Stop motion animation was already being used in the late 1890′s as a way to make objects in films move by “magic,” but full stop-motion animated films like the ones of today didn’t come to be until around 1910. When they did, one of the great pioneers of the technique was Russian photographer and entomologist Wladyslaw Starewicz. Read more…
In 1906, etiologist and photographer Edward S. Curtis set out across the United States to draw, photograph and otherwise document the lives of Native Americans that hadn’t yet been contacted by Western society.
Funded by J.P. Morgan, he would return 20 years later with over 40,000 photographs, which he used to illustrate his famous 20 volume series “The North American Indian.” Only 222 complete sets were ever published (one of which sold last year for $1.44M at auction) and even though it has been criticized by some as misrepresenting the Native American culture at the time, its value as a documentary publication is enormous. Read more…
We’ve seen some strange photo projects in the past, but they’re typically making a statement or serving some purpose. Haley Morris-Cafiero’s photos of herself getting strange looks turned the tables on judging onlookers. Theron Humphrey’s photos of his dog Maddie balancing on things across America allowed him to document his trip in an interesting way.
But photographer Motomachi’s daily photos of his local vending machine serve no real purpose — in fact, he felt the need to apologize by titling the project/blog: “I take a picture of the vending machine every day (or so). I’m very sorry.” Read more…
It’s hard to fathom the effect that Photoshop and digital retouching has had on our world. Limitations placed on artists and photographers in particular have systematically been stripped away as terms like “‘shopped” made their way into our vernacular.
In this short video, PBS Arts examines that effect. From the artist, to the photographer, to the everyday citizen who has something to say, nobody has been left unaltered by Photoshop. Read more…
If you thought the LEGO Nikon F SLR we shared earlier this week was neat, check out this LEGO DSLR created by Taiwanese LEGO enthusiast RGB900. The realistic toy camera is created entirely out of various LEGO pieces, and features an external hotshoe-mounted flash unit and a flexible camera strap!
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One of the stereotypes that has become associated with Instagram users (and smartphone shooters in general) is that they’re obsessed with snapping photos of their food. YouTube channel Hungry decided to see how people would react when this obsession is taken too far. They sent a Instagram photographer to random strangers and had him ask if he could photograph their food. Cameras were placed nearby to document their reactions to the strange request.
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Project Gutenberg is a digital library volunteer effort that takes old public domain and converts them into freely available eBooks for the benefit of the general public. Founded back in 1971, the library now has over 42,000 items in its collection.
Among the books in its collection are a number of old books on the subject of photography. One such book is the 1881 title, The Art and Practice of Silver Printing by Capt. Abney and H. P. Robinson (shown above).
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This time-lapse, shot by photographer Bevan Percival on New Zealand’s North Island, has to be one of the most beautiful we’ve ever shared. Shot over the course of six months using a Canon 5D Mark II, various lenses, and a Dynamic Perception 6′ Stage Zero motorized dolly, it will keep your eyes glued to the screen all five minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Read more…
Check out this highly realistic life-sized SLR camera created entirely out of LEGOs. It was created by a LEGO enthusiast named Suzuki and is modeled after the Nikon F from the mid-1900s. We’ve featured a number of LEGO camera creations here in the past, and this one ranks at (or near) the top in terms of realism.
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Remember how Usain Bolt grabbed a photographer’s DSLR last year during the London Olympics and started snapping photos of his fellow athletes? A similar thing happened today in an NBA basketball game between the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors.
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