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Arts & Culture

The Sucevita Monastery was built in the last decades of the 16th century in the Moldavian style, a blend of Byzantine and Gothic art and architecture. The exterior walls' striking frescoes (above, "The Ladder of Virtues," contrasting the order of heaven with the chaos of hell) still retain their brilliant hues.

Scripture Alfresco

450-year-old paintings on the exterior of monasteries and churches-—now open again for worship-—tell vivid tales of saints and prophets, heaven and hell

(Shea Beebe, age 36, Converse, Texas, Photographed May 2006) Beebe took a photograph of her then-8-year-old daughter, Peyton, layered an image of a tree over it and added "gold tint to give it a more dream-like quality." Often, Beebe, who plans to pursue a photojournalism degree this fall, will look at unaltered photos "and try to imagine what they could be if I added an unusual color or layered them with another photo of mine."

Prize Pictures

Our photo contest attracted thousands of photographers from 86 nations. And the winners are…

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Flights of Fancy

Leslie Payne’s flying machines soared, if only in his imagination

"Into another realm": "Midget" Farrelly surfs the shore break off Makaha, Hawaii, in 1968.

Endless Summers

For almost 50 years, surfing legend LeRoy Grannis has been shooting the curl

Course du BOC 2010

Guiding Lights

Owen Edwards, an old hand at writing our “Object at Hand” column, explains and how he developed a passion for motorcycle racing

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What’s Up

Playing with words, painting on plexiglass and wearing teeth

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The American Home Front: 1941-1942

By Alistair Cooke, Atlantic Monthly Press, $24.00

Blues legend John Cephas

Blues Legend John Cephas On His Music

Piedmont-style blues guitarist John Cephas played at the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

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Gondry’s Magic

Contemporary Art is OK

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Perfect Circles

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The Limits of Imagination

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Who the $#&% is Jackson Pollock?

Gentile Bellini

Between East and West

Foucan and Belle called their efforts "parkour," from the French "parcours," meaning "route."

Extreme Running

Made popular by a recent James Bond film, a new urban art form called free running hits the streets

Comedy group 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors has performed around the world.

Taking the Stage

The National Asian American Theatre Festival makes its debut

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What Camera?

Look what photographer Robert Creamer can do with a flatbed scanner

"I always thought of Bill as like us," says Karen Chatham (left), "until years later, when I realized that he was famous."

They Needed to Talk

And family friend William Eggleston, his camera at his side, felt compelled to shoot

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Doodle Dandy

With a few deft strokes, Saul Steinberg turned institutional letterhead into signature works of whimsy

The first thing Terry Smith did after moving to Washington in 1977 was buy a boat and sail it on the Bay.

A Great Adventure

Terry Smith, author of “Beyond Jamestown,” sailed in the 400-year-old wake of colonial explorer Capt. John Smith

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