FDA sat on hundreds of thousands of breast implant incident reports

If you don’t have a personal experience with breast implants, you might have missed ICIJ’s ongoing Implant Files coverage of the popular, but controversial, medical devices.

But a story from my colleague Sasha Chavkin this week about how the FDA sat on hundreds of thousands of breast implant incident reports — followed by a major announcement from the agency’s outgoing commissioner — offer prime examples of why our reporting matters to everybody.

More than 10 million people around the world have breast implants, but questions about durability and safety have never been fully resolved.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that as many as one in five people who receive breast implants will get them removed within a decade.

The safety risks, the agency says on its website, “are sufficiently well understood for women to make informed decisions.”

But our reporting has raised serious doubts about that argument.

In November, we revealed that regulators have been slow to acknowledge growing concerns about auto-immune disorders and a rare form of cancer linked to breast implants.

Huge numbers of patients have told us that their doctors never informed them of these risks.

We also found that the FDA had allowed breast implant manufacturers to bury malfunction and injury reports. When those companies were forced to submit these incidents separately, the number surged from a few hundred a year to more than 8,000 in the first half of 2018.

Here’s where we come back to Sasha’s new reporting.

In advance of a hearing on breast implant safety, the FDA circulated a report. On page 13, Sasha discovered what at first he assumed was a mistake: a chart that showed the FDA was actually aware of more than 20 times as many incident reports than the agency had previously made available.

Madris Tomes, a former FDA data expert, knew the agency had failed to disclose the true number of reported problems — but even she was stunned to learn the volume of hidden reports. The agency has “no regard” for patients and physicians, she told us.

Sunlight, as we say in investigative reporting, is the best disinfectant. Exposing how the FDA and other regulators have hidden vital safety information from patients has put pressure on those agencies to share more.

Later in the week, Commissioner Scott Gotlieb vowed in a tweet to do just that. “We're now prioritizing making ALL of this data available,” he wrote.

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To be or not to be photography

Today we have lots of people to photograph, but they are far from doing photography.

The photo is of all the arts that has traveled and is traveling paths rather confused, these paths that have long been trodden by our American friends experimentalists. It all started half a century ago, shooting senseless, devoid of rules, create objects, where aesthetics, or any care more demanding technically speaking, no longer need. Currently we are experiencing what I call or nickname: "the picture of no photography".

It is evident that machines developed to a level where the requirements of technical knowledge are increasingly delivered to themselves. The young artists have long turned their backs to learn analog, thus embracing the facilitismo automatic. We are, in fact, in the digital age, but there is one thing they have not understood: it is necessary to know the whole mechanism, the entire process so that, in specific situations, they can master the machine and so come to achieve such Indeed, as desired, to create the imagined object. Today we have lots of people to photograph, but they are far from doing photography. Blame the current gallerists lack of training and understanding in this matter.

If there is something that bothers me formally, one is entering an art gallery and get out of there completely empty. Few photographers who touch me with your eyes, since the vast majority forgot to give your images that perhaps it never had; sensitivity and knowledge, essential elements to attack and thus involve the created object. Whether we are facing a landscape, person or object. Images devoid of emotional beauty, poetry, or any other important ingredient for its construction. Our gaze is constantly assaulted by poorly constructed.

What would be some time ago disregarded, is today the object of study and analysis. We live in an era of true misconceptions. There are lots of cats who want to impersonate true hares. Just the other day, one of my students asked, "What is the difference between the photograph and do photography." Rather, be between craftsman and artist. Everything stands in the way of attack and secure the object. And to do the noblest way, just as there is within us, beyond any knowing, that which is born already with each other, and that is not buyable or purchasable anywhere.

- To be a good photographer you need to have good machines? ... - No, no way! When we do not know to dance almost always say that the fault is from the ground, to be crooked? Clearly the good machines help, but are far from being essential for the appearance and construction of the magnificent and excellent photographs.

I was born for this art, as usual it is said, a former academic and photo lab. I learned to shoot in the darkroom, enlarger with an old man "Durst", equipped with Zeiss lenses. My first images were worked by techniques envisioned by me previously drawn through slots made with the help of a xizato in an area of ​​cardboard, cardboard that this occupied gently place the negative film in the door, and thus the luminous opening way that the bump on the white sheet, made magically appear as the desired images with the help of chemical developers, to then cling to the sheet, forever. Thus was born a kind of image I quickly dubbed "photo-graphic design."

An old friend of my father in conversation, revealed that he had long ago and the dust on top of the cupboard, an old lady camera Yashica MAT IN 6 × 6. The themes explored by me started as a portrait which is still a passion, passing immediately to the landscape where the element "tree" has almost always included, all in black and white. Only later did I venture through the use of color to make the call architectural photography and abstract photography, which in me rises or appears almost simultaneously.

Who is Isidoro Augusto?

Isidore Auguste was born in Portel Village High Alentejo - Portugal, an area very inhospitable and truly abandoned by the Portuguese politicians. In 1958 discovered the photographic still quite young, starting to play with the machines at 13 years of age. 

Debuted with a solo exhibition in Cascais, with 18 years only. Quickly get some notoriety. Goes to work with some names of Portuguese literature. Abandons Sociology, to devote heart and soul to the photographic art, being a freelancer in various institutions. 

