Between 1966 and ’67, five Lunar Orbiters snapped pictures onto 70mm film from about 30 miles above the moon. The satellites were sent mainly to scout potential landing sites for manned moon missions. Each satellite would point its dual lens Kodak camera at a target, snap a picture, then develop the photograph. High- and low-resolution photos were then scanned into strips called framelets using something akin to an old fax machine reader.
View the complete set of photos and read the interesting story behind how the images were restored by the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project here.
After nearly two years of living mostly out of my car and spending every penny to my name I am proud to finally announce that my new portfolio is complete (for now). When I first came up with the idea to create a new portfolio, I had no idea that it would be such an intense undertaking and that it would take this long. I also never expected myself to create 62 entirely new projects for this new portfolio. You’ll notice that there’s no longer anymore portraits under this website name. I created an entirely separate portrait website which is linked through this one.
I hope you all enjoy the new imagery and stories and I’m incredibly thankful for everyone who supports my work. I’m at a loss for words right now because I feel like I’m watching my first born kid drive off to college.
If anyone has any questions or comments or if I happened to have missed something (hopefully I didn’t…) I’d love to hear back from you in the comments or reach out to me via my contact page.
Nicola Odemann has put together another amazing 35mm film set from her recent trip to Iceland. I first found Nicola’s work through her Cargo Collective site about a few years ago, but just now realized she’s also picked-up an Instagram account. Always loved her use of 35mm film, and I love the story about the camera coming from her father. Definitely follow her, as I suspect much more amazing beauty and inspiration from Nicola in the future @wildsommer
Want more? Here’s some interviews with Nicola and collections of her outstanding work:
Luigi Ghirri (1943 – 1992) was an Italian photographer and writer who pioneered colour photography in the vein of conceptual and contemporary art. Although he was recognized and exhibited extensively while alive, full appreciation for his work has occurred posthumously. You can read a more extensive bio and view more of his images here and here.
I find his work appealing primarily because of the nostalgic colours of Kodachrome film, but also for his compositions. He definitely had a certain wit about him, as well as an ability to see and capture moments that others might otherwise miss. As one article states, “…His pictures are not acts of mimesis or replication but ways of exploring reality. They are investigations of the unknown and examine the spiritual and the immaterial world. Photography for Ghirri was a form of poetry and a means of communication; it was a mental habitat where boundaries and territories intersect and fluctuate…”
Perhaps I’m a little late on the Sebastião Salgado bandwagon but I’m really glad I jumped on. Sebastião Salgado is a veteran documentary / photojournalism photographer from Brazil. I believe most of the shots above were shot with a Leica M7 with mostly Kodak’s T-Max 400 film. I’ve also read that Mr. Salgado has switched to digital format in recent years. Either way, his photographs floored me. I was at Samy’s Camera here in Los Angeles and they had his book Genesis on display. I could have sat and viewed that book for days. Each image had me staring at it for a good length of time. Salgado’s work is the kind of work that makes me want to quit photography entirely because it’s just too good.
I could go on and on about his work but go ahead and do your own research on Sebastião Salgado.
Firefox was a 1983 film starring and directed by Clint Eastwood in which the protagonist must steal some sort of fictional Soviet “ultimate killing machine”, which from the looks of it and the “specs” is loosely modelled on the SR-71. I must confess I haven’t watched it, and after viewing the trailer I have no desire to do so. But I did find a lot of great stills from the film along with some promotional imagery. Love the suit.
Can’t believe I just now stumbled onto this. Sound City is a documentary about the legendary studios by the same name. Everything from Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush to Nirvana’s Nevermind were recorded at Sound City Studios so a lot of people in the community were sad to see them close their doors in 2011. The documentary chronicles the history of the facility through interviews with many of the artists who recorded there. The film is produced and directed by Dave Grohl who purchased Sound City’s Neve 8028 mixing console when the studio closed. Must have been a good feeling to end up owning the same console his band recorded their breakout album on over 20 years before.
Update: Watched it. Really entertaining; very engaging for people into this sort of thing already but also does a great job of explaining the recording process for the layman. My only criticism is that at times the underlying plot of “how and why Dave Grohl acquired the Neve Console from Sound City” seems a little forced. I’d rather have seen a bit less of Grohl waxing nostalgic on his past and fawning allover Rupert Neve and more interviews and dialog about Sound City itself.
One of my favorite people on this planet is Cameron Ballensky. I recently visited Cameron and… well… you know how some people hoard cats? Or hoard old papers? Cameron hoards Polaroids. Call it an obsession or whatever but his hoarding skills are starting to pay off. Recently he’s been learning to do double exposures with Polaroids which is a pretty cool and ingenious process. The last two are examples of his first attempts. I can only imagine that his skills at this process will only get better. Would love to have a wall dedicated to a bunch of his photos someday.
Cameron, perhaps you can share with us some of the equipment, film and processes you use in our comments?
