Prison visiting rooms are often home to large-scale paintings that are enjoyed by only a few. Often created by the inmates themselves, the artworks serve as the photographic backdrops of a portrait studio as inmates pose in front of them for pictures that are given to loved ones as mementos.
Since these intricate drawings are generally only seen by inmates, visitors, and employees, photographer Alyse Emdur decided that she wanted to document them for a wider audience. She spent years creating a project titled Prison Landscapes, featuring photos of these idealized backdrops that, for a moment, transport the inmates to faraway places. Read more…
Kris Kitani, a postdoctoral research fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, has developed a unique type of image stabilization that can actually transform the footage from a camera attached to the side of a spinning football from nausea inducing, to smooth fly over.
The video at the top shows the footage he collected when he attached a GoPro to the side of a football. On the left you have the un-altered version, and on the right the version with his software applied. Read more…
When the Mars Rover Opportunity was nearing its 9th year in the Martian sun, we shared a beautiful panoramic landscape shot of the red planet taken by the aging rover. It makes sense then that Curiosity would eventually send down a panorama of its own. But just like you would expect from a younger generation of rover, it couldn’t help but make the pano a selfie. Read more…
In the past, wedding receptions frequently involved disposable cameras placed on every table so that you could get your guests’ perspectives on the festivities.
However, given the advent of better and better smartphone cameras, it’s only natural that the good ol’ days of collecting tens or even hundreds of disposable cameras and getting them developed after your wedding would come to an end. In their stead, say hello to Wedding Party. Read more…
A new breed of image sensor is being created by researchers at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria that may some day revolutionize the way we take pictures. Unlike the typical image sensor we’re used to seeing, this one is a thin, flexible, transparent sheet. Read more…
Here’s a short but fascinating glimpse into the world of CGI, and how photography was used to help digitally build New York from the ground up for The Avengers movie. As it turns out, creating a digital world into which you can insert these actors takes, not only an insane amount of CGI and attention to detail, but a whole lot of photos to lay the groundwork. Read more…
The Lancaster Watch Camera and its little sister, the ladies version, offer some of the earliest proof that spys are, indeed, among us. Ok, maybe not that, but they are a pretty neat piece of 1890′s camera engineering. Read more…
Smiling naturally in photos is a challenge for many people. Even if you avoid the all-too-common “say cheese” mistake, that’s still no guarantee that you’ll come off looking good. So here’s a fully little video that offers some useful tips for those of us who (like Chandler) can’t seem to look even remotely natural when a camera is pointing our way.
The tips from start to finish include: say a word that ends in “uh” instead of “cheese,” laugh while the photo is being taken, lift the tip of your tongue up behind your front teeth, and relax your face (with the exception of your mouth and the corners of your eyes). Happy natural smiling!
Inspirational quotes are usually the realm of motivational posters and self-help books, and idea journals the realm of writers (thank you very much) but that doesn’t mean photographers can’t get a piece of that action.
Scott Schuman, known better as fashion photographer “The Sartorialist,” is currently four of five parts through a fascinating interview with legendary Magnum photographer Steve McCurry. We’ll add the fifth video as soon as it goes up, but for now, each of these short 2-4 minute talks offers plenty of wisdom to get you through the day (or week… or maybe month). Read more…
