Experimenting with new film. 57th street and 7th avenue, New York.

Three more on Flickr too; here, here and here.

Queens, NY

Red Eye at Rhaeadr Fawr, Aber Falls.

While on a recent quick visit to the UK to see my family we took some time out for a walk in Snowdonia. Thankfully, since one of us would be carrying our five month-old son, my sister suggested the pleasant and not too strenuous walk to the Aber Falls near Abergwyngregyn. Typically for the time of year it was a very misty day that threatened rain. So we donned our waterproof jackets and lugged umbrellas, even a blanket at the behest of Grandma, along with us. The going was gentle enough and we pretty much had the trail to ourselves, which I suspect had something to do with it being a random Tuesday in April.  As we got to Rhaeadr Fawr, the largest of the two waterfalls (Cymraeg/Welsh – English/Saesneg translation: Rhaeadr = Waterfall, Fawr = Large) I hunted around for a pleasing composition and a place to put my tripod down. As I did so my sister and her partner hopped up to the waterfalls. I wasn’t paying too much attention to them as I adjusted the tripod and camera but suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a red flash. The umbrella came up as they stood briefly under the spray of the falls. I fumbled for my camera and raised it as quick as I could. I hoped the settings I had put in would mean only minor adjustments, which I made and then squeezed off a few photographs. As quickly as that they were on their way back down to us. When I looked at the images after returning to New York I only got three with them up there under the falls and only one with the umbrella up. Looking even closer at this one a surprising and very pleasing aspect came to light – hence the name of the photograph. I hope you enjoy it too.

Speaking of North Wales it would be remiss of me to mention my brief visit to see Glyn Davies, the exceptional photographic artist based out of the village my parents live in. I have mentioned him before on the blog, here, so I am sure my admiration of his work is no secret. It was really great to meet him again in person, ten years after buying a print from him to remind me of home when I set out to live in New York. Snowden Evening sill hangs with pride of place in our apartment. My Dad and I chatted with Glyn for a while but we also got to browse his gallery and I have to say the prints are large and absolutely stunning. Print really does still blow anything on the internet away for sheer beauty. Glyn has a new book on the way, Welsh Light, which I am sure will be equally gorgeous. To pre-order your copy, or even purchase a numbered edition as I have, here is a link to the details. Finally, sit back, grab a drink of choice, and take your time browsing Glyn’s gallery and blog. It will be well worth it.

59th Street-Columbus Circle, A/B Train Platform

West 58th Street and 8th Avenue at Columbus Circle

A polar scientist looks down on the massive ice bloacks below. Copyright (c) Chris Linder/WHOI

It’s been a while since I featured a photographer here and I am finally starting again with Chris Linder.  This series will renew my effort to feature photographers who tell stories or incorporate science, health and/or the environment into their work. Chris is a foremost example because his primary motivation is to “educate and inspire people about science and conservation.” He approaches this in what seems to me to be a fairly underutilized way, by focusing on what the scientists do rather than exclusively on the issue at hand. He is also a scientist himself and still holds a Research Associate position with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. This obviously helps because he got his start in photography by photographing the expeditions he went on as part of the research teams at WHOI. Continuing on from there he has subsequently concentrated on documenting research in the Arctic and Antarctic. From 2007-2009 he went on and photographed five polar expeditions, starting as part of the International Polar Year in 2007-2008. These were documented on the Polar Discovery website, which incorporated a Live from the Poles interactive component to give “look inside” of each of these expeditions. Conscious of reaching as wide an audience as possible they also conducted Live Talks via satellite link between the scientists in the field and people congregated in museum auditoriums across the United States. The fifth expedition to the Bering Sea was also part of a series of blog posts Chris wrote for the Livebooks blog RESOLVE. This kind of outreach was one of the main requirements of the grant awarding agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), who funded the expeditions. Four of these expeditions have subsequently been chronicled in a recently released book Science on Ice, available from Amazon here. In addition to Chris’ photography, it is his work as an educator that stands out to me. He doesn’t accept that his work finishes with the photography and is a very active speaker on the issues surrounding oceanographic and polar science.

Chris also runs his own freelance photography business and is an Associate Member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP). As such he has participated in their activities such as Rapid Assessment Visual Expeditions (RAVEs) that work towards their mission to further environmental and cultural conservation through ethical photography.

I’m interested in promoting photography of science, health and environmental issues. This is with a view to making these issues more widely known and discussed. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Chris’ work as well as your suggestions. Do you know of any other photographers or visual artists who focus on these issues? Do you know of any that also include the work of the scientists as well as the issue at hand? Please go ahead and let me know in the comments below.

St. Louis Cathedral from Jackson Square, New Orleans

Chrysler Building from Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Center, New York.

“One soundscape is worth a thousand pictures…” So said musician and naturalist Bernie Krause, co-opting the well worn phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” and taking it a step further into his realm.  He was interviewed on Nature’s podcast (last segment) this week, ostensibly to promote his new book The Great Animal Orchestra (Hachette) as it seems he has been doing the rounds and the book has been reviewed in many places already. In the book he apparently expands more on the dimensionality of images, time and sound and how they relate in this context. Previously a session musician and composer Krause became interested in using wild sounds for music. This path led him to the idea that sound recordings can tell us more about habitats and ecosystems than visuals can. He has also been able to show that disruption of these places, such as after selective logging practices in Lincoln Meadow CA, has a drastic effect on the nature of the place by demonstrating that the sound is less rich with variety, with life. He intimates that photographs and images can seduce and lull us into a false sense of security. But maybe they do not tell us everything we need to know. “We are a visual culture in the west, however sound can tell us a very different story.” This soundscape technique is now being used by ecologists to evaluate their study areas.

The podcast is definitely worth a listen, if only for the purity of the natural sounds themselves and the stories that go with them, but I am also very interested in the book and the research as a whole. It made me think that natural world photographers, especially ones with an interest in conservation and ecology such as those belonging to iLCP, could make more use of  sound in their work. One way would be to use the binaural microphone/earphones from Soundman (link) that John Stanmeyer has recently been raving about on his blog (John Stanmeyer – becoming binaural). These microphones record dual channel stereo sound separated by the natural width of the human head. Thus, the sound recorded is heard on playback almost as if you were standing there yourself. Couple that with compelling photographs and you are put right into the heart of the environment.

Take some time, plug in your own headphones, and fall under the spell–as I did–of some of the natural world soundscapes from the book under the “Audio and Video” tab on Hachette’s dedicated book page here.

I’d be interested to hear if anyone as a natural world or conservation photographer is already accompanying their photography with something like this. I’d also love to hear your input on the soundscapes. Have you ever really listened, not just stopped and looked, to the natural world? How does it make you feel? Can this really be used in ecological studies?