Picture Stories by Stephen Alvarez

Death of Journalism

In an article called Journalism will survive the death of it institutions Lisa Wilson asks about the folding of newspapers and magazines:

"Without these institutions, who will fund the mission? How will we attract the talent we need to make the transition? ... Today, journalists ask how democracy will fare in a country without a robust free press."

She is comparing the breakdown in magazines and newspapers to the high tech meltdown of the eighties and early nineties. I don't know if the comparison is valid.

In a past post I already argued that journalism is already deeply broken the financial trouble news organizations are having is but a symptom of it.

Anyway it is good late night reading as I prepare to go into the NG office in the morning.

-Stephen Alvarez

Washington, DC

Marcus Bleasdale's Congo coverage for Newsweek

Check out Marcus Bleasdale's excellent coverage of Congo for Newsweek. Good work and hurray for Newsweek covering Africa.

-Stephen Alvarez

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Metal Heart by Keith Loutit

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

A new Keith Loutit video. Very cool worth it for the music alone. 

If you are shopping today don't forget our book list for the photographer in your life...

-Stephen Alvarez

Happy Thanksgiving Viva La France

From the New York Times this morning, they should be celebrating Thanksgiving in Paris.

Golondrinas, Mexico

Sotano de los Golondrinas from Stephen Alvarez on Vimeo.

Sorry no sound, I was in a hurry to get home for Thanksgiving...

A quick series from some photos I shot years ago at a deep pit in Mexico called Golondrinas. It is named for the millions of small birds that live in the cave.

-Stephen Alvarez

ps happy thanksgiving, we all have a lot to be thankful for...

Crossroad: Where the Apple store and "photography" meet.

I bet there are lots of this out there but, for your holiday pleasure I present you with:

Old Man in Apple Store Surfing Porn

Who says Flickr is useless?

Pohnpei Island, Federated States of Micronesia

Do you see the gull flying in this photo? The speck on the far left is not dust but in fact a seagull and it makes this one of my favorite pictures from a long coverage on the original colonization of the pacific islands. 

I had been wracking my brain trying to make an image about the subtlety of ancient navigation. Polynesian navigators would use all sorts of signs to orient themselves. Water color, wave direction, fish and birds could all indicate the presence of an island. Here the lone bird would have alerted a navigator to the island hidden by the driving rain. A small sign, but it only takes a little to stay oriented.

-Stephen Alvarez

WOW download this

   Conservation International has a new electronic magazine available online. pretty big download but worth the time. This is moving toward what an electronic publication should be, more than just a print magazine on the computer.

-Stephen Alvarez

Ten Photo Books of 2008

OK, It's really a list for you, but use the excuse that you're shopping to take a look at these great books from 2008: 

Africa Air

Photographs by George Steinmetz

Abrams 2008 Amazon: $26.40

Well, George does like to fly high. Gorgeous, epic images. His great love for geography and Africa in particular is a defining denominator.

Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta

Photographs by Ed Kashi

powerHouse Books 2008 Amazon: $29.70

Ed works way hard and that is the key to producing a detailed visual damnation of the injustices wrought by oil extraction. Sweat-stained work.

Homeland

Photographs by Nina Berman

Prestel Publishing 2008 Amazon: $32.97

As close as we are to thinking our long national nightmare is over, Nina turns toward our country’s hysteria with a freaking light saber to show just how far this thing had gone. Exhibit. 

The Places We Live

Photographs by Jonas Bendiksen

Aperture 2008 Amazon: $26.40

Immersion into the great river of human compassion. Back to story telling, in vivid color. And the Magnum website for this project rocks too, in case you’re interested in the virtual experience. http://www.theplaceswelive.com/ Exhibit. 

The Disciples

Photographs by James Mollison

Chris Boot 2008 Amazon: $52.50

Trust me and click. 

America

Photographs by Zoe Strauss

AMMO Books 2008 Amazon: $19.77

The visual american road trip. New voice, new view.  

BazanCuba

Photographs by Ernesto Bazan

Bazan Photos Publishing 2008 Photo-Eye: $90.00

A commenter on 5B4 said. “Ernesto wears his romanticism on his sleeve…” well, great, because romantics are just good storytellers after all. Plus there’s an old school thing going on with these pictures. It is, after all, Cuba. 

Transfigurations

Photographs by Michael Lundgren

Radius 2008: Artbook.com: $50.00

It’s OK to meditate on landscapes, only make it smart ones. 

Paul Fusco: RFK

Photographs by Paul Fusco

Aperture 2008 Amazon: $30.00

OK, so we’ve seen versions of this before, but they cracked open the safe at LOC and found 70 new images. That’s not the important part. The important part is that in 2008 we have bent the arc of history, and these are the ashes from which we’ve risen, not just the ones from 9/11. This is a book of people wanting to bear witness. Brilliant.

Invasion 68: Prague

Photographs by Josef Koudelka

Aperture 2008 Amazon: $37.80

Evidence, as my friend JFL would say. Evidence.

This is the book Stephen and I are buying for ourselves for Christmas.

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Adobe Camera Raw 5.2

The adobe Camera Raw 5.2 update is here. It includes conversion for Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Powershot G10 .

It is only compatible with Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Elements 6. Too bad for us old software users.

Thanks to Ira Block for the heads up.

-Stephen Alvarez