Posts in Photography

Chris Sisarich captured these stunning, almost haunting, images while on assignment in Egypt. Reminiscent of the Dubailand series by Aleix Plademunt.

Looks like the work of a Canon, any bets?

Chris Sisarich via Shelby White / Wanken

Many of you may be familiar with the very talented Folkert Gorter. Not only has he brought us Cargo Collective, but he’s also half of the mysterious and wonderful butdoesitfloat. I was recently browsing his portfolio and found this excellent photography. Make sure to click the images to see the larger sizes, some really nice grain hiding in there.

Perched on a sea cliff in Phuket, Villa Amanzi is making me wish I was anywhere but home right now. The “luxury villa” hotel built in 2008 by architects Original Vision, is a spacious 2,644sm. I was going to throw this into the category of “stuff I can’t have” but then I looked at the rates/reservations page. If you go at the right time you can get the place for $2000/night, and it sleeps 12 people. That’s $166 / night each; not so crazy really. Now I just have to get back down to Thailand. Speaking of which, I was lucky enough to visit there once, I took some pictures.

Photos via Top Box Design

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about this Vivian Maier person, a street photographer operating during the 60’s and 70’s in New York and Chicago. The work is great, but the story behind the discovery of her work is equally fascinating. Maier passed away a couple years ago and a guy named John Maloof ended up purchasing around 100,000 negatives of her work — 20,000 of which were still in undeveloped rolls — from a furniture store (the store had acquired the work through a storage space non-payment auction). Maloof has been developing the work and posting at VIVIAN MAIER – HER DISCOVERED WORK.

While it’s sad way that Maier never lived to see her work appreciated on a large scale (well, who knows if she even wanted that) but I do find it pretty lucky that her work finally fell into the hands of someone with the interest and skills to bring her body of work to light.

Photos via VIVIAN MAIER – HER DISCOVERED WORK

Scott Schumann, also know as the Sartorialist, is the subject of this short and sweet documentary by Intel. It’s very well done and shows some cool behind-the-scenes of Scott’s process. I always wondered how he approaches people on the street! When I was in Japan, I saw some extremely cool fashion walking around, but was usually too nervous to ask people for a photograph (though I will say, asking in Japanese was 100% successful because they were usually laughing at me). Anyway, this documentary is terrific, and short enough that even the most ADD of you can probably make it through.

You know you never know what it is, what that the thing is that draws you to that person, but you just let it happen. It seems odd, but it’s almost like going out there and letting yourself fall in love everyday. – Scott Schumann

Well I have a new toy. No it’s not a $3500 underwater housing for my 5D (though that would be awesome). I’ve been shooting with a little Canon Powershot D10 for the last week and it’s been a lot of fun. If you are considering a trip to anywhere water-lush, I suggest giving the D10 a shot. It’s not perfect, but it sure beats spending a boat load for an SLR underwater housing if you’re strapped for cash.

First, the D10 is waterproof and shockproof. I tested it thoroughly (trust me, I break point-n-shoot cameras regularly). I carried it around in my swimming suit pocket and sat on it, swam with it, dropped it out of moving golf carts and threw it to friends when we didn’t have a ball. The thing is solid. I didn’t have a strap and this was a crucial error. If you are going to parade around with one, definitely invest in some kind of way to connect it to your person.

Next, it’s massively fun to have an amphibious camera that can fit in your pocket. I underestimated how much fun it would be and spent a very long time on various bizarre photo missions (#43. Try to take a photo with the lead singer from Kings of Leon, underwater. *Unsuccessful, but close). Even if you are just in a pool, the camera is worth trying.

The photos above are a few of the cooler ones I got. Dolphins are kind of a cheating way to make a photo look cool, but still, the colors and clarity are nice, especially for a wee little camera. These photos were shot with sand everywhere, all over the lens, and my complete lack of concern for the camera’s well-being. Pretty cool I’d say — it’s nice to not have to treat your camera like a fragile little hamster (5D).

On the negative side, it’s very bulky for a point-n-shoot. If you are in water, who cares, but if you are looking for a one stop shop that you can also bring out with you at night, this isn’t it. Putting it in your pants pocket renders that leg odd looking as it protrudes rather unfortunately. Personally, I also find it ugly, but I gravitate towards all black cameras, so take that with a grain of sea salt. The camera definitely looks more like a toy than a Bell & Ross.

This post certainly cements my affinity for underwater photos (Asako Narahashi will always reign supreme). I have a bunch more, but most are of my friends and I floating in the water, and we isn’t Facebook friends!

I just arrived in Honduras for the week. The big plan was to bring the Nikon D80 and hopefully get some good shots. But of course, I left the battery sitting on the charger so now I’m left with the iPhone 4 (which took the above shot) and a little canon SD870 IS. I’m going to take it as a challenge and try to coax the best shots I can from the little guys.

The internet is super spotty out here so not sure I’ll be doing any more uploads during the trip. But with a little luck I’ll have some interesting stuff to share when I return.

Happy New Year to everyone!

I checked in on Tim Navis recently after way too long away and as usual, I was not disappointed. He’s posted a lot of new work much of which I see as a distinct evolution from his already stellar earlier output. A lot of it is taking on a very illustrated quality which I really enjoy. Also loving the new B&W stuff; that tennis court shot is incredible. I’m pretty sure he’s using a 5D MK2 these days, not quite certain though.

On a side note, I’ve been trying to get Tim to do a process post here. Maybe a little urging will do the trick.

More at Navis Photography and Flickr

A friend recently turned me on to Adreas Gursky’s photography. His work is absolutely breathtaking; the sort of vaguely distant quality of the images is really striking. Gursky has been working for many years but only started using computers to manipulate his photographs the ’90s. Apparently his prints range all the way up to 6 feet tall; I can’t even imagine how impressive the detail must be at that scale. You can find some more of his work at the Matthew Marks Gallery site or via Google Images. Truly inspiring.

Also, I really need to go to wherever that pool is. It looks like some sort of utopian society where they somehow put Barton Springs in the middle of Amstelpark.

Via Simon Smith

UPDATE: Thanks to WZT in the comments for sharing the location of the pool in the last photo. Check it out on Google Maps.

DubaiLand is a very surreal series by Aleix Plademunt. Something very eerie about these shots, probably due to the lack of people.

I know little about the actual place…looks expensive.