Click image for a warmer touch.
This is exactly how I imaged people working in pathology. Does anyone know the brilliant photographer?
*update*
This photo is called "Stefan und Gert".
The Photographer is the amazing Werner Stapfelfeldt – more of his work here on Seenby.com! And you can actually buy a print of this great shot there as well!
Click image for past glories …
Who can resist the gaze of Liz Taylor – the modern Cleopatra of Hollywood?
To own a digital camera at the end of the 1990’s was pretty unusual and expensive. Ten years later almost every gadget seems to be able to shot photos and videos – even in High-Definition …
The arrival of cheap sensors and storage allowed cell phone and computer manufacturer to stuff a camera into almost every gadget we carry around. There are hardly any cell phones or notebooks without a cam these days.
And the Quality! There was literally an explosion of pixel power – who would today bother with a 1-Mega-Pixel-Camera? Sure pixel resolution is not everything, but the image quality has equally improved with pixel quantity.
Early Nokia prototypes …
But the Revolution of the Pixel includes LCD monitors – which are now huge and cheap (my current 24"-Samsung-Display would have been astronomically expensive in 1999). The analogue monitor is dead – LCDs have overtaken our eyes. Their sharpness and extreme colour range has redefined our viewing habits.
Big sensor create big images – but today we also have the CHEAP big memory cards, sticks and chips to store them – as well as fast broadband to send our crappy holiday shots to all our friends and social media appendices via eMail or Social Media website (like Flickr and Facebook).
Because not only Big Brother has CCTV cameras everywhere we mere mortals can and do record anything. Thanks to YouTube and Flickr (and their clones) we can and do share everything we record.
In the last ten years there has been a flood of digital videos and photos. I suspect we all shot more images and hours of footage in these last ten years with our cheap gadgets than all generations before us?!
And the pixelated flood will continue.
On the web you can videos of any occasion and situation: from airplanes crashes, terrorist attacks, amateur sex and children’s birthdays. It alls there.
I wonder how he feels about that (public) video in twenty years?
The new global sharing culture enables us to share our lives with others and see how others live their life’s. It has never been so easy to experience, study and learn the human condition.
Since we love Social Porn (<- see my essay on that subject here) this trend will continue. It’s not Big Brother watching us – we love to show ourselves and watch others. This was first limited to celebrities and personal holiday snapshots. Today we can record and broadcast our own lives 24/7 – and some people already do.
That also means that social acceptance of being watched by the government and others has risen. In a world were everybody can record, share and watch everyone the old idea of privacy is gone …
We all know what you did ten summers ago … and you will never be able to delete that image …
The global visual sharing culture has just begun, already billions of images and videos are online. And the web never forgets …
In the last century your parents were probably the keepers and guardians of your embarrassing childhood shots – today compromising material will sooner or later land on the web.
Many employers as well as "friends" check on Facebook and other social media your history before they get closer.
Thanks to Geo-Tagging and Facial Recognition it will be much easier to find a specific person in a gazillion images and videos. There is no such thing as anonymity in this brave new pixel world.
Reality – captured from many slightly different perspectives.
Soon there won’t be a place that hasn’t been photographed or captured in video. We will have a complete visual memory of our planet.
But there is more: all these images and technology will not only allow us to "find" each other – it will allow us to merge all that huge image and video pool into synthesized memory spaces (<- read my essay here).
Smart software literally stitches photos into a 3D-environment and connect / compute additional information into that "space".
When you think that Google Streetview and Google Earth are pretty amazing than hold on to your socks – the new kind of search will finally feel like stranger than any science fiction movie you have seen …
Is it real or is it … HDR?
The last ten years have also brought a different change: the way we perceive what "reality" should look like.
Cameras, monitors and videos have slowly changed from the old 4:3 format to 16:9. The future is no longer square, but widescreen …
But the sharpness, colour range and contrast of images has changed dramatically, best illustrated by so called HDR-Images.
Before and after the HDR treatment …
Similar to before mentioned synthesized memory spaces already available cameras can combine several shots into one "High dynamic range image" that looks more real than reality.
Before the arrival of digital tools (read Photoshop or Paint Boxes for professional TV and Film productions) it was very hard to manipulate images.
Today almost any cheap camera or cell phone cam offers "image improvement filters" ranging from simple red eye removal to face finders and even body slimmers.
All these technologies have changed our perception of reality: old black & white television was unreal, even analogue colour TV looks unreal to a certain degree – and so do "classic" photos.
But today’s image technology allows us to create images and videos that look and feel more real than reality, but catching and synthesizing more details, sharpness and speed than ever before.
Remember him?
The last ten years saw the Perfection of Fakery – thanks to tools like Photoshop, After Effects and many other image manipulation tools.
