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Title: Portrait Photography: Learn to Shoot Portraits That Make You Look Like a Model in a Few Easy Steps

Author: Joseph Scolden

Narrator: Carl Feldman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-19-15

Publisher: Joseph Scolden

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Portraits are probably one of the most sought after and most treasured photos we can have taken of ourselves. If you look on the Internet, you'll see tons of people posting selfies to social media platforms for the whole world to see - they allow us to convey deep emotion and make a strong statement.

This guide will help you discover the methods to taking absolutely stunning portraits. You'll learn:

By the end of this guide, you'll have the gift to make any subject you shoot look like a model. So what the heck are you waiting for? Let's start taking amazing portraits.

Members Reviews:

Loved it and most of all, I understood it!

I liked this book very much. I gave me specific directions on what to do to take beautiful pictures. It is full of details, very easy to understand and follow. I focused most at the chapter about Photoshop, which I thought was very difficult. I was happy to find out that the basic information is understandable and I could start using this software and training more and more. The only thing I was discouraged about was the camera suggestions. I liked one of them very much, but the reviews it had received were very discouraging. Perhaps it would be wise to check other cameras.

Great tips to get amazing photos!

As an amateur and photo fan, I'm always looking to get more skills in master my camera, settings and software in order to improve my photos. This guide will give you over 27 tips that will help you to improve your settings, the background colors and also how to set your lighting and the best angles to take the pictures.

I was amazed about all the things that I didn't know about how to pose your subjects to get the most sought after and in demand portraits. I recommend this publication to all the photo enthusiasts.

Not good enough.

This booklet should have been better, better written and edited. An excerpt: "They need to look into your eyes and have their soul touch theirs.". As for the tips, I would compare all the bits of photographic knowledge with a big bag of rice. Imagine the bag tipped over on the kitchen counter. This book represents the few random grains that bounced across the counter and fell to the floor.

Take a better photo

Thanks for writing this book. I found it in site full with the ways to tak e a better photo. Also not a long book which helped

Great book for beginners...thank you author

As a beginner photographer, it is nice to have something to reference as there is much to learn. This book helps you with the foundation a d fundamentals

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Title: The China Collectors

Subtitle: America's Century-Long Hunt for Asian Art Treasures

Author: Karl E. Meyer, Shareen Blair Brysac

Narrator: George Backman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-11-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Thanks to Salem sea captains, Gilded Age millionaires, curators on horseback and missionaries gone native, North American museums now possess the greatest collections of Chinese art outside of East Asia itself. How did it happen? The China Collectors is the first full account of a century-long treasure hunt in China from the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion to Mao Zedong's 1949 ascent. The principal gatherers are mostly little known and defy invention. They included "foreign devils" who braved desert sandstorms, bandits, and local warlords in acquiring significant works. Adventurous curators like Langdon Warner, a forebear of Indiana Jones, argued that the caves of Dunhuang were already threatened by vandals, thereby justifying the removal of frescoes and sculptures. Other Americans include George Kates, an alumnus of Harvard, Oxford, and Hollywood, who fell in love with Ming furniture. The Chinese were divided between dealers who profited from the artworks' removal and scholars who sought to protect their country's patrimony. Duanfang, the greatest Chinese collector of his era, was beheaded in a coup, and his splendid bronzes now adorn major museums. Others in this rich tapestry include Charles Lang Freer, an enlightened Detroit entrepreneur; two generations of Rockefellers; Avery Brundage, the imperious Olympian; and Arthur Sackler, the grand acquisitor. No less important are two museum directors, Cleveland's Sherman Lee and Kansas City's Laurence Sickman, who challenged the East Coast's hegemony. Shareen Blair Brysac and Karl E. Meyer evenhandedly consider whether ancient treasures were looted or salvaged and whether it was morally acceptable to spirit hitherto inaccessible objects westward, where they could be studied and preserved by trained museum personnel. And how should the US and Canada and their museums respond now that China has the means and will to reclaim its missing patrimony?

Members Reviews:

Very informative and interesting

This book is a very informative and interesting account of Chinese collections in USA. How did these collections end up being in American museums?

