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Photography

Jane Goodall, Paul Nicklen, and 100 Photographers and Conservationists Join a Print Sale to Protect the Environment

Kilifi was an 18-month-old rhino and his keeper, Kamara was hand-raising along with two other baby rhinos at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. Kamara spends 12 hours every day watching over the vulnerable baby rhinos. He loves these animals like his own children and is part of the reason Kenya’s black rhinos, whose population had plummeted to near extinction, are doing so well here. Photo © Ami Vitale

A collaborative effort by 100 world-renowned photographers and conservationists is harnessing the power of an image to generate much-needed empathy and protect the environment. Helmed by the woman-led nonprofit Vital Impacts, an ongoing print sale captures the stunning, intimate, and remarkable sights of the natural world through a diverse array of works focused on the earth’s landscapes, plants, and animals. “As world leaders disperse to implement COP26, these photographers show us exactly what is at stake. The photographs from all the artists in this initiative are diverse but the one thing they all have in common is a shared commitment to the environment,” co-founder Ami Vitale says.

Available images include a signed self-portrait by Jane Goodall and shots by some of Colossal’s favorites, including Paul Nicklen (previously), Xavi Bou (previously), Reuben Wu (previously), and Tim Flach (previously). Sixty percent of the net profits will go toward four programs—Big Life Foundation, Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots and Shoots, Great Plains Conservation’s Project Ranger, and SeaLegacy—and you can shop the sale, which is operating on an entirely carbon-neutral platform, through the end of the month. (via PetaPixel)

The Nenana River wolf pack spends time in Denali National park and just East of the Park. The pack is moving more and more away from the Park into territory where it is legal to hunt wolves. Photo © Aaron Huey

A resting endangered Green Sea Turtle surrounded by Glass Fish on the back of the Ningaloo reef. Photo © Aimee Jan

While on a remote climbing expedition in Greenland, I was approached by a curious polar bear while scouting fjords in a small zodiac boat. The moment lasted only a brief second before the bear dove down and into the icy arctic sea. Photo © Andy Mann

As night falls over the Makgadikgadi Pans, giant trees stand starkly against the horizon. Leafless branches reach for the light. On the opposite side of the sky, Earth’s shadow is rising. True wildness manifests itself in the form of curling black branches in November, silhouetted against an indigo sky. Photo © Beth Moon

Self-portrait © Jane Goodall

Image taken for National Geographic on the Pristine Seas Expedition to Franz Josef Land, 2013. Underwater Walrus shots from near Hooker Island. Photo © Cory Richards

Heron Island, Queensland, Australia. A Green Sea Turtle hatchling cautiously surfaces for air to a sky full of hungry birds. Against all odds, this hatchling must battle through the conditions of a raging storm whilst evading a myriad of predators. Not only has the tropical storm brought out thousands of circling birds, but there are also patrolling sharks and large schools of fish on the hunt for baby turtles. Only 1 in 1000 of these hatchlings will survive, will this one survive against all odds. Photo © Hanna Le Leu

In winter, Japanese macaques in the Joshin’etsukogen National Park, on the island of Honshu, congregate in the hot-spring pools, to stay warm and to socialize. The colder it gets in the mountains, the more of them head for the pools. Photo © Jasper Doest

Giant Sequoia Trees, photographed for National Geographic. These trees are without a doubt my favorite and a species endemic to California’s Sierra Mountains. Fully matured trees grow upwards of 250 feet tall, can live for over 3,000 years, and have fire retardant bark that’s three feet thick. Photo © Keith Ladzinski

Hope Through The Storm. Renan Ozturk lives to tell stories about our connection to the natural world, often set within the most challenging environments on Earth. Photo © Renan Ozturk

A school of sailfish set upon a ball of sardines off Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Photo © Shawn Heinrichs

Photography

'Beneath the Bird Feeder' Documents the Spectacular Wildlife Visiting a Wintertime Food Source

A northern cardinal. All images licensed from Carla Rhodes

During the winter months of late 2020 into early 2021, photographer Carla Rhodes cared for a birdfeeder that hung outside of her home in the Catskills of New York. The suspended food source garnered attention from myriad cold-weather adventurers, including a brilliant northern cardinal, numerous pairs of mourning doves, and furry little field mice, who visited the area amongst the snow and frigid temperatures.

Thanks to a camera stationed nearby, Rhodes documented the curious cast of wildlife who wandered into her yard, an endeavor that culminated in the striking photographic project Beneath the Bird Feeder. Comprised of dozens of images primarily shot in low light, the series frames the unique features of the unaware animals, capturing the pearlescent wings of a tufted titmouse or the beady eye of North America’s only venomous mammal, the short-tailed shrew.

