BJA SAMUEL

AN ECLECTIC SELECTION OF

FILM | ART | HISTORY | CULTURE

FILM

HISTORY & ARCHIVE

INTERVIEWS & DOCUMENTARIES

ART

WRITERS & BOOKS

POETRY

EARLY & SILENT FILM

PHOTOGRAPHY

PHILOSOPHY

QUOTES

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TWITTER @BJA_SAMUEL

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"Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament."

Ben Samuel

Mar 23, 20231 min read

"Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament."

George King "Primary Terrestrial Mental Channel No. 1"

The Making of Fanny and Alexander (1984)

Ben Samuel

Mar 17, 20231 min read

The Making of Fanny and Alexander (1984)

Foot age from The Making of Fanny and Alexander

Ben Samuel

Feb 27, 20232 min read

Jean Vigo (1905-1934)

Jean Vigo's films Zéro de conduite (1933) and L'Atalante (1934)

Ben Samuel

Nov 1, 20221 min read

My film 'The Magic Lantern'

A celebration of the magic and wonder of early cinema.

Egon Schiele's death bed sketches of his wife Edith & Gustav Klimt

Ben Samuel

Oct 18, 20222 min read

Egon Schiele's death bed sketches of his wife Edith & Gustav Klimt

Egon Schiele's (1890 – 1918) death bed sketch of his wife Edith, who was six months pregnant at the time. He himself was dying even as...

Ben Samuel

Sep 21, 20224 min read

When Weegee met Alfred Stieglitz

Photographer Weegee describes his haunting meeting with an 81 year old Alfred Stieglitz. From his book Naked City.

Ben Samuel

Aug 12, 20221 min read

Rembrandt's "dirty little secrets"

Etchings made by Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) dubbed by some as his "Dirty Little Secrets"

Ben Samuel

Jun 21, 20221 min read

Ingmar Bergman interview

An interview with Ingmar Bergman where he discusses "Non-existence" and God's perfection in comparison to human imperfection.

Ben Samuel

Jun 13, 20221 min read

Jean Genet (1910 - 1986) interview

Jean Genet asks a BBC film crew why they don't rebel.

Ben Samuel

Jun 13, 20222 min read

Albert Pinkham Ryder - art and decay

The art of decay. Albert Pinkham Ryder's paintings decay over time due to his use of unstable materials.

Ben Samuel

May 25, 20223 min read

William Blake's Visionary heads

Throughout his life William Blake claimed to have seen visions of people from the remote past, as well as deceased friends.

Ben Samuel

May 5, 20224 min read

JG Ballard "What I Believe"

‘What I Believe’ is a prose poem originally published in French in Science Fiction #1 in January 1984.

Ben Samuel

Apr 28, 202210 min read

Bruno Schulz "trying to occur"

The life and imagination of Bruno Schulz including drawings, a film of the mural discovery and a newly discovered short story by Schulz

Ben Samuel

Apr 12, 20222 min read

Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981)

The films of pioneering filmmaker Lotte Reiniger

Francisco Goya's Black Paintings (Pinturas negras)

Ben Samuel

Apr 5, 20222 min read

Francisco Goya's Black Paintings (Pinturas negras)

Francisco Goya's Black Paintings

Akira Kurosawa describes the Great Kantō earthquake of (1923)

Ben Samuel

Mar 28, 20221 min read

Akira Kurosawa describes the Great Kantō earthquake of (1923)

Akira Kurosawa describes being shown the aftermath of the Kantō earthquake by his brother Heigo Kurosawa.

Wax anatomical models by Clemente Susini

Ben Samuel

Mar 21, 20221 min read

Wax anatomical models by Clemente Susini

Clemente Susini's (1754–1814) vividly accurate but macabre wax models, both beautiful and disturbing.

Ben Samuel

Mar 3, 20221 min read

Rare footage of Albert Camus

Rare footage of Albert Camus talking about the theatre with an extract of The Possessed written and directed by Albert Camus

Ben Samuel

Mar 3, 20221 min read

Isaiah Berlin on the power of ideas

"Over a hundred years ago, the German poet Heine warned the French not to underestimate the power of ideas..."

Ben Samuel

Mar 3, 20221 min read

Albert Camus Quote from The Plague

“He knew what those jubilant crowds did not know but could have learned from books: that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears..."

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Friedrich Nietzsche's Mental Breakdown

Jan 1889, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) is said to have witnessed a cab driver viciously whipping a horse.

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

"Advertisements" by J.G Ballard

"I created a series of advertisements which I placed in various publications..Of course I was advertising my own conceptual ideas,

Sergei Parajanov discussing Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Sergei Parajanov discussing Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

Interview with Sergei Parajanov here he discusses how making Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965) led to his imprisonment

Experimental text collages by JG Ballard

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Experimental text collages by JG Ballard

Four Text Collages (Project for a New Novel), by J. G. Ballard. Experimental text collages by Ballard intended as a condensed novel.

Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly

The lifework of James Hampton a janitor who secretly built a large assemblage of religious art.

Georgia O'Keeffe's fascination with Synesthesia

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Georgia O'Keeffe's fascination with Synesthesia

Georgia O'Keeffe's fascination with Synesthesia led her to create these paintings.

