Just Beautiful x 2

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

And my eyes behold... err... well, let's just say I could stare at this dynamic duo for an 'excessive' allotment of time... (And perhaps still come away not sure exactly who I'd deem more gorgeous between the two ). In a previous era perhaps a poll might've sprung up from this shot, but considering some past complaints, I figure I'll simply play it safe and classify this pair as Just Beautiful... x 2 ...

Half is enough...

Despite his only being half of the Clippinger duo, he's certainly enough to rock my beautiful scale ...

And in spite of his only being one half of the Clippinger duo... The fact that he's currently shooting with one of my photography icons is possibly enough to... well, let's just say perhaps shatter that scale altogether... (and then some )...

26 year-old model Allen Clippinger needs no introduction at this point. Both he and his brother are about two of the most recognizable/prolific models of the late 2000s. And... as some of you might be well aware, they've just about shot with a veritable who's who list of leading industry photographers...

...That said... this set features the first-ever encounter between either one of them (in this case brother Allen), and the atheistically sophisticated eye of one of my icons; photographer David Vance...(who's work I'm assuming some of you might still recall from his utterly phenomenal book released around this time last year )...

Long story short and photography rendezvous out of the way, the end results as you can see (both above and below) are nothing short of Just Beautiful.

As I've been told by the man kind enough to provide these shots, apparently there's yet another coffee-table book currently in the conceptual phase. Whether Allen's photos appear within remains to be seen, however... I've got a feeling it should be something special to look out for hopefully in the future...(that and perhaps a couple more shots of Allen currently in the works as well ).

Awakening of Spring Boys

26 year-old actor Jesse Lee Soffers is not exactly the Jonathan Groff, but he'll do ...

Boyish good-looks, check... super cute/dreamy appeal, check... incredibly be-freckled visage, check... making out with another cute actor in the Here! televised adaptation of Spring Awakening, che... wait, no . That's not Jesse in the second two screencaps of my Awakening of Spring capture is it ?... Dammit.

I totally caught this movie this weekend hoping/crossing my fingers for perhaps a Jesse disrobing or kiss, and I wound up getting neither. Nevertheless, as someone who missed out on the stage adaptation of Spring awakening back when Glee's Lea Michelle and Jonathan Groff were headlining, I can't say I was disappointed with this admittedly low-budget version (I have no frame of reference to judge this film against, so I can't complain ). Dreamy Jesse did quite well with what he was given...

And... of course the two actors in the above clip (Jan Milligan and Nicholas Downs) more than made up for previous mis-identification prior to seeing this movie/play. Very err... sensual, is how I'll put it .

Anyhow, you can check out more of the Awakening of Spring over on HereTV... Along with checking out the DVD either on Amazon or Netflix.

And my favorite photos from last week were...

Granted I don't live in the UK, but I can appreciate European football every now and again...

Perhaps especially moreso when a game winning victory results in such fantastic images. These photos originate from a Manchester United victory over Manchester City last week where (as some of you across the pond might be aware), midfielder Paul Scholes scored a final goal to clinch the game for United...

...Ultimately resulting in a victory 'embrace' from team captain Gary Neville... and a little celebratory meeting of the minds as a mutual reward .

Judging from the ensuing mob frenzy that followed 'the kiss' (and uh... the apparently interesting hand position from this final shot), I'd say not a bad day to be a hot ginger who's just put his team over the top in a dramatic fashion. Not bad at all ...

Athenian Beauty

It's been almost 2,000 years since Greek civilization was viewed as the pinnacle of humanity's achievement...

And even still, in spite of the current economic issues that once great nation is undergoing, there are still some amongst them that manage to stand tall... And quite strikingly as well I might add... Sort of in a sense of ancient artistic aestheticism meets modern-day photographic immortalization...

And what better way to immortalize modern-day aesthetic Greek symmetry than to employ the help of a perfectly chiseled 22 year-old Athenian beauty by the name of Steve...

Graceful, stunning, and dare I say perhaps giving ancient Greco slabs of marble a run for their money? Well... maybe I won't go that far...

...But Steve certainly makes a decent case for photography being a spiritual successor to sculpting. And honestly considering the explosion of creativity currently underway, I for one keenly prefer the latter artform ... Just Beautiful.

Sunday Afernoon

Ah, a beautiful Sunday afternoon on a gorgeous spring day...

The grass is greener, the birds are out singing (one can only assume), the sky is bright blue without a cloud in the sky... All in all a perfect day to head outside a bit for an afternoon stretch... Perhaps a little flexing as well if we're so inclined for showing off...

But yeah... Judging from the perfect outdoors weather, I'd wager maybe ditching the cumbersome jeans for a lighter pair of shorts might be somewhat more appropriate. (Note: You can tell a day is particularly gorgeous when even during mid-afternoon, the moon is clearly visible outright overhead .)

Now back to just removing the jeans and... uh, wait, I think the belt might've latched onto your!...

...shor... oh... guess you don't mind. Figures... Anyhow perhaps pulling your shots back up might...

o...k ... Well... I suppose it's kind of hot outside, so... um, yeah. Well, on the bright side, at least you kept your hat on, so I guess you're not, well... hmm...

Out of this World Photography

In a word... well, I'm at a loss for one at the moment... Suffice to say every now and again it's nice taking a minute out of the day, stopping in our tracks of a moment, and just soaking how amazing this floating ball we all live on truly is.

Amazing, amazing shots for a... more often than not amazing planet.

These fantastic photos were taken in celebration for this year's Earth Day, and were recently featured on (what I consider) the greatest photoblog currently on the net; The Big Picture. And on a day when the south-east of the US just experienced another devastating act of nature, I figure it's all the more appropriate just taking a moment to appreciate the awesomeness that is essentially all our homes.

And yes, I am a believer that the future of this planet currently rests in our hands... but... for the time being, I suppose we can enjoy the present by checking out a few more shots of Earth Day 2010 over at The Big Picture. While you're there, I'd also suggest checking out a few utterly breathtaking shots from the Icelandic Volcano (the name of which I won't even bother attempt spelling out).