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Titolo: LUltima Cena di Leonardo Da Vinci [The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci]

Sottotitolo: Audioquadro [Audio painting]

Autore: Dalila Tossani

Narratore: Valentina Palmieri

Formato: Unabridged

Durata: 58 mins

Lingua: Italiano

Data di pubblicazione: 07-08-15

Editore: Area51 Publishing

Categoria: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Riepilogo Editore:

L'Ultima Cena o Il Cenacolo è una delle opere più grandiose, per dimensioni e complessità, dell'artista-scienziato che da sempre incuriosisce e appassiona per il suo genio e per il fascino della sua personalità: Leonardo da Vinci. Nell'ex-refettorio del convento di Santa Maria delle Grazie a Milano, si trova il dipinto parietale raffigurante l'ultima cena di Cristo, composto tra il 1494 e il 1498 su incarico di Ludovico il Moro. L'Ultima Cena dipinta da Leonardo da Vinci, in un prolungamento prospettico dell'ambiente reale, costituisce un'iconografia fra le più celebri e le più profondamente penetrate nell'immaginario collettivo occidentale: la scena è quella del momento in cui Gesù dichiara agli Apostoli di sapere che uno di loro lo tradirà. A causa della tecnica pittorica utilizzata da Leonardo, incompatibile con l'umidi-tà dell'ambiente, l'opera versa da secoli in un cattivo stato di conservazione. No-nostante ciò Il Cenacolo fa parte della lista UNESCO dei beni dell'umanità da preservare ed è anche per questo motivo che si è tentato, per quanto possibile, di salvaguardarla nel corso di uno dei più lunghi e capillari restauri della storia, durato dal 1978 al 1999 con le tecniche più all'avanguardia del settore. Gli audioquadri Area51 Publishing sono un nuovo modo di conoscere, amare e godere l'arte. Ogni quadro è raccontato nel dettaglio per farti conoscere la storia, scoprire lo stile e vivere in prima persona l'emozione del dipinto.L'audiobook dell'audioquadro è illustrato: al suo interno troverai infatti le immagini dei dettagli del dipinto che ti aiuteranno a notare ed apprezzare ogni elemento dell'opera.

Please note: This audiobook is in Italian.

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Title: Nights at Rizzoli

Author: Felice Picano

Narrator: Aaron Abano

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-30-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Salvador Dalí, Jerome Robbins, Jackie Onassis. Gregory Peck, Mick Jagger, S. J. Perelman, I. M. Pei. Philip Johnson, Josephine Baker, John Lennon: They, and so many more who made New York City the center of the universe in the 1970s, all had one thing in common besides their adopted hometown - they shopped at a legendary palace of books, music, and art: Rizzoli Books at 712 Fifth Avenue. There, Kennedys and Rockefellers mingled with tourists and "regular" customers under the watchful gaze of sophisticated employees, themselves a multitalented, international collection of artists, scholars, and rogues.

Nights at Rizzoli is the memoir of Felice Picano, an aspiring but near-starving young writer who, in 1971, lucked into a part-time job at the stunningly elegant store via a friend. It metamorphosed into a life-changing experience, one that exposed him to some of the brightest lights in the world's cultural capital. At the store he became a key player on a stage that opened every night to a new drama that often featured romance, at times violence, and of course always the books and their readers. And when his shift was over, in this post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS era, the handsome young bookstore manager stepped from one world into another, prowling the piers, bars, and very private clubs of a different New York City.

Members Reviews:

Fun romp through interesting times by the colorful Picano

Picano has mined some of his early writings and added his contemporary reflections to produce a delightful book about gay life in NYC in the 1960's and 1970's, as well as a document of the famous Rizzoli Bookstore which was a unique institution for literary life, culture, and also for gays. For Picano fans, he fills in lots of blanks not found in his earlier published works concerning his personal biography, especially how devastatingly AIDS touched his family, loosing two brothers, dozens of friends, and a sister-in-law to the plague. (I'd love a deeper reflection by Picano as a book or long article in the Gay and Lesbian Review concerning AIDS, and what it did to gay life in NY, Fire Island, and especially to his life). He mentions getting tested himself, but we never hear the result. Yes, there is lots of name dropping, but the names are a big part of the Rizzoli story. Whenever I walk down 5th Avenue today, I always think of the great Rizzoli's, and now with Picano's inside stories, the memories are even fonder. By the way, the NEW RIZZOLI'S (they lost their lease at Picano's location) is July 22, 2015 !!! The Rizzoli story also describes a style of retailing available then to all that no longer exists. The smart, stylish, opinionated Rizzoli staff was one of the big draws to the store. In those days, a knowledgeable, or good looking, or opinionated staffer became a draw to retail stores. Picano writes of all this quite well. Rizzoli's had lots of such staff persons, plus the internal layout of multiple stories, multiple mezzanines to facilitate people watching, which drew the crowds. The personnel of the time are very well-characterized by Picano, as well as some of the internal politics of the institution. This is a fun book that does not disappoint.

