In 1505, Leonardo da Vinci painted a vast mural in Florence’s town hall titled “The Battle of Anghiari” — believed to be one of his greatest works. After being on display for more than 40 years, the unfinished painting was lost when the hall underwent renovations and new murals by Giorgio Vasari were added. There are no known records explaining what happened to the piece, but many people believe that it is currently hidden behind one particular mural called “Battle of Marciano in Val di Chiana”.

Photographer David Yoder began photographing this mystery for the National Geographic starting in 2007, and soon began looking for a way to photograph the lost painting through the existing mural. He’s currently attempting to raise $266,500 through Kickstarter to develop a camera to do this.
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Here’s a beautiful illustration titled “A Camera Study” by Mari Sheibley, the lead designer over at Foursquare and the person behind the badges. I think this would be awesome as a poster.

A Camera Study (via Laughing Squid)

This compact camera is only one dollar… literally. Won Park, an artist that does origami using money, folded this camera using a dollar bill without cuts, glue, or tape. You can find more of his creations here, though this is the only photography-related one.

Image credit: One Dollar Camera by Won Park

28 Camera Drawings is a beautiful drawing by Christine Berrie that features 28 different old-school cameras. It’s available as a limited-edition 14”x11” print over on 20×200 for $50.

28 Camera Drawings (via swissmiss)

Apparently always having a camera by your side isn’t enough for some people. Wafaa Bilal, an assistant professor at NYU, is planning to have surgery in coming weeks to have a camera implanted in the back of his head. The project — titled “The 3rd I” — is being commissioned by a museum in Qatar, which will receive and broadcast a live stream of photographs taken by the camera once per minute for an entire year.

This project would probably result in better photos if the camera were implanted smack dab in the middle of his forehead instead of on the back of his head. No word on the specs of the thumbnail sized camera.

(via The Wall Street Journal)

Here’s a fun idea: take famous landscape paintings and add a tilt-shift effect to them! This series of images was created by Artcyclopedia using famous Van Gogh paintings. We love how the selective focus gives the paintings a new dimension.
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So this is what a Canon 5D Mark II looks like on the inside. This anatomy illustration was done by concept artist Mads Peitersen, who created similar illustrations for other popular devices as well. Peiterson tells us,

The idea was that these gadgets are becoming so advanced and cool today that we almost treat them as if they were alive. In a way users become attached to them. You kinda begin to see yourself as connected to these brands or gadgets. They almost become an extension of yourself or your hands.

The metaphor is that a really rather simple and very dead gadget gives people a feeling of being more present, more alive. And in this case, the camera even sees and captures life.

Maybe this is what a Zerg version of the Canon 5D Mark II might look like…

(via Gizmodo)

Image credit: Illustration by Mads Peitersen and used with permission

Contact sheets are ordinarily used to select photographs to print, but UK-based photographer Martin Wilson’s contact sheets are masterpieces in themselves. His sheets are created by carefully capturing images on 35mm film, scanning the entire film, and then piecing the film strips together digitally into a large contact sheet.

Only when the film strips are laid side by side does the final image come together and make sense. The specific place in the roll of each image is carefully planned out, and Wilson throws out entire rolls of film if mistakes are made. Thus, a single contact sheet artwork will typically take him months to finish.
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Toymaker Kid Robot has a line of DIY toys called MUNNYs. They’re pretty much cute humanoid-looking blobs that can be drawn, painted, and customized.

There are a couple of fun Flickr groups dedicated to these decorated darlings. We found some gems that deserve some love and attention–photographing a MUNNY can get a little funny. It’s like photographing artwork, a product, and an environmental portrait, all in one!

Here are some of our faves:

CMYK Munny Series by Connor Keller | fourtysixtyphoto.com

A clever nod to color modes, this CMYK Munny is simple but vibrantly sweet.

Gorilla Munny by Aiden O’Sullivan

Flickr photog Aiden O’Sullivan captured this fierce Gorilla Munny in his natural environment.

Munny Calavera by Kitt Walker

We’ve never seen such a suave skeleton. This Munny was inspired by the Grim Fandango PC game character, Munny Calavera.

Custom “Brain” Mini Munny by Aidan O’Sullivan

Munny AND brains, you say? This Munny is a little creepy, and brings to mind (haha) Syler from Heroes. Or Hannibal Lecter. In either case, weird, but kind of rad.

Munnys by benwatts

A Tron Munny! With better special effects than the early 1980s!

Munnys by benwatts

Here’s another Munny by Flickr Munny maker benwatts. It’s reminiscent of the Borg from Star Trek, but a bit more organic. It’s almost as if he raided both my grandma’s couches for that fabric. We like how he has a Minolta lens as an eye. He must have a photographic memory.

TK-22 Makes a New Friend by chanchan222

Domo-kun Munny and his pal meet Star Wars — it’s like a collision of fandom imagination.

Munny by Derek Purdy

This Munny looks like a guy who can take care of himself. Though he’s only adorned with a classy fedora, this Munny photo has a film noir ambiance.

week_04_03 by O*GE InteractiveGallery – Gaston

Here’s a monster Munny  that looks like the abominable snowman, but less abominable. I mean, look at that wittle paws and those itty bitty teeth!

MU001 by De Tuesday

This Rorschach Munny is based on Alan Moore’s graphic novel, Watchmen. While he’s not the cutest of the bunch, he definitely captures the raw, nihilistic spirit of the character!

Blu Spy Munny by Dan Diemer

Based off the video game, Team Fortress 2, this spy Munny is dressed to kill.

To see more, check out these Munny Flickr pools:

• Custom Munny Gallery
• Custom Vinyl Toys
• Munny Club
• The Munny Shot
• Kid Robot