Circus horse girls

Was inspired to do a drawing about circus horseback riding girls, and came across some awesome reference pictures I HAD to share...

1908, people! I love it! (From Shorpy.com - great vintage photos )

Following two 1890 posters from http://www.imageenvision.com 

From The Golden Circus by Kathryn Jackson, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen

(image from flickr )

Air and Water- Joel Meyerowitz

Saw this article in the SF Gate and was impressed by this image- just like the way it's flipped upside down to play with up/down, the sense of space and shapes, and the surreal nature of the imagery.

"The Elements: Air/Water Part 1, Number 6" (2007), by Joel Meyerowitz

Unnatural colors

Was looking up some reference, and stumbled across this stunning photograph- I just love the colors, composition and stark composition. Also the contrast of unnatural vs. natural (pollution).  Found at the We Can't Paint blog

Nickel Tailings No. 34, Sudbury, Ontario, 1996 by Ed Burtynsky

Bruce Mozert's Underwater Photography

Found this via Boing Boing and Smithsonian; some fantastic 1930s underwater photography by Bruce Mozert to help promote Silver Springs, Florida.

Love the surreal juxtapositions, cute girls/ pin-up qualities, and vintage / retro look.

American Museum of Natural History

Just found this fantastic site of old museum photos from the American Museum of Natural History via Morbid Anatomy.  There are TONS of fantastic photos on the site- these are just a small small sampling of some of the ones I found on a first perusal...

Especially love the vintage feel and surreal quality of people setting up the museum dioramas and displays and the stark b/w look...

Speaking of Echo Park and Lotuses

This photo delights me to no end- her expression, the vintage quality, and the fact that she's surrounded by giant lotuses is just wonderful!

(from the Herald-Examiner/ Los Angeles Public Library)

Louise Van Nuys is pictured in a canoe holding lotus blossoms in 1936, during a visit to Los Angeles from the East Coast.

from the Baltimore Sun online