AN EPIC MEMOIR: THE LIFE OF A DRIVEN GAY WRITER IN 70'S MANHATTAN

My computer was in the shop. What to do.

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Title: Calligraphy for Beginners

Subtitle: Learn Calligraphy Alphabets, Lettering, Drawing & More!

Author: Charlotte Pearce

Narrator: Jason Lovett

Format: Unabridged

Length: 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-29-15

Publisher: Charlotte Pearce

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Calligraphy is a long lost art, derived from the two Greek words kallos and graphe, translating to "Beautiful Writing". In this book I'm going to teach you in simple terms how to learn and master the art of calligraphy - covering everything from your writing tools to moving forward after you've got it mastered! Calligraphy will never die!

Here's a preview of what you'll learn:

Purchase your copy right now

Members Reviews:

LOVED IT!

This is exactly what I needed. Thank you audible for Calligraphy for beginners. This is great and I love the idea of learning a new form of art that I can master with practice.

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Title: Theosophy and the Artist: Theosophical Classics

Author: WT Hanson

Narrator: Norman Wood

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-12-15

Publisher: Lamp of Trismegistus

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Theosophist W. T. Hanson writes about the identity of the artist, almost as a philosophical concept rather than the traditional role that we are familiar with.

Hanson explains, that any individual may be an artist, not simply those creating paintings and sculpture. Hanson stresses the importance of living one's life altruistically rather than for financial gain.

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Title: Secrets of the Sideshows

Author: Joe Nickell

Narrator: Scott Carrico

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-18-15

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

The carnival sideshows of the past have left behind a fascinating legacy of mystery and intrigue. The secrets behind such daring feats as fire-eating and sword swallowing and bizarre exhibitions of human oddities as "Alligator Boys" and "Gorilla Girls" still remain, only grudgingly if ever given up by performers and carnival professionals.

Working alongside the performers, Joe Nickell blows the lid off these mysteries of the midway. The author reveals the structure of the shows, specific methods behind the performances, and the showmen's tactics for recruiting performers and attracting crowds. He also traces the history of such spectacles, from ancient Egyptian magic and street fairs to the golden age of P.T. Barnum's sideshows. With revealing insight into the personal lives of the men and women billed as freaks, Nickell unfolds the captivating story of the midway show.

Critic Reviews:

"Nickell delivers brilliantly." (Michael Shermer, author of Why People Believe Weird Things and Scientific American columnist)

"Secrets of the Sideshows is a wealth of information for circus fans or anyone who's wondered how those seemingly-impossible illusions are created." (Brookings Register)

"If you want the lowdown on sideshows, step right up, ladies and gentlemen, Joe Nickell presents the best show on the midway." (Times of Acadiana)

Members Reviews:

Very entertaining nostalgic book!

What made the experience of listening to Secrets of the Sideshows the most enjoyable?

I really enjoyed hearing the history of the Sideshows, and the peek into the lives of those who put them together. I also loved learning the "shop talk" of the performers, it really puts you in the center of it all.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Secrets of the Sideshows?

I remember as a child at the small county fairs seeing the large Banners depicting the sideshow attractions, so the descriptions of the banner art in this book really took me back!

Any additional comments?

This was a fun, informative, and easy listen. A must for anyone who loved the carnivals and circuses of yesterday!

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Title: The Contemporaries

Subtitle: Travels in the 21st-Century Art World

Author: Roger White

Narrator: Tom Parks

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-03-15

Publisher: Audible Studios for Bloomsbury

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 61 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

It's been nearly a century since Marcel Duchamp exhibited a urinal and called it art. Since then painting has been declared dead several times over, and contemporary art has now expanded to include just about any object, action, or event: dance routines, slideshows, functional hair salons, seemingly random accretions of waste. In the meantime being an artist has gone from a join-the-circus fantasy to a plausible vocation for scores of young people in America. But why - and how and by whom - does all this art get made? How is it evaluated? And for what, if anything, will today's artists be remembered?

