Ben Heine - Art - The Blog: May 2009

Spirit of the Earth

The Earth is Yellow

By Peter S. Quinn

The earth is yellow,
Under the winter's aglow;
Spring will come and grow,
A seed from under the snow.
Sleepy old forest,
With branches so barren;
Now you must adjust,
For the new and the foreign.

The earth is quite old,
Where shadows shall dissolve;
For winter can not hold,
What must revive and evolve.
The mountains become blue,
From distance faraway;
And everything come through,
With midnight sun and day.

The earth is my mother,
And with here I shall be;
Like each my sister - brother,
For all the rest of eternity.
Catch as catch you can,
The gold of green and new;
Now returns summer's van,
For youthful thoughts and hue.

My Soul's Journey

© 2009 - Ben Heine
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(High resolution version of this image, for
printing purposes, available HERE)
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Goodbye Troubles

By Peter S. Quinn

Love let new spring be you
Fresh in its new beginning
Heart always young and true
From growth now singing
Let me know of your laughter
Every footstep new and bold
Beautiful day’s morning after
Growth in earth from the old

Love look to my path afresh
Let me see the forest growing
So I'll know how to enmesh
With the tide's timeless going
Give my heart spring once more
Pull the way for gracious love
I need your feelings to be sure
What this throbbing is all of

Doubtful old days into the past
Those wonderful sights ahead
Rainy clouds I have by-passed
Goodbye troubles get joy instead
Pull up your friendliest smile
All the outside’s now looking in
Let aspiring hope be here awhile
Where has the laughter been?

The Bird

A Bird Came Down

By Emily Dickinson

A bird came down the walk:
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad,--
They looked like frightened beads, I thought;
He stirred his velvet head

Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home

Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, splashless, as they swim.

(The poem appeared on reelyredd.com)

Barack Obama's
Toughest Opponent
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© 2009 - Ben Heine
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(High resolution version of this image, for
printing purposes, available HERE)
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Obama Works to Repair America's Image in the
World. Smiles and handshakes are a start, but
Obama's real challenge will be to show results

By Thomas Omestad

The few "Yankee Go Home" signs that greet him abroad seem almost an afterthought, and when he enters a room of world leaders, he is the most sought-after man for a photo op and a handshake. Such is the star power that has swirled around Barack Obama on his initial foreign travels as the U.S. president.

This comes as little surprise, yet it will present a challenge of sorts for the president. Obama's relative youth and vigor, his calls for reaching out to adversaries and friends overseas, his breaks from past policy, and his triumphant personal story as the nation's first African-American president all seem to make the 47-year-old leader the best single antidote to anti-Americanism in years, maybe decades. White House officials say Obama's appeal extends beyond just the leaders of the world. "What has happened is that anti-Americanism isn't cool anymore," says top Obama adviser David Axelrod.

But this initial repositioning of the American leadership brand onto more popular terrain internationally will be the easier part of Obama's task. For all the sense of fresh starts and of goodwill, the seeds of perhaps inevitable disappointments are present as well. Visiting the Czech Republic in April, Obama got a friendly warning from Vaclav Havel, the once dissident playwright and former president who led his country's Velvet Revolution. Havel cautioned that the accumulation of exaggerated expectations could turn against the new American leader. "People may end up thinking that he has betrayed them, that he has raised their hopes too far," Havel said. A smiling Obama is said to have replied that he is aware of the danger.

Still, Obama has deftly gone about trying to reset the global image of America. The guiding impulse seems to be to start reviving U.S. standing in the world quickly in the hope that policy gains will accrue later. He has ordered the future closure of the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, barred torture of terrorist suspects, and made public the Bush administration's internal memos authorizing harsh interrogation methods.

>>> Read the full article
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Men's Brain

Searching for
Thoughts

By Peter S. Quinn

Searching for thoughts goes on from start to end,
Quickened with passion that gives each calling;
Like a blank page where fingers move and bend,
Passion and pain from the footsteps falling.
Again now and now the movements go on,
Deeper within darkness enter a step;
Ignite corners in blaze millimicron,
Starting to grow and becoming more help.
All from the searching from within the brain,
Play with what you know in bitter and sweet;
Narrow each law by reshaping the rein,
Each of its way becomes clear in its beat.
Across clearings a mind searches all through,
Symbols of play know how to continue.

