat atop a black faux goat jacket by Spanish designer Amaya Arzuaga (from a consignment shop).












Valerie, bundling up against the chill at Radio City, is wearing an unlabeled conical black feather hat, probably from the ‘60s. The feather brush comes from vintage millinery supplies, and was sewn to the hat earlier this year. (The white coat, labeled Friess Original, is probably from the early ‘50s, and was purchased at a flea market.)

Hats 5 and 6: Pink Hats.

With an army of Andy Warhol Marilyns as backdrop, Jean is wearing a nameless vintage black felt hat with a pink flower (channeling its inner sea anemone) topping a Comme des Garcons jacket. (Astute readers will note that in her excitement, Jean actually forgot her glasses - an all-time first!) Valerie's pink felt hat is labeled Chisato Tsumori. Tsumori once worked for Issey Miyake, then struck out on her own. This is from one of her earliest collections. A Rorschach hat, its shape has been described by different people as “soft ice cream”, a “snail” and a “vortex”. Hmmmm. Nubby pink silk and wool jacket (from a thrift shop) by Fabrizio Lenzi.

Hats 7 and 8: Felt Hats.

Jean is wearing a round Turkish felt hat with a black, grey and white geometric design. She's paired it with a grey on grey fulled wool coat tailored by So Hung (no lie!) who now has a shop on East 9th St. (between 1st and 2nd Avenues) and Trippen elf boots. Jean is studying the lighted bull dog lamp in the lobby of the Crosby St. Hotel while showing off the back of her coat.












Valerie's shibori’d hat in shades of green is by Nafi de Luca, and purchased at Barney’s. Originally a wool beret, it was re-blocked into a square shape, folded into quarters, rolled like a cigar, and then randomly bound. The uneven coloration is the result of the irregular folding, rolling and binding.

The green felt coat with undulating blue and green felt ribbons is the work of felt maker and designer Tiiti Tolonen who lived and worked in Brooklyn for many years before recently returning to Finland.

The vintage green scarf (1960?) with silk warps and wool wefts, labeled Ben Goodman & Son Inc., is imported from Japan. Green chenille gloves from Strawberry. Calf length flat mocassin boots by Frye, found at a resale shop. Peeking out from under the coat is a vintage Norma Kamali green corduroy snap front dress, and barely visible in her right hand is a large black Le Sportsac weightless foldable parachute nylon bag with 200,000 pockets and a shoulder strap. The practical woman's Must Have.

Hats 9 and 10. Architectural hats.

Jean's black vintage Ziggurat hat: Regular readers will recognize this favorite from its many appearances, most spectacularly at the Guggenheim Kandinsky show atop a colorful Issey Miyake ensemble with Loungfly bag and Dansko clogs (see photo above).

The vintage orange conical hat with rolled brim, made of long nap fur velour, is from Hattie Carnegie, purchased at a resale shop; the orange wool coat is from Searle, purchased at a thrift shop.












Hats 11 and 12: Twin Hats.

Bought entirely separately from different vintage dealers on different days, these hats are nearly identical. Valerie’s vintage hat (left) is mouton, brown felt and brown and white feathers, labeled Franklin Simon Fifth Avenue New York. Jean’s hat is mouton, brown felt and green feathers, with no label. Judging by the materials, small size, angled shapes and wire trim in the back, both are probably late 1930s. Valerie’s vintage two tone mouton coat, labeled Liberty Furs of Cleveland, from the flea market. Jean is wearing her hat with her Norma Kamali leopard-print jacket (in which she made a big splash at the Easter Parade and in which she appeared in the NY Times' Style Section). Purchased at the Metropolitan Vintage Show.



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Valerie says:

Of all the good advice our mothers ever gave us, “Always wear your hat” was not among their pearls of wisdom, and yet wearing hats got us our big break on TV. Producer Susan Finelli invited us to appear on “Behind the Shadows” after seeing photographs of our September appearance at the Guggenheim Museum wearing the Guggenheim hat and the ziggurat hat at the Kandinsky exhibition. We had the pleasure of taping Timeless Girls in Hats in November, and on December 14, 22 and 28 we’ll have the further pleasure of seeing the half hour program on MNN. (See full details and listings in our previous post.) We each brought six hats to the studio, and managed to wear all of them during the course of the program.

Below are pictures commemorating our adventure into TVland.