Explore more from the collection and find an array of conservation-focused images on Rhodes’s site and Instagram.

A tufted titmouse

Mourning doves

A black-capped chickadee

An eastern gray squirrel

An American red squirrel

A deer mouse

A northern short-tailed shrew

A northern cardinal

A dark-eyed junco

Art

Ephemeral Compositions Use Sand and Stone to Create Hypnotic Works on Land

All images © Jon Foreman, shared with permission

The wildly prolific Wales-based artist Jon Foreman has spent much of 2021 on a new batch of mesmerizing land pieces. Expanding on the swirling, organic shapes he’s known for, many of his recent works take on minimal, geometric formations in diagonal stripes or colorful, concentric circles. Foreman created a 2022 calendar featuring some of the compositions shown here—ordering instructions are on his Instagram—and you can find prints of his ephemeral pieces in his shop.

Art

Reality and Imagined Meditative States Converge in Tomás Sánchez's Tranquil Landscapes

“Light: Outside, Inside” (2021), acrylic on linen, 100 x 80 centimeters. All images © Tomás Sánchez, shared with permission

Through serene, idyllic landscapes, Tomás Sánchez visualizes his long-harbored fascination with meditation. The practice, the Cuban painter says, is “where I find many of the answers to questions that transcend from the personal to the universal. Meditation is not always a fleeting time. Meditation is not a punctual exercise; it is a constant practice.”

Rather than conceptualize the exercise as a temporary state, Sánchez views mediation as a lens to interpret the world, a recurring theme that has foregrounded much of his work during the last few decades. His acrylic paintings and hazy graphite drawings, which take months if not years to complete, highlight the immensity and awe-inspiring qualities of a forest thick with vegetation or a nearby waterfall and offer perspective through a lone, nondescript figure often found amongst the trees. Distinct and heavily detailed, the realistic landscapes aren’t based on a specific place but rather are imagined spaces available only through a ruminative state.

If you’re in New York, stop by Marlborough Gallery to see Sánchez’s solo show, which is on view from November 18 to January 22. Titled Inner Landscape, the exhibition encompasses multiple pieces never shown before, including the pristine scenes shown here. Until then, explore more of his works on Instagram.

“Inner Lagoon…Thought-Cloud” (2016), acrylic on canvas, 200 x 199.3 centimeters

“La batalla” (2015), acrylic on linen, 200 x 250 centimeters

“El río va” (2020), acrylic on linen, 121.3 x 99.1 centimeters

“Aislado” (2015), acrylic on canvas, 199.7 x 249.9 centimeters

“Diagonales” (2018), conté crayon on paper, 30.5 x 40.6 centimeters

Photography

The Natural Landscape Photography Awards Spotlight Phenomena and Stunning Topographies Around the World

By Paul Hammett. All images courtesy of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards, shared with permission

After garnering 13,368 entries across 47 countries, the first annual Natural Landscape Photography Awards released a striking collection of rugged topographies and serene wildernesses. The inaugural contest eschews digital manipulations in favor of highlighting realistic beauty around the world, and winning entries capture a brilliant lightning strike atop Matterhorn in the Alps, the moon peaking through branches at Joshua Tree National Park, and a melting iceberg on the black sand beaches of Fellsfjara in Iceland.

We’ve chosen some of our favorite images below, but you can peruse all of the top photographs encompassing abstract snippets, shadow-laden nightscapes, and wide aerial shots on the contest’s site. (via Peta Pixel)

By Carl Smorenburg

By Jai Shet

By Steve Alterman

By Eric Bennett

By Matt Palmer

By Eric Bennett

By Ben Horne

Photography

Stunning Shots from the 2021 Close-Up Photographer of the Year Competition Unveil Nature's Minuscule Details

Johan De Ridder’s “Triplets in Green.” All images courtesy of CUPOTY, shared with permission

Salamander silhouettes, an ant clutching a snack, and the diverse findings of an unintentional insect trap are a few of the winners of the 2021 Close-Up Photographer of the Year contest (previously). Now in its third year, the global competition garnered more than 9,000 entries across 55 countries, an incredible selection that unveils the stunning and minuscule details of the natural world. See some of our favorite shots below, and view all winners on the contest’s site.  (via Kottke)

Pål Hermansen’s “Insect Diversity”

Juan Ahumada’s “Dancing in the Dark”

Andy Sand’s “Lachnum niveum”

Laurent Hesemans’s “Snack Time”

Svetlana Ivavnenko’s “Fight”

Alessandro Grasso’s “Circular Octopus”

Ripan Biswas’s “Mating Underwater”

Minghui Yuan

Daniel Trim