A look at the iPhone Photography Awards, CSS Shadows and Gradients and a couple of films, Gunda and The Reason I Jump.
Phone Photography Awards
The 14th Annual IPPAwards recognize photographs taken over a remarkable year of grief and loneliness. The first place Photographer of the Year Award went to Sharan Shetty of India for his image, Bonding, where a man and his horse commune in an empty landscape, offering each other comfort and soft words. A great selection of black and white and colour photographs shot on iPhones.
CSS Shadows and Gradients
A couple of CSS articles this week. An in-depth look at Designing Beautiful Shadows in CSS by Josh Comeau and Grainy Gradients on CSS-Tricks looking at how to add colourful noise to add texture to a gradient with a small amount of CSS and SVG.
Films
Two very different films out at the moment, both capture the essence of the natural and human world. Gunda is shot in black and white and has no dialogue or soundtrack. It chronicles the lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with great intimacy. Now it may sound dull and odd to watch a film with no dialogue or soundtrack in today's world but the film can be very impactful. It has a simple message that asks us to slow down and experience life as they do. Can we do better? Take the time to watch it.
The other film is The Reason I Jump which is based on the best-selling book by Naoki Higashida. The film is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people. The film blends Higashida's revelatory insights into autism, written when he was 13 years of age, with portraits of five remarkable young people. It opens a window for audiences into an intense and overwhelming, but often joyful, sensory universe. Narrated passages in the film reflect on what his autism means to him and others, how his perception of the world differs, and why he acts in the way he does. The film distils these elements into a sensually rich tapestry that leads us to Naoki’s core message: not being able to speak does not mean there is nothing to say. Take the time to watch it.