- Tuesday, December 23, 2014 5:25 PM
Conflict, politics, jubilation, disaster and a look at the brave and the bold, are among our selection of the year in pictures for 2014 from Associated Press, Reuters News Agency and Getty Images.
(Photograph by Jacques Brinon/REUTERS)
See our other year end galleries!Most popular galleries of 2014 countdown
The mask popping up in protests around the world
2014: The White House year in photos
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- Wednesday, December 17, 2014 2:48 PM
Ellis Island: From ‘sad side’ to saving ‘South Side’
Some knew it as the “sad side” of Ellis Island.
A century ago, the hospital complex at the historic Ellis Island immigration inspection station was the place where approximately 1 out of every 10 arrivals who were too sick to be allowed into the country were sent to recover, or to die.
The 29-building medical complex — in its day the largest public health institution in the United States — was itself left to die when the immigration station closed in 1954.
Ellis Island’s Main Building was restored and reopened as an immigration museum in 1990. But the hospital complex on the island’s south side remained shuttered for 60 years. That is, until two months ago, when officials opened the dilapidated buildings for public viewing.
“Even though much of the hospital equipment is no longer here, these special buildings are able to speak volumes,” said Superintendent John Piltzecker of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. “The National Park Service is pleased to work with Save Ellis Island in their efforts to bring visitors to the South Side to learn more about the island’s unique story through this special tour program.”
The hard-hat tours take visitors through select areas of the 750-bed medical complex that have been stabilized and partially restored — including large hospital wards, kitchens, laundry facilities and morgues.
“The tour is for history buffs, and especially photography lovers,” said Yahoo News photographer Gordon Donovan, who recently took the 90-minute tour and shares his images here.
“The fading colors of the interiors, corroding machinery, metal stairs and doors, strong textures and challenging lighting are wonderful photography experiences you should not miss.”
Proceeds from the tours go toward the continuing preservation and restoration of the hospital complex. For more information on tours, visit Save Ellis Island.
Photography by Gordon Donovan
Find more news-related pictures on our photo galleries page and follow us on Tumblr. - Monday, December 15, 2014 10:36 AM
‘Melting Away,’ Camille Seaman’s photographs of fragile Artic icebergs
For ten years Camille Seaman has documented the rapidly changing landscapes of Earth’s polar regions. As an expedition photographer aboard small ships in the Arctic and Antarctic, she has chronicled the accelerating effects of global warming on the jagged face of nearly fifty thousand icebergs. Seaman’s unique perspective of the landscape is entwined with her Native American upbringing: she sees no two icebergs as alike; each responds to its environment uniquely, almost as if they were living beings. Through Seaman’s lens, each towering chunk of ice, breathtakingly beautiful in layers of smoky gray and turquoise blue, takes on a distinct personality, giving her work the feel of majestic portraiture. (Princeton Architectural Press)
The book is available at Princeton Architectural Press
‘Melting Away’ by Camille Seaman book signing and exhibition opening – December 16th 7:30 p.m. at The Half King in New York City. Moderated by Gavid Schmidt of the Goddard Institue for Space Studies. On view through January 27th.(Photograph by Camille Seaman)
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- Friday, December 12, 2014 6:53 AM
Award-winning Washington Post photographer dies of heart attack in Liberia
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post photographer Michel du Cille died of an apparent heart attack on Thursday in Liberia where he was on assignment covering the Ebola outbreak, the newspaper said.
The Post said du Cille, 58, collapsed after hiking back from a village where he and Post reporter Justin Jouvenal were reporting. Du Cille was taken to a hospital two hours away where he was declared dead.
“We are all heartbroken. We have lost a beloved colleague and one of the world’s most accomplished photographers,” Post executive editor Martin Baron said in a statement.
"Michel died at 58 doing the work he loved. He was completely devoted to the story of Ebola, and he was determined to stay on the story despite its risks," Baron added. "That is the sort of courage and passion he displayed throughout his career."
Du Cille, who joined the Post in 1988, won two Pulitzers for photography with the Miami Herald in the 1980s and a third with the Post in 2008, sharing the prize with reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull for their series on the treatment of military veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
He is survived by his wife, fellow Post photographer Nikki Kahn, and two children from a previous marriage.
(Reporting by Peter Cooney; Editing by Ken Wills)
See the slideshow: Remembering the photographic work of Michel du Cille (1956 - 2014)
(Photograph by Julia Ewan/The Washington Post)
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- Sunday, December 7, 2014 6:20 AM
American, South African hostages killed in Yemen
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — An American photojournalist and a South African teacher were killed Saturday during a high-risk, U.S.-led raid to free them from al-Qaida militants in Yemen, a turbulent Arab country that is a centerpiece of U.S. counterterrorism efforts in the region.
