December 2010 Archives

This book deals with one family’s attempt to solve one of the great mysteries of photography: how to shoot a black dog.

Before the digital age, before cameras that could solve any problem from red-eye to world hunger, there was the 20th century, a time when photographers actually had to take photos themselves. Among other things, this included finding sufficient light for your subject . . .

Time and again, this couple’s attempts to document their beloved pet go (technically speaking) badly.

Over days and seasons and years, they take tender portraits of their pitch pooch, only to find a silhouette where there should be a canine.

So there’s a shot of the husband stroking an enormous black blob.

And one of the wife engaging in animated chit-chat with a black triangle . . .

— excerpts from text by Christian Bunyan

See and read more in Lens Culture. Guaranteed to make you smile.

“I arrived in Ndutu only days after a huge bush fire had ripped through the area, burning down a vast number of majestic acacia trees. You could smell ash and cinders in the air. The destructive power of these fires is immense. I found many empty, whitened tortoise shells and saw disorientated impala and dik-dik wandering around with nowhere to hide. And then, a cheetah appeared on the blackened soil. This fire must have been a windfall for large cats — their prey was confused and out in the open. But the cheetah looked unsettled, alienated and lost — almost ghostly. I took the photo and then watched as he melted into the background."

—Britta Jaschinski

This is just one in a remarkable series of photos made by Jaschinski using her 25-year old analog camera and black-and-white film. See and read more in Lens Culture.

John Stanmeyer lived with his family among the spirits and people in Bali for five years. In looking at his Bali photographs you know that he was touched by the spirits and that he touched them as well. This is a story about the love of an island, it's people and the spirits that reside in all things there. It is also a warning about what change can mean to a culture. Most of all, it is John's gift to the people of Bali and to us. View the slideshow here in Lens Culture. Enjoy!

A young Siberian photographer, Evgenia Arbugaeva, who now lives in New York, is the winner of the Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010 Blurb Photobook Prize. The prize will enable her to design, print, market and distribute her own photobook with Blurb.com, the online publishing-on-demand photobook company.

In recognition of this award, Lens Culture is pleased to highlight this series she made about reindeer herders from Arbugaeva's native Siberia.

Arbugaeva, who is a graduate of the International Center of Photography, presented several bodies of work during the Paris portfolio reviews last month. She was thrilled to receive this award, and said that she hopes to create a photobook of all-new work with the prize.

Read and see more in Lens Culture. Visit the website of Evgenia Arbugaeva to see a variety of her other completed photo projects.

Special thanks to the expert reviewers who selected Evgenia for this prize, and thanks, too, to Blurb, one of our corporate sponsors of Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010.

British photographer Stephen Gill loves to play with photography. His personal joy comes through in a goofy, random, artful way that often brings a smile to my face.

For his latest series, which was commissioned by Martin Parr for the Brighton Photo Biennial, Gill wandered the beaches and side streets of this seaside town and picked up junk, plants, and bugs that he found while looking for things to photograph. Every time he loaded a new roll of outdated film in his old box camera, he dropped some of the scavenged junk inside the camera, between the lens and the film. The results are quirky pieces of art that combine the effects of photograms, faded film, light flares, chance, and his own unique vision of where to point his camera.

See more here in Lens Culture.

Swim & Steam consists of a series of images taken with the Polaroid SX70. The Polaroid aesthetics intensifies the sensation of having crossed the border of reality. Portraits of men and women soaking in steaming hot pools seem to be telling a story originating in a different world, peaceful and detached, where gravity does not interfere with people's lives.

Read and see more ...

A remarkable group of photographers participated in our first large-scale internationally organized portfolio reviews in Paris last month. They came from 32 countries, and their work spanned a diverse range of styles and approaches to photography.

We wanted to share some of this fascinating international art with our readers. So here is a festive treat: One photograph each from the 160+ photographers who participated in Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010, plus links to their websites. Browse, discover and enjoy!

Korean photographer Myoung Ho Lee, who was first featured in Lens Culture in July 2007, is now represented by the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York. Myoung Ho Lee's real-surreal conceptual series of Tree portraits have been acquired by serious collectors in Europe, Asia and North America.


Lens Culture has only a few remaining prints in the specially priced, signed, limited edition series that Myoung Ho Lee has created exclusively for Lens Culture. From now through December 31, 2010, we are able to offer free FedEx shipping with any purchase of Myoung Ho Lee's work.

We are very happy for the success of Myoung Ho Lee, and we're grateful for the opportunity to share his stunning, unique prints with the readers of Lens Culture.

To purchase these prints, as well as others, please visit Lens Culture Editions.

Photographer Stefano de Luigi veered from his usual coverage of current events in Vietnam, Korea, Kenya, Somalia and China to spend a week behind the scenes, documenting the chaos backstage at Paris Fashion Week, “Pret a Porter” Spring/Summer 2011 collection. The results are fun and light, presented as a 3-minute multimedia slideshow.