bullime:

Wahre Papierwunder … so einen Bulli kann sich jeder leisten.

Genialer Fund: http://cutout-n-keep.com/catalog/

Herzlichen Dank an Gerhard.

(Source: 54859)

burnedshoes:

© Francis Wu, 1950s, Classical Chinese Beauties

The book “Classical Chinese Beauties” by Francis Wu, the first Chinese publication devote solely to portraiture of the youthful ladies of that country, was published in 1951 (at 2 Gloucester Arcade, Hong Kong; +)

Here’s an excerpt of the original introduction:

“Feminine beauty has been a source of constant admiration since time immemorial. The ways in which female beauty are admired are numerous and varied: different opinion of real loveliness range from nude studies to veiled models. Each and every nation has its own ideas of feminine beauty, totaling different from the other.

Thus there is the light-hearted, submissive beauty of the Siamese woman; the exotic beauty of the South Sea Islander; the glamorous, long legged American; the French coquette; the vivacious Spaniard; all have their own distinctions and subtle attractions.

Of all the many types and classes of feminine beauty, there is no doubt that the Chinese type has a big claim on the attention of the connoisseur. The Chinese woman is always delicate and truly feminine.

(…) Clothing and ornaments are important which increase, rather than detract from the charm of the Chinese Beauty. Her gown is loosely fitted to her body, while long wide sleeves cover her arms and the length of her dress denies any view of her legs. This characteristic of dress, although it differs so much from the Western form of attire, adds to her natural qualities and makes her more admired, and certainly more respected.

(…) The costumes chosen for “Classical Chinese Beauties”  represents styles of several periods of Chinese dresses. They show the designs and the patterns of the Orient.  This book aims to give the world an idea of the gentleness and gracefulness of Chinese womanhood in earlier periods. All the illustrations are treated with modern processes of photography with optic, light and shade illusions instead of the usual brush and ink. (Introduction, August 1951; read more)

I love this portrait of Francis Wu browsing through prints of the “Classical Chinese Beauties” series (source; ca. early 1950s):

» find more photobooks here «

(Source: burnedshoes)