The raid before dawn was the second rescue attempt in as many weeks to free Luke Somers (pictured above), a 33-year-old freelance photographer and editor kidnapped just over a year ago in Yemen’s capital.
South African Pierre Korkie, abducted 18 months ago with his wife in the city of Tazi, also was killed by militants as U.S. forces descended upon the militants’ compound in southern Yemen. A South African aid group trying to negotiate Korkie’s release said he was a day from freedom after a deal late last month that included a “facilitation fee” to the kidnappers. The relief organization had told Korkie’s wife that “the wait is almost over.”
President Barack Obama said he ordered the raid because Somers was believed to be in “imminent danger.” The president, in a statement, condemned Somers’ killing as a “barbaric murder,” but did not mention the 56-year-old Korkie by name, offering condolences to the family of “a non-U.S. citizen hostage.” The South African government said it was informed that Korkie died during the mission by American special forces…
Here’s a look at some of the photography by Luke Somers.
(Photograph by Hani Mohammed/AP Photo)
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- Tuesday, November 18, 2014 9:29 AM
26 Stunning iPhone Photos Taken by a Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer
The iPhone has become something of a darling among professional photographers — inspiring competitive photography contests, photos of candid moments from within the White House, and praise from even the globetrotting photographers of National Geographic.
And when it comes to accomplished photographers, David Hume Kennerly ranks pretty high. The photojournalist has captured the Vietnam War, the “Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and Gerald Ford’s presidency. He had already won a Pulitzer Prize for his work before he turned 30.
Given those credentials, you might be surprised to hear that Kennerly’s latest work is a book dedicated to the art of the iPhone photo. David Hume Kennerly On the iPhone: Secrets and Tips from a Pulitzer Prize-winning Photographer, isa collection of photos taken from Kennerly’s personal smartphone, alongside helpful instruction meant to make you a better photographer.
“My fellow professionals say, ‘That would’ve been so much better if you were using your Canon cameras,’ ” Kennerly told Yahoo Tech. “I say, well, no, I wouldn’t have had my Canon with me, so that picture never would’ve existed if it hadn’t been for my camera phone. That’s the difference right there. And whether it’s the iPhone or you’re Henri Cartier-Bresson carrying around a Leica with a 35-millimeter lens, the basic rules apply.” (Alyssa Bereznak/Yahoo Tech)
Click link above for a selection of photos from his book, which is available for purchase on Amazon.
(Photograph by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
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- Friday, November 7, 2014 11:17 AM
Stark photos of California’s devastating drought
California is in the midst of its worst drought in more than a century. More than half the state is in “exceptional drought,” the driest conditions possible, according to the United States Drought Monitor. And after three straight years of little rainfall and predictions of a drier than usual winter, there’s no sign of relief.
The pain of the drought has been felt sharpest in California’s Central Valley, long described as the nation’s breadbasket because it provides more than 50 percent of the country’s food supply. Water reservoirs are empty, and wells have run dry. Residents in some tiny towns have no running water at all. Many have likened it to a modern day Dust Bowl, and photographer Matt Black has been documenting it all, producing stark images that are eerily reminiscent of the work produced by actual Dust Bowl photographers, including Dorothea Lange and Arthur Rothstein.
But it’s more than just a photography project. It’s personal. Black, who grew up in Visalia, Calif., the agricultural heart of the Central Valley, has been documenting the land of his childhood slowly waste away, starved of the water that farmers desperately need to keep their crops and livelihoods alive. He’s been focused not just on the land but on the people—the farmers and the workers, both—who are struggling to survive.
His photos of California’s devastating drought, part of an ongoing series called “The Dry Land,” will go on exhibit at 7:30pm on Nov. 11 at The Half King in New York, where Black will also show “California: Paradise Burning,” a short film he produced with photographer Ed Kashi. The exhibit runs until Dec. 13. (Yahoo News)For more news images … follow us on Tumblr!
(Photography by Matt Black) - Thursday, October 30, 2014 11:01 AM
What right do governments, corporations, and individuals have to collect and retain information on your daily communications? What tools — both today and in the past — have been used to monitor your activities? What are the immediate and far-‐reaching effects?
As governments and corporations around the world expand their efforts to track the communications and activities of millions of people, this not only threatens our right to privacy, but also opens the door for information to be collected and used in ways that are repressive, discriminatory, and chill freedom of speech and expression.
