© Edward Burtynsky (Nickel Tailings)

Manufactured landscapes, the impressive work of Edward Burtynsky. A recent winner of the TED award (see his talk at the link), Ed made a wish. That wish was to encourage a worldwide conversation about the planet, its problems and their possible solutions. Ed chose Worldchanging.com as the way to kick-start that conversation. You can see a introduction here.

Last year something unexpected happened. I won something called "The TED Prize" in which I was granted a wish to change the world. It was ironic, because for 25 years I have been taking landscape photographs that depict the way humankind already has been changing the world. There's a huge gap here, between the reality on the ground and the possibilities of the future, between bad news and good ideas. Closing that gap now seems to me the most important work there is, and no one is doing it better than Worldchanging.com.

Here's my wish. I want my photographs to be used to help inspire people to work toward, as Worldchanging coins it, "a bright green future." I hope my work will help show why Worldchanging's work is so important. So I'm asking you to join me in helping make that work possible. Tell your friends about this site. Share the stories you find here with others and your own expertise and enthusiasm with the Worldchanging team.- Edward Burtynsky

Ed's work has been the focus of a recent documentary DVD (2007 Genie Award for Best Documentary, see trailer here) and has been published in a book.

Inspired by nature is the theme here. Quite frankly, that's were I started. I became very interested in the landscape, my father was an avid outdoors man so I really had a chance to experience the beautiful coastline in Canada. But I could never really understand what it was or what was informing me about but what I think what it was telling me is that we are this transient thing that's happening and the nature you see out there, the untouched shorelines, the untouched forest, really brings a sense of geological time, that is happening for a long time and we are experiencing it in a different way. That to me was a reference point that I needed to have to be able to make the work that I did. For years I went to try to photograph the pristine landscape, but as a fine art photographer I felt that it would not catch on out there to make a career. Then I started to think, how can I rethink the landscape, and so I decided to think about the landscape that we have transformed. This became the theme that I felt that I could hold on and not have to reinvent myself, that this theme was large enough to become a life's work. - Edward Burtynsky

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by Stefan Beyst (from the series Auguries of Innocence)

If art is to survive it must describe and express people, their lives and times - Raphael Soyer

This quote from the late painter Raphael Soyer comes to my mind when I see the photographic work of Stefan Beyst. Stefan, a Belgium based retired lecturer in the philosophy of art and modern art history, is in search of new ways of expressing his creative drive:

I like pictures that are strong, revelatory and fascinating.-Stefan Byest

In his website he has a number of interesting abstract images that are both intense and mysterious. It forces the viewer to imagine and to reveal what may not be visible. I particularly like a lot his series Auguries of Innocence. His approach to the craft of photography appears to follow Paul Klee's statement:

Art does not reproduce the visible, it makes visible - Paul Klee

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I found this site "Look at me" .. quite an interesting collection of old, forgotten and found pictures.

The following is from the "Look at me" website.

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LOOK AT ME is a collection of found photos.

These photos were either lost, forgotten, or thrown away. The images now are nameless, without connection to the people they show, or the photographer who took them. Maybe someone died and a relative threw away their photographs; maybe someone thought they were trash.

Some of the photos were found on the street. Some were stacked in a box, bought cheap at a flea market. Showing off or embarrassed, smug, sometimes happy, the people in these photos are strangers to us. They can't help but be interesting, as stories with only an introduction.

The LOOK AT ME project started with a few photos found by Frederic Bonn and Zoe Deleu in a Paris street in 1998. The collection now contains 616 photos. If you'd like to contribute a found photo, click here.
This project has been featured in the New York Times, the Financial Times, was the cover story of Design Week Magazine (UK), and was site of the week on many portals (MSN, Yahoo, etc..). A special edition of photos, a couple over 20 years, was featured on The Morning News

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© Jose Cendon (An inmate of the Neuro-Psychiatric hospital of Kamenge in Bujumbura, is held in an isolation cell. Burundi, 24 March 2006)