Makes picture in advertising for a living. His images are published in various art magazines such as "Arts Colloquium", Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon), "Bible" (Lisbon), "Photographie" magazine (Paris), "Egg" (Canada), "SHOTS" ( USA), "Silvershotz" (Australia), among others.

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Soviet Photo Manipulation of World War II

During the war, the Soviets did everything they could to further demonize their opponent. This included elaborate photo manipulation, something the Soviets were well known for doing.

A horrible picture like this…

…might not be so horrible after all. Rather friendly, in fact.

Here you see the Waffen SS about to hang a Soviet civilian.

In reality, it’s Walter Cruger being awarded the Knight’s Cross.

One of the more well-known manipulations.

Turns out it’s not so bad after all.

Notice how the skyline seems to repeat itself at one point.

Turns out it was obstructed by a German soldier looking at a Soviet machine gun.

At the concentration camp, Soviet version.

Original.

German soldiers laughing after hanging a Soviet nurse.

You can still see the guy’s coat peeking out in the previous picture. And that post makes a great rope.

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100 Top International Galleries to Exhibit at EXPO CHICAGO on Navy Pier

Opening the fall art season each September, EXPO CHICAGO hosts leading international art galleries presented alongside one of the highest quality platforms for global contemporary art and culture.

CHICAGO — The inaugural EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary/Modern Art and Design, will host an exclusive list of the world's premier galleries in Chicago Sept. 19–22, 2019 in Festival Hall at Navy Pier (600 E. Grand Avenue). Produced by Art Expositions, LLC under the leadership of President and Director Tony Karman, the new fair will open the international fall arts season and establish Chicago as a preeminent art fair and cultural destination. For more information, please visit www.expochicago.com.

EXPO CHICAGO draws upon the city's rich history as a vibrant destination for arts and culture.EXPO CHICAGO will bridge a critical gap for Chicago's contemporary arts community, helping to define the cultural future of Chicago, and inspire the city’s collector base.

“The groundswell of support that we have received since our initial announcement of EXPO CHICAGO has been tremendous,” said Karman. “To have world renowned galleries, cultural institutions and museums joining us at this stage is truly extraordinary. I believe strongly that the art world will be marking their calendars to be in Chicago this September.”

EXPO CHICAGO will limit number of participating exhibitors to no more than 100 top tier dealers. They include: Alexander and Bonin (New York); David Zwirner (New York, NY); Matthew Marks Gallery (New York, Los Angeles); Richard Gray Gallery (Chicago, IL); Galerie Karsten Greve (Cologne, Germany, Paris, France and St. Moritz, Switzerland); Galerie Hans Mayer (Düsseldorf, Germany); Annely Juda Fine Art (London, England); Kavi Gupta (Chicago, Berlin); CRG Gallery (New York, NY); Barbara Mathes Gallery (New York, NY); The Mayor Gallery (London, England); Luhring Augustine (New York); Sean Kelly Gallery (New York); Yvon Lambert (Paris); Leo Koenig, Inc.(New York);Galerie Buchholz (Berlin); Galerie Lelong (New York, Paris, Zurich) and D’Amelio Terras (New York, NY); Anthony Meier Fine Arts (San Francisco, CA); The Pace Gallery(New York); and Rhona Hoffman Gallery (Chicago, IL).

“Chicago has a vibrant and rich history in the arts, and I am committed to building on this history,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “This contemporary international exposition will bring artists, dealers, collectors, and curators from around the world to experience Chicago’s culture, and will further establish Chicago as an international leader in the arts.”

EXPO CHICAGO’s design-forward interior environment is by the world-renowned Studio Gang Architects, led by MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang. Gang will take full advantage of Festival Hall’s expansive space and ceiling height, creating a show floor that offers generous-sized exhibitor booths and spaces for special exhibitions, as well as ample room for large-scale installations and patron amenities. Navy Pier’s unparalleled views of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago will provide the perfect backdrop for her design. “I’m very excited to be part of the EXPO CHICAGOteam,” Gang said. “We are looking forward to producing engaging, unconventional spaces to enrich the visitors’ and exhibitors’ experience of the show.” 

EXPO CHICAGO’s design-forward interior environment is by the world-renowned Studio Gang Architects, led by MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang. Gang will take full advantage of Festival Hall’s expansive space and ceiling height, creating a show floor that offers generous-sized exhibitor booths and spaces for special exhibitions, as well as ample room for large-scale installations and patron amenities. Navy Pier’s unparalleled views of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago will provide the perfect backdrop for her design. “I’m very excited to be part of the EXPO CHICAGOteam,” Gang said. “We are looking forward to producing engaging, unconventional spaces to enrich the visitors’ and exhibitors’ experience of the show.”

Special Programs and Events Enrich EXPO CHICAGO Attendees’ Experiences

EXPOSURE Designed to be an important component of the fair, EXPOSURE affords up to twenty younger galleries that have been in business five years or less the opportunity to participate in a major international art fair. A special presentation of one or two artists by each of the participating galleries provides critical exposure for their programs, offering an important opportunity for curators, collectors and art enthusiasts to survey the best in innovative and emerging work. The booths are 200 square feet and have a reduced rate.

IN/SITU Another key component of the exposition's innovative artistic programming is IN/SITU, which provides the opportunity for exhibitors to showcase large-scale installations, site-specific and performative works by select international artists. Situated throughout EXPO CHICAGO's expansive floor, IN/SITU will provide a dynamic itinerary that connects various points of interest throughout EXPO CHICAGO. IN/SITU will be curated by writer and independent curator Michael Ned Holte.