Here we are at the end of all the preparations. Twelve hats of various shapes do not pack easily. We took several boxes to the studio (and several changes of clothes, to show the hats in context). On the cardboard box in front of Jean is a copy of Vintage Fashion Accessories, a book by Stacy Lo Albo, published by Krause Publications, in which both of the Idiosyncratic Fashionistas appear modeling hats.

In the taxi, giddy as little school girls, on our way to the studio.













Jean taking her coats and hat boxes out of the trunk of the taxi.












In the studio, doing sound and lighting tests. On the stand, between Susan and Valerie, you can see a copy of Susan’s novel, Behind the Shadows, published by PublishAmerica; at the base of the stand is Vintage Fashion Accessories.

David Vernon, co-host of Timeless Girls in Hats, styled the set beautifully in no time at all, using just what was available on the set and the hats, clothes and boxes we’d brought.


Taking down the set after the show. Everything had to be fast, fast, fast, so we could make way for the next show. There was time to do a quick inventory, but everything went into boxes helter skelter, to be straightened out later.

After taping on the far West Side, we deposited the detritus of the show at Valerie's pad and embarked to Matisse, a new little bistro on Second Avenue to compare notes, toast one another, and nosh. (The cream of cauliflower soup was divine!) See Valerie and her bubbly above, under the conical orange hat.



BONUS You Tube video: You Can Leave Your Hat On is a song that expresses the appeal of hats to such perfection that it appears in two movies: 9½ Weeks and The Full Monty. The former is sung by Joe Cocker, the latter by Tom Jones, both of whom do it lusty justice. Because 9½ Weeks actually involves no hats, we can’t in good conscience recommend that video clip (although it has a lot to recommend it, hats or no), but we are happy to present for your viewing pleasure the Leave Your Hat On clip from The Full Monty, which includes six hats (rated N for Nudity and H for Hilarity): click here to see the video.

Cerebral Constipation

Nothing is more daunting to a writer than a blinking cursor on a blank page 1 Word document. I hate it! It taunts. It teases. It ridicules me to no end. I’ve been verbally constipated before, but this goes deeper. This is more like cerebral constipation. And it’s serious. I feel like an artist with a blank canvas, tons of paint, but hands too crippled to move a brush. I have a pen. I have a keyboard. Both begging to be touched, but my mind simply refusing them the orgasmic pleasure that is the written word. They remain pure, but unfulfilled. Lifeless. Empty. The cursor keeps blinking at me, like a traffic light screaming to GO! The drive to write is definitely still there, but my fuel line is fucked up as I choke and sputter on poisonous fumes.

I don’t have the extra time, the necessary energy, or the needed direction to finish a thought let alone compose a sentence. Thought process confused. Head feeling scattered, but yet overflowing with puzzle pieces that don’t snap into place anywhere I try to fit them. I have at least dozen posts in draft and a dozen more in a virtual desktop folder lying in wait. Countless catchy titles and powerful phrases, thoughts and ideas scribbled on minuscule pieces of paper. These can be found behind me as I leave a Hansel and Gretel trail wherever I roam. None have made it to publication, but yet many are worthy of a big stage appearance.

My left brain is not speaking to my right brain. I’m not sure if they are fighting or if it’s just a technical difficulty, a dropped signal. Whatever the case may be, I would like them to reopen the lines of communication. Because quite frankly, I can’t take the court jester in my head anymore. The one that keeps laughing hysterically as he slaps me upside the back of my skull with my own Moleskine. It’s not helping my creative writing juices to flow again. It’s simply causing a blood clot. I’m secretly wishing for brain hemorrhage to occur. To bleed it all out, so I can write it all out.

Writing has always been my creativity outlet. It’s what relaxes me and comes somewhat effortlessly to me. Although these days, I find no greater challenge than trying to mix words with pleasure. Writer’s block is painful enough, but when you have too much to write about and suffer from cerebral constipation, it’s excruciating.

Babes in TVland TV Alert! TV Alert!

SPECIAL MIDWEEK EDITION

Timeless Girls in Hats

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Please note 12/14 scheduling change! The show will air 1/2 hour EARLIER - at 2 PM - not 2:30 PM.

