Colorful, Beautiful Ho Chi Minh City

(Vimeo Link)

Photographer Rob Whitworth:

Ever since I first set foot in HCMC I have been captivated by the 
cities energy. Saigon is a city on the move unlike anything I have 
experienced before which I wanted to capture and share.

The Litter Box highly recommends full screen viewing here.

Canary Sky

(Vimeo Link)

In case Terje Sorgjerd is growing a bit too March, 2011 for you hipsters out there, and for everyone else who can’t get enough of great time-lapse photography highlighting the eternal earth…

Daniel Lopez showcases the cascading Milky Way over desert landscapes, the foaming clouds lapping like ocean shores at the feet of mountains, and more astounding sites from one of the most beautiful places on this pale blue dot, the Canary Islands.

Killer Juxtaposition

Aspiring photographers, take note of Rob Kalmbach. His site is inspiring, but beware… it is also humbling.

Breathtaking Aurora Borealis

(Vimeo Link)

Even though the Northern Lights are a common earthly phenomenon, when viewed through time-lapse high definition, and set to “Now We Are Free” from the Gladiator soundtrack, the effect is decidedly otherworldly. The profoundly beautiful and smooth video was shot near Russia by Terje Sorgjerd.

Yes, full screen for ultimate winnage.

Hot Shot Eastbound

Photo: O Winston Link

From Iconic Images:

Although his photos exuded spontaneity, they were often the result of elaborate preparations and darkroom manipulations. “Hot Shot East Bound” was photographed on August 2, 1956, in Iaeger, West Virginia, in an effort to depict small-town American life at the end of an era. As the steam engine symbolically exits the frame, a young couple in Link’s own 1952 Buick convertible takes center stage, both literally and metaphorically. Later, in his darkroom, Link added the U.S. Air Force Sabre airplane on the movie screen to extend this metaphoric power. The photo was a poignant display of a cultural lifestyle in speedy transition. The 50s marked the beginning of excess, decadence, and conspicuous consumption. For Link, no landscape embodied this as effectively as the drive-in theater, a cultural space first created in 1928 by Richard Hollingshead in response to the United State’s burgeoning car culture.

The Mentawai: A Fantastic Photographer’s Journey

This is the most mesmerizing, unexpectedly educational video I saw today. Shamans and tattoos and Cultural Relativism, oh my!

(Vimeo Link)

Arrangement

"Untitled" (Holding Patterns)

Nathan Harger’s photographs could be mundane and meaningless.  When they are arranged and presented the way he does, however, they take on a Gestalt-like depth and purpose.  Consider me a fan.

Series One.

Series Two.

Non-Perigee Moon Photos

Last Friday night, the sky here was filled with thick cloud cover, so I missed the biggest, brightest full moon we’ll see for a long time.  The Perigee Moon was 14% larger than normal, and 30% brighter.  Naturally, photogs from around the world went to work with filters, telephotos, and a good dose of imagination.  While I’ll find those offerings and post them later, The Christain Science Monitor does have some beauties of Luna to share.

Qi Heng

This was actually taken earlier last month in Los Angeles the night of a “Blue Moon.”  It’s been a busy month for our suave satellite.

Suzanne Plunkett

This was taken in London, same night as the last one.

Ian Martens

Nice use of telephoto here; taken in late 2008.

Efrem Lukatsky

The lunar eclipse casts sublime glows over Kiev, Ukraine in 2004.

Kevin van Aelst

Connecticut artist Kevin van Aelst has been making his mark for a while now, blowing the minds of myself and others with his pieces, culled from his digestive system as often as his brainstem.  Educated with degrees in psychology and photography, he takes the seemingly mundane and transforms it into the fascinating.  Amazingness can be found in spades at his website HERE, but I just had to share a few examples.

These are a few of his fingerprints recreated in surprising mediums, and I might as well start off with the most appropriate.

Left pinky finger

Left ring finger

Right index finger

Also, I am absolutely floored* by this elegant, minimalist, and very accurate map of Hawaii made from Hawaiian Punch:

*see what I did there?

Artist’s statement:

My color photographs consist of common artifacts and scenes from everyday life, which have been rearranged, assembled, and constructed into various forms, patterns, and illustrations. The images aim to examine the distance between the ‘big picture’ and the ‘little things’ in life—the banalities of our daily lives, and the sublime notions of identity and existence.  While the depictions of information–such as an EKG, fingerprint, map or anatomical model–are unconventional, the truth and accuracy to the illustrations are just as valid as more traditional depictions.  This work is about creating order where we expect to find randomness, and also hints that the minutiae all around us is capable of communicating much larger ideas.

All Righty Then, That’s Done

seen at The Thought Experiment

GO.