/DIALOGUES Presented in partnership with The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), /DIALOGUES is a year-round program of symposia, panel discussions, and provocative artistic discourse. The series will culminate with informative and thought-provoking daily events during the fair, highlighting the field's leading artists, architects, curators, designers and arts professionals and the current issues that engage them.

VIP PROGRAM EXPO CHICAGO will offer an exclusive VIP Program that will include access to invitation-only events and tours organized by top curators as well as direct access to special guests. Many important Chicago area art organizations and business leaders have joined with EXPO CHICAGO to offer related programming that will augment the fair both on the exhibition floor, in other areas of Navy Pier and throughout the city. VIP Patron Program details will be announced at a future date.

VERNISSAGE EXPO CHICAGO will team with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago to launch the fair with the return of Vernissage, an exclusive opening night preview celebration. For many years Vernissage was a highlight of the city’s social and cultural calendar and is set for Wednesday, Sept. 19,22, 2012, co-chaired by Marilyn Fields and Jennifer Aubrey. The event will offer first viewing of the fair, as well as the opportunity to meet members of the international art and design communities. Proceeds from Vernissage benefit the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

In addition, EXPO CHICAGO has already established partnerships with over 40 institutions, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Renaissance Society, the Smart Museum of Art, Hyde Park Art Center, threewalls, International Sculpture Center, Chicago Children’s Museum, and ArtTable. For a complete list of partners to date, see the partner document in the press kit or on the newly designed www.expochicago.com.

www.Artspace.com, an official partner with EXPO CHICAGO, provides an online platform for guests to plan their visits, purchase tickets and access educational programming. Those not able to visit the fair can also preview and purchase artwork from participating exhibitors access educational programming on Artspace.com.

Art Expositions, LLC presents the inaugural EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary/Modern Art and Design, at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall at 600 E. Grand Avenue, Sept. 19 – 22, 2019. This four-day art event features 100 leading international galleries and offers a curated blend of contemporary/modern art and design.

For more information visit www.expochicago.com

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Papa Francisco looked for a smartphone , smiled and photography became viral

Image published on Twitter of Italian journalist was widely publicized.

When your smartphone is with the camera pointed at us, the practice is often a smile. That is what the Pope did Francisco , on Wednesday , with three teenagers , in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . The Pope smiled Francisco in his first selfie - the new English term for the self - portrait taken by a smartphone that ends up on social networks . The self -portrait was drawn by one of the three young men . An Italian journalist got the photo and published it a day later on Twitter with a single adjective , " epic" . The image went viral .

It is an amazing act to the highest pastor in the Catholic hierarchy . Two reviews of the tweet journalist Fabio M. Ragona said something like : " Now I've seen everything." Although oriented indulgent associated with selfie - nowadays there are " selves " all, " I " at the hairdresser , to lunch , to the beach in the background , " I " with friends to have fun at the disco - the "I " the Pope seems to be more linked to appreciation of his young fans , religious and smiling, in the midst of the temple .

Perhaps this is only the continuation of its effort to be in contact with others. After all , the Twitter account of Pope Francisco is frequently updated . And a few days ago it was learned that the Pope called again a believer . This time the call was made to an Argentine woman , mother of six biological children , who had been raped by a police officer , and he wrote years later , the Vatican , in a letter to his story that caught the attention of the Pope.

" He restored peace and faith in me and gave me strength to continue," said Alejandra Pereyr cited by Time magazine . " When I heard the voice of the Pope , which was felt to be touched by God. "

But the Pope Francisco is not limited to technology to get closer to the Catholics . When he was in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , made ​​a point of visiting people who live in slums . In your own backyard , at the Vatican , there are dozens of photographs documenting him in St. Peter's Square , to give a kiss on the face of infants and children . Of these , perhaps the most poignant is that of the Pope being embraced by a young girl straight hair and white ribbon on his head . The girl's face is covered by the profile of Pope Francisco , once again , smiling .

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Remember Samuel Aranda: The important thing is the pictures

Samuel Aranda:
The important thing is the pictures

Samuel Aranda, Spanish photojournalist World Press Photo winner, talks about the craft and how to monitor the revolutions have been Arabs. The exhibition with the best photo journalism should be back to Macau in October.

It is likely that some of those who visited the Garden House between September and October of last year still remember several of the pictures there exhibited. But it is also normal that many have disappeared from memory. The photograph of the Spanish Samuel Aranda who has just won another edition of World Press Photo, the most important reward world of photojournalism, is among those not too shocking, perhaps, may even go unnoticed next to the blood more explicit.

This will pass and now, it seems, can be seen in Macau along with many others in the next October. The House of Portugal, which in recent years has brought exposure to Macau and the Garden House - the only place on Chinese soil where it has been shown - PERIOD told that although there is still no confirmation, the talks are forwarded to the best in the world press photo published again be enjoyed in the territory.

A photograph of Samuel Aranda, a man of 33 years born in Barcelona and began his career at 19 in El Pais and El Periodico de Catalunya, would be captured on 15 October 2011. A woman completely covered embraces a wounded man. The stage was Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, a mosque during the popular uprising in the country was transformed into a hospital by the forces opposing the regime of President Ali Abdallah Saleh.

