Pretty pictures

Good day SuperForest folk,

I've long been mesmerised by the beauty of photographs taken with LOMO cameras. They tend to have a subtle haziness and mystery, which makes them a little more interesting than regular shots.

Here are a few golden rules of lomography:
1. Take your LOMO with you wherever you go
2. Use it all the time – day and night
3. Lomography does not interfere with your life – it's a part of it
4. Get as close as possible to the objects of your lomographic desire
5. Don't think
6. Be fast
7. You don't have to know what's going to be captured on your film
8. Shoot from the hip
9. Screw the rules

Check out these few gems, thanks to We Heart It.

Zena Holloway: Water Babies!

“There’s always a buzz about working underwater, creatives are intrigued to see how its done, the artists are excited to be doing something different and the water gives me a unique space to put it all together. My experiences of shooting on land are very dreary by comparison and not nearly as creative. Water always adds a magical quality.”

Zena Holloway is a young photographer who blends underwater imagery with illustration and photomontage. The results are soothingly tranquil.

Beholdify!:

Lovely stuff.

Want more?
Want less?

Can has!

Here's Ms. Zena's site.

(First saw Zena on notcot)

Pacific Island Beach Walk

A few years back my family decided to stop exchanging gifts. That's not to say that we don't give each other presents when we get together for the holidays, it simply means that there is no expectation, and the items that are given are usually quite small and useful.

So, instead of presents, what we do is meet up with a group of friends and walk the beach, handing out candy canes to everyone who has been nice that year. Which is everyone.

Here are a few snaps from this years walk.

Love to All,

Jackson

DIY World Pinhole Camera Day Camera!

Corbis.com has teamed up with Brooklyn design firm Fwis to create an amazing collection of downloadable DIY pinhole cameras.

They are incredible! All made of paper.

It's all a part of a yearly event called World Pinhole Camera Day, which will next happen on April 26th, 2009.

On World Pinhole Camera Day, (or preferably the day before,) download the instructions for one of these sweet cameras, fold it together, chuck some of that old film that's been in your refrigerator in it, and head outside into the ol' sunny sun sun to celebrate your freedom by making pinhole photographs.

Get your filmed developed and scanned, and upload your pinhole pickies to the official World Pinhole Camera Day gallery.

Fun!

If you like this post, you'll probably like this one too.

Life Magazine's Archives - Early Aviation

Good Morning SuperForest!

I was just browsing through Life magazine's online archives and came across this wonderful photo from the early days of aviation.

Flying is amazing when you think about it. These pioneers had no road map, no blueprint, just a dream, and they achieved it. Imagine the adrenaline that must have pumped through these guys veins! Columbus and Magellan meet Orville and Wilbur.

Google has been kind enough to host the Life archives. You can see them here.

Remember: The only stupid questions are those that go unasked, and you can't fly to moon on the power of naysaying. Live the dream.

Much love,

Jackson

Jacques Henri Lartigue: "Zissou in his Tire Boat, Chateau de Rouzat, 1911"

An incredible photograph of his brother Zissou, by Jacques Henri Lartigue.

Here is a wonderful 4 part documentary on Lartigue.

The Brightest Moon of The Year

Here she is, rising over Grand Central Station.

Michel Bayard - NYC's DIY Pinhole Camera Master Rediscovered!

With the above camera, Michel Bayard made these:





Good Morning SuperForest.

Jackson here.
A few years back I was walking through the city and I passed a man selling photos. What instantly caught my eye was that each photo was exactly the size of one frame of film, no enlargements, a one to one transfer.

I stopped and had a gander at the works, speaking in vague pleasantries with the vendor. The work was really good! I asked the guy: "What did you use to shoot these?"

And he replied: "This" taking a small plastic film container out of his pocket.

He had cut a chunk out of the side of the film canister, taped a small sliver of soda can over the hole, and pushed a teeny tiny pinhole through the sliver. He had made a pinhole camera.

I asked him how much he wanted for a piece, and he replied "Twenty dollars."

I cannot remember what happened next. I had no money, I chickened out, I was hit by a moving van. For some reason I walked away without a piece of this man's work.

I have spent every moment since looking for him.

Many were the nights I spent searching, kicking myself for not jumping at the chance to possess something that moved and interested me.

Yesterday, I found him!

Michel Bayard is an extraordinary New York photographer. His pinhole pieces are treasures. And when I saw him in Union Square this Saturday, I flipped out.
I got all fan boy. Trying to tell him how happy I was to find him while he was on the phone with someone...

He hung up the phone, gave me a smile and a handshake, and told me magical things...

He told me about using Altoids boxes to make cameras. He showed me how to position a pinhole camera to produce a variety of visual effects, bridges that twist and wobble, buildings that stretch skyward... He told me of his secret techniques for getting those that have not asked to cease photographing his works.

I did not get any of his back story, but I have his email, and I will approach him about doing an interview. His document of this modern city using an ancient method is utterly charming.

