Photography

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Photography

Who's Watching Whom? The Moon Forms A Massive Eye Peering Out Over Utah

Utah is full of strange occurrences these days: first, the mysterious monolith popped up in a remote region of the Southwestern state, and now, the moon was caught peering over its landscape in an act of supernal surveillance.

During Halloween weekend, Phoenix-based photographer Zach Cooley traveled to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, and staked a spot near this sandstone arch that dates back millions of years. The location wasn’t just a good guess—Cooley relied on three smartphone apps to position himself in the right place at the right time. When the moon passed by the opening, he snapped the incredible juxtaposition, revealing a massive eye embedded in the rocky landscape. The fortuitous photograph subsequently was named NASA’s Photo of the Day, which then mused: “Who’s watching whom?”

For more of Cooley’s moon-chasing escapades, check out his Instagram, and pick up a print on his site. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

Art Photography

Geometric Drone Paths Illuminate the Otherworldly Landscapes of the Southwest in Photos by Reuben Wu

During recent years, Chicago-based photographer Reuben Wu has visited quiet regions in Bolivia, Nevada’s SolarReserve, and the rivers of molten sulfur flowing in Indonesian volcanoes to capture the natural grandeur of the earth’s outmost layer. In each location, Wu highlights the land’s beauty by juxtaposing the organic features with artificial light cast by drones flying overhead. The resulting images, of which Wu boasts a rich and diverse collection, employ illuminated geometric shapes to spotlight individual features.

Wu’s most recent series, titled Light Storm, brought him to the rocky landscapes of Utah and New Mexico—the photographer doesn’t disclose specifics due to the fragility of the environment. Here, the hovering instruments brighten the stripes and crevices embedded within the stone formations. Like his 2018 series that detailed the melting Pastoruri Glacier in Peru, Light Storm plays a similar role. “I felt like it was an attempt to document and preserve the memory of a landscape in peril,” he shares with Colossal.

Adamant about leaving no trace on the locales he visits, Wu’s process allows him to maintain a distance from his rugged subject matter while creating the conditions necessary for such precise shots. He explains:

Instead of the old photographers’ adage of waiting for the right moment, I’m literally creating it from my position behind the camera. It also allows me to have more creative ownership over a photograph of a landscape. Something I’ve been struggling with as a photographer/artist is the idea that a beautiful landscape is doing all the work for me, so this was an opportunity to finally have more artistic control.

Overall, Wu writes, “the project is about presenting familiar sights in a new and unfamiliar light, renewing your sense of seeing and the experience of discovery.” Prints of his topographical images are available in his shop, and you can find more of his work on Instagram, Twitter, and Behance.

 

Photography

An Ultra High-Resolution 'Snowflake Camera' Captures the Extraordinary Details of Snow Crystals

It’s easy to forget that the mounds of snow lining sidewalks each winter actually are comprised of billions of tiny crystals with individual grooves and feathered offshoots. A trio of photographs taken by Nathan Myhrvold, though, serves as a stunning reminder of that fact as they expose the intricacies hidden within each molecule.

To capture such crisp images, the Seattle-born photographer traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska, and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, where temperatures plunged to –20 °F. “Water, an incredibly familiar thing to all of us, is quite unfamiliar when you see it in this different view. The intricate beauty of snowflakes is derived from their crystal structure, which is a direct reflection of the microscopic aspects of the water molecule,” he says.

Formally trained in physics, Myhrvold spent 18 months building a custom camera with a cooled-stage microscope to ensure that the flakes remained frozen as he shot. Short-pulse, high-speed LED lights reduce the heat the instrument emits, and at a minimum, its shutter speed clocks in at 500 microseconds. Myhrvold says it’s the highest-resolution snowflake camera in existence.

You also might enjoy this profile of Wilson A. Bentley, who’s billed as the pioneer of snowflake photography. (PetaPixel)

 

Photography

Adventurous Snails Find Themselves Thrust Into 'The Slimelight' in a Quirky New Book

Snails, they’re just like us! Teeming with cinematic photos, a new book pulls back the curtains on the slimy critter’s vibrant social lives, as they slip out of their shells for shopping, shenanigans, and a night on the town. Snail World: Life in the Slimelight chronicles the quirky adventures and nostalgic miniature scenes occupied by the tiny creatures, which Illinois-based duo Aleia Murawski and Sam Copeland (previously) have arranged for years. Paired with an array of puns, the playful photographs feature the critters bellying up to a bar, sliding across a Twister mat, and sipping bubble tea.

Grab a copy of Snail World: Life in the Slimelight from the women-led press Broccoli, and follow the intrepid creatures on Murawski’s Instagram.

 

Photography

BLACK SUN: Amorphous Flocks of Starlings Swell Above the Danish Marshlands

Captured in the marshlands of southern Denmark, Søren Solkær’s ongoing project documents one of nature’s most mesmerizing phenomena. BLACK SUN focuses on the quiet landscapes of the Danish photographer’s childhood where nearly one million starlings congregate during the vernal and autumnal seasons. Set at dusk, the photographs frame the migratory birds as they take to the sky in murmurations, amorphous groups that transform the individual creatures into a unified entity.

The fluctuating flight patterns swell above the horizon as the birds move from tree to tree or sometimes, in response to an impending threat. “Now and then, by the added drama of attacking birds of prey, the flock will unfold a breathtaking and veritable ballet of life or death,” Solkær says, further comparing their airborne appearance to inky sketches or calligraphy. He expands on the starlings’ adaptability:

At times the flock seems to possess the cohesive power of super fluids, changing shape in an endless flux: From geometric to organic, from solid to fluid, from matter to ethereal, from reality to dream—an exchange in which real-time ceases to exist and mythical time pervades. This is the moment I have attempted to capture—a fragment of eternity.

BLACK SUN culminates in a forthcoming book by the same name, which will be released November 16 and is available for pre-order in Solkær’s shop, along with prints and some of his other works. Follow the photographer on Instagram to keep up with his phenomenological projects.

 

Photography

A New Book Documents the Magnificent Experience of Swimming with Humpback Whales

Between 2014 and 2018, Jem Cresswell spent countless hours submerged in the depths of the southern Pacific Ocean surrounding Tonga. There he captured a group of humpback whales as they gracefully maneuvered around him, allowing the Sydney-based photographer to unveil the details of their grooved underbellies and barnacle-clad skin. The original project has culminated in a new book that documents the creatures’ movements and idiosyncrasies in striking black-and-white images.

Giants spans 220 pages detailing the humpbacks and their calves. To complete the massive book, Cresswell pared down more than 11,000 shots, the majority of which haven’t been published previously. The photographer shares memories and historical details about the massive creatures throughout, including the incredible awareness that comes from swimming with sentient beings so much larger than himself. “You never forget your first humpback experience,” he writes. “The sublime sense of insignificance that it instills in you. It has to be one of the most humbling experiences on Earth.”

Only 1,500 copies of Giants, which are signed and numbered, are available for purchase on the book’s site, which also offers glimpses into Cresswell’s process creating the compendium. To stay up to date with the photographer’s latest underwater projects, follow him on Instagram.