It is in this context of massive information gathering that Watching You, Watching Me—the 22nd installment of the Open Society Foundations’ Moving Walls exhibition—explores how photography can be both an instrument of surveillance and a tool to expose and challenge its negative impact. In tackling the inherent difficulty of visualizing something that is meant to be both omnipresent and covert—seemingly everywhere and nowhere at the same time—the artists in this exhibition employ a dynamic range of approaches.Moving Walls 22 can be seen at Open Society Foundations – New York from November 4, 2014 – May 8, 2015.
(Photograph by Tomas van Houtryve/VII)
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- Thursday, October 16, 2014 11:15 AM
'Life in War' –– 2014 FotoEvidence Book Award winner launches in New York City
'Life in War' (FotoEvidence Press) by Iranian photographer Majid Saeedi is probably the only book about Afghanistan that doesn’t show images of war. For ten years his camera photographed daily life in the context of war. Speaking the language, Majid embedded with the Afghan people rather than with an alien army. His photographs reveal the humanity of a people living through decades of war.
'Life in War' is a fruit of the 2014 FotoEvidence Book Award. The annual FotoEvidence Book Award recognizes a documentary photographer whose project demonstrates courage and commitment in addressing a violation of human rights, a significant injustice or an assault on human dignity.
Ed Kashi writes in the introduction to the book:
“ His sensitive eye, artistic vision, journalist’s skills and intimate access combine to create this illuminating portrait of a country we in the west only see through the eyes of military intervention, the deaths of our soldiers, the failure of our policies and the abject vision of this country’s people, culture and way of life”.The book is available at FotoEvidence bookstore.
Life in War by Majid Saeedi book launch and exhibit - October 16th, 6-8.30 p.m. at the Bronx Documentary Center.For more news images … follow us on Tumblr!
- Tuesday, October 14, 2014 11:42 AM
'Living On A Dollar A Day' wins IPA's best documentary book for 2014
One in six people in the world live at or below the poverty threshold of one dollar a day. At a time of great social and economic disruption in the world, people on the brink of survival can be easily pushed over the edge, or just as easily pulled back to safety. The people who generously shared their stories in Living On A Dollar A Day inspire us to change lives for the better.
Living On A Dollar A Day, (Text by Thomas A. Nazario, Photographs by Renée C. Byer and Foreword by the 14th Dalai Lama), is a passionate call to action, presenting 348 pages filled with over 200 color photographs, profiles, explanatory charts and graphics that deliver an unprecedented and thought-provoking examination of global poverty, and how it impacts the poor and the rest of the world community. Most striking, the book offers innovative ways to transform lives through individual action large or small. Grassroots organizations are profiled as potential models and at the end of each chapter A Way To Help lists nonprofit organizations that focus on problems such as child labor and lack of access to healthcare, among other issues. We are shown how change is possible.
… read more and see more images from the book.
Byer was recently named the 1st place recipient for her photographic work in Living On A Dollar A Day for The 2014 International Photography Award for Best Documentary Book.And for more news images … follow us on Tumblr!
- Friday, October 10, 2014 10:38 AM
In the abortion wars, a new ground zero
On this Friday, as with every Friday lately, the police officer was the first to arrive. Just before 9 a.m. he parked his black-and-white cruiser in front of the ornate doorway at 443 Congress Street here in Portland, Maine, then planted his 6-foot-6 frame by the front door.
Next, the clinic volunteers appeared. On this particular morning there were three, all wearing neon pink vests with photocopied sheets of paper taped to the front that said, “Planned Parenthood of Northern New England GREETER.” They walked back and forth along the cobbled brick sidewalk, on the lookout for patients who might like company entering the building.
A few minutes later, the protesters came — putting coins in the parking meters, pulling their anti-abortion placards from their cars, finding their places for the morning. Most went across the street; a few stood on the corner of Congress and Elm.
But one small cluster chose a spot directly across from the clinic door…
Photographer Alexandra Daley-Clark gives us a look at a typical Friday outside of Planned Parenthood in Portland, Maine.
Read the story by Lisa Belkin/Yahoo News
- Thursday, October 2, 2014 10:57 AM
Clay County, Kentucky: What the coal industry left behind
While the collapse of the coal industry has upended lives throughout eastern Kentucky, it’s been particularly painful here in Clay County, which, according to the New York Times, “just might be the hardest place to live in the United States,” on account of its high unemployment, meager household incomes, and short life expectancies. It’s one of the poorest counties in the nation.
Although tiny Clay County, population 21,000, was never a coal-mining mecca like nearby Harlan or Pike Counties, the industry long served as its economic backbone, employing an average of more than 1,500 mine workers annually from 1975 to 1990. But by 2013 — thanks to competition from cleaner-burning natural gas and tighter federal regulations — there was an average of only 56 mine workers still employed in the area. Today, this proud community in the Appalachian foothills is mired in poverty, low education and drugs.