Movies like Jurassic Park and Matrix paved the way for CGI in movies – and helped the directors to tell amazing tales. But today many movies and TV shows feel boring, because there are too many "amazing effects". Special effects have turned into a big bore …
But Photoshop & Co are now also the #1 toys for Fakery – from Beauty Magazines and Advertising to Viral Videos – Fakes are now everywhere.
Every time people see today an amazing photo or video they distrust what they see: "Is it photoshopped or is it real?!"
Fakery is increasingly hard to spot and image manipulation is now standard for almost anything you see printed or on TV.
Especially advertising was always about fake reality, but now that advertised reality looks absolutely real and can be even more beautiful than ever before. Especially woman still try to "achieve" the beauty standards in advertising – but these fake beauties are unreal and do not exist … their "level of beauty" can never be reached by any real person …
LonelyGirl15 – the first YouTube Superstar?
When 8 mm movies came out it was touted as the Hollywood revolution for everyone. But the technology was cumbersome, expensive and difficult to master.
Today a GOOD video camera is affordable even for amateurs and the quality is amazing. Editing and special effects software is also cheap and basically the same the real Pros in Hollywood use.
But most of all there is now a global and cheap way to show and distribute your videos: the web.
New talent and film students can create movies and no longer rely on movie theatres, Hollywood studios or TV broadcasters to bring their work to the masses.
That means there is a wider platform for artists, moviemakers and crap alike – but it is most of all a true democratization of moviemaking and broadcasting like never before.
Low Budget series like LonelyGirl15 became global brands / phenomenon’s. Becoming a superstar on a budget was no possible!
Hello Human! Do you know where are you going to?
Today we are quite used to "live" in 3D spaces, either in games or car navigation systems – not too mention Google Earth …
The visuals of Computer Games have made a huge leap forward in the last 10 years. The X-Box, Playstation 2 and Wii can deliver incredible visuals.
Games have been pushing simulated 3D worlds for now over 20 years. New games look incredibly realistic and have left it’s visually primitive forefather Pong far behind.
But 3D engines, geo-tagging, camera sensors and search engines will merge into a new technology called Augmented Reality.
Here you look at the world through a computer display – and the computer will analyze what you and it sees – and add additional information.
The simplest form of this technology have been car navigation systems, but newer versions will go much further.
This is just a simply version of AR …
They could tell you for example which people or businesses are in a building nearby, because a search engine show you all information regarding the location you are currently at – and also know thanks to other peoples computers and cell phones who is currently near that exact spot you are standing.
Like other technologies this will make us even more dependent on our little gizmos. The pocket calculator robbed us of the need to learn math. The cell phone is our external memory for phone numbers, addresses and even our schedule (be honest how many phone numbers can you remember?).
Augmented Play Time …
Most people could hardly read maps anyway, but Augmented Reality will make them totally dependent on where to go. And thanks to "smart software" it will tell them what to shop where and that the person in front of them is their wife …
We are developing a totally new visual culture. Once the invention of photography radically changed how we captured reality and made it permanent – so will the digital capture, global storage and synthesizing of photos and videos.
Everybody needs a cam like this and everybody will wear some form of camera in the future anyway …
Thanks to a coming 24/7 always-on camera capture we will also develop a new form of Telepresence we have developed in the last century: first there was the telegraph that allowed almost instant reporting of events far away. Then came the telephone and radio, which allowed us to hear live events far away. With television we suddenly had eyes and ears all over the globe. We could watch catastrophes and music concerts unfold live.
A global web connected camera network will allow us to watch anything everywhere. It is not just a network for "watching" – it also will record, store and cross connect everything it sees.
The new telepresence and visual network will let you watch such events even from "unrecorded" angles …
This global camera network is not like Big Brother – it is a decentralized sister network, which consists of millions of independent digital eyes and ears that record and record …
Like a computer game all that data can be used to replay and synthesize the events it captured.
Click image for an amazing view.
Yes, sometimes an image says more than a thousand words and can make a situation perfectly clear.
Great shot! Great idea to seize the moment!
The gayest couple in the universe. How much candy coloured kitsch can one planet endure? 
But I do love their art for their unique style and shameless indulgence in … uh … candy moments.
I am a huge fan of Maestro Doisneau’s sharp observations and all too human moments – even when they happen between two marble gods.
What I always love about Mapplethorpe is his clarity and respect for the viewer. He simply selects a view and leaves it to the viewer to make up his / her own mind. No flashy moments, no spectacular angles.
Therefore her proves to be a great artist and patient enough with his audience to "dig deeper" – and not pushing them ahead.
Click for a close-up.
Wild Wonders of Europe is one brilliant website and offers many great galleries (like this one featuring Austria including that lovely bugger from above).