The Babes – um, the Idiosyncratic Fashionistas – are delighted to announce that we will be appearing on cable television and simultaneously on internet, in living color! We’ll be talking about hats (of course!), showing how we wear them and match them to our wardrobes, explaining why we choose them, recounting some of the reactions we get, and just generally demonstrating that hats are fabulous accessories. The program, on MNN, is called Behind the Shadows, and our episode is called Timeless Girls in Hats. The photo above shows us in the studio just before taping, with Susan Finelli, our host and producer of Behind the Shadows.

The air dates and times are:

December 14th at 2:00 p.m. TimeWarner channel 67 (RCN 86, Verizon 36)

December 22nd at 8:30 p.m. TimeWarner channel 67 (RCN 86, Verizon 36)

December 28th at 9:00 p.m. TimeWarner channel 34 (RCN 83, Verizon 33)


Since you all have busy schedules, you can choose from a Monday afternoon or evening or Tuesday evening, depending on what works best for you. Our fans tuning in via internet should log onto http://www.mnn.org/ and pick one of the channels listed above. Be sure you log on at the actual air time or you’ll miss us!

Look for the full story of our first adventure in TVland in our next posting.

Bad Romance

I met her on a Friday. She called me on a Sunday. She said let’s grab some lunch on Monday. I said how about a drink on Thursday.

After much phone tagging and schedule juggling, we came to an agreement. I asked her to dinner for Saturday. She said yes.

Not a bad date. Not a great date. Just no second date. Why? Read on.

I don’t kiss and tell, but I do Tweet. I Tweeted this...

Impressed my date by speaking French! Although translating Lady Gaga lyrics to tell her "I want your love & I want your revenge" - dumb move.

It’s a running joke and a well known fact among all my friends that I attract crazy chicks. Not just a little quirky. I’m talking full blown, white, padded room instability! So what seemed like a harmless and silly thing to do may have been a huge mistake on my part! Lady Gaga’s hit song "Bad Romance" came on the radio during the car ride to dinner. So I translated the French part where she sings..."Je veux ton amour. Et je veux ton revanche. J'adore l'amour." Not until the translation was complete and the words parted my lips did I realize I had just told her "I want your love and I want your revenge."

Now a normal girl wouldn't think much of this because obviously it was mere translation and not a statement. But you see, I never seem to date normal girls. Somehow I end up going out with the ones that are little on the mentally sketchy side. Which would help explain why I have a girl that has been stalking me on and off for about 5 years now! No joke. So anytime a girl has even a hint of nutty flavor, I'm quick to run away screaming with arms flailing, vowing never to return. I basically pull a disappearing act that would even impress the likes of one Harry Houdini.

At the time, the date seemed fine. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to arrange a fake emergency phone call from a buddy to help me escape the evening either. I wasn't sure if I was going to ask her out again. I was just going to let nature take its course. Well nature answered all right!

This date happened this past Saturday. And on this past Monday she called me. Wait, let me clarify. She called me 4 times in less than a hour on Monday! My cell phone has documented the crazy for all those non-believers. The log looks like this. (Notice how the level of crazy increases with each passing call, each call arriving within a shorter and shorter time frame from the previous call.)

4:50 Missed Call
5:25 Missed Call
5:33 Missed Call
5:35 Missed Call

A mixture of voicemail messages left and hangups. All calls were missed and all chances of me calling her back she missed. I can't even tell you what her messages said because I'll start to tremble and a little bit of pee will trickle down my leg from fright. Needless to say, there will be no second date. I'm too sane/scared to venture into a relationship that clearly has Bad Romance written all over it!

Twelve Days of Christmas Blings

Jean says: Fa la la la la, yadda yadda yadda! Well, kiddies, it's that holiday time of year again. Before the spiced (spiked?) eggnog addles our poor little brains and yours, we're getting nostalgic. In the spirit of the "twelve days of Christmas," we've decided to dedicate our four December postings to a series of twelve of our favorite [fill in the blank]. So, we hope, regardless of what holidays you celebrate, that you'll enjoy our first little offering -- These are a few of our favorite blings:

Valerie says: I can't add much to what Jean said. We just wanted to share a few of our favorite 'jewels'. We're equal opportunity jewelry wearers. We don't care what they're made of, as long as we like them. These are made of everything from plastic to gold to wool. Like good parents, we value the sparklers as much as the plainer members of the family. We just love them for different reasons. These are a few of my favorite blings:

5 Gold/Bold Rings. From top to bottom: My mother's ring, which I first stole from her jewelry box at fifteen, received as my birthday gift when I turned sixteen, and which she had already stolen from her own mother, who bought it in Tunis around 1926. Red plastic ring from El Museo del Barrio. The whole ring is cone shaped, coming to a (rounded) point underneath. White felt ring from DKNY. Blue tagua ring from Mary Jaeger. My father's high school graduation ring. (In case you're wondering, I never wear them all together. I got carried away with the theme.)

