Photography

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Photography

Illusory Photographs of Mountain Landscapes Are Flipped 90 Degrees to Reveal Human-Like Profiles

There’s a long history of connecting natural occurrences and pareidolia, or the inclination to see an object or find meaning where it physically doesn’t exist. The psychological phenomenon is responsible for a range of human experiences from the childhood pastime of cloud watching to the Rorschach test to the idea that there’s a man in the moon and one that’s aided in naming some of the rocky formations photographed by Bernhard Lang (previously).

In Pareidolia—Mountain Faces, Lang documents both well-known and obscure landscapes that resemble human profiles when turned at a 90-degree angle. Many of the mountains in the series reference regional legends like “The Sleeping Witch” and “Sleeping Greek Woman,” while others are Lang’s own interpretation like “Golem,” which frames the highest peak of the Vršič Pass in Slovenia to reveal a face resembling the magical figure.

See the complete collection on the Munich-based photographer’s site, where you can also purchase limited-edition prints, and head to Instagram to follow the imagined characters he finds next.

 

Photography

Nature Resurges to Overtake Abandoned Architecture in a New Book of Photos by Jonk

From dilapidated power plants, abandoned medical facilities, and amusement parks left in rusted ruin, the compelling scenes that French photographer Jonathan Jimenez, aka Jonk (previously), captures are evidence of nature’s endurance and power to reclaim spaces transformed by people. Now compiled in a new book titled Naturalia II, 221 images shot across 17 countries frame the thriving vegetation that crawls across chipped concrete and architecture in unruly masses.

This succeeding volume is a follow-up to Jonk’s first book by the same name and focuses on the ways the ecological crisis has evolved during the last three years. He explains the impetus for the book in a statement:

On the one hand, the situation has deteriorated even further with yet another species becoming extinct every single day. Global warming continues and has caused repeated natural catastrophes: floods, fires, droughts, etc. On the other hand, our collective awareness has widely increased. We are still a long way from the commitment needed to really change things, but we are heading in the right direction. Millions of initiatives have already emerged, and I hope that my photos and the message contained within them can play a small part in the collective challenge facing us all.

Pick up a copy of Naturalia II, which has text in both French and English, from Jonk’s site, and follow him on Instagram to keep up with his travels and reclaimed findings.

 

Photography Science

Fantastic Macro Photos Reveal the Microscopic World of Mushrooms and Slime Molds

Alison Pollack’s preferred subjects are the tiny, inconspicuous organisms that are difficult to spot without a trained eye and microscope. The California-based photographer documents the minuscule fungi that spring from leaves and bits of bark with an extreme macro lens, exposing the rarely visible iridescent speckles, pockmarks, and feathered tissues that cover their fruiting bodies. “My goal is to reveal to people tiny mushrooms and slime molds that they might otherwise never see, or may never even have heard of,” she tells Colossal. “And also to reveal the beautiful intricate detail in these organisms.”

Although her earlier images captured the fleshy fungi in spectacular detail, Pollack has spent the last two years getting even closer to her subjects—which are often less than a millimeter tall—by using a microscope lens that magnifies her findings up to 20 times their actual size. The resulting images document even the smallest features, like individual spores, the veiny web structure encasing them, and the distinct texture and color of each organism.

Find Pollack on Instagram and Facebook to see what she spots next and to order prints of her photos. You also might enjoy this documentary about the vast underground network of mycelium that’s tied to all life on Earth.

 

History Photography

Striking Photos Frame the Half-Renovated Houses of a Former Mining Region in Germany

When the once burgeoning coal industry in Ruhrgebiet, Germany, began to decline, many of the workers’ apartments were sold off. Oftentimes, new owners only purchased half of the building—miners maintained a lifelong right of residence to their quarters—creating a stark split between the left and right sides of the structure. Photographer Wolfgang Fröhling captures this visually striking divide in a series of images framing the renovated and original designs juxtaposed in a single structure. See the full collection of half-painted facades and disparate landscaping on Pixel Project, and find more of the Bottrop-based photographer’s work on his site. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

 

Photography

Years of Storms Rage Across the Sky in a Dramatic New Timelapse by Mike Olbinski

Grab your hat before pressing play on Mike Olbinski’s “Shadows in the Sky.” The Phoenix-based filmmaker, photographer, and storm chaser (previously) just released a turbulent film that shows funnel clouds pouring down to the ground, multiple tornadoes tearing across the landscape in a single blur, and the sky heaving and contorting in constant motion. The dramatic, sometimes dizzying compilation blends Olbinski’s favorite clips from the last few years and is set to Eric Kinney and Danica Dora’s foreboding “The Last Goodbye.” As the track builds in intensity about halfway through, “Shadows in the Sky” switches from monochrome to capture the circulating clouds in full color.

Find an extensive archive of Olbinski’s tumultuous timelapses, including many of the original films containing the scenes shown here, on Vimeo and Instagram.

 

Photography

Underwater Photos Taken During Blackwater Dives Frame the Atlantic Ocean's Stunning Diversity

After sunset, self-taught photographer Steven Kovacs plunges into the open ocean around Palm Beach to shoot the minuscule, unassuming creatures floating in the depths. He’s spent the last eight years on blackwater dives about 730 feet off the eastern coast of Florida in a process that “entails drifting near the surface at night from 0 to 100 feet over very deep water.” Often framing species rarely seen by humans, Kovacs shoots the larval fish against the dark backdrop in a way that highlights the most striking aspects of their bodies, including wispy, translucent fins, iridescent features, and bulbous eyes.

Because Kovacs doesn’t have formal training in marine biology, he often enlists the help of scientists around the world to identify many of the rare fish he photographs. At the top of his list for future encounters are three cusk eel species and the female blanket octopus, a creature known for unveiling a billowing membrane that’s shown above.

Prints of Kovacs’s images are available from Blue Planet, and you can keep up with his underwater excursions on Instagram.