"On that day the protesters protests began at 10am and the military through the demonstration began firing on them. The photo was taken near a mosque that was being used as a hospital. This woman, Fatima, is to hold the child while waiting for medical help, "says Samuel Aranda, by telephone from Yemen.

The connection is bad and it is not easy to hear the words of the photojournalist. The day in Yemen is of some importance, because it is the aftermath of the presidential election Tuesday, which had the only candidate - Vice President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi - but also the power to remove the name of President Ali Abdallah Saleh's political scene . "This implies in principle a transition and a constitutional reform, and a general election in a couple of years. The situation is more or less quiet in the center and north. In the south there are some separatist conflicts, "he continues Aranda.

Feminine forceThere is a photojournalist camera in hand, which in recent months has passed by Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other parts of the tumultuous Arab world. And there's a woman hugging a wounded man. What drives the lens to go in that direction? "There were a lot of chaos, a lot of people running, noisy, and this woman had an attitude of tranquility, a lot of wholeness in the midst of all that chaos."

Samuel Aranda explains what you can remove the photo you did. "I think we have an idea of ​​an Arab world where women live entirely oppressed, always below the man, and I think it is not so. In most cases, women are responsible for many things. In this case it's own son, but women are very important in these societies, much more than we think, "bails.

Despite having covered some of the most emblematic of the movement of popular uprising known as the 'Arab Spring', the photojournalist is not aligned on generalizations that marry the different movements and ensures that "in each place was a different story in each country a different context ". In Tunisia the turn "was much more passive, no weapons, no nothing." In Libya "was a civil war more than anything else. They are very different cases, one can not generalize. "

Award of oxygenSamuel Aranda is in Yemen, where he has spent the months October, November and December last year. At that time "was quite complicated to work, because the police and the army of the government you could not identify yourself as a journalist." Aranda decided to remain and work in the country without authorization. People gave him security to do so. "In what is civil society have not had any problems. People are very friendly, very open and friendly. "

The prize was awarded to him this month "is very good at getting to do new projects, because people are more open to support," explains the man who has photographed in Lebanon, Iraq, Gaza, and even in Morocco China. More important than the high profile that brings the World Press Photo "images are" captured and that "the fact that the picture came back in the news these days," he recalls.

The image was selected from more than 100,000 photographs in the competition, written by 5247 professionals from 124 countries. It will be one that, from April 20 in Amsterdam, will join the new exhibition of World Press Photo that will travel more than 120 cities around the globe. "It's a picture that talks about across the region. Represents Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, all happened during the 'Arab Spring', "said Koyo Kouoh, one of the jurors, said in a statement.

Despite the difficulties that have passed since he chose to devote himself to photography, Aranda account to continue. Where will the lens is more difficult to say, but can pass through a homecoming. "I do not know ... I said several times that he would shoot the current situation in Spain. I would love to have a perspective that, to see how young people rise up in revolt against Spain and the system we have. "

More distinguished photojournalists

The World Press Photo distinguished, and Samuel Aranda, professionals in various categories. The Japanese Yasuyoshi Chiba won the first prize in category "People in the News Singles", with a report on Japan after the tsunami that devastated the country in March last year. One image shows a woman to do the diploma of his daughter, found amid the rubble of the city of Higashimatsushima, north of Fukushima. The photojournalist Afghan Massoud Hossaini also saw their work by the jury awarded the World Press Photo, a photo taken with a Shiite shrine, the scene of an explosion on Dec. 6, in Kabul, Afghanistan.

A photograph of an Afghan child 12 years to scream along with several dead and wounded won second prize in the category "Spot News Singles." The Russian Yuri Kozyrev won first prize in the category "Information" by the photograph of a group of Libyan rebels, captured on March 11 in Ras Lanouf. In the category "Contemporary Issues Stories" stood out Mexican Pedro Pardo, for his work on the war of the drug cartels in Mexico. The World Press Photo jury also awarded a special mention of an amateur photography that shows the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, when he was captured and dragged into a military vehicle on 20 October 2011 in Sirte, shortly before his death.

http://www.samuelaranda.net/

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London's Puddles Reflect the City's Beauty

Gavin Hammond

London is known to be a rainy town, which isn't thought to be an ideal location for uplifting inspiration, but Londoner Gavin Hammond finds captivating beauty in his city's soaked streets. 

Hammond's series entitled London in Puddles depicts a somber yet intriguing view of the damp town, focusing on puddles that reflect its surrounding citizens and architecture.

We've shared the lomography enthusiast's photography in the past, but this new series of images exhibit a heightened sense of uninhibited love for one's city. 

There's something about seeing a town through the blurry ripples of a splash of water on the ground that makes it seem all at once magical, haunting, and beautiful. 

Through the cracks in the streets an image of London's greatest architectural attractions emerge. Hammond's series offers an alternate universe within the dreary puddles that displays the city in its simplest form, without the gloomy weather to mask over its magnificence.

https://www.facebook.com/gavinhammondphotography/

  

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The Verisimilitude of Violet Forest's Film Photography

The Verisimilitude of Violet Forest's Film Photography

Violet Forest is not just 'another film photographer.' To her, film photography exudes a sense of purity and truth. She prefers to captivate natural phenomenons instead of staging photographs. Read more about her analogue endeavors and take a look at her masterful series, right after the break.

Tell us something about yourself.

