By Evelyn Bonilla

 

“Open your eyes and you will see the beauty from within”, these are the words that come to mind, as I explain the photographs of Jonathan Singer. Described as a “force of nature” Singer brings to life “rare exotic flowers and plants” using photography and his extraordinary vision; the compilation of the two brings to fruition photographs which bring to mind the works of Rembrandt.

 On January 28^th the public will have the opportunity to view the one of a kind photographs by Jonathan Singer. The exhibit “Botanica Magnifica” will be presented in two parts. “Part One” is on view January 28 through April 15, and “Part Two” will be on view April 21 through August 26 at the New Jersey State Museum.

 The museum exhibit is organized by guest curator Dr. Karen Reeds well-known for her work with science and history. The exhibition will unite two of the State Museumâ€s subject areas, “Natural History and Fine Art”, and will look at Jonathan Singerâ€s extraordinary photographs from both perspectives.

 Singerâ€s photography is unique in that it defies conventional views and opens to all who behold it; a world of photography like no other. Through his camera lens he captures the soul of the object he is photographing.

  His photographs can be seen in the “Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Libraries in Washington, DC, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA), Stockholm, Sweden, the Huntington Museum and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

 In 2009, he was awarded the Carl Linnaeus Silver Medal for merging art and science, from the Swedish Royal Academy of Science. He was also awarded the international Hasselblad Prize Laureate award; granted to photographers in recognition of their major achievements”. Most recently he was acknowledged by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and received an award, “in recognition and appreciation for his work of the botanical world”.  Singer is one of the first photographers to receive such a prestigious award. Singer also has two photography books to his credit “Botanica Magnifica: Portraits of the World’s Most Beautiful and Rare Flowers and Plants” and “Bonsai, Art and Nature”.

 To view “Botanica Magnifica:  Photographs by Jonathan Singer,” visit the New Jersey State Museum, located at 205 West State Street in Trenton. It is open on Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:00 am to 4:45 pm, and Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00 pm. The Museum is closed on Mondays and all state holidays. General admission to the Museum is free.  For more information, please visit the Museumâ€s website at www.newjerseystatemuseum.org or call the recorded information line at (609) 292-6464.  On weekends, free parking is available in lots adjacent to and behind the Museum.

 If interested in learning more about Jonathan Singer sign on to his website at www.jonathan-singer-photography.com  and enter into the magnificent botanical world of photographer Jonathan Singer.

  

 

 

 

 

 

The post Jonathan Singer’s “Botanica Magnifica” Exhibit Opens on January 28th at the New Jersey State Museum first appeared on River View Observer.

“Tin-Can” Curt Degerman, a well-know aluminum can scavenger in the Swedish town of SkellefteÃ¥, was apparently a multi-millionaire when he died last year. He was apparently very thrift and also a shrewd investor. From Sweden’s The Local:
The relatives of a man who spent the last three decades collecting empty cans on the streets of a town in northern Sweden were surprised to learn he was worth millions when he died.

boing-boing

At the time of his death last autumn, 60-year-old Curt Degerman, known to the residents of SkellefteÃ¥ as “Burk-Curt” (‘Tin-Can Curtâ€), had amassed a fortune worth more than 12 million kronor ($1.4 million), the Expressen newspaper reports.

Relatives attribute Tin-Can Curtâ€s previously-unknown riches to a mix of frugality and a penchant for playing the stock market.

He was always seen cycling around the streets of SkellefteÃ¥ in the same worn blue jacket and ragged pants, but punctuated his rounds of the cityâ€s rubbish bins with visits to the local public library.

“He went to the library every day because he didnâ€t buy newspapers. There he read [Swedish business daily] Dagens Industri,” a cousin to Expressen.

“He knew stocks inside and out.”

And Tin-Can Curt used that investing know-how to turn the modest deposits he collected from returning empty cans into mutual funds worth more than 8 million kronor.

In addition, he had purchased 124 gold bars currently valued at 2.6 million kronor and had nearly 47,000 kronor in the bank.

Tin-Can Curt also owned his own home, which was found to have 3,000 kronor in loose change, bringing the total value of his estate to 12,005,877 kronor.

The closet millionaire died of a heart attack in his sleep last autumn and left his estate to his cousin, who visited him several times a week up until he died.

“Curt didnâ€t begrudge anything to anyone and never bought anything. But he had a really good head on his shoulders and was smarter than most,” said the cousin.
David Landes (david.landes@thelocal.se/+46 8 656 6518)

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