“The Wonderful World Of Albert Kahn”

by Pier Marton | Sep 20, 2010 | Afri, Art, Asia, Doc, Future Tech, History, Ideas, Idées, Jewish, Middle-East, Photo, Roma, Time, Travel

The BBC program on The Archive of the Planet (more than 50 countries with more than 72,000 autochromes + 100 hours of film): millionaire French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn who, between 1908 and 1930, used his personal fortune to generate what is now generally acknowledged to be the most important collection of early color photographs in the world to end up penniless (post the stock market crash).
Part 1:
You can probably find other episodes online!!

News & Olds

BREAK THE SURFACE
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To ride the unbalance* between:
1. excellence and a kind, singular and porous identity that contains some of the scruples, humor, humility, musicality & the beauty of a harsh and confusing, yet benign and rich reality – away from distractions.
2. the stupidity and blindness of complacency, violence, injustice, pretense, egos, short-term… wishful… and group “thinking,” and empty talk – in all of their surprising embodiments. And the false sense of fullness all of this provides.
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An appeal for a world NOT so caught up in anthropo/ego/euro/ethno/oculo/esthetico -CENTRISM.
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1. Beware of those who claim to be strong – they are often dangerous.
2. Unmask the hoax of “centrality” – ask an “EX-centric” for assistance?
3. Perceive the arrogance of normalcy: everybody, in one way or another, is handicapped… which brings us back to 1.
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*Not unrelated to “There is beauty and there are the humiliated. Whatever difficulties the enterprise may present, I should like never to be unfaithful either to the second or the first.” — Albert Camus