M.J. Rose

Immerse yourself for a few moments in the real world landscapes of fairy tales…

Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales Come To Life In Eerie Photography Project

(HuffPost)

“Take a stroll through the forests and woodlands of Middle Europe today, and it doesn’t take long before you begin to imagine yourself as a character in a centuries-old Brothers Grimm story. Be it “Little Red Riding Hood” or “Hansel and Gretel,” it only takes a patch of fog and a thick strip of blackened trees to transport you into the setting of a fairy tale past, elevating your pulse and reminding you why Jacob and Wilhelm reigned supreme in the world of terrifyingly gorgeous children’s literature.

Cologne, Germany-based photographer Kilian Schönberger knows this better than most. He grew up with the misty landscapes in his backyard, producing memories that inspired his artistic work — particularly his “Brothers Grimm’s Homeland” series. In it, Schönberger captures the chilly horror hidden inside an abandoned farmhouse or the overwhelming mystery of a moss-covered path leading beyond the horizon. His photographic illustrations bring the Grimm tales to life, proving that the brothers’ folklore can muster goosebumps in both children and adults.

Schönberger’s photographs are certainly dark, conjuring the more sinister images associated with “Sleeping Beauty” and “Pied Piper of Hamelin.” The effects of his photos could be heightened by the fact that the photographer is color blind.

‘I think colour blindness (I can’t distinguish green from red, magenta from grey, violet from blue and so on) [sic] can be an advantage especially in forest environments,” the artist explained in an interview with Seamless Photo. “I don’t have to separate singular colours visually and can totally concentrate on the structure for a convincing image composition. Forests are always quite chaotic places — therefore I think the structures are more important for a pleasant result than the colours’…”

Click here for the gallery.

Was Newton a scientific genius with secret occult pursuits? Was he a sorcerer? An alchemist? Who was he really?

Find out about the secrets revealed in ancient manuscripts in this fascinating NOVA special here.

These intricate and inspired engravings speak for themselves, but the background behind them is equally fascinating… Enjoy!

“Between 1617 and 1621 the English physician and polymath Robert Fludd published his masterwork Utriusque Cosmi, a book split into two volumes and packed with over 60 intricate engravings. Urszula Szulakowska explores the philosophical and theological ideas behind the extraordinary images found in the second part of the work.

Robert Fludd was a respected English physician (of Welsh origins) employed at the court of King James I of England. He was a prolific writer of vast, multi-volume encyclopaedias in which he discussed a universal range of topics from magical practices such as alchemy, astrology, kabbalism and fortune-telling, to radical theological thinking concerning the inter-relation of God with the natural and human worlds. However, he also proudly displayed his grasp of practical knowledge, such as mechanics, architecture, military fortifications, armaments, military manoeuvres, hydrology, musical theory and musical instruments, mathematics, geometry, optics and the art of drawing, as well as chemistry and medicine. Fludd used the common metaphor for the arts as being the “ape of Nature,” a microcosmic form of the manner in which the universe itself functioned.

Fludd’s most famous work is the History of the Two Worlds (Utriusque Cosmi … Historia, 1617-21) published in five volumes by Theodore de Bry in Oppenheim. The two worlds under discussion are those of the Microcosm of human life on earth and the Macrocosm of the universe (which included the spiritual realm of the Divine)…”

See the images here, and read more about them.

Search the archive for alchemy, here.