Bring some time to explore all the featured photographers and countries. There is a lot of great eye candy to be discovered!
Click image for more wetness …
What a lovely montage with one of my favourite stars and a Red Head in Deep Blue water is a special contrast.
Brilliant work by Madame Leibovitz!
I actually don’t know if this image is called "Spring" – I just thought it’s the perfect title.
And I also thought that two flowering young gentleman are a nice spring metaphor.
So happy Spring everybody!
Click image to see a larger version of the magnificent photo by Sarah-Fiona Helme – Summer stripes.
Garden Photography sounds pretty lame, but this competition is full of great snaps. Take some time to visit all the galleries like Plant Portraits, Trees and Wildlife in the Garden.
Website: International Garden Photographer of the Year competition
Click image for a bigger classic moment.
Once again one of these eternally graceful moments of Hollywood beauty and excellent photography.
I admire Maestro Hurrell – he is simply one of the greatest light catchers of all time.
One doesn’t need to see everything to get fully excited.
Magnificent photo – does anybody know the artist?
Imogen Cunningham is one early masters in her field. Shehas made many shots and scenes that have been recreated over and over by other photographers.
It is sad that such old Masters are often forgotten or lost. I think that Madame Cunningham doesn’t deserve that fate – her compositions and shots are especially intriguing and sensual.
And they still speak to us almost a hundred years later.
Martin Schoeller is brutal. He has a keen eye for reality and not ashamed to showing you what he sees in a very honest and direct way. But he is presenting his point of view without any nasty afterthought.
His series "Female Bodybuilders" is pretty harsh, yet has it’s own beauty and fascination. The almost transmuted bodies of these women are very different from the skinny supermodels we are used to see. But they are also very different from everyday women.
They are unique by their own design and desire. Yet they also have a sad quality to them as well.
I think the photographer and his subjects are brave and honest in this series. Therefore they stretch our limits of perception and normality. Therefore it’s great art. Bodyart and photography.
There is simply too much frontal nudity and sex in most modern (erotic) photography. Most artist no longer know how to provoke imagination by intelligently showing nothing – and therefore revealing everything.
Please leave some space for my own fantasies – if I want it all I still can watch porn.
Telegrapgh.co.uk: Photographing meals ‘could help weight loss’
Slimmers began to eat healthier food when they were asked to take a picture of what they were eating, scientists found.
The pictures appear to have concentrated the dieters’s mind at just the right time, before they were about to eat, the researchers who carried out the study believe.
Photographs were also more effective at encouraging volunteers to watch what they ate than traditional written food diaries.
To test if encouraging slimmers to photograph everything they eat might also encourage them to change their diet, scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked
43 people to record what they ate for one week in pictures as well as in words.
When the volunteers were later quizzed the photo diary appeared more effective at encouraging them to change their eating habits to more healthy alternatives.
The photographs also acted as a powerful reminder of any snacking binges, the researchers found.
If this helps I’ll make even TWO snaps of every bite I’ll take.
By the way: the Mousse and the Sacher Torte were brilliant – but so far I have experienced no weightloss from the photos I have taken.
Click image for more Sex at the Beach.
I find Mr Allen somewhat disturbed, his appetite for young flesh seems to be still there and yummy Scarlet seems to like him.
It will take years of hard therapy to get this couple out of my head.
Click image for more 80’s hotness.
One of the most iconic images of the 80’s – and one of the few cross racial sex icons.
Anyone remember these sweet little cameras and their huge success? Like today’s digital cameras these old snappers brought easy photography to the masses. Although they were hardly as instant as modern cameras their simple design and cheap manufacturing process made them affordable to almost anyone.
I still love the design of many of these old cams – very classic with the box-like elements, rounded corners and mostly black finish.
More? Kodak Instamatic @ Wikipedia
Steve Schofield has shot a charming and insightful series about British Nerds in their costumes. I like his ‘dry’ style and mixture of the real and surreal.
Don’t miss his other great work – like the shots of Boxers!
National Geographic offers a brilliant image gallery with many amazing shots. You can even download those images as wallpapers.
Highly recommended.
The Big Picture Blog is simply AWESOME. Almost every posting is a complete stunner. Like this series of pictures shot from the space shuttle.
Click image to pop a hotter and bigger Gemma!
That is a unique look.
Yummy Gemma – I love that old school hotness pictured above much more than your usual modern porn look below.
There is a gazillion of babes that look like that.
I think a good style can add some substance – even to bimbos. Show some courage and go for style baby!
Click image for a stronger woman.
Another brilliant Mapplethorpe moment – with all the power, beauty and grace almost all his snaps posses. For me it’s also a perfect expression of the 80’s – and a new feminine strength showing in art that is neither weak nor overdone.