In The Contemporaries, Roger White, himself a young painter, serves as our spirited, skeptical guide through this diffuse, creative world. White takes us into the halls of the RISD graduate program, where students learn critical lessons that go far beyond how to apply paint to canvases. In New York we meet the neophytes who assist established artists - and who walk the fine line between "assistance" and "making the art". In Milwaukee White trails a group of friends trying to create a viable scene where rent is cheap but where the spotlight rarely shines. And he gives us an intimate perspective on three wildly different careers: that of Dana Schutz, an emerging star who is revitalizing painting; that of Mary Walling Blackburn, whose challenging art defies market forces; and that of Stephen Kaltenbach, a '70s wunderkind who is back on the critical radar, perhaps in spite of his own willful obscurity.

From young artists trying to elbow their way in to those working hard at dropping out, White's essential audiobook offers a once-in-a-generation glimpse of the inner workings of the American art world at a moment of unparalleled ambition, uncertainty, and creative exuberance.

Members Reviews:

Mispronunciations Spoil This Reading!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Contemporaries to be better than the print version?

Sorry to say, no. The narrator is fine but mispronounces names that are common in the art world. Audio books need editors and the equivalent of proofreaders, and this book is a case in point. Audible, wake up! Mispronunciations in an audio book are the equivalent of sloppy typos in an otherwise fine book. They break the mood, they bring you back to the reality that the narrator is not actually the author and is not actually an authority on anything. In an audio book, that is really, really bad.

Some examples: An entire chapter is set at RISD for an exploration of the MFA program. Rather than pronounce the art school's name "Riz-dee" as everyone does if they have ever heard of it before, the narrator pronounces each letter separately: "R I S D". William de Kooning is pronounced with a long O.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I gave the book one star to note how important the mispronunciations are. But it's not the narrator's fault. It's the producers' fault. Someone must be listening and advising and providing feedback to any performer for the production to be as good as it should be.

Any additional comments?

Publishers, you should do oversight of the audio version to ensure this kind of absurdity doesn't happen. You spend so much time and money on publishing a book.

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Title: Citizen Keane

Subtitle: The Big Lies Behind the Big Eyes

Author: Adam Parfrey, Cletus Nelson

Narrator: Bronson Pinchot

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-02-15

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Teary, big-eyed orphans and a multitude of trashy knockoffs epitomized American kitsch art as they clogged thrift stores for decades.

When Adam Parfrey tracked down Walter Keane - the credited artist of the weepy waifs - for a San Diego Reader cover story in 1992, he discovered some shocking facts. Decades of lawsuits and countersuits revealed the reality that Keane was more of a conman than an artist and that he forced his wife, Margaret, to sign his name to her own paintings. As a result those weepy waifs may not have been as capricious an invention as they seemed.

Parfrey's story was reprinted in Juxtapoz magazine and inspired a Margaret Keane exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum. Director Tim Burton made a movie about the Keanes called Big Eyes, which came out in 2014.

Citizen Keane is a book-length expansion of Parfrey's original article, providing fascinating biographical and sociological details.

Members Reviews:

Interesting expansion of the movie

I really enjoy books on art and artists as well as movies on this topic. I liked the 'Big Eyes' movie a great deal and was looking for a book to tell the rest of the story. This book, although short, did a good job of filling in the gaps in the movie and explaining inconsistencies in the Keane story. I greatly enjoyed this book. It was a quick listen that told both sides of the story (although skewed toward favoring Margaret). If you liked the movie and like books about the lives of artists this is worth the 3+ hours.

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Title: The Rape of Europa

Subtitle: The Intriguing History of Titian's Masterpiece

Author: Charles FitzRoy

Narrator: Jeremy Clyde

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-26-15

Publisher: Audible Studios for Bloomsbury

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

The Rape of Europa is one of Titian's great masterpieces, a work charged with eroticism and classical mystique behind which lies a tale as compelling as the painting itself. Here Charles FitzRoy weaves a unique account of its history and the painting's movement following the rise and fall of the countries in which it has been housed. The story ranges from its place at the court of King Philip II of Spain, through French revolution and English intrigue, to its final move to America, engineered by the brilliant but devious art historian Bernard Berenson. This is the tale of how Titian's masterpiece has captivated kings, nobles, artists, and lovers alike for over four centuries since its conception and continues to do so today.

Members Reviews:

Very smooth and easy to read

Full of surprises! Very smooth and easy to read. But, unfortunately, also rather repetitious. Maybe that is because simply everyone wanted to have this painting and did not hesitate to employ some underhanded tactics.

... recounting of the vicissitudes of one of the world's great paintings.

A truly fascinating recounting of the vicissitudes of one of the world's great paintings.

Five Stars

great