© Jose Cendon (An inmate of the Neuro-Psychiatric hospital of Kamenge in Bujumbura dribbles inside an isolation cell. Burundi, 24 March 2006)

The Picture of the Year (POY 64th) awards have been announced. Among the winners, I wanted to highlight the impressive work of Jose Cendon, Spanish photographer who won the first price in the category of "Magazine issue reporting picture story" for his work entitled "Fear in the Great Lakes". Jose Cendon won a World Press Photo Award in the category of Contemporary Issues for the same body of work. Jose Cendon is a freelancer photojournalist that is frequently published around the work

The pictures show moments in the life -if we can call this a life- of inmates at the Sosame (Soins de Sante Mentale) neuro-psychiatric hospital in Bukabu (Democratic Republic of Congo). Sosame is the only psychiatric centre in the South-Kivu province of Congo, which has a population of 3 million spread over an area of 69,000 km2. Every day, about 50 patients are taken care of in the out-patients section of the hospital. In addition, the hospital has a capacity of sixty beds for patients who have to stay for a longer period.

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© Phil Borges from "Tibetan Portrait: The Power of Compassion, about the endangered people of Tibet"

I was inspired by Irving Penn's classic portraits of native people, taken in front of seamless backgrounds. Although I usually include the background, it's always secondary. These pictures are portraits of individuals, not representatives of some exotic group.- Phil Borges

One of the most fascinating aspects of photography is the transfer of a message, the opening of a communication path between the artist and the viewer. This is what I call the intent and the purpose of a photograph. Sometimes the message is clear, sometimes it is not and sometimes the interpretation can be different and perhaps even more exciting that the original intent of the image.

Humanitarian photographers always have a clear purpose and intend with their work: to influence people, societies and cultures. But even when their images are quite persuasive, they become inspiring when you listen to the story of the image, the purpose and the intent, as explained by the artist.

I make this statement because I wanted to point you to a talk (video) by one of the greatest humanitarian photographers today: Phil Borges. At the amazing TED conference in 2006, he described some of the images of a body or work that defined his career: photographs of Tibetans who fled to Nepal, including the Dalai Lama. Even when I am sure that you have seen the images before, listening to the story will probably increase your appreciation of them.

Other inspirational humanitarian projects by Phil Borges include “Enduring Spirit” for Amnesty International, “The Gift”, documenting dental, cliff lip and burn marks surgery for underprivileged children done by volunteer American doctors and recently the fantastic “Women Empower” with the non-governmental organization CARE, as part of a tribute to the impact of women in societies and the role they play to lead their families out of poverty into a prosperous future. In commemoration of the International Women’s Day, March 8th, Phil Borges presented the story of Abay, a young woman who transformed her community with CARE’s support.

You can see more images of Phil Borges at the masters of fine art website. The best way to understand Phil's purpose if to read his mission statement. He will be teaching a workshop this coming June at the Julia Dean Workshops in souther California, USA.

Congratulations Phil, thank you Phil, for your impact.

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© Simon Hoegsberg

I was thinking that those Sneakers with extra peanuts taste really good, and then I actually think my hair had been cut rather well. I've just been at a new hairdresser. That was what I was contemplating just before going back to work. Yes, I was chewing my peanuts, and then I thought, hmm, that was good, and then ... then I actually thought that it was a pretty good hairdresser I stopped by just now ...

The personal projects of photographer Simon Hoegsberg are fascinating. A real snapshot of ordinary life, of ordinary people; this is who we are, this is what we think. This image is from the series "The Though Project". His other projects, Private and Public, Faces of New York, are equally fascinating.

Over a period of three months I stopped 150 strangers on the street and asked them what they were thinking about the second before I stopped them. Using a mic and a dictaphone I recorded what they told me, then took a picture of them. 55 of the 150 thoughts are present on the website as quotes. All quotes state exactly what was said during the interviews. The interviews took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, and New York City.- Simon Hoegsberg

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© Eolo Perfido

Eolo Perfido, just 6 years behind the camera. He has it, he just speaks his own language with images, and others listen. Look at his images at his photo.net portfolio, flickr portfolio and his website. I bet I am not the only one impressed.