Click image for more channels.
I love Maestros Friedlander’s art. He is such a great observer and social commentator at the same time.
This modern view is know to any traveling business men and woman. Your lousy hotel room and a TV. Nothing else. I like that there is a kid on TV – suggesting the far away family and being away from your loved ones.
Today we would see a notebook with a webcam – talking to your family or watching crappy clips on YouTube.
Click image for a larger version.
Madame Lamarr is not your usual silverscreen beauty – she had brains and lots of it. How many Hollywood actresses do you know that hold an U.S. patent?
What a fascinating woman!
Photographer: Does anyone know the artist behind the camera?
Simplicity often is the best way to let beauty speak for itself. Robert Mapplethorpe was the Master of reduction – he had a keen eye for just capturing the essence of his subjects.
Here is an excellent article about “Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition” in relationship to Mannerism.
Most amusing side note: here we see the God Apollo – who was also the patron of the Arts.
Bert Stern shot in June 1962 the last session with Madame Monroe – the famous last sitting (there is a great book out there with all the shots).
The New York Magazine tried to recreate this great series (click Slideshow to see it) with less desirable Lindsay Lohan – and again Bert Stern as the Master of Light.
Sure Lohan and Marilyn are both addicts in their own way. But Miss Lohan is hardly in the same class as the great MM.
Please: if you can’t come up with great ideas for your own photo shot – don’t fake classic images. Remakes are usually weak and only show your own lack of creativity. Classics are simply classics. Leave them alone.
Alexander Rodchenko started out as a painter and later became a brilliant photographer. He was one of the greatest Russian photographers of his time …
The Leica is equally legendary – it was the first 35mm camera in wide use. Rodchenko is credited being the first artist to make her use popular in Russia.
It is always easy as a westerner to be charmed by Asian art, because it is to our eyes and mind different – and exotic. Images, analogies and compositions that are normal in Asian culture are new and exciting for western art lovers.
Madame Yoshida certainly plays with a lot of Asian elements – but I like her global and intimate approach to her art. Very fascinating.
More? Official Site
This is one amazing collection of images. Bring a lot of time and dive into this incredible gallery.
Mister Leping Zha you are a genius!!!
All I can say: bloody brilliant! Maestro Minkkinnen has many great shots in his portfolio – but this one really made me laugh out load. But he seems in general to have a great sense of humor – and a very unique and enjoyable point of view!
More? Official Homepage
A great photographer always catching the right moments for history. I love his work.
Click image for a bigger stone.
If you click the image and feel small by what you see – you are correct. Compared to nature’s awesome monuments we are small and short lived. That’s why our admiration should be huge and timeless.
Afghanistan – he is 40, she is 11. She was sold by her parents, because they needed the money. Still girls are treated like a commodity in many countries or simply sold as sex slaves. (Photo by Stephanie Sinclair)
Chechnya – the world seems to have forgotten Putin’s terrible war on these people? War is terrible for adults, for kids is sheer hell. (Ohoto by Musa Sadulayev)
America – even living in a rich country can’t save you from serious illness. Still most kids all over the world don’t have universal health care. This little guy is already dead – he died 2006. (Photo by Renée C. Bayer)
Bangladesh – many kids have to work hard to survive. Although child labor has decreased in recent years it’s still there and needs to be abolished. It my sound cynical: but I think it’s better when kids have work and can feed themselves – instead of starving to death. (Photo by Akash)
Philippines – every place can be a playground, even this landfill outside Manilla where the poorest of the poor scavenge for food. Hunger and starvation are still with us – even in developing nations or economic superstars like China or the USA. (Photo by Hartmut Schwarzbach)
Rich Nations – while kids in poor countries struggle to get education, food and healthcare in high-tech nations they are slowly turned into brain washed zombies. This is the typical brain dead TV stare. (Photo by Wolfram Hahn)
All the images are taken from here: unicef.org. Go there and read more in detail about the stories behind each kid.
After watching all that pain porn you should be ready to give some money and not just a sentimental sigh in front of your computer. Do something!
I highly recommend SPONSORING a kid all year long – and not just for that special Christmas feel good moment. How about five Euros or Dollars each month? That’s not much – but already some REAL money in many poor countries. Have a look at the video on this page for some insight or more motivation: www.plan-uk.org
There are many charities for kids out there: www.children.org, www.sos-childrensvillages.org, www.worldvision.org and www.unicef.org.
Thank you!
Although shot just over 50 year ago – this image looks like from another century. Life has changed so rapidly in many countries it’s amazing. But we need people like Bresson to remind us of where we came from …
Everything is just perfect in advertising. Everything isn’t perfect in real life. But it seems to me that more and more people have lost the grip and reality – and think that their life’s should be more like advertising?