Obama's Popularity

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© 2009 - Ben Heine
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(High resolution version of this image, for
printing purposes, available HERE)
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Obama Popular
Despite Challenges

By David Zussman

The United States is a great sporting nation and, as a result, Americans like keeping score and handicapping most public events. The performance of their presidents is no exception and, since the early days of the Roosevelt presidency, the media have marked the first 100 days by providing a report card based on their performance.

It is generally acknowledged that no other U.S. president has arrived in office with higher expectations than Barack Obama, and more difficult problems. It is, therefore, not surprising that he has been subjected to a steeper learning curve than his predecessors.

By the time Obama was sworn in on Jan. 20, the U.S. financial system was in freefall, the credit markets were becoming unglued, house prices were tumbling, and a half-dozen foreign hotspots required presidential attention. It is difficult to imagine how it could have been more challenging.

Since the 100-day mark is an artificial marker, the White House staff was reluctant to join in on the rating game but their efforts proved futile.

Once they realized that it was going to be impossible to blunt the media's interest in rating the administration's performance, some senior staff tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to lower the public's expectations regarding Obama's early accomplishments by assigning themselves a B-plus. And finally, the White House embraced the 100-day anniversary, with the president appearing at last month's 100-day town hall celebration in St. Louis.

At this point, given all of the challenges and difficulties encountered by Obama, he remains a very popular political leader. In fact, according to the Pew Foundation, his personal popularity is higher than the ratings for his individual programs.

>>> Read the full article

Ingrid Betancourt

Ingrid Betancourt (born 25 December 1961) is a Colombian-French politician, former senator, anti-corruption activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on 23 February 2002 and was rescued by Colombian security forces six and a half years later on 2 July 2008. The rescue operation, dubbed Operation Jaque, rescued Betancourt along with 14 other hostages (three Americans and 11 Colombian policemen and soldiers). In all, she was held captive for 2,321 days after being taken while campaigning for the Colombian presidency as a Green. She had decided to campaign in rebel controlled areas despite warnings from the government, police and military not to do so. Her kidnapping received worldwide coverage, particularly in France, because of her dual French citizenship. She has received multiple international awards, such as the Légion d'honneur. In 2008 she received the Concord Prince of Asturias Award.

Betancourt was born in Bogotá, Colombia. Her mother, Yolanda Pulecio, is a former beauty queen who later served in Congress representing poor southern neighborhoods of Bogotá. Her father, Gabriel Betancourt, was minister for the General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla dictatorship (1953–1957), the assistant director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, then ambassador of Colombia to UNESCO in Paris, and head of the education commission of the Alliance for Progress in Washington, D.C. under John F. Kennedy. The Betancourt family is one of Colombia's oldest oligarchic families, descended from French Norman immigrants who arrived from Grainville-la-Teinturière three centuries before.

>>> Read the full biography
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Click on the image to enlarge it
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Culture Festival
in Ravenna

From the 30th of May
till the 7th of June
in Ravenna, Italy

Visit the official blog reporting
this important event

Before/After

Click on the images below to enlarge them.
Find each photo in high resolution for
printing purposes on my Flickr page.

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Some older works:
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See all my final conceptual
photos on my Flickr page

"Art Brussels"
Contemporary Art Fair
Photo Report

"Artbrussels" is a contemporary art fair happening every year in Belgium. I was there for the 27th edition and made this little photo report. Considering the huge amount of artworks that were exhibited, this represents only a little insight of what I saw. For more information on the exhibitors and artists, please visit Artbrussels' official site: www.artbrussels.be

Every year in April, Artbrussels opens its doors and welcomes more than 30 000 professionals, collectors and art lovers from all over the world. Artbrussels is the European platform for upcoming talents in the field of contemporary art and focuses as well on strong established galleries representing a selection of their highest-quality paintings, sculptures, photography, video and installations.

Artbrussels attracts art enthusiasts, including a considerable number of art collectors, critics, journalists, curators and other decision makers; one in five visitors comes from outside Belgium. A VIP Privilege programme welcomes over 300 collectors from throughout the world, treating them to free overnight accommodation and a stimulating off-programme.

Artbrussels offers a strong selection of 172 galleries, nominated in accordance with a rigorous quality-based selection procedure. The international selection committee places particular emphasis on the work of young creatives in contemporary art. The fair has a most international profile, with 80% of its participants coming from over 20 countries.

The major part of the fair is dedicated to numerous established art galleries with both international profiles and programmes.

Click on the images below to enlarge them.
Find each photo in high resolution for
printing purposes on my Flickr page.