Imitation green Chinese Warring States bead on green ribbons and necklace/bracelet with hilarious hand painted porcelain carrots. (Flea market and thrift shop, respectively.)














Above, black lacquered wood pin by Rumiko Suzuki and pin of red leather over shaped wood. These are great for making a statement with a single piece of jewelry. (Traditional embossed leather pouch from Kyoto.)

Le rouge et le noir. Earrings of red plastic and zebra mussel shells. Bracelet of red and black industrial felt by O-Matic of Brooklyn. Red and black plastic lipstick covers from Isabella Rossellini threaded on red washi from Japan.











Nine ladies dancing, and strung on a plastic chorus line. Well, there used to be nine ladies dancing, but six were laid off. Made of polymer? By Niki de St. Phalle from the Art Institute of Chicago.

Sterling renditions of photographs taken around the turn of the 20th century of the Selk'nam (also known as the Ona), indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego, in ceremonial costumes. By Marcela Alcaino of Chile. Strung on mizuhiki (Japanese paper cord).




Bonus Bling:

Three French hens brooch. This photo taken following very clever plastic surgery, which gave them back much of their youthful appearance. (I heard they had it done in Brazil. They said they'd gone on "vacation", and had come back feeling "refreshed".)


Jean's List:

1. Bees: Symbols of immortality and resurrection, bees are among the oldest emblems of the sovereigns of France. The Emperor Napoleon included them in his Royal Coat of Arms specifically to link his new dynasty to the history of France. Who knew? All I know is that my bright red Kenneth Jay Lane bee earrings (purchased at the most recent Metropolitan Pavilion's Vintage Fashion show) are my newest favorite bling.

As you can see from the photos, they look fabulous on me and displayed on DeeDee, my fabulous feline. A true East Village cat (named after one of the Ramones), she is a shelter cat from Social Tees Animal Rescue. She's a Bombay, a breed otherwise known as "parlor panthers" because of their muscular build and well-shaped skulls. Needless to say, she loves the limelight, as you will see as this posting progresses.

2. Crocodiles: Although I do love pirates (Johnny Depp, anyone?), my favorite character in Peter Pan was, of course, the crocodile! One of my favorite haunts in Milan is Angela Caputi's jewelery store. She designs colorful statement pieces in a light but extremely durable resin, a modern bakelite. I could not resist her crocodile bracelet. Fellow fashionistas lucky enough to see the exhibition "Iris Apfel, Rare Bird of Fashion" at the Metropolitan Museum, at FIT and/or at the Nassau County Museum last year may remember that Iris too had a penchant for Angela Caputi's bold jewely. As you can see from the photos, my jet black crocodile is a substantial fellow, built much more like a De Soto than a Ferrari. He's humorous and cruelty-free. (The croc is displayed on a striped Philosophy by Alberta Ferreti sweater.)

3. Skulls: Loyal readers already know of my extreme fondness for bats. Hand in hand with that affinity is my love of skulls. Not that my closet looks like something out of "Sons of Anarchy", but skulls do appear on many of my scarves, socks, handbags, clutches, and yes, jewelry, especially rings, necklaces and earrings. My favorite East Village designers, Kirsten Hawthorne and Meredith Katz, have both incorporated skulls into numerous pieces in their respective collections. Kirsten's brass skull ring is smaller and almost delicate, providing a counterpoint to her earrings which combine silver or brass skulls with pearls or crystal. Meredith's "Made Her Think" line has incorporated numerous versions of molded plastic skulls into gumball size rings, rosary-like long necklaces, etc. In the photo, I am sporting Kirsten Hawthorne's silver and pearl earrings (with skulls with articulated jaws) and brass ring (in the top left of the photo) along with a white Made Her Think choker (with rhinestone spacers) and a variety of Made Her Think plastic rings in black, white and red. [Remember to click on the photographs for greater detail.]

