Thursday’s Picture of the Week: Muli, China

National Geographic BooksBehind the Scenes: The year is 1990 and Jeffrey Aaronson is photographing on assignment for the National Geographic Society in one of the most remote areas in the world: Muli, China. 

The book project, entitled, Beyond the Horizon: Adventures in Faraway Lands, has Jeffrey retracing the footsteps of Austrian-American botanist and explorer, Joseph Rock, who ventured to this region of China and Tibet in the early 1920′s.

Until 1953, Muli was a remote and independent mountainous Gelugpa Buddhist kingdom, located just north of Lake Lugu in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. It was dubbed “The Yellow Lama’s Kingdom” by Rock.

Map of China

Jeffrey and writer, Patrick Booz, travel together on this epic, 30-day assignment for the Geographic. It takes four days to journey by jeep from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, on roads that

Since then only a handful of botanists, mountaineers and adventurers have trickled in to this are

The Answer…

To Monday’s “Where in the World Are You?” Photo Contest is:

MULI, CHINA

You had lots of great guesses. Thanks to all of you who participated in this contest.

Tomorrow for Thursday’s Picture of the Week, I will share a behind-the-scenes story about Jeffrey Aaronson’s National Geographic assignment in Muli, where he created this photograph, along with many others, including the cover photo for the book.

The Answer to Name That Photographer is…

ERNST HAAS
(1921-1986)

Ernst Haas was an Austrian-American photojournalist who was a pioneer in color photography. During his forty-year career he not only used the camera to tell a story, but to visually express his creativity through bold, abstract and impressionistic images.

Portrait of Ernst Haas

Haas was raised in the grand culture of Vienna before World War II. His parents placed a high value on education and the arts, and encouraged his creative pursuits from an early age.

His father, an avid amateur photographer, tried to inspire his son to pursue photography, but Haas had no interest in cameras until he was nearly twenty, when he started going through old family negatives after his father died. Haas was taken more by painting and drawing and studying things like poetry, philosophy, music, literature and science, which later informed his beliefs about the creative potential for photography.

Haas once said:

“I never really wanted to be a photographer. It slowly grew out of the compromise of a boy who desired to combine two goals—explorer or painter. I wanted to travel, see and experience. What better profession could there be than the one of a photographer, almost a painter in a hurry, overwhelmed by too many constantly changing impressions? But all my inspirational influences came much more from all the arts than from photo magazines.”

World War II complicated Haas’ education. He tried to go to medical school, but was only able to complete one year before laws changed and he was forced out due to his Jewish ancestry.

In 1946, at age 25, he obtained his first camera by trading a 20-pound block of margarine for a Rolleiflex on the Vienna black market. With that, he documented the war’s effects in Vienna, approaching the city as a reporter with a sharp, but empathetic eye. His photographs show the enduring human spirit in the face of a devastated urban environment.

Haas Prisoners Vienna

Haas hunchback Vienna

When Haas was thirty, he moved to the United States, which is where he started experimenting with color film. In 1953 Life published a groundbreaking 24-page color photo essay of his work on New York City, which was the first time such a large color photo feature was ever published in the magazine. Nine years later Haas became the first person to ever have a single-artist exhibition of color photography at the Museum of Modern Art.

Ernst Haas photo Traffic, New York 1963
Ernst Haas Photo New York City

Name That Photographer

See if you can NAME THAT PHOTOGRAPHER from the following five clues:

Name That Photographer Graphic1) He was talented at painting and drawing, but had no interested in photography as a child, even though his father tried to encourage him.

2) He created one of the most successful photography books ever published.

3) He was famous for bridging the gap between photojournalism and the use of photography as a means of expression and creativity.

4) He was considered a pioneer in color photography.

5) He was the first person to have a single-artist exhibition of color photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Leave your guess in the comment box below and check back tomorrow to see if you are correct.

Sunday Sizzle: A Stunning Look at Gratitude by Louie Schwartzberg

“Oh my god”…find out how cinematographer, Louie Schwartzberg, defines those three words in his stunning nine minute TED Talk video, Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. You’ll see why over two million people have been wow’ed by this project.

“You think this is just another day in your life. It’s not just another day. It’s the one day that is given to you today…It’s a gift. It’s the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness. If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is, if you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.” ~Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast

Portrait of LouieSchwartzberg

 

Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director and producer who captures breathtaking images that celebrate life — revealing connections, universal rhythms, patterns and beauty.

Fear, Loathing and Photography: A Mad Journey into the Heart of Hunter S. Thompson

Portrait of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson at his home in Woody Creek, CO ©Jeffrey Aaronson 1990

Behind the Scenes: It’s late January 1990 and Jeffrey Aaronson is photographing on assignment in Aspen, Colorado for Town & Country. The magazine is doing a major feature about the shakers and movers of this tiny mountain resort as well as the many bigwigs and socialites who flock there during the winter.

Editor, Anne Hearst, has flown in from New York to conduct interviews and coordinate several of the photo shoots. Her list includes everyone from billionaire David Koch to socialite Teran Davis to celebrities like Jill St. John and Robert Wagner.

