Relentless

Fincent Fournier goes where few men have gone before.

French photographer Vincent Fournier captures the appropriately outworldly settings of international space agencies, and the results do not disappoint.

Travelling across USA, China and Russia Mr. Fournier has documented what was once a secretive and incredibly competitive political race. The most striking thing about these space stations is just how alien they actually look. Exactly the sorth of thing we usually see in sci-fi films, except that it’s real, and it is on our planet. Could this be science imitating life, or is it just art? We couldn’t care less, they look fantastic.

More photos after the jump, and on Vincent's website.
 

Building peace in Afghanistan, one skate park at a time.

Welcome to Skateistan. Clumsy name aside, this has got to be one of the best piece of news to come out of the war-torn country we have ever heard.

To the naysayers this would appear a mere drop in what appears to be an ocean of disagreement and cross-cultural tension. But we firmly believe that this is a valuable first step to something much bigger, and so do the people behind the initiative. Under the disguise of a skate park Skateistan in Kabul provides workshops in teamwork, peace building, safety and social development for girls.

We fully support the initiative and hope to see more peace-building initiatives that engage people in actually doing something, rather than just the usual polemics.

For more info: http://skateistan.org/
Photos: Jan Chipcase
 

Half-data, half-art, wholly fascinating.

Who would have thought infographics existed in such finely ornamented form?

Infographics is the general term for creating a visualisation of qualitative information (i.e. large amounts of data.) This definition of the term is perhaps misleadingly contemporary. Mapping dates back to some of the first-known cave drawings, which consisted mostly of primitive landscapes drawn in charcoal, much like the famous Lascaux cave paintings.

As science progressed, mathematics, physics and the natural sciences began to converge, and called for a better way to record the more abstract, and often little known corners of the world. So more sophisticated ways of visualising information emerged, much like these fabulous Victorian infographics.