1Photo of the Week

 

by Donato Di Camillo | Instagram

2The 19th-Century Botanist Who Changed the Course of Photography

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then photo books offer even richer narratives. Invented in the 19th century, the form allows for pictorial storytelling, in collectible format. Carefully arranged images convey a photographer’s larger aesthetic aims:
The tale of photo books themselves began in 19th-century England, with a surprising subject matter and inventor: an amateur botanist named Anna Atkins, whose work is straightforwardly described in the book’s title, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions.

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3Legendary Turkish photographer Ara Güler loses battle for life at 90

Legendary Turkish photographer Ara Güler, nicknamed the “Eye of Istanbul,” passed away at the age of 90 late Wednesday. Despite being revived shortly after his heart stopped, the artist eventually lost the battle for his life at the intensive care unit, sending his fans to sorrow.
Güler suffered a heart attack and was taken to the intensive care unit of Florence Hospital where he breathed his last.
He was suffering from kidney failure and had to be taken for treatment thrice a week.

Article

4Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

When the train has gone and a hotel is too expensive, pavements and benches are the only option. Paweł Jaszczuk on how he captured a new phenomenon.
A well-to-do man is dressed for success: black lace-ups, tie and a sharp pinstripe suit. So why is he asleep on a Tokyo pavement in the dead of night, curled up like a foetus in the womb?
High Fashion, a new book, shows that this is no isolated incident. In photograph after photograph, lone suited-and-booted businessmen sleep in the middle of the city. A couple of drinks after work can sometimes get out of hand – many of us have been there. But in the deferential, work-hard/play-hard, corporate culture of Japan, getting drunk and ending up stranded without a bed seems to happen all the time.
“When the last train is gone, a city bench or the street are the only options left. For most, a hotel is too expensive,” says Paweł Jaszczuk. Initially, the Warsaw-born, Tokyo-based photographer says that his eye was attracted by the sleeping salarymen on purely aesthetic grounds. “The contrast between these well-dressed men and the street grabbed my attention, and the message came later.”

Photo Series

5Five Decades of Street Photography by Helen Levitt

Beginning November 10th, 2018 a special exhibit will be on display at the Laurence Miller Gallery. The exhibit will feature vintage prints taken by Helen Levitt, American street photographer who was a contemporary of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans. Levitt’s images pay tribute to a different time in her hometown of Brooklyn, though that’s not the only place she did street photography. It will also show how street photography can be both art and the preservation of history.
Here are some further details from the gallery:
“Laurence Miller Gallery is pleased to present “Helen Levitt: Five Decades,” featuring vintage prints gifted by Levitt to James Agee and his family between 1940 and ca. 2000. These include several of Levitt’s most famous New York images, pictures from Mexico City, and never before exhibited portraits of James Agee.

Biography

6Iconic image of disabled Gaza protester wins prestigious photojournalism award

A photograph of a disabled Gazan man protesting during demonstrations that have been brutally suppressed by Israeli forces has won a prestigious photojournalism award.
The iconic image of double-amputee Saber al-Ashkar hurling rocks in a wheelchair took first place at the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for War Correspondents on Saturday.
The shot was taken by AFP photographer Mahmoud Hams on May 11 as Palestinians took part in mass demonstrations for the right to return to their historic homeland.
AFP chief photographer Thomas Coex hailed Hams for taking the image in a “very dangerous and difficult to access”, according to France 24.

The Story

Street Photography