Michel has no official site, but many admirers:

apartmenttherapy.com - Michel Bayard: Pinhole Photographer
usefilm.com - Michel Bayard
fotolog.com - mbayard

Here's Michel's flickr set.
And here is Michel on an episode of BikeTV.

Most amazing is that Michel is clever and crafty enough to pack his entire display...

Onto this bicycle...

Amazing!

Michel, you are a SuperForest Hero. For your contribution to the cultural growth of the citizens of New York, E Pluribus Unum, your steadfast dedication to documenting this astouding urban environment, and for your awesome self-reliant, carbon-negative, bicycling ways, SuperForest is proud to award you... the Good Person Award!

After we had our lovely chat, Michel was kind enough to sell me this:

It cost $20.00, and I will treasure it for the remainder of my life.

Keep an eye out for Michel. The man is a living treasure.
He's sometimes in Union Square on weekends.

Love to All,

Jackson

This Day in Awesome History: Blue Marble!!!

This Day in Awesome History is an especially awesome day in history!

December 7th, 1972, the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft were on their way to the moon when they took this incredibly famous photograph:

"The snapshot taken by astronauts on December 7, 1972 is one of the most widely distributed photographic images in existence. The image is one of the few to show a fully lit Earth, as the astronauts had the Sun behind them when they took the image. To the astronauts, Earth had the appearance of a child's glass marble (hence the name)."

Go humans!
36 years ago today. Epic win for us all.

Have an incredible day.

Love,

SuperForester Jackson

SuperForest Photos: The Siamese Twins

I passed these two happy gentlemen on my way to work one day.

Made me smile.

Have a great day.

Qatari Teenage Riot

Hello All!

Jackson here. I'm on my way to Qatar for nine days with none other than SuperForesters Andrew and Nick.

We're going to the Al Wabra Wildlife Preserve to photograph rare and exotic creatures! Fun!

See y'all in nine days. I will try to post from Qatar as frequently as I'm able.

Much love,

Jackson

Meadowlands

It's not a shocking fact when I tell you New York is a big city, neither is it when I tell you it's close to New Jersey. But have you ever wondered what is between New York City and New Jersey? What fills up the gap? What area you have to go through if you want to travel when going from NY to NJ or the other way around?

The Meadowlands. It's the area you go through when visiting acquaintances that live in the State next door, it's an area that's rural instead of urban and thus can't compare to New York, it's an area most New Yorkers haven't even heard about. So what does life look like in this 32 square mile district that's only being used for passing-through and neglected for the rest? That's pretty much what the New York based photographer Josua Lutz asked himself.

For the past ten years Lutz focused his attention and camera on the Meadowlands, an area where life stood still, an area that totally contradicts New York. And created a solid collection of desperate, emotional photographs that often make you wonder how that can be so close to NYC.

Not unlike a neglected child, the Meadowlands has grown up without guidance, constantly unsure of what the future holds. It is this loneliness and solitude that continues to bring me back year after year. - Lutz on his photo series

This is probably one of my favorites. Showing a black mother with presumably two of her children sitting somewhere in the Meadowlands, this photograph probably depicts "unsure what the future holds" best. Lutz' gems are available on his website, they're even printable. The pictures are also available in print and Lost At E Minor interviewed the photographer in question a few weeks ago.

-jdh

Holes to Heaven

When it comes to stars, the sun seems to be getting all the attention on this blog. Solar Panels are a constant theme, The Sun Jar made a cameo, and just last week, Jackson posted some jaw dropping photos of it. As much as I love the sun, it seems like other stars in our beautiful universe are being left in the dark. Recently, I came across this great photo gallery featuring stars and found some pretty spectacular stuff.

Nobody knows how many stars exist, but to give you an idea, our universe contains more than 100 billion galaxies and in each of those galaxies an estimated 100 billion stars exist. Here are some pictures of just a few of those stars thanks to our friends at NASA.

Oddly enough, when I was looking at these pictures, I couldn’t help but think of David Bowie...

That's pretty far out man!

Luc Viatour - Pyrophotography

Mmmmmmmmmmm! Yes.

Luc Viatour via flickr!
Luc's site.

Incroyable!

Worry not! No humans were harmed during the creation of this blog post.

Dan Wagner - The Obama Project

Good Morning SuperForest!!!

Jackson here.
Last week I went to an Obama/Biden rally in Long Island. It was great. People of all walks of life getting together in the name of growth and positivity plus some fine music equals a very engaging rally.

My brother Will and I were walking around, checking out the crowd, and we came across this guy:

The one, the only... Dan Wagner. Wedding photographer, dolphin-ride enthusiast, patriot.



Dan's new work, the Obama Project, involves him bringing these giant plastic letters with him everywhere he goes, photographing people holding them.

The images are beautiful. Looky:











If you'd like to see more, click here: Obama Project.
And if you happen to live in the Northeast and be getting married (or giving dolphin rides) call Dan Wagner!

Yes!