Photography

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Photography

Richly Hued Portraits of Elegant Chinese Goldfish by Tsubaki

Evanescent fins, pebbled hoods, and glowing orange scales of small fish take center stage in photographs by Tsubaki. The Taiwanese photographer shares with Colossal that they seek to “let more people appreciate this beauty from the Chinese world, which represents peace, beauty and richness.” People have been cultivating goldfish for thousands of years, Tsubaki explains, and their presence is replicated in patterns ranging from wood carving to textiles. The photographer is interested in showcasing creatures of such ancient and historic meaning using a modern technique.

Tsubaki is especially drawn to Lionhead goldfish, but also documents Ranchu, Red Hat, Tosakin, and Ryukin breeds. Each photograph features a solitary fish, with a black background bringing out the translucent colors and elegant silhouettes of the aquatic animals. You can see more of Tsubaki’s fish studies on Behance and Instagram.

Photography

Photographs by Paul Johnson Document a Once-Thriving Farm Community Subsumed by Rising Waters

In the northeast corner of North Dakota lies Devils Lake. It is the largest natural body of water in the state, and yet it holds within it a seemingly unnatural phenomenon. Once-prosperous farming communities used to stand where the lake now is, the reach and depth of the current waters subsuming the abandoned tall silos, stately houses, and squat barns. The lake began rising in 1993 and has risen 35 feet in just over two decades. Due to a lack of outlet for the water and a period of heavy rains in the early 1990’s, the high water simply never subsided, rendering the formerly productive area completely uninhabitable and taking 300 homes with it.

Minnesota-based photographer Paul Johnson (previously) set out during two different seasons, summer (via kayak) and winter, to witness and document the lost community. Large trucks sit embedded up to their wheel wells in thick ice, a silo door is seamlessly mirrored in the water that reaches over its threshold, and barns lean at spectacularly acute angles, seemingly glued in place by the surrounded fresh or frozen water.

“Abandoned places hold a wistful appeal to me and I think to many of us,” Johnson shared in an interview with Passion Passport. “They are the final chapters of unknown stories where we’re left to ponder the details. Their quiet stillness can spur thoughts about the nature of time and the processes of decay and reclamation.” If you are interested in further reading about the history of the area, Modern Farmer has a long-form story from the perspective of a Devils Lake native.

In addition to his still photography, Johnson is continuing to work on animated land art which will be compiled into an upcoming short film. Stay tuned for previews of these pieces on Instagram and Tumblr. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

Design Food Photography

Apples and Oranges Come Together in Photographs of Spliced Fruits by Yuni Yoshida

The saying goes that you can’t compare apples and oranges, but Japanese art director Yuni Yoshida finds unusual ways to bring the two opposing fruits together. Yoshida has played with food in the past, creating pixelated pineapples, bananas, and even hamburgers. Forgoing digital manipulation, Yoshida used the actual ingredients to form each colorful cube. In her more recent series, Yoshida fuses various combinations of kiwis, oranges, apples, and bananas, playing with the recognizable colors and textures of each fruit’s skin as she splices them together.

In an interview with Amazon Fashion Week, Yoshida described her approach to design: “I love taking something real and letting my imagination run wild with it. When I produce something, I am not trying to do something particularly intricate, so that others take notice. I want people to think, ‘Wait, something is different’ and become inspired.”

Explore Yoshida’s recent work on Instagram and take a deeper look into her portfolio on her website.

Art Photography

Ethereal Portraits Created Using a Desktop Scanner by Maitha Demithan

Artist Maitha Demithan has worked in a variety of media over her career, and in 2009 landed on the use of scanography to create portraits. This process involves using a scanner that comes in contact with the subject but does not expose the intense light source to the sitter’s eyes. The dream-like scanned images have a dramatic focal field, in which the in-contact surface of the subject quickly fades to black, and the subjects’ eyes are usually closed, distancing their inner thoughts from the viewer. Despite the large-scale finished products, Demithan actually works with a desktop-sized A4 scanner. She takes up to 100 images and then digitally layers and stitches them together, playing with the combination of different focal points and textures to create a printable collage.

Demithan has used scanography both with human and animal subjects, including falcons and owls, and she often reflects on themes of family and animal-human relationships in her work.  She shares her approach to image-making:

I let the process of scanning and drawing in the presence of the living being – be it human or animal – define the portrait and the outcome. The outcomes are difficult to categorize or express as the interactions between the ‘sitters’ and between the ‘sitters’ and myself create the moments I wish to capture. These often hold an emotional quality.

The Dubai-based artist has exhibited her digital photo collages throughout the Middle East as well as in Australia and Germany. Demithan offers a selection of her works as prints in her online store, and shares glimpses from her process on Instagram.

Art Photography

Inception-Style Photos Tilt Russian Cityscapes at Dramatic Angles

The grand plazas, towering monuments, and majestic architecture of Russian cities are seen from a new perspective in warped photographs by Lestnica. The Vladimir-based production studio, which was founded by Artem Prudentov, creates still and moving images for clients. For this project, which Prudentov explains is inspired by the movie Inception, Lestnica started out by planning out the final structure of the future photograph based on the principles of perspective. Each image is anchored by an architectural feature as the focal point, with sidewalks and streets fanning outward at a stomach-churning tilt.

Prudentov shares that the team used a software algorithm for their camera and set it in semi-automatic mode to capture each dramatically swooping landscape. Each image involved about a dozen hours of work, and the experimental process resulted in over a thousand test images as Lestnica honed their process. You can see more images from the series on the Lestnica website. If you enjoy these, also check out the work of Aydın Büyüktaş. (via Jeroen Apers)

Photography Science

140,000 Visuals of Outer Space are Free to the Public in NASA’s Image Library

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has created a library of 140,000 high definition files filled with photos, videos, and sound clips, all free and available for download. Visual and audio content of planets, moons, nebulas, and specific space missions, are searchable by file type. The library spans the last hundred years, and users can narrow searches to focus on any timeframe between 1920 and 2019. Each file also contains a thorough caption including the date and contextual information about the content. Explore the library on NASA’s dedicated website and see more updates from space on the Administration’s official Instagram. (via fubiz)

Art Photography

Rugged Greenery and Soaring Birds Unite Abstracted Landscapes of Iceland and Botswana

Photographer Zack Seckler (previously) continues to document the Earth’s surface from above. The New York-based artist travels to a wide range of landscapes, and flies above them in small airplanes to provide a zoomed-out perspective. His abstracted images simultaneously show the unique beauty of each location’s topography, while also highlighting the continuity of our shared planet. In places as different as Botswana and Iceland, the rippling surface and cool tones of waterways, the graceful paths of birds in flight, and the rich texture of forests and brush are united in their rugged beauty.

Seckler’s upcoming solo show, Above, at ClampArt in New York City opens on June 27 and runs through August 9, 2019. You can see more from the artist on Facebook and Instagram.