Category Archives: photos

savoring.

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fresh offerings at the Ann Arbor farmer’s market

on world photography day

“taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” 

― marc riboud

 

Marc Riboud (1923 – 2016) was active in the French resistance as a young man during World War II, later studied engineering, and became a French photographer, best known for his extensive reports on the Far East.

an instant out of time.

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The first candid photograph of a person was taken in 1838.

Before the 19th century, photography did not exist, so people who wanted a lasting image of their home, their family, or themselves had to have one painted, sculpted, or drawn. In the early 1800s, inventors in France and England were at the center of the effort to create photographic representations of objects and people. In France, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce stunned the world in 1827 when he released what is believed to be the first photograph ever taken, titled “View from the Window at Le Gras.” Niépce rendered the image using a camera obscura combined with a light-sensitive metal plate, a process he called heliography. Despite its success, the heliograph required several days of exposure to capture the scene, eliminating the opportunity to photograph any people who may have been on the street

In 1829, Niépce met artist and printmaker Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. Each man was familiar with the other’s work. Niépce admired Daguerre’s rotating diorama that had captivated Parisian audiences in 1822. Daguerre, like Niépce, saw the potential of improving upon the camera obscura to create clear and permanent images. They entered into a business partnership that resulted in the creation of the daguerreotype, an innovative photographic process that required only four to five minutes of exposure.  The quicker shutter speed allowed Daguerre’s camera to capture an image never seen before: a photo of a human being. In 1838, he debuted a daguerreotype of a street scene on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. In the lower left corner of the photo we can see a man having his shoes shined; remaining stationary allowed him to be included in the photo, something that would have been impossible using the multiple-day exposure that heliographs required. This anonymous stranger on Boulevard du Temple was not simply the subject of the world’s first candid photograph— he’s also believed to be the first human being ever photographed.

“photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”
– dorothea lange

 

 

 

 

 

source credit: historyfacts

 

 

snowflake.

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2500 hours across 5 years – “The Snowflake,”

featuring more than 400 snowflakes, all in relative size to one another.

photography by *don komarechka

*Don Komarechka is a nature & landscape photographer located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Don is no stranger to cold winters. From auroras to pollen, insects to infrared, much of Don’s photographic adventures reveal a deeper understanding of how the universe works. Snowflakes are no exception.

Don began studying the science of snowflakes the same day he first photographed them, nearly four years prior to the publication of this book. Since then, snowflakes have been a non-stop passion.

Each one of Don’s snowflake images is photographed on an old black mitten at his home. Barrie, Ontario is known for higher levels of winter precipitation, making it a great location to capture hundreds of beautiful specimens.

Always science-minded but never formally trained, Don uses photography as a way to explore and understand the world around him. Photographing something unusual or unknown is the perfect excuse to learn something new.

“nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.”
-henry david thoreau

back and center.

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in the last 15 minutes of my weights/strength class

a hybrid mix of

 people in the gym

and

 people at home

someone felt compelled

to become the new center of attention

by jumping on the equipment

right behind the trainer

who was teaching live

she did not appear to be thrilled

with his spontaneous performance

but i did workout my abs with such a good laugh.

“i don’t like to be center of attention, except for when I want to be the center of attention.”

-trisha paytas

just be the best penguin you can be.

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Penguins Accidentally Took Selfie After They Found a Cam In Antarctica

(Everyone has the one friend who LOVES to take selfies)

Expeditions to Antarctica are constantly filled with surprises. Australian Eddie Gault went on an expedition there along with his cam to take photos of penguin colonies. Out of the fascinating photos he took, he also ended up having a photo of penguins taking a selfie.

While there, Gault visited Auster Rookery to record a group of Emperor penguins, leaving his camera near them to record their daily lives. After he left it, the penguins came close to the cam, one knocked it over and accidentally took a selfie along with other penguins.

 Emperor penguins are the biggest penguin types on the planet, have an average height of 45 inches and can live to be 20 years old.  Emperor penguins live in colonies and their breeding period is in Winter, when female penguins lay their eggs and leave them in the care of the male penguins.

 

“a penguin cannot become a giraffe, so just be the best penguin you can be.”

– gary vaynerchuk

 

 

credits: Australian Antarctic Program, Auster Rookery, The Guardian

“photography is telling stories.” – jim spillane

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attending the annual ann arbor art fair

i had great luck and the honor of meeting

photographer/human rights advocate, jim spillane.

i happened by his stall

drawn in by the beauty and subjects of his photographs

especially taken with his pictures of children

after much thought

finally decided on one

a young tibetan child

tiny hands held together in hello.

i asked jim his story

how he had come to take these stunning pictures all over the world.

once a criminal defense attorney in the gerald ford white house

representing vietnam war draft resisters seeking amnesty

he got sick, had a horrible experience

 changed his life

trained with an ansel adams associate

began traveling the world

taking photographs of people

his subject is the human condition and the connections and responsibilities we have for each other.

using his pictures as a way to create interest, open discussion, communicate, call attention to a cause

he has worked taking photographs of workers at a nepalese brick factory for many years

created a photo book of the workers

to speak out and to tell their stories with his photographs

still seeking to help those in need and to be an effective advocate for them.

he is a natural artist, storyteller, teacher, advocate, and man.

“in recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.”

-thurgood marshall, former justice of supreme court of the united states

link to his website: jimspillane.com

link to his book, ‘the face of bricks’: https://www.blurb.com/b/9897011-the-face-of-bricks