Sunday 27 November 2011

LIFE at 75


LIFE celebrates its 75 anniversary, well at least it kinda does. The history of LIFE is as varied as the content of the magazine itself. LIFE magazine in its purist form lasted from November 1936 to December 1972 - after that, the title lost its way. Only recently has LIFE really returned to a close approximation of its original role as part of  an online venture between Getty Images and TIME/LIFE. Something is still missing though.

A series of poor 'specials' and various misguided comebacks over the years, have done the brand no favours whatsoever. The Life.com website does have its finer moments, but it can veer towards a tabloid fuelled, celebrity dominated content at times - mostly at the expense of its own back catalogue of classic work. A return to a broad mix of stories, like those carried by the original magazine, would be nice.

A number of galleries celebrate the 75 years of LIFE, with one of the best showcasing the best photography that made the magazine's name. The likes of Larry burrows and Margaret Bourke-White (both LIFE photographers) have more than one image featured. The 75 best LIFE photographs can be found HERE

More galleries cover aspects from magazine covers to LIFE photographers looking back at a favourite or iconic photo story they produced. Every edition of LIFE ever produced, a great look back in time, and still a good read, can be viewed via Google Books HERE

Thursday 17 November 2011

Joker in the pack

Is a photography degree worth taking? With the growing costs of studying, it comes as no surprise that people are asking this more and more. I was lucky. I managed to go to university before the grant system disappeared.  I don't think I'd apply for a degree now unless i could prove it was a worthy investment.

A great post on the duckrabbit blog (yes them again!) nicely sums the pros and cons of the photography education system. If you are thinking about photography education, then I'd definitely recommend you read this article. It may help answer your question.

Are photography degrees the joker in the pack?

Monday 7 November 2011

More Murmurations


More murmurations for you. Amazing. Astounding. Beautiful.

This wonderful little film was found via the duckrabbit blog - a recommended read.

Sunday 6 November 2011

Nine Goats


It's amazing how far a goat will go to get a meal. At first glance i thought it was a manipulated image, which maybe says a lot about how cynical I'm getting when viewing new images. A few years ago i would have looked at this photograph with no doubt in my mind that it was genuine.

This photo was just a number of animal photographs featured in a superb gallery put together by the Telegraph website. The first image in the collection of 38 photographs captures a wonderful moment. That gallery can be found HERE

The second link from this week's photography are also from the animal world, but in a more abstract sense. The magical shape-shifting patterns (called murmurations) made by thousands of starlings in the skies above Gretna in Scotland, have been photographed by Owen Humphreys.

No one knows why the aerial display by thousands of birds takes place. The remarkable images can be found HERE

A daily round-up of the best photography news and links can be found HERE