I’m a 22-year old artist. I started making art consistently by photographing and I’m venturing into other mediums like video art and music. I’m also in the process of having my photographs shown in some Miami galleries, so I’ve been busy with presentation like framing and matting, and paving a path for myself outside of college, which is pretty nerve-wrecking.

How/When did you begin taking pictures? What was your first camera?

After doing two years of a technical Web Development degree I was dying to take a Fine Art class. I started taking black and white 35mm photographs in my Intro to Photography class in Community College. I’ve been doing 35mm for almost four years now and have been pretty consistent with the Canon AE1 and a 50mm lens. I switch to wide angle 24mm from time to time, and lately I’ve been shooting medium format.

Describe your style in photography. What are your usual subjects and themes?

I don’t remember the last time I staged a photograph. I prefer to see my days unfold and let my camera document what is presented in front me. I guess it adds some kind of truth to my practice, to know that certain event, habits, natural phenomenons will go on without my control. And when I go through my negatives in the future I can see how I reacted to my environment and the conditions of what I was going through at the time, and the people I was involved with.

Sometimes I don’t want the person to know I am watching them, because once they find out, they change their demeanor and therefore my initial vision, like they react to an invasion of privacy.

This photograph is part of the Vickie series, a body of photographs I’ve been editing for over two years now. I would visit her at her apartment with my camera and an extra change of clothes to spend the night. Our relationship grew over time as I got to know her better in an intimate setting, where I watched her like a guardian angel, getting to know her strengths and weaknesses, which required a great deal of empathy. The project naturally enfolded into an epic poem, with Vickie as the hero and her own enemy, as both muse and martyr.

Lately I’ve been working with disposable cameras to let go of my rigidness and increase the confidence in my practice. Since they are fixed lens I can extend my arm toward my subject without looking at the viewfinder, kind of like pouncing on prey, where my subjects don’t know its coming. Ideally this needs to develop with a Yashica T4.

And then there are times when I’m alone and studying phenomenons that are beyond me.

What is the soundtrack for your series of photographs?

I would guess the soundtrack depends on the ambience of your surroundings when you are looking at the photograph. Which makes the internet a great thing, because every individual can have his own soundtrack when he looks at the photographs on their computer screen. Galleries are interesting because the same ambient soundtrack is shared by everyone who is in the room at the same time.

We all have our idols, which photographers do you look up to? Who or what influences your photographic style?

I know more about photobooks than the oeuvres of photographers. Robert Frank’s The Americans is great because of its epic narration. There is no gimmick, only a sequence of great photograph after the next. Which is kind of the same as the The Ballad of Sexual Dependency by Nan Goldin. Both deal with sociology, but I would say Robert Frank’s has less to do with a subcultural, social realism and more with constructing a mythological symbology of the essence of 1950’s American culture as a whole.

As far as contemporary photographers, I found Canadian Dimitri Karakostas here on Lomography and was excited about how authentic I felt his photographs were.

Amongst your numerous film photographs, which is your favourite?

I just printed this image 20 × 24 and I could spend hours staring at it. I think the aesthetic experience is at its richest. My eyes never get bored flowing from each grain to the next. I guess I was so enthralled in the experience that the camera as a medium was successful in translating that.

If you could take anyone’s portrait using film, can be living or dead, who (would it be), which (camera would you use), and why?

I already created a contemporary photographic mythology out of Vickie. I want Alice Glass to be the main character of my next epic poem.

Analogue vs. Digital. What makes analogue/film photography more special than digital?

The more mediums you go through, the more information is lost, and I think there is something more valuable in an experience that is rendered more purely. A digital image is just a binary code, decoded by a computer. But when light hits the grain on film, the photons of the light chemically react with the grain to make metallic silver. There is a sense of purity, or truth, to me at least, that the actual photons of light that bounced off my subjects are now in my negatives, in an evolved, not substitued, silver metallic form.

Do you own Lomography cameras? Which is your favourite? / Which Lomographic camera would you like to have and why?

I did use a Diana F+ for about a month. Lomography cameras are a great bridge from the digital world to the analogue world. It’s easy to feel intimidated by film, but Lomography cameras make the experience fun and comfortable. Here are a couple of 35mm images I used with the Diana to give it the panoramic feel. I also bumped up contrast:

A lot of people are into photography today, what would you say to them to inspire them more?

Do you what love. If you don’t know what you love, try things until you find out. Follow your intuition. Don’t stop. Make it your life.

“It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.” — Wisdom of Confucius

Aside from your website, do you have other creative online/offline projects? If none, what other creative pursuits do you wish you could explore?

I have so many… As far as visual, I’m working on a video art project that investigates the same concept of the analogue VHS tape versus the digital DVD, except it involves the moving image instead of the photographic image. So I’m getting old VHS tapes from Goodwill and editing them on VCRs and video mixers instead of Final Cut Pro, and I’m finding ways of projecting them on walls. I also got invited put some photographic work in an issue of the zine Blood of the Young. And I’m still actively photographing, but this time with a medium format Mamiya 7, and I’m dying to buy a Yashica T4.

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Halina 35X

Halina 35X

Falling somewhere along the vague line between toy cameras and "real" cameras - is the old Halina 35X. It's really a very strange camera. It may or may not have been a copy of the Japanese made Ranger 35 camera. It's not quite certain, but the Ranger 35 went out of production around the same time the Halina 35X appeared, so there may be a more direct link than mere imitation.