“There’s nothing here,” says Chad Thompson, the head of a local substance abuse program. “Coal was it, man.”(Photographs by Chris Usher for Yahoo News)
See RELATED STORY by Luke Mullins for Yahoo NewsFor more news images … follow us on Tumblr!
- Friday, September 26, 2014 9:23 AM
From Russia Above: the Most Amazing Aerial Shots Ever
Since 2003, photographer Serguei Fomine has been shooting Russia’s most attractive natural, historical, and architectural objects from different aircrafts. This passion project has taken him to over 30 regions of Russia and had its share of dangers, including one incident in a balloon that landed in a swamp “with a great acceleration,” says Fomine. By a miracle, his lenses survived. Fomine says his work never loses its allure: “It doesn’t matter what I managed to photograph on that day — a strict geometric pattern of the St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress, goose flock spilled over the Ob river, or the lake in the crater of the volcano in Kamchatka — while landing on the ground I catch myself on the same thought: “How beautiful the flight was!”
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- Friday, September 19, 2014 11:11 AM
Photography from all over the world, in pop-up form
The Photoville festival celebrates the art of photography, from Pulitzer Prize winners to amateurs
He was the face of the horrific Boston Marathon bombings before the world even knew his name.
Jeff Bauman, bloodied and singed, his legs blown off by the first of two bombs detonated near the finish line of the 2013 race, was photographed as he was frantically wheeled away from the scene moments after the explosions. The Associated Press image, so graphic some news outlets chose to crop it, became one of the most famous photographs of the attacks, which killed three people and injured hundreds more.
Bauman, who was 27 at the time, had just been a bystander, there to cheer on his girlfriend as she ran the race when the bombs went off. It was a story that encapsulated the tragedy visited upon all the victims that day. But in many ways, it was the next beat in the tale that was the most compelling: How could someone so viciously and publicly attacked, left with the kind of grievous injuries more normally seen on battlefields, find his way back to a normal life?
Three weeks after the bombings, Josh Haner, a photojournalist with the New York Times, arrived at Bauman’s hospital in Boston to document the first steps of that journey. He quickly won the trust of Bauman, who allowed him to photograph some of the most intimate and painful moments of his path to recovery—from his physical therapy to his moments alone, lying in a hospital bed trying to grasp the enormity of what had happened to him.
…read more by Holly Bailey/Yahoo News
(Photograph by Josh Haner/The New York Times)
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- Thursday, September 18, 2014 8:09 AM
'Saul Leiter: Early Black and White' photo exhibit opens in New York City
When Saul Leiter died last November at the age of 89, he was largely unknown outside the art world—and even within, he had been overlooked until relatively recently. And that was fine by him.
A prolific photographer who spent six decades roaming and documenting the streets of New York City, Leiter was a reclusive figure who took pictures simply because he loved it—not because he sought recognition or accolades. “Fame,” Leiter told a photography blog in 2009, “is of no use.”
“A lot of artists are consumed by their legacies and what will happen, but he wasn’t,” recalled Margit Erb, Leiter’s longtime assistant and one of the few allowed into his private world. “To him, creating was like breathing. It was something he needed to do everyday.”
And Leiter did, walking the city with a camera right up until the day he died, always in search of the beauty of the everyday. Along the way, he amassed a massive collection of work, hundreds of thousands of photos of New York dating back to the 1940s that mostly sat in boxes around his apartment in Manhattan’s East Village—most of them unseen by anyone except for him.
…read more by Holly Bailey/Yahoo News and see the slideshow.
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- Wednesday, May 21, 2014 2:09 PM
'Hidden Scars': Stanley Greene retrospective exhibit opens in Paris
Born in New York in 1949, Stanley Greene, a former member of the Black Panthers, studied photography at the San Francisco Art Institute. The city, then the stronghold of the new underground punk scene, became his first love. “The Western Front”, his earliest personal diary, is composed of sequences of images that follow one another frenetically, echoing the feelings of urgency experienced by the anarchic youth.
To protect himself from self-destructive tendencies, Greene left San Francisco in the mid-eighties for New York before moving to Paris. A fashion photographer at first, he turned to conflict photography in 1989, after he immortalized the fall of the Berlin Wall with his now famous shot “Kisses to All, Berlin Wall”.'Hidden Scars' is on exhibit at the Polka Galerie in Paris from March 22 - May 24, 2014.
(Photograph © Stanley Greene / NOOR / Polka Galerie)
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