It's an adventurous life my friend

bobbycaputo:

The Body in Nature: Unusually Beautiful Photographs

Photographing the nude is just about as old as the camera itself… from cheesy pinups to surreal body landscapes, the form has been explored in just about every way imaginable. That’s why, when I ran across the work of Arno Rafael Minkkinen I was truly blown away. His work is filled with almost magical abstract forms created using just creatively positioned figures in the landscape and his well placed lens… nothing more. Each photograph is a revelation, something to decipher for its mysterious form and appreciate for its lyrical beauty.

Making these images even more astounding, most of them are self-portraits. Minkkinen says he does this because of the often underestimated danger in creating such images (which sometimes involve hanging off cliffs or staying under frozen snow for long periods). He also uses no assistant to position himself in the shots, so he must click the shutter button and accurately dance himself into position in just 9 seconds before the shutter fires. For more difficult shots he has sometimes employed a long cable release which he throws out of the scene before the image is taken.

Perhaps this is the element that makes Minkkinen’s images so incredible: he whole heartedly embraces reality. He has been working since long before photoshop and uses the image as it was taken by the camera with no manipulation of the image. He explains his thinking:

“If you are going to be under the snow, be under the snow. ‘Out of limitations new forms emerge,’ Georges Braque said. My translation: know what you will not do. For me this means embracing reality as a collaborator in the invention of the image, not overlaying multiple images to create such impressions. In the end, my negatives will never give away how I made any one of my photographs. They will always print with the same information as found in them the day the negatives were made.”

the-absolute-best-posts:

colormeradical:

leslieseuffert:

Natsumi Hayashi

 ”A sweet-looking Japanese girl who, one day, decided to take self-portraits..of herself levitating. She can be spotted in and around Tokyo, equipped with her SLR and her self-timer. When she feels the moment strike, she presses the shutter button down and then, quite literally, “jumps” into place. What I love most about her shots is that they don’t feel forced. Natsumi has a way of making us feel as though she naturally levitates throughout life. When I asked her how others react to her jumping around Tokyo, here is a funny story that she shared. “One day, when I was jumping at a famous sightseeing spot in western Tokyo, workers at a souvenir shop were frightened by how I was jumping. They were whispering things like ‘Is the girl mentally ill’ and ‘Do we need to call the police?’ “So I stopped jumping and apologized to them by saying, ‘I am taking jumping photos for my wedding party’s slide show.’ Their faces turned bright red, and they said things like ‘Oh dear!’ and ‘Congratulations!’ and even ‘Keep jumping!’ 

Can you imagine how many attempts she had to make?

Can you imagine all the people watching her?

Can you imagine how strong this woman’s leg muscles are?

This is awesome.

My lovely followers, please follow this blog immediately!

photojojo:

Such a great photo idea!

Maurizio Galimberti’s shoots portraits of celebrities by making Polaroid grids. Each square is an individual photo! 

Pictured above: Johnny Depp, Lady Gaga, Sting, and Elle Fanning.

If you like this, also check out Thomas Keller’s contact sheet grids!

How Cool Are These Polaroid Portraits of Celebrities?

chrisozer:

Park Slope and Prospect Park — February 2013

photojojo:

Toying with the idea of symmetry in nature, Traci Griffin decided to digitally alter trees and hair to be perfectly symmetrical. Check out the rest of her Mirrors series below. 

Mirrors - Images Digitally Altered to be Perfectly Symmetrical

via Ufunk