“Gonzo journalist” Hunter S. Thompson is also on Anne’s list, which amuses Jeffrey since Thompson has always prided himself on being a counter culture icon–the complete opposite of everything the magazine represents. He’s skeptical Thompson will even agree to be photographed.

Midway into this grueling weeklong assignment, Jeffrey is beat. He’s been on the go since the crack of dawn once again—this time photographing models on snowmobiles in Aspen’s early morning light, in ten-degree weather, no less. Knowing he has another full day ahead of him, he turns in around 11:00 pm, only to be ripped out of his REM sleep an hour later. It’s Anne.

“Hunter Thompson just called and said we can do the shoot right now.”

Jeffrey groans, “You’re kidding, right? What time is it?”

“A little after midnight. Sorry…he said he’s just waking up.” Continue reading

Photo Caption CONTEST

Take a peek at the photograph below and join our contest to see who can come up with the most creative caption for this image. The winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card along with serious bragging rights for being crowned “Most Creative.”

Photo for Where in the World Contest 2

To enter, simply leave your caption in the comment box below by Wednesday, November 7th and check back Thursday morning to see who is crowned the winner. Good luck!

The SCAR Project: Breast Cancer is Not a Pink Ribbon

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month—a month awash in pink; pink ribbons, races, rallies; pink lights illuminating landmark buildings; pink shoes worn by NFL players. This sugary color is everywhere to remind us about a hideous disease that ravages 1 in 8 women and more than 2,100 men each year. It is there to implore us to get screenings and inspire us to raise funds for research so we can put an end to it.

While this is all good, it has its limits. To me there’s no better way to understand the reality of breast cancer than to experience The SCAR Project. This book and photographic exhibition goes far beyond the pink and grabs us by the throat, forcing us to come face to face with the human dimension of this disease, reminding us that under no uncertain terms is breast cancer a pink ribbon.

Photo 20 from The SCAR Project

Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay

Australian-based fashion photographer, David Jay, created this project to pay tribute to young breast cancer survivors under age 40, a group least often associated with the disease even though it’s the leading cause of deaths in young women ages 15 to 40. Ten thousand women in this age group will be diagnosed this year alone.

His raw portraits may be difficult to look at, but even harder to to forget because these courageous and beautiful women represent breast cancer stripped down to the bare truth.

Portrait of breast cancer survivor from The SCAR Project

Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay

Portrait of young breast cancer survivor from The SCAR Project

Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay

Portrait of young breast cancer survivor The SCAR Project

Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay

Portrait of Breast Cancer Survivor from The SCAR Project

Image courtesy of The SCAR Project/David Jay

Portrait of young breast cancer survivor The SCAR Project

Image courtesy of The SCAR Project/David Jay

Portrait of young breast cancer survivor The SCAR Project

Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay

Speaking about the project in Digital Photo Pro, Jay says, “For these young women, having their portrait taken seems to represent their personal victory over this terrifying disease. It helps them reclaim their femininity, their sexuality, identity and power after having been robbed of such an important part of it. Through these simple pictures, they seem to gain some acceptance of what has happened to them and the strength to move forward with pride.”

Portrait of Photographer David Jay

Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay

To see more images and find additional information, please go to The SCAR Project: http://www.thescarproject.org.

or check out the book on Amazon.

Photo of The SCAR Project book on Amazon

Here’s a synopsis:

The SCAR Project: Breast cancer Is Not a Pink ribbon. Volume I is 126 pages and contains 50 portraits of young breast cancer survivors, as well as an autobiographical sketch by each woman, describing her experience with breast cancer. The SCAR Project is an exhibition of large-scale portraits of young breast cancer survivors shot by fashion photographer David Jay. The SCAR Project puts a raw, unflinching face on early onset breast cancer while paying tribute to the courage and spirit of so many brave young women. Dedicated to the more than 10,000 women under the age of 40 who will be diagnosed this year alone The SCAR Project is an exercise in awareness, hope, reflection and healing. The mission is three-fold: to raise public awareness of early-onset breast cancer, to raise funds for breast cancer research/outreach programs and to help young survivors see their scars, faces, figures and experiences through a new, honest and ultimately, empowering lens.

Thursday’s Picture of the Week: President Nelson Mandela

Photo of Nelson Mandela for President South Africa 1994Behind the Scenes:  Johannesburg, May 1994. It’s a new day in South Africa. Historic change electrifies the air. Apartheid, the government’s official policy of racial segregation, has finally come to an end, and Nelson Mandela is about to be elected the country’s first black president in nearly three hundred fifty years.

Photo of a South African Woman

The emotion surging through Jeffrey Aaronson as he photographs this momentous occasion mimics that of the country’s new flag shimmering in the wind.

It’s impossible to repress his awe, remembering it had been just four years earlier that Nelson Mandela had been released from prison after serving a 27-year sentence for leading the armed struggle against apartheid.

Mandela’s prophetic words, uttered upon his release from prison couldn’t ring more true today:

“Our march to freedom is irreversible”

Continue reading