Halina was a brand name used by Haking of Hong Kong. The 35X appeared around 1959 and seems to have been available for at least a decade after that. It was sold primarily in Britain, though a few went to Canada and other countries. It does not appear to have ever been sold in the U.S. 

A quick look at the specs: F3.5/45mm triplet lens. Shutter speeds 1/25 to 1/200 +B Shutter speed is regulated by spring tension, and must be cocked manually. Scale focussing down to 3 feet. Knob wind.

The body is very compact, but surprisingly hefty. The camera doesn't seem to have any aluminum parts, and is composed mainly of die-castings, with a few brass bits here and there. The quality of the camera is really - interesting - to put it one way. It's so "loose" and "un-camera-like" it gives the feeling that it must be a facsimile of a camera, rather than an actual camera. This sounds weird, but when you have one in your hands you'll understand. It is both familiar and alien at the same time. 

This one came to me with fungus in the lens, and upon disassembly I found another surprise. The front and rear elements of the triplet lens are coated. The center element is not! A penny here, a penny there...

Also it was perhaps the most frustrating experience I've had disassembling a camera. The design is very simple and straight forward, but they used a tacky substance on the lens helical to "hold" the focus in place. It's definitely not grease, and I was told the focus on these was stiff when new. The annoying thing is this stuff is really sticky and once you get it on your hands you get it everywhere, and it's near impossible to get off. So be warned! If you have to take one of these apart clean this goop off of right away with lighter fluid and save yourself some frustration. I regreased it with white grease.

There is noticeable light fall off in the corners on most images taken in anything other than bright direct sunlight. The overall effect created by this camera reminds me a lot of the Lomo LC-A, except without the noticeable pincushion distortion. The soft contrast, tendency to flare, vignetting.

Other notes: The camera has double exposure prevention, but you have to cock the shutter manually. If you press the shutter release without first cocking the shutter - you forfeit your exposure for that frame. However if you do do this - just continue to hold the shutter button down, and cock and release the shutter with your other hand. In fact as long as you hold the shutter button down, you can make as many exposures on a frame as you want by recocking the shutter. Once you let up on the button though, you are prevented from making another exposure until you wind on. 

I'll be shooting a roll of B/W in the future so I'll probably do an update when that happens.

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The Importance Of Lomography

Experience the might of monochrome on medium format with our latest evocative emulsion – Lomography B&W Potsdam
Kino 100. Cut from a vintage reel of German cinematic film, Potsdam Kino is perfect for capturing your world
in divine detail. Steeped in a rich past and prestige, this film isn't just a tribute to history – rather a part of it.

For a while now I have been wanting to write about the importance of Lomography, not just in terms of keeping analogue alive, but the importance of the community and the actual effect of Lomography on the individual. Until recently I did not really know how to begin but now I do.

Recently I have been diagnosed with a condition called Generalised Anxiety Disorder or GAD (I rather wish it was syndrome and then I would truly have GAS!) and this basically means that I cannot control my anxiety and am therefore pretty much scared of everything. I have had this all my life but have hidden it from everyone. Until recently I didn’t know that it was OK for me to feel like this and have spent years forcing myself to do things that really I am afraid to. 

Some examples would be, hiding behind a door if I saw the post man approach so he couldn’t see me, avoiding ever using the phone (thank god for texting and email!) and having to leave pubs with a “stomach ache” almost as soon as I have entered. The worst part is the visions that I have of Lukas being injured, falling off a cliff, out of an aeroplane, being run over, eaten, electrocuted and me being too frozen with fear to help.

My wife has had to put up with a lot: Me manufacturing arguments to avoid going for dinner with her friends or so I didn’t have to go to one of Lukas’ little friends birthday parties. If people I didn’t know were coming for dinner then I secretly wished that they would break down or have a better offer or be abducted by aliens rather than turn up.

A couple of years ago I went to New York to visit my sister. Getting there was an ordeal, I was on my own which is not good as I have to be responsible for everything, and then there is the small 8 hour flight, so 8 hours of high anxiety and adrenalin, plus being afraid of going to public toilets meant I held it in all the way! I don’t really like big cities, too many people not enough space, so New York was possibly not the best place to go, but it’s New York! Of course I had to go! We went to the Moma gallery where I bought a Fisheye 2.

My sister had to go and visit a friend, and of course I could not go with her due to my fear of strangers, so I walked around NY on my own – not the best plan but I also needed a cigarette to calm my nerves, and as my sister thinks I have quit it was best she did not see. It was at this time I got swept up in the Puerto Rican day parade. Suddenly I was in a crowd, a big crowd and it was moving. I could not escape. My heart nearly exploded, but then I realised I had a choice I could either panic or go with it. I chose to go with it and since then I have been ok with crowds. This made me want to tackle everything head on. But it’s impossible.

Lomography offered me a security. I can lose myself in the site looking some incredible pictures and colours. Making friends, talking about whatever, all from behind the shield of my laptop screen. It gives me a place where I can say what I want without fear and I am not afraid to put myself out there for you to judge.

Since being diagnosed, my world has crumbled a little bit, well a lot actually. All the defence mechanisms I had unknowingly been putting in place were taken away, locked in a box which was then burned and the ashes fed to the wind. It is a very confusing and rather scary time for me. But within this time I do have a little beacon that I hold on to, and it is the thought of getting my pics back from the lab or reading and writing locations and camera reviews, entering competitions where the winning isn’t as important as entering, thinking up new ways camera can be used. But mainly it is getting lost in truly amazing pictures that allows me not to think and not be anxious and helps keep my rather low chin up.

