humanity

I probably get a deeper satisfaction of having taken a very good photograph than of having written something very good, a very good story. Maybe it’s because the element of magic is so present in a good photograph – luck and magic, but also hard work and being ready and all that.

In the case of literature, so much of what’s on the page is you really making an effort to put it there. So people can give you the credit for what you’ve written down and praise you for writing that sentence.

But in the case of photography, although it also takes a lot of preparation and work, it can give the illusion of chance, of magic: How did you make it happen? How did you happen to be there?

Here are the Young Men (Marked)

photographs by
Claire Felicie


How do the faces of soldiers change — before, during, and then after, war? Can we detect profound or subtle psychological shifts just by looking at their portraits?

This is precisely the challenge that Claire Felicie presents with her series of triptych portraits of marines of the 13th infantry company of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps. The series, Here are the Young Men (Marked), shows close-cropped portraits of the Dutch marines before, during and after they were deployed to Uruzgan, Afghanistan in 2009-2010.

Without doubt, every viewer will project a bit of himself or herself into the readings of these photographs. No matter what conclusions you draw, the images are compelling.

– Jim Casper

Frank Chimero put together a great resource for a cheap lighting studio

how to put those basketballs in the shot for the whole video

RT @wired: It's almost impossible to believe this is a photograph:

Members of one of Brazil's uncontacted indigenous tribes have been photographed in a protected area of the Amazon jungle near Peru. All pictures: Brazil National Indian Foundation (Funai)

Uncontacted tribe in Brazil

Funai officials said the aircraft passed over the site a number of times, and photographed "strong and healthy" warriors, women and children, six huts and a large planted area.

Uncontacted tribe in Brazil

The first flight had an obvious impact on the tribe. By the time the plane returned, most of the women and children had fled and those who remained had painted their bodies.

Uncontacted tribe in Brazil

These images are all from a later pass by the plane. The men, painted red, brandished weapons and fired off some arrows at the aircraft. The person in black may be a woman.

Uncontacted tribe in Brazil

The government said the images would prove those who doubted the tribe's existence wrong. The tribe, which has not yet been identified, is one of four different isolate

World Press Photo of the year for the last 50 or so... some pretty disturbing though

"They are taking pictures of taking pictures," he said.

He did not speak for a while. We listened to the incessant clicking of shutter release buttons, the rustling crank of levers that advanced the film.

"What was the barn like before it was photographed?" he said. "What did it look like, how was it different from the other barns, how was it similar to other barns?"