Bedugul Coffee: Beach reads

The Huffington Post

Culture Shift is a bi-weekly newsletter curated by HuffPost Culture writers and editors.

This week we're talking about Misty Copeland's first forays into ballet, Richard Prince's appropriation art, and the best books to read on the beach.

For Years, Photographer Charlie Engman Has Been Taking Photos Of An Unlikely Muse -- His Mother

We often assume that most people who take photos of their mother do so under specific circumstances: family vacations, celebratory occasions, or a candid selfie with mom, to name a few. So we were surprised to encounter the beautiful and jarring portraits Charlie Engman captured of his mother and muse, Kathleen McCain Engman. (Read more here)

'Portrait Of A Quiet Girl' Celebrates The Private Madness Within Us All

What are your secret single behaviors? In the season 4 episode of "Sex and the City," "The Good Fight," Carrie Bradshaw reveals that when she's home alone, she makes a stack of saltine crackers with grape jelly and eats them standing up in the kitchen while reading fashion magazines -- not the most shocking habit, but certainly a bit unexpected. (Read more here)

Geeking Out With Misty Copeland's First Ballet Teacher On The Bigness Of Today

Tuesday morning, the American Ballet Theatre stopped delaying the inevitable and finally appointed Misty Copeland a principal ballerina. The first black principal in ABT's 75-year history, Copeland is also a bonafide cultural icon -- a Time cover star with more than a half a million followers on Instagram. As Copeland's famously varied fans could tell you, the 32-year-old is a true anomaly: neither white nor lanky, but blessed with a physically extraordinary body deemed by short-sighted gatekeepers early in her career as unfit for ballet. (Read more here)

Look Inside Some Of The Last Remaining All-Female Communes

"I think it's safe to say that feminist art and activism are having a resurgence right now," artist Leah DeVun explained to The Huffington Post, "and many of us are looking back to previous generations of feminists for inspiration, especially as we tackle new questions about what it means to be a woman, who can identify as a woman, and what women's space is or should be." (Read more here)

Richard Prince Sold Strangers' Instagram Photos For $90k -- And It's Probably Legal

Imagine waking up one morning to discover an acclaimed artist has made an artwork out of your Instagram photo. He blew the image up, added a snarky caption, and placed it alongside 37 other 'Instas' in one of the world's foremost galleries. How would you feel? Flattered? Perturbed? Enraged? Now, would your response change if you learned said artist sold the blown-up Instagram photo for $90,000? What if most of the images, yours included, were sexualized shots of beautiful women? (Read more here)

The Bottom Line: Deborah Levy's 'Beautiful Mutants and Swallowing Geography'

"I need a lot of external stimulation bulleting into my life," Richard Ford said in an interview with The Paris Review. "I'm not talking about exhilaration or thrill, I just want new sounds coming into my ears." He's referring to working on planes, in friends' houses, in hotel rooms -- to constantly being in motion. He's not interior enough, he says, to stay in one place, to sit down, to focus, to plant roots. (Read more here)

Former Burlesque Stars Prove Eroticism Has No Age Limit (NSFW)

It takes a brave spirit -- of any age -- to pose for the camera donning nothing but feathers, rhinestones and sparkly heels. To do so post-retirement, however, requires a certain combination of confidence, liberation, fire and sensuality we can only imagine. In her series "Legends," photographer Marie Baronnet photographs the former legends of American burlesque in all their scantily clad glory. Though aspects of the burlesque performers' attitudes as well as parts of their physical appearance have changed over time, the undeniable spark of eroticism remains, seducing the viewer with a strangely magnetic grip. (Read more here)

15 Beach Reads To Bask In This Summer

The perfect beach read is in the eye of the beholder. For some, getting lost in a faraway fantasy world or suspenseful thriller appeals, and reduces the risk of dozing off, book firmly planted on face. For others, fantasy can be found closer to home, in whirlwind romances and compelling character studies. Whatever your preference, we recommend packing one of the following fun reads to dive into during your summer outings. (Read more here)