photography

  • Nevada picture of the week:


    (4) #
    8/7/2008

Summer photos

Donner Lake
Lake George 

I've uploaded a selection of photos taken during my various weekend travels around the Eastern Sierras and its foothills for the first half of the summer. Locations:

*Reno (NV)
*Lake Tahoe (CA)
*Virginia City (NV)
*Lassen Volcanic National Park (CA)
*Truckee River (CA)
*Donner Lake (CA)
*Mammoth Lakes (CA)
*Devil's Postpile National Monument (CA)

Mon, 07/21/2008 - 11:07am
  • Researchers funded by the Air Force have been able to successfully photograph an object using quantum entanglement, pointing the camera at the light source rather than at the object itself. Says the Air Force Times:
    Air Force satellites could use ghost imaging by pointing a light sensor toward the Earth’s surface and another toward the sun. The technique could allow the service to penetrate clouds or the smoke that follows airstrikes.
    (28) #
    7/2/2008
  • boston.com has an awesome new daily feature, The Big Picture, that covers recent news stories with a series of high-resolution and often beautiful photographs. Consider me subscribed. (via kottke) (5) #
    6/5/2008

Pictures from an Omaha hangar

As promised, here are some pictures from my unexpected stopover in an Omaha airport maintenance hangar after a bomb threat diverted my flight from Vegas to Hartford. We didn't take too many, and were trying to be discreet about it since we didn't want anyone to take our camera. There are a few more in the Flickr set.

Tue, 01/01/2008 - 11:06pm
  • Pitchfork just published their "The Year in Photos" list, a collection of photographs of musicians and performances from 2007 -- and there are some damn good pics. (2) #
    12/7/2007
  • Errol Morris has posted the conclusion (and solution) to a massive three-part blog essay about his pursuit to answer a seemingly simple question: which of these two photographs was taken first? What makes it interesting is that the photographs were taken in the exact same spot, are over 150 years old (taken by Roger Fenton during the Crimean War), and that at least one of them was physically staged. Here's parts one, two, and three. (23) #
    10/24/2007
  • Errol Morris's second post on his NYTimes blog is about the Abu Ghraib Hooded Man, who was originally mistakenly identified by an article in the Times.
    The photograph should be a constant reminder of how we can make false inferences from pictures. And of how pictures and language can interact to produce falsehood.
    (0) #
    9/12/2007
  • Errol Morris has a new blog about photography, although it could disappear behind the New York Times pay wall at any moment.
    Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but there are two words that you can never apply to them: “true” and “false.”
    His upcoming Abu Ghraib project will likely deal with the meaning of photography. (2) #
    7/25/2007

Rhyolite

Ever since my disappointing trip to a ghost town in Death Valley last year, where all there was to be found was some rusted cans and tens of abandoned mines, I've been hoping to go visit Rhyolite, two hours northwest of Las Vegas. This past weekend, that guy from fantent/snakesonablog and I finally made the trip.

Rhyolite, one of the better preserved ghost towns in southern Nevada, had a population nearing 10,000 at its height in the late 19th century, but was empty a few decades later. Several large buildings still remain, including the jail, a residence/brothel, the bank, and the train depot. There are also abandoned mines peppered around the area, and a small cemetery.

In addition to the historical landmarks, Rhyolite has also become the unlikely home for a modern sculpture garden. You can find these sculptures near the road approaching the town. The oldest sculpture, an odd portrayal of The Last Supper with white-robed ghosts, has been around since the early 1980's.

I took a small number of photos of the town and the sculptures.

Tue, 03/06/2007 - 7:03pm
  • Razmi's photo
    The above photo, depicting the 1979 execution of twelve Kurdish men in Iran, won the only Pulitzer prize ever given to an anonymous author. It became a symbol of the tyrannical Iranian regime which came into power after the overthrow of the Shah and since then, dozens of people have claimed credit. Today, the Wall Street Journal finally reveals Jahangir Razmi as the photographer and tells the full story behind the picture. (via kevin drum) (7) #
    12/4/2006