Eadweard Muybridge's pioneering work on locomotion

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Eadweard Muybridge's pioneering work on locomotion

Eadweard Muybridge (1830 – 1904) pioneering work on locomotion included many male and female nudes of himself and others

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Artwork by Eugene Von Bruenchenhein

Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910–1983) was a self-taught artist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who created thousands of paintings...

Interview with Titanic survivor Frank Prentice

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Interview with Titanic survivor Frank Prentice

Titanic survivor Frank Prentice worked in the pursers office on the Titanic, he was 18.

Philip K Dick's bizarre delusions and paranoid fantasies

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Philip K Dick's bizarre delusions and paranoid fantasies

While recovering from drugs administered due to an impacted wisdom tooth, Philip K Dick began to have bizarre delusions.

Philip K. Dick discussing science fiction

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Philip K. Dick discussing science fiction

Philip K. Dick interview (1977). Here he discusses how science fiction is viewed on a bottom rung of genres.

Imaginary Prisons by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Le Carceri d'Invenzione)

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20223 min read

Imaginary Prisons by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Le Carceri d'Invenzione)

An influential series of prints started in 1745. 16 imaginary subterranean prisons with winding stairs strange architecture.

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Walking cities - collages by Ron Herron

In the 1960s architect Ron Herron (1930 - 1994) designed collages of his concept of Walking Cities.

An Impossible Balancing Feat (1902) Dir Georges Méliès

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

An Impossible Balancing Feat (1902) Dir Georges Méliès

Wonderful trick film from Georges Méliès where he balances copies of himself on his head and hands.

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Eadweard Muybridge photography

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) photography. Most famous for his studies in locomotion and it's influence on the invention of cinema

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Motopia "a utopia for motorists" (1959)

Motopia was a proposed 'City of the Future' designed by architect Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe.

Footage of the devastation caused by World War 1

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Footage of the devastation caused by World War 1

Footage of the devastation caused by World War 1 filmed (1919) by Lucien Le Saint with French balloon pilot Jacques Trolley de Prévaux.

Portraits of Georgia O'Keeffe by Alfred Stieglitz

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Portraits of Georgia O'Keeffe by Alfred Stieglitz

Portraits of Georgia O'Keeffe by Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz photographed O'Keeffe obsessively

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Harry Clarke's stained glass windows

Incredibly beautiful stained glass windows by Harry Clarke (1889 – 1931)

Etienne-Jules Marey inventor of chronophotography

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Etienne-Jules Marey inventor of chronophotography

Etienne-Jules Marey (1830-1904) physiologist, doctor, biomechanics engineer and inventor of chronophotography.

Infernal Dictionary (1818) Jacques Collin de Plancy

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Infernal Dictionary (1818) Jacques Collin de Plancy

Infernal Dictionary (1818) by Jacques Collin de Plancy is a book of demonology it describes demons and organises them into hierarchies.

The Snowflake Man - First pictures of snow crystals

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

The Snowflake Man - First pictures of snow crystals

Wilson Alwyn Bentley frustrated with being unable to view snowflakes under his microscope devised his own methods.

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

JG Ballard returns to Shanghai

In 1991 JG Ballard returned to Shanghai to his childhood home and to Lunghua Interment camp.

Atomic bomb tests in the Nevada Desert (1951 - 1992)

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Atomic bomb tests in the Nevada Desert (1951 - 1992)

Nearly 1,000 atomic bomb tests were detonated in the Nevada Test Site in the Nevada Desert from 1951 until 1992.

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Nudes by Anne Brigman

Anne Brigman (1869 - 1950) depicted herself and other female nudes outdoors in the Sierra Nevada.

Atomic bomb explosions (1946–52) taken with Rapatronic Camera

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Atomic bomb explosions (1946–52) taken with Rapatronic Camera

Pictures of atomic bomb explosions taken one ten-millionth of a second after detonation from about seven miles away.

Architect Oscar Newman’s 'Plan for an underground nuclear shelter'

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Architect Oscar Newman’s 'Plan for an underground nuclear shelter'

Architect Oscar Newman’s tongue in cheek 'Plan for an underground nuclear shelter' (1969)

Eadweard Muybridge 'The Horse in Motion'

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Eadweard Muybridge 'The Horse in Motion'

In June 1878, Eadweard Muybridge created a sequential series of photographs with a battery of 12 cameras along the race track

JG Ballard Discusses English Society In The 1950's

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20220 min read

JG Ballard Discusses English Society In The 1950's

Interview with JG Ballard Discussing English Society In The 1950's

Ben Samuel

Mar 1, 20221 min read

Aerial photographs taken by pigeons

Aerial photographs taken by pigeons using Dr Julius Neubronner's (1852 – 1932) Miniature Pigeon Camera' patented in 1908.

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BJA SAMUEL

AN ECLECTIC SELECTION OF

FILM | ART | HISTORY | CULTURE

FILM

HISTORY & ARCHIVE

INTERVIEWS & DOCUMENTARIES

ART

WRITERS & BOOKS

POETRY

EARLY & SILENT FILM

PHOTOGRAPHY

PHILOSOPHY

QUOTES

ARCHITECTURE

MY OWN WORK

NOVELS

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

FOLLOW ME

TWITTER @BJA_SAMUEL

INSTAGRAM @BJASAMUEL

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