Photography

Section

Photography

Cenote Angelita: An Underwater River Photographed by Anatoly Beloshchin

It seems improbable, but these photographs by Anatoly Beloshchin tell the story of a hidden underwater river in in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula called Cenote Angelita or “Little Angel”. While it appears as though the divers are hovering in the air above a small creek, the photos were shot entirely in a submerged cave formed from collapsed limestone bedrock called a cenote.

The river itself is actually a sort of illusion due to a phenomenon called a halocline, where waters with different levels of salinity form into layers because of a variation in density. According to Beloshchin, Cenote Angelita is comprised of fresh water until about 29 meters when it switches to a 1-meter layer of hydrogen sulfide, after which the entire cave bottom is filled with saltwater from 30 to 60 meters deep. So in reality the “river” is actually just a dense layer of saltwater resting at the bottom of a cave. You can read more over the SeaWayBLOG, and see many more photos in the Underwater Caves section of Beloshchin’s website. (via my modern met)

Art Photography

Behind a Little House Project: Dramatic Changes in Landscape Behind a Tiny House

For his Behind a Little House Project Italian photographer Manuel Cosentino found an unsuspecting muse: a tiny nondescript house on an unexceptional hill. He returned to photograph the small building from the exact same location for nearly two years in order to capture the dramatic changes in weather and light that utterly changed the scenery just beyond the horizon. As part of a traveling exhibition the photos are mounted on a wall behind a book containing copies of a photo of the house against a white sky. Viewers are then invited to draw their own interpretation of what appears behind the little house. Via his artist statement:

The first photograph starts the series with a Big-Bang-like explosion and sets everything into motion, the last is a new beginning – it represents that piece of “carte blanche” that we are all given with our lives. By drawing in the book anyone is at the same time breathing life into it, keeping it alive page after page, and is also responsible for his or her contribution within a wider context.

The entire project is currently on view at Klompching Gallery in New York as part of their Annual Summer Show through August 10th. (via reddit)

Photography

NASA Releases Photo of Earth Taken from the Dark Side of Saturn by the Cassini Spacecraft

Yesterday NASA published a new photograph taken on July 19, 2013, by a wide-angle camera on the Cassini spacecraft that shows a view of Earth from the dark side of Saturn. In the photo Earth is 898 million miles away and the moon appears as just a tiny protrusion off to the right (you might need to see it up close). According to NASA this is only the third time that Earth has ever been photographed from the outer solar system.

Photography

The Wild Effect of Centrifugal Force on Toys Soaked with Paint by Peter Schafrick

Anytime you dump gobs of colorful paint on toys and add liberal amounts of centrifugal force, I’m in. Such is the case with these high speed images shot by photographer Peter Schafrick of paint-soaked Barbie dolls, dog chew toys, and tennis balls. Schafrick created a special rig dubbed the Spinster that allows him to quickly launch each dripping object into a spin at which point he snaps a shot. See more here.

Design Photography

Incredible Dynamic Target Tracking Camera Perfectly Follows Moving Objects

Currently under development at the Ishikawa Oku Lab at the University of Tokyo, the Dynamic Target Tracking Camera System can track a fast moving object while keeping it perfectly centered in the middle of a screen. The device consists of two mirrors for pan and tilt, and a group of lenses that move at extremely high speeds to track and film objects at a rate of one image every 1/1000th of a second. Not only can the camera film them but it can also dynamically project images onto them as demonstrated in the video. Slow motion playback in sports will never be the same. (via booooooom)

Photography

Sea of Clouds: Expansive Cloud Formations Over the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas by Jakob Wagner

Photographer Jakob Wagner shoots wonderful wide-angle aerial photographs in addition to commercial work for Audi, Wired, and Jim Beam. My two favorite collections of work are his Sea of Clouds series shot in 2010 above the Mediterranean Sea while on a flight from Cape Town to Düsseldorf, and his similar Caribbean Sea series shot in 2012. See all of these much larger (as well as many more) over on his website. (via my modern met)