Archive for the 'photos' Category
August 2nd, 2007 by James Robinson
While tramping the Appalachian Trail in 2001, my crunchy hiking companion “Raven,” prone to late-night, lean-to-induced philosophy sessions like the rest of us, asked a simple question: “Are you a mountain person or an ocean person?– Questions like this inevitably lead into many other questions and stories that slay time otherwise spent dwelling on the mice scampering over your sleeping bag or the fact that your stomach is still craving more calories than your back could ever hope to carry. Deeper questions have been posed, I admit. But for some reason this particular AT inquiry clings to the slippery rock face of my memory like a tiny mountaineer.
You see, I've always considered myself a lover of mountains, which made my two years, four months, and 17 days living in the altitude deprived Midwest a near impossible experience. It is ironic, then, that I became acquainted with Brad Washburn during this temporary bout with flatness. When the September 2005 issue of Outside arrived at my O'Fallon, Missouri apartment like an answered prayer, it introduced me to the man I have come to believe in as the greatest mountain photographer to ever live.
Right now you might be thinking, Come on Bris, everyone knows Ansel Adams placed mountain photography on art's topographic map. I'll grant you that Adams taught us to love and appreciate nature on film, but I stand by my belief in Washburn as a superior mountain photographer.
Let's start by considering that Adams himself called Washburn “a roving genius of mind and mountains.– Panopticon Gallery points to that same genius as “[the inspiration] for photographic techniques that capture the most remote and inaccessible points on earth under conditions worthy of a stunt man.– It's the sheer remoteness associated with his “subjects,” the unclimbed mountains and treacherous glaciers, that makes Washburn's eye for light and shadow amidst these indifferent and harsh giants worthy of our progressive awe. Washburn's technique included tethering himself to the cabin wall of a prop-engine plane, strapping a 50-pound, eight-by-ten large format Fairchild camera to his chest, and leaning precariously out the aircraft door at 20,000 feet without the aid of a tripod. Despite such ridiculous conditions, his pictures display the un-cropped, crisp brilliance of “whole– mountains, stealing your breath like a high-altitude summit.
On January 10 of this year, we lost Washburn's epic eye for tectonic marvels. He came as close to capturing the soul of a mountain as any true “mountain person– or “mountain photographer– ever will again. Don't take my word for it. Check out Washburn's legacy for yourself at Panopticon's online gallery here or read Kurt Markus' Outside ode to the greatest mountain photographer you've probably never heard of here.
From one “mountain person– to another, thank you Bradford for inspiring all of us to continue exploring earth's giants, so often reluctant beneath their snow and ice.
June 28th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth and final best photo of the week for the month of June. And we picked this one because, well, because it’s just too damned cool to ignore.
Our weekly winners get highlighted right here and on our MySpace page, and they also receive a special prize in the mail. If you’re a photographer and you’d like to be considered for our daily, weekly, and monthly photos, just click on the Flickr icon on our right sidebar (or right here), and sign up (which you can learn about by clicking here).
You can check out other pictures by this fantastic photographer by clicking the photo below.
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This Week’s Best Photo of Our Beautiful World
(as featured on June 26, 2007)
June 21st, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Editor’s Note: This is the third winner of our best photo of the week, as chosen by our photo staff. Our weekly winners get highlighted right here and on our MySpace page, and they also receive a special prize in the mail. If you’re a photographer and you’d like to be considered for our daily, weekly, and monthly photos, just click on the Flickr icon on our right sidebar (or right here), and sign up (which you can learn about by clicking here).
You can check out other pictures by this fantastic photographer by clicking the photo below.
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This Week’s Best Photo of Our Beautiful World
(as featured on June 13, 2007)
June 14th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Editor’s Note: This is the second winner of our best photo of the week, as chosen by our photo staff. There was oodles of hemming and hawing, and what it came down to was this: we’ve never seen anything quite like this before, and every time we look at it we do a double-take.
Our weekly winners get highlighted right here and on our MySpace page, and they also receive a special prize in the mail.
If you’re a photographer and you’d like to be considered for our daily, weekly, and monthly photos, just click on the Flickr icon on our right sidebar (or right here), and sign up (which you can learn about by clicking here).
You can check out other pictures by this fantastic photographer, by clicking the photo below.
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This Week’s Best Photo of Our Beautiful World
(as featured on June 11, 2007)
May 29th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Howdy Friends,
We just wanted to call to your attention the brand-spanking-newest item on our far-right sidebar: two buttons, one for Flickr and one for MySpace. Each points, go figure, to our new pages on those sites.
If you’ve got a Flickr account, we’d love to have you join our group. We’re always looking for fresh photographs and photographers for our daily photo of our beautiful world — let us know if you’re interested! If you’re a photographer without a Flickr account, please consider signing up. The price is literally picture perfect: it’s free, baby, free! You can also get a “Pro” account for a measly $24.95 a year. Flickr is also a fantastic way to share your photos with amigos, amigas, aunts and grandfathers, sisters and “third cousins once removed” without having to email them large files, and you can use Flickr to create personalized photo books, calendars, and postage stamps.
Our MySpace page includes our favorite photo of the week, a Progressive Wednesday Radio Player, links to our daily and Wednesday content, and a list of our 1,300+ like-minded “friends” on the WWW. If you’ve got a MySpace page, pop on over, and add us as a friend. Are your pals on MySpace? Please pass the word along. You can even click the words “Share This” at the end of this post, and email it to your heart’s content. We think our MySpace page is a great primer for folks who are new to Progressive Wednesday.
We can’t thank you enough for your continued support in getting the word out about Progressive Wednesday, and for participating with us to help get our country over the hump.
Progressively,
Eric and Matt
April 5th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Dear PW Readers and Photo Lovers:
Due to a technical glitch (c/o Verizon), we didn’t update the photo yesterday. Here’s a small version of it — just give it a friendly click to see a larger view.
It’s a fantastic, butt-kickin’ shot of Honolulu, Hawaii, snapped by our fine photographer, Mark Mirabelli. He deserved some props, and we didn’t want you to miss out on it.
Sayin’ Cheese,
Matt and Eric
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