Art
August 19, 2013

Incredible Charcoal Drawings Textured with Scalpel Blades and Sandpaper

Scottish artist Douglas McDougall creates fantastically photorealistic drawings using charcoal as his primary medium but then he textures each work using scalpel blades, sharply cut erasers and coarse sandpaper. The detail to each piece is mind-blowing, especially when it comes to facial hair and weathered skin. What effect does scratching the artwork create?

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Photography
August 16, 2013

Beautifully Preserved Bird Nests From the 20th Century

Nature is filled with such fascinating animals that create everything from magnificently designed spiderwebs to mystifying cocoons. In particular, San Francisco-based photographer Sharon Beals is interested in birds and how they build their nests. Over the course of two centuries, egg and nest specimens have been collected and preserved and many of the samples featured here are specifically from the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates.

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Photography
August 15, 2013

Well-Dressed Animals Convey Human Characteristics

Dressing animals in human clothing seems to be a trend these days. We've seen everything from this fashionable dog to baby chicks sporting various hats. In this series, entitled Segundas Pieles (Second Skins), Madrid-based photographer Miguel Vallinas takes the trend a step further, transforming ordinary animals into well-dressed individuals with human-like characteristics. By naturally blending the two figures together into one portrait, Vallinas creates an unsettling blur between human and animal.

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Travel
August 13, 2013

My Modern Met Exclusive: Whitewater Rafting Inside the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is often rated the #1 Natural Wonder to visit in North America. Many people have viewed it from above. The park receives approximately 4.5 million visitors each year, however, only 27,000 people see the Grand Canyon by river. Intrigued and inspired, just over a week ago, I set off to document what it's like to see the Grand Canyon from the depths of the Colorado River.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.