4. Dice: Although I am a terrible gambler, I do love dice, and their kissing cousin, dominos. This allows me to indulge in two addictions at once since the best of both are in bakelite (be still my heart!).

In the second of four photos, I'm throwing kisses wearing an Art Deco bakelite domino pin on my hat and a Kirsten Hawthorne crystal ice and dice necklace on an oxydized metal chain. (Repeat that three times quickly!) I've accessorized the two with my crocodile cuff, a deco black bakelite ring and about ten other rings. (I rarely wear less than ten rings.) In the third photo, I tried to display a couple pairs of dice earrings, the deco domino pin, two black bakelite dice keychains and a few dice from my collection as accent pieces, including several round dice. The fourth photo gives you an idea of the rich variety of die colors, shapes and sizes.












5. Charms: For many of the same reason our mothers and grandmothers had charm bracelets, I have a charm necklace to which I keep adding gifts and trinkets of my travels. The current incarnation consists of the following components: two dice (I sense a theme), one in black bakelite and the other in silver (a blank cube with no numbers, "so every roll is a winner" from Kirsten Hawthorne); two silver skulls, the first is from Mexico and the second with a bird perched on top is a Kirsten Hawthorne design; a bronze wishbone, cast from the real thing (by Kirsten Hawthorne); a Victorian carved bog oak cross (a gift from the talented and ubiquitous Ms. Hawthorne); and two silver-toned mountain lion "fangs" (from Alexander McQueen-designed shoes from Puma). The necklace itself is a black leather cord. (Is it a coincidence that the biker town in "Sons of Anarchy" is named Charming?) I've accessorized the charm necklace with the deco bakelite domino pin and metal and plastic '50s dice earrings.


6. Cameo: My grandmother's black bakelite cameo is one of the sources of my love of bakelite and deco jewelry. It is a simple carved 2 inch by 2 inch black diamond shape. Its bakelite chain is turning a beautiful deep bluish-purple with age. (Aren't we all, dahling?)

In order to give you an idea of scale, I am modeling the cameo with the help of my Alexander McQueen skull scarf (a gift from rock star guitar strap designer, Jodi Head).













Editorial note: I have a new-found respect for jewelry photographers. After spending about twenty hours trying to photograph my jewelry as individual objects, I finally resorted to just wearing the pieces in photographs. I wanted to share with you one of the relatively elaborate vignettes I had composed to showcase the cameo: I had placed it strategically between an Art Deco vanity set (from Muse on Second Ave at East 2nd Street) and DKNY Chandon champagne splits (from DKNY's 20th Anniversary party earlier this year). Needless to say, the fact that I was spending hours composing, lighting and shooting the sets was too much for DeeDee, who had to get in on the action.












Bonus Bling:

5 Golden Rings (you now, the stuff that comes after 8 maids a-milking, 7 swans a-swimming and 6 geese a-laying) from the top: 1. Gold signet ring with family crest (the motto "Scientia et Prudentia", from my husband's side of the family); 2. Ruby and gold antique ring; 3. September 11th 18 K gold commemorative ring by Kirsten Hawthorne; 4. Amethyst and gold college ring (with a miraculous medal concealed on the inside); 5. Gold wedding ring consisting of two bands (in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition).


Social Tees Animal Rescue (www.socialtees.com) is located at 124 E. 4th St., NYC 10003 212-614-9653. This holiday season - and year-round, please keep your local animal shelters in mind for donating, volunteering and adopting! Social Tees Animal Rescue is not to be confused with that golf-centric young professionals' network.

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Early Christmas feast for your eyes: If you’re in New York City, run, don’t walk, to see Ruven Afanador’s exhibition Mil Besos at Throckmorton Fine Art (145 East 57th Street) before it closes this Saturday, December 12. Afanador worked with a group of flamenco dancers (who are theatrical to begin with), took them out of context and raised them to a new level of theatricality in fabulous grainy black and white images. The photographs have voluptuous shades of Serge Lutens, kabuki, Chinese opera, Nihon butoh, and Fellini. If you can’t make it to the gallery, look out for the book, by Rizzoli. And for a little taste, check out this video.

Josh Winheld's funeral will be held this Tuesday, December 8th at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel (8339 Old York Rd., Elkins Park, PA 19027) at 11AM. Josh's family appreciates your continued support at this extremely difficult time.