• 33 Posts
  • 46 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 29th, 2023

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  • Mod here.

    We’re not looking for accidental photos, as in “I yeeted my phone and accidentally captured A Renaissance™”, because those mostly don’t exist.

    We’re looking for well-composed photos that, as the photographer was pursuing a nice photo, also accidentally copied the rules of Renaissance painting, which does sometimes overlap (as a happenstance) with the fundamentals of good photography.

    We remove a shitload of photos that are objectively gorgeous and technically astute, but don’t look like paintings, so trust me, there’s a difference.





  • We’re being more lax this time around, at least for now, because the community is small.

    We had to be stricter in the subreddit because the volume of posts was insane and anytime something didn’t quite “measure up” to peoples’ (absolutely batshit insane) expectations, the comment section demanded mod blood sacrifices.

    So if something doesn’t quite “measure up”? Eh, no big deal. We’re not writing down the usernames of the naughty users that post something that’s 20% too baroque.







  • What has Kanye ever done that’s positive for Bipolar disorder? He made having a mental illness feel more terrifying (graphic depictions of being hauled into a mental hospital) and more isolating for people diagnosed with the disorder, not less. He even resists treatment and resists taking meds because he spouts the absolutely unfounded conspiracy theory that being medicated makes you less creative-- Which is utter, utter, utter DANGEROUS bullshit and a massive disservice to people like me who went unmedicated/under-medicated when I was younger and do you know what I did with all of that extra energy? I didn’t use it to make art, I was too unstable to make art. Instead I had breakdowns and outbursts.

    If you need a bipolar hero, look to Carrie Fisher. No, don’t make her the sub’s icon. Actually stop and learn from her, because upon diagnosis she was set realistic expectations for herself, she took her meds, and she began to give generously to mental health charities, gave her time and media advocacy for people with bipolar disorder, and was so charismatic and relatable when talking about the illness that mystifies normal people with gems like this:

    Carrie once described her manic periods to the Los Angeles Times as “feeling like my mind’s been having a party all night long and I’m the last person to arrive and now I have to clean up the mess.”

    Like damn, that is relatable as hell but isn’t scary to normal people. It describes the struggle in a way that is managable, if challenging.

    When I introduce myself and it comes around to disclosing my mental illness, all I need to say is, “You know, like Carrie Fisher” and you can see a lot of fear evaporate from people’s faces. Like, they know that Carrie Fisher was a handful, but still a great person.

    Meanwhile, Kanye is out there calling Bipolar Disorder a superpower, harassing his ex’s new boyfriend, screaming at anyone who will listen that he’s a genius, completely unable to disentangle his bipolar-induced psychosis from his own ego.

    If you are new to having bipolar disorder, please go watch or read some stuff that Carrie Fisher has done and ignore Kanye. He’s not here to help you, only himself.






  • Image Transcription:

    [ Half a dozen dark-clothed figures stand some distance away from us in the badly damaged, grandiose white and gold marble halls of a Baroque-era church; safety-orange-striped hazard tape marks hazardous areas, and most of the figures wear safety orange or white hard hats, surveying the damage in soft diffused sunlight. To the left, in the distance, Corinthian-style columns tilt at a worrying angle barely able to hold up a heavy-looking interior cupola richly decorated with gold leaf. Figures directly below in orange hard hats survey the damage to the pillars but they are partially obscured by exquisitely delicate-looking low fencing, which hazard tape is pulled across and in front of. In the distance in the center of the image, decorative niches that are twice as tall as the figures in the image are partially destroyed, revealing joists and supports, and whatever they housed has been removed, although a lone white marble cross remains perched delicately above them. A gigantic gold chandelier fitted with electric candles hangs above, having received little damage, though because it is unlit it’s not apparently clear if it managed to remain functional. To the far right, a large square structural support with a small gold electric sconce seems undamaged, but a very large pile of rubble at it’s foot suggests that the roof it supports may no longer be intact. The figure at the center, facing away from us, appears to be wearing a priest’s cassock, helmet-less, his arms hanging limply at his sides as he gazes upon what is left of his church. ]






  • If someone snaps a photo of a subject in good light, because the photographer instinctively knows what will make a good photo, but the subject is just doing their normal everyday things? We still consider it accidental.

    Remember that we’re not looking for photos that were accidentally taken, like the camera was yeeted through the air and this was the last photo it captured before it shattered. That’s not what Accidental means in our context.

    It means a situation that was already happening, but the moment that a photographer caught just happened to resemble a painting from the 14th-16th centuries.

    We draw the line at people purposely recreating Renaissance vibes with costumes, or people doing a pose that is heavily associated with certain Renaissance paintings, or elaborate lighting rigs used in professional photo studios made specifically to replicate the lighting in Rembrandt’s work (for example).

    If the photographer was trying to make the mother and child recreate an exact Renaissance pose, they’re doing a terrible job at it, but the overall effect is Renaissance-like.