Things to smile or think about

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expose-the-light:

Blackwater by Joshua Lambus

infinity-imagined:

Earth seen by the GOES-14 weather satellite, May 22nd 2013.

(Source: goes.gsfc.nasa.gov)

Max Irons and Nina Dobrev

Requested: annasophiarobb1x1

Whyyy?  
Life just got a whole lot more unfair.

(Source: knightleymeester-rph)

(Source: mahh-ree-ah)

(Source: sexlesslovers)

emily84:

adorable couple being adorableeeee

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herzfee:

Infinita Letizia della Mente Candida; | via Facebook on We Heart It - http://weheartit.com/entry/59706160/via/Herzfee

Hearted from: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Infinita-Letizia-della-Mente-Candida/357811724263075?fref=ts

Audrey Hepburn in Paris, France for the promotion of Paris When it Sizzles, 1962.

(Source: rareaudreyhepburn)

Audrey Hepburn in Paris, France for the promotion of Paris When it Sizzles, 1962.

(Source: rareaudreyhepburn)

Audrey Hepburn, Kay Thompson and Fred Astaire filming “Bonjour, Paris!” at the Eiffel Tower for their movie musical Funny Face, 1956. Gifs by rareaudreyhepburn.

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iluvsouthernafrica:

Madagascar & Mozambique: Face masks of the Sakalava, Makua and Makonde women

(First 5 photos from Madagascar, last 5 Mozambique)

While there was other contact outside of the slave trade, the historical relation between Mozambique and Madagascar is also marked by the Indian Ocean Slave trade and/or the Trans Mozambique Channel slave trade.  I found examples of these connections through this beautiful culture of facial painting/masks which although practiced across the African diaspora, had a striking history when comparing Mozambique and Madagascar. 

After the opening of the New World by the Spanish and Portuguese circa 1500, some 12 million Africans were shipped west between 1500 and 1867. Most enslaved Africans were embarked from modern-day Nigeria, Congo, Zaire and Angola. Europeans purchased enslaved Africans mostly along the Atlantic African coastline from the Senegal River to Benguela (Angola) and then in Madagascar and Mozambique in southeast Africa.  Slaving region defined as the African coastline east of the Cape of Good Hope, including the island Madagascar and Zanzibar Island. Mozambique was the center of the southeast African slave trade. From: slavevoyages.org

The loss of their northern African coastal possession to the Omanis in 1699 led the Portuguese to focus on the little that remained to them, their holdings in Mozambique. The slave trade now became an increasingly important element in exploiting the territory and expanded rapidly from small beginnings over the century; the Prazos, the Yao, the Tsonga, Arabs and Swahili all participated in the export of humans from the interior as far afield as Zimbabwe, northern South Africa and Malawi through the Island of Mozambique, Quelimane, Inhambane and Lourenço Marques by Portuguese, Brazilian and French traders to Brazil, the sugar estates of the Indian Ocean Islands and Madagascar. From: eisa.org.za

In the northern coastal region of Mozambique, the Makua women gather branches from the Olax Dissitiflora, also known as the Musiro tree locally and grind them with a little water to create a white paste. This is then applied to the face as a white mask known as the Musira to the locals. It is worn publicly as a beauty product that smoothens and protects the skin against the sun when working in the fields. Brides apply Musiro to their whole bodies before marriage as it softens and beautifies the skin. Other women wear the Musira to indicate to other people their status, if they are married or if their husband is away for some time.  The tradition old Musiro face mask has continued to serve the women of the Makau region as a beauty product for many generations but now a pharmaceutical company is interested in commercializing the age old Musiro.  From: A24 MEDIA

The Nampula province is traditionally known as the land of “muthiana orera”, or simply beautiful ladies. The women from that region of the country have a technique that is particular to them: they treat the skin from an early age, using a sought-after forest species called mussiro, a plant that by law must be preserved and multiplied, and that is used more generally by communities to cure various diseases, as well as for decorative purposes.  From: globalvoicesonline.org

Photos by & from Pierre-Yves Babelon, Bernard Decaudin, Marcello Arrambide, Marcello Arrambide, xbarreiros.com, Rosino, Marie Marshall, untamedtravelling.com

(via dynamicafrica)