Unusual skills, remarkable crafts, and the people behind them.
8 stories · Latest first
At Guédelon in France, working craftspeople turn stone, timber and earth into a medieval-style building experiment. One mason’s unfinished block shows why the process matters.
Guédelon, Burgundy, France · 20 August 2016. Photo: Schorle · CC BY-SA 4.0. Original image unchanged; displayed proportionally.
In southeastern China, a bridge-building tradition combines interlocking timber with knowledge passed from master carpenters to apprentices. The finished crossing can also be a place to gather.
Beijian Bridge, Sixi, Taishun, Zhejiang, China · 15 May 2019. Photo: 猫猫的日记本 · CC BY-SA 4.0. Original image unchanged; displayed proportionally.
At Q’eswachaka in Peru, four Quechua communities renew a suspension bridge using braided plant fibres. The most remarkable part is the knowledge carried by its builders.
Q’eswachaka, Apurímac River, Peru · 2 February 2018. Photo: Aga Khan (IT) · CC BY-SA 4.0. Original image unchanged; displayed proportionally.
Alençon needle lace takes painstaking handwork. One of its final stages uses a tool that sounds as though it belongs at the dinner table.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA; accession 10.102.91 · photograph date not supplied; object late 18th century. Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 1.0. Source photograph retained without further edits; displayed proportionally.
A fan moves, a head turns, and the face changes. Bian lian turns a tiny interval of attention into a theatrical surprise.
Chengdu, Sichuan, China; performers not identified · 2018-05-26. Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0. Original photograph, unchanged; displayed proportionally.
In Rui’an’s wooden-type tradition, a page is assembled piece by piece. The craft includes a surprisingly demanding task: retrieving the right characters from a vast physical collection.
China Printing Museum, Beijing, China — separate museum example from Rui’an · 2015-04-28. Photo: Popolon · CC BY-SA 4.0. Supplied photograph reproduced without further editing.
China’s “iron flowers” turn molten metal into a brief canopy of light. This photograph catches the sparks above performers in Shanxi.
Situ Town, Shanxi, China · 2024-02-12. Photo: Witcater · CC BY 4.0. Supplied image version reproduced without further editing.
His head is above the rim. The lid is waiting beside him, and locks lie on the floor. In 1908, a water-filled milk can became part of Houdini’s escape act.
Harry Houdini pictured in the milk-can escape setup, circa 1908; archival photograph, not a complete sequence of the act. Photo: Photographer unidentified; Library of Congress, McManus–Young Collection · No known restrictions on publication. Original image, unchanged.