Now I live in Denmark which is extremely scary for me, lots of new things to get over. But worst of all the only camera I had was my Lomo LC-A which broke and then vanished, so my security was gone and my anxieties rocketed. Such was my desperation I forced my wife to go to a flea market where I found a Konica C35 (review coming soon!). This camera allowed me to shoot and invent and for a while, function.

So, thanks to LSI for doing what you do keeping this going and thanks to the community for being just generally awesome and none frightening.

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The 10 golden rules of Lomography

The 10 golden rules of Lomography

At the very base of this lie the 10 golden rules that define our philosophy and approach towards photography. 

Memorise them, recite them by heart, or break all the rules; whichever way, be ready to throw all your inhibitions about photography to the wind.

 1.   Take your camera everywhere you go

 2.   Use it any time – day and night

 3.   Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it

 4.   Try the shot from the hip

 5.   Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible

 6.   Don’t think (william firebrace)

 7.   Be fast

 8.   You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film

 9.   Afterwards either

10. Don’t worry about any rules

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Lomography Products

Lomography Products

Lomographic products are all characterized by the following traits: they are practical and sensual, they look good, they’re friendly, inexpensive, sexy, un-political, a tad intellectual (but not too high-brow) and distributed worldwide. Their sole purpose is to do nothing other than serve the daily, thousandfold desires of Lomographic creative expression!

Our product collection began with the incredible Lomo LC-A whose success let us keep the iron hot and striking with a steady stream of tasty and stimulating products. 

Our camera assortment has grown to include an assortment of offbeat optics that produce their own unique and incredible images: the medium format Diana+ and Lubitel 166+, the irresistible Diana Mini, our Instax products, devastating Colorsplash items, the stunning Fisheye camera, multi-lensed cameras such as the SuperSampler and Oktomat and last but not least, the Horizon panoramic cameras, provide a range of formats for intense Lomographic output. 

Alongside these creative tools you’ll find one of the most comprehensive offerings of film in the world and a full line of publications, bags, fashion and accessories; thereby rounding out an entire Lomographic lifestyle of irresistible items.

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We mostly talk about love, anger or sadness, but there is so much more

The series Landscape I-VIII, made in Cinema 4D

Describing a feeling with mere words can be tricky. That’s why Elisa Gold is fascinated by the idea of communicating emotions using art instead of language. The Austrian artist, having studied film and media studies, art history and philosophy as well as animation, CGI and graphic design, uses her broad background to explore how best to portray various moods in her intriguing abstract landscapes.

“In our world, emotions are far too underrepresented. We mostly talk about love, anger or sadness, but there is so much more. I like to explore this in my work.”

It’s like this feeling of void where everything can happen, but you don’t know what.

The series Landscape I-VIII, made in Cinema 4D, features environments that could only exist in a virtual world. There are intimidating geometric shapes that act in physically impossible ways. The endless horizons evoke an uncanny feeling of infiniteness.

The artist likes how working in CGI allows you to start from scratch to build a whole new world. “When I made this series I was feeling lost, but at the same time I felt overwhelmed and intrigued by possibilities. It’s like this feeling of void where everything can happen, but you don’t know what.”

Working in monochrome was a deliberate choice to add a dramatic atmosphere to the work. It creates less nuance, because things are either black, white, or something in between. “It highlights and intensifies things, I think it fits this scene very well,” Elisa explains.

The reflective objects add to this eerie feeling, because their geometric forms are forced to interact with each other and the surroundings. “It adds an extra sense of mystique. And if you look closely, you’ll also see I put some reflection of something that’s not there, to make it more unsettling.”

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United Photo Press photographer shows his latest timelapse

Bruno Rato - (selfie)

United Photo Press photographer Bruno Rato shows his latest timelapse from "Sunset Cabo da Roca Timelapse 4K".

Bruno Rato is Portuguese based in Lisbon, Portugal and work as a Freelance Photographer.

He studie photography techniques and composition, advanced studio ilumination and made several workshops with various trainers (Olhares.com/NextArt/ Etc) and also studied in IPF (Portuguese Institute of Photography) a professional course, done these wonderful last eight years various types of photography work, many studio and outdoor sessions, editorials, coverage of events, performances and ceremonies.​

​The photographer Bruno Rato is an international member from United Photo Press and is available for studio and outdoor photoshoots, portrait/fashion productions, corporate photography and all type of covers, like corporate events, ceremonies or other.

As a member of United Photo Press, the photographer has participated in several international exhibitions on four continents as well as two contemporary photography books.

Promotional material for any local businesses and promotional photography. Some of his images can be licensed to companies, websites, cover art, etc.

Official Website

www.brunorato.com

 

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Photograph of the Largest Landslide Ever Recorded in the United States

A couple of months ago, a massive landslide at Kennecott Utah Copper’s Bingham Canyon Mine cut production at the second largest copper producer in the US in half. What began as a movements measured at only fractions of an inch, turned into a 165-million ton wall of loose dirt tumbling down the northeast section of the mine around 9:30pm local time on April 10th.

The picture above was taken after the slide by Desert News photographer Ravell Call, and captures the sheer size of a slide of this magnitude (some experts believe that it’s the largest ever recorded in the US). To put what you’re seeing in perspective, if the debris from the slide were spread out over NYC’s Central Park, the park would be buried approximately 65 feet deep.

Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest man-made excavation on Earth, and as such, even the high-res photo has a hard time doing the slide justice. Fortunately, Kennecott was prepared for the slide. The company is always using four redundant systems to keep track of any and all movement in the mine.

When their special, 96,250-photo-per-minute radar began detecting significant movement, the company immediately set about moving buildings, personnel and equipment to make sure that the slide would cause as little damage as possible.

Even with all of the detection devices at work, however, the company couldn’t have predicted how deep the slide would travel down the mine pit, and a good deal of equipment wound up buried in the bottom right of the photo.

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Beautiful HDR Photographs of an Airplane Cockpit by a Pilot Photographer

Karim Nafatni has a view of the world that most other photography enthusiasts don’t have. When he’s not scouring the Dubai landscape for sweeping architectural photographs, Nafatni is often tens of thousands of feet in the air, working in the cockpit of large jetliners as a pilot for a major airline.

After being interested about photography while growing up, he purchased his first DSLR a few years ago and began being passionate about the art form.

He soon began bringing his Nikon D300s to work and onto planes (often the Airbus A320, the popular commercial passenger jet airliner that seats up to 220 passengers). Setting up his camera in the back of the cockpit, Nafatni points the camera forward, shoots a number of bracketed exposures, and then combines the photos into beautiful HDR views of what his “office” looks like while he’s working.

Here’s a photograph of a 1st officer enjoying the sunrise at 37,000 feet above sea level en route to Chittagong Bangladesh:

Dubai can be clearly seen in this following photo, captured while on a flight to towards Nairobi, Kenya:

This next photograph, titled “Sunrise in the Office,” was the last photograph Nafatni captured while serving as a 1st officer.

He was then promoted to the left chair (the “hot seat,” as he calls it) to work as the captain on flights:

Finally, here’s a selfie showing Nafatni sitting in the hot seat:

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10 Most Dangerous Cities

Make a list of the most dangerous cities in the world is not so simple, because every year the situation in this respect varies greatly.

Some time ago, for example, Chicago was considered (and still is) - one of the crime capitals of the world.
But that's only because Chicago has a long criminal history and the tendency of some of its people to violence.
But there are cities that would scare even the most daring team of superheroes. Well, take a look at the most dangerous cities in the world.

1. San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

The city ranks first on our list, because the crime rate is very high - every year there are 169 violent deaths per 100,000 people. Despite the abundance of tourist attractions, Honduras - a dangerous country, and San Pedro Sula - the city in which to safely next to nothing, except if you're the Terminator.

2. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

The common belief is that tourists who visit Mexico must have a weapons permit and excellent shooting skills, and thats pretty much true. Ciudad Juarez enters the list of the most dangerous cities in the world on a regular basis because of the war between the drug trade dealers and police.

3. Maceio, Brazil

For years, Rio de Janeiro, bore the stamp of a dangerous city in Brazil, but now that title switched to a different city. Have you heard about Brazilian favelas? Well, the city of Maceio - it seems to be at the peak of it all. Many drug dealers left Rio because of the police ran the streets dry of an umcomming World Football Championship in 2014. The obvious place was Maceio, because almost all the police force from that area was moved into Rio to fight crime.

4. Acapulco, Mexico

The beaches of Acapulco, one of the most popular and most beautiful in the world. The paradox is that in spite of all this beauty and popularity, Acapulco is still one of the most dangerous cities in the world. According to statistics, for every 100,000 people there are 28 violent deaths. So if you think of going there, stay in toursty part of the city and never try to go anywhere else.

5. Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Here you can find not only some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, luxury travel services, resorts, attracting millions of people every year, but, unfortunately, you may find yourself in the middle of an armed attack. People are stolen in broad daylight, assaulted and raped, in particular the tourists.

6. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Malaysia also boasts beautiful scenery, culture and history of violence. Now the nation's capital is one of the most dangerous cities in the world - the crime rate over the past three years has increased by 70%. Previously, it was pretty bad, but for now, it seems, everything is getting worse.

7. Johannesburg, South Africa

This city is fighting crime pretty well, but many will tell you that a white human should not be in that city alone. Touristy parts are guarded well, but that's about it. There are parts of the city where a sign has human human and a red line going over it. That means no white human allowed. People who do dare to venture into those lands, may find themselves into veyr big trouble, even on the broad daylight, because police almost never answer calls in those areas.

8. Caracas, Venezuela

And let's go back to South America. Caracas is a "playground" for many drug cartels, gangs and street fights, wars and attacks. In some areas bad to the extend where city officials openly warn residents not to leave homes at night, and during day be on very high alert.

9. Marrakech, Morocco

Morocco - a beautiful country, many go there to taste the flavor and smell of the East, to learn about the ancient traditions, see the desert and feel the magical atmosphere. However, Marrakech - a very dangerous city, and even on the official government website, authorities warn tourists to think carefully about their visit, for they may find themselves in dangerous situations. Not the best PR I must say.

10. New Orleans, LA, USA

It is a pity that such a beautiful city is in the list of the 10 most dangerous cities. But drug problems, gang wars and open, violent, racial discrimination are running rampant on the streets on this city. The police do very little to combat these problems, hence New Orleans deserves a place in top 10 most dangerous cities.

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