Teacher’s resources

More Strange And Weird Images To Fire Your Imagination

Once more I look into the weird world of other people’s imagination, this time via the photographs of Erik Johansson who manipulates his photos to create a totally different and obviously impossible vision, also a collection of simply weird photos of real people – which defy the imagination I confess, but which could be the starting point of some very odd stories, so this is possibly useful for teachers to stir the imagination of their students.

So, here is the first of Erik Johansson’s odd world………………..

He seems to be fascinated by this sort of idea, he has a lot of images that have a landscape pouring over a huge drop, for example this one…..

A different take on essentially the same story are a series of photos he has produced that show water pouring from paintings or similar, as in this one….

He also seems to love creating images that are totally impossible in one way or another, and one of his favourite methods of achieving this is to combine reality with an impossible action, as in this one, which shows both an ice-cream melting, but a cut off arm also melting… Odd…………

And as a last look into his strange world, we have his mania for altering perspective, a bit like Escher in this respect, so here we have a totally impossible room to ponder upon……..

And now, to open a real can of worms, a totally extraordinary view of the real world, real people in very strange situations, some of which I am totally at a loss to explain, such as this one… What on earth is that little person?

Or this one….. Another strange and essentially wrong set of people. What on earth are they doing?

And this one simply defies explanation. These people seem to be totally ignoring that very strange little being, though one of them seems to be feeding it… Hmmmmmmmmmm………..

And as the last image, I am totally bemused by this one. The guy dressed in Arabic clothing seems to be signing a serious contract, but why oh why are there three enormous “things” wearing Arabic woman’s clothing? Damned if I know………..

Anyhow, I hope that one or more of these strange images will spark off an idea in your mind and help you to write the Great Novel that you have been struggling to create for some years already.

Haunting Images Of Dead Theatres

Old and derelict theatres have a mysterious and appealing attraction, a feeling of dreams that have crashed to the floor, but also a feeling that somehow they can be resurrected in an instant.

It is these feelings and also the sheer pathos of old, semi-ruined and abandoned theatres and cinemas that have attracted Matt Lambros for the better part of his life, and he has been taking photos of them ever since he became a professional photographer.

So as he wanders around, earning his living as a photographer, whenever he comes across an abandoned theatre or cinema he can’t resist getting inside it by whatever means possible, and taking a series of photos of what he finds both inside and outside such theatres.

As is often the case with this sort of image, there is really nothing that words can add to them – they are perfectly able to speak for themselves after all, and Matt is a very competent and sensitive photographer, and knows exactly how to let the images tell their tales.

So I shall stop waffling now, and let the images speak to you themselves.

I also need to point out that as is so often the case with the beautiful images one comes across on line, Matt makes his living selling prints of these haunting pictures, so if you find them to your taste, do visit his blog (link below) to see much, much more of his work, and of course, to buy one or more prints so that you can have them on the walls of your home to admire at all moments of the day.

Link:

https://afterthefinalcurtain.net/

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Dan Raven – Photographer Of Strange Images

About a week ago, I came across the work of Dan Raven who is a photographer with a very special and idiosyncratic view of the world. There is a brooding quality about his photos that is remarkably attractive I found. By this I don’t mean that his photographs are in any sense dark or […]

About a week ago, I came across the work of Dan Raven who is a photographer with a very special and idiosyncratic view of the world. There is a brooding quality about his photos that is remarkably attractive I found. By this I don’t mean that his photographs are in any sense dark or morbid, quite the contrary in fact. They are full of light and space, but still, they make one think of mortality and similar dark thoughts. Odd really how they have that effect, on me at least.

He has taken lots of photos of abandoned places, buildings, constructions, rooms and so on, which obviously do have their own sort of melancholia, but even these, which as I say, do give one intimations of mortality, manage to do that without being all dark and Gothic in the literal sense.

To give you a better idea of what I mean,here are two photos he took of abandoned places.

Whilst both of these rooms are very different, they are also very similar, both in the sense of being abandoned, but not emptied. The people who lived in and used these rooms apparently simply walked away one day, leaving all their bits and pieces behind, in a sort of mute “we were here” cry. Continue reading “Dan Raven – Photographer Of Strange Images”

Images To Inspire Great Stories

Every so often I find that I have collected a pile of curious images that I use to spark ideas in my head for my writing, and I also like to share some of them with you guys, to see if you can use them to help you either to write yourself, or as resources for your students to help them get started with their writings.

So, here are a new load of weird and strange images, each of which can certainly be used to spark ideas.

I particularly like this one, it has such a yearning feel to it… I know it is actually very banal, but there has to be a story lurking in it somewhere… What is he thinking? Why did he go to sea? Is he approaching some important point in his life? And so it goes, such an image has so many stories in it.

Or to go to the other extreme, from yearning to downright silly, here is one that any Dutch people will certainly recognise at once, a room full of Sint Nicholas’s. For the non-Dutch among you, it should at the very least give rise to strange thoughts about gatherings of imitation bishops, a fancy dress party in which every one accidentally wore the same costume… and so on.. no end of ideas in this one I feel.

Continue reading “Images To Inspire Great Stories”

A Couple Of Teacher’s Resource Offerings

Occasionally I get overwhelmed by a desire to help teachers – probably owing to the fact that my mother was a teacher, and my wife is a teacher. When this hits me, I simply go with it and see if I can find anything that might be a help.

So today’s offering will take the form of several static images that I feel might spark off a stream of creative writing, a curious and powerful video that might equally give rise to some ideas worth putting on paper, and as the cream on the cake, a piece of music that will assuredly get under your skin and make it unavoidable that your students will be moved into a totally different plane of experience when they hear it… and thus cause them to produce such flights of fantasy that you will be astounded. Or at least that is my fervent hope.

So let us begin with the static images. I have selected three types in the hope that one at least will give your students the start they need to create a story that will take off and be fun to read and consider…..

Continue reading “A Couple Of Teacher’s Resource Offerings”

Egyptian Cats & Little Girl – Has To Be A Story Here.

I have decided to broaden my teacher’s resource offerings. Originally I intended it to be simply videos that I felt could function as a starting point for story telling in the classroom, but I quickly found that there were loads of amazing photos to be found on the net that would also function remarkably well as sort of idea kick-starters. So here is the first of these offerings that I hope you will find useful your classroom.

I have no idea what was happening here, but this image has so many elements that it has to be a good source of discussions and story telling. What on earth is that little girl doing there? Simply playing at being one of those cat statues, or is it the instant before she is shape-changed and zoomed off to a life in ancient Egypt? There are so many possibilities in this strange image – let your kids loose on it and see where their fantasy takes them.

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Do come back and let us share what your students made of this image…. Good to know what others achieve with such materials……