I arrived at photography quite late in my life, but fortunately passion has no time limit. I first picked up a camera when I was 28, little thinking that I would soon decide to never put it down again. Photographing has become something that goes quite beyond simply capturing an image and it has deeply changed how I experience life and those around me.

I am the kind of photographer who likes to take pictures of people and I attempt to improve my sensitivity on a daily basis so that I am able to delve more deeply into their inside image. I was born in Cognac, France in 1972. I have a wonderful family, a few good friends and a girlfriend that I love. I live and work in Rome.- Eolo Perfido

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© Nick Brandt

I don't know how I lasted so long before citing the work of one of my favorites photographers, Nick Brandt. From music video director to photographer of Africa's disappearing animals (see images here). Nick Brandt has left his past as a videographer and emerged as a unique photographer who shows the fragile and emotional side of wild animals in Africa: a vision that has never been communicated as such. His work, "On This Earth" is a book you should gift yourself. Beautifully printed, light sepia toned images, and truly inspiring of what can be done with vision and passion. His portraits of animals are captivating. He has an affection to his subjects.

What I am trying to do is give a feeling that this is a vanishing world. Sometimes the images look like they are from a bygone era. If they weer in color they would completely destroy that sensitivity. Often people say :"these feel like they are photographs from the 19th century". That's good, this animals are disapering, so if they feel like they are from a bygone era that's the right feeling- Nick Brandt, from the Lenswork #61 Interview.

It was only five years ago that he discovered his new passion. He was in Africa shooting a Michael Jackson video when he first started taking photographs. Initially he took every available holiday in Africa. Now this is what he does for a living.

Nick's exquisite photographs arouse deep emotions. They inspire a sense of awe at the beauty of creation and the sacredness of life. It's almost impossible to look through his work without sensing the personalities of the beings whom he has photographed.- Jane Goodall (Author, Conservationist, Primatologist, UN Messenger of Peace)

NICK BRANDT ARTIST STATEMENT: ... read below ...

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© Jason Hindley

Winner of the annual PDN/Nikon self-promo awards for new talent in 2006, photographer Jason Hindley is in constant demand by agencies and art directors. Turning ordinary objects into pieces of art is his mastery. I am really impressed about his work. His website has a very interesting and unique design where the galleries are arranged in books on a bookshelf. There, he shows only his personal work rather than commercial images.

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Bono, Miami 1996 © Anton Corbijn

I call this the Bono Batman photo as he is wearing a batman neck chain and I do need to give photos of him a name as it is too confusing with so many photos of him in my files. He is the person I photographed more than anyone I can think of. This shot was taken during the shoot for 'POP' which was all done in Miami, both in- and outdoors. The background is just a wall painting I found driving around, which is always a good thing: walking and driving in new places to find what you can use for a photograph. I enjoy the heavy look in this photo even though a cigarette is such a cliche and I am a non-smoker, it does make the photograph stronger as it is emphasizing the bad-ass aspect of the shot - Anton Corbijn

In Corbijn's high contrast images, his subjects appear distracted, caught in quiet moments, solemn, smiling perhaps but detached from their celebrity status. Given the choice, Corbijn would almost always shoot a subject outside of a studio in available light, even if it's against a plain white wall.

I'm a very, very basic photographer. The main strength of my pictures, I guess, is the mood and feel I get out of the people that I meet. But technically I don't think I'm very advanced. That never interested me."

My biggest fear always is that I'll photograph an idea rather than a person. So I try to be quite sensitive to how people are." - Anton Corbijn

I happen to take photographs and they happen to be used for a lot of things but they're not really made to order. They're paid for, but they're not made for order. I've never really done real commercial work. A lot of people think I photograph celebrities. But I usually photograph people whose work I like, artists. Some of them are very well known, some of them are not. And of course there's all these bands that want me to photograph them but it's such a cliche for me now I'm very reluctant to do bands now. I tend to work with the bands I know. -Anton Corbijn

The beginning: I stumbled by accident onto photography by borrowing my father’s camera ...

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