© Thomas Deerinck and Mark Ellisman. Above: Photomicrograph of a neuron’s cell body (top, center) and its dendrites radiating out of it, obtained with a scanning electron microscope.

On Monday, November 1, 2010, Abrams will release Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century By Carl Schoonover; Foreword by Jonah Lehrer. Portraits of the Mind follows the fascinating history of our exploration of the brain through images, from medieval sketches and 19th-century drawings by the founder of modern neuroscience to images produced using state-of-the-art techniques, allowing us to see the fantastic networks in the brain as never before.

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© The Irving Penn Foundation. Above: 20 Metal Pieces, New York, 1980.

Opening tonight at the Pace/MacGill Gallery is Irving Penn: Archæology, an exhibit featuring over twenty platinum still lifes.

Penn’s archaeology pictures investigate the visual intrigue of seemingly inconsequential debris and junk — plumbing fittings, steel fragments, bolts and bones — in the exquisitely executed medium of platinum.  Dedicated to the art of meticulously handcrafted prints, Penn is reputed to have spent nearly 50 hours on the production of a single platinum print.  He reflected on this work in his 1991 book, Passage: “For some years I had been accumulating scraps of material that obsessed me: bits of glass, metal, and bone; a human cranium; old sewing machines; a variety of dusts.  In 1979 I acquired an early twelve-by-twelve-inch banquet camera and had it altered. . . We made thirty-two negatives between 1979 and 1980.  The platinum prints themselves however took a year of work.”

Rich in tonal distinction and elemental in construction, these photographs demonstrate Penn’s deep regard for the print as a physical object, as well as his extraordinary ability to create striking compositions with the most unsuspecting of materials.

Irving Penn: Archæology will be on view from October 28, 2010 through January 15, 2011. To find out more about the exhibit click here.

All photos © Art Wolfe. Above: Connective Glance, Bahia, Brazil.

Well-established as a landscape and wildlife photographer, I began my love affair with the horse on the Serengeti Plain of Tanzania and Kenya, where vast herds of zebras, spirited and wild, cross the open landscape.  Naturally my lens turned toward the zebra’s domesticated cousin as a symbol of power, grace and form. In these new impressions I explore Brazil’s culturally diverse Pantaneiro and Lusitano traditions; France’s unbridled and energetic Camargue; and the American West’s open range horses. – Art Wolfe

The UNBRIDLED exhibit is now showing at the Art Wolfe Gallery in Seattle’s SODO district.

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© Daniel Kramer. Above: Bob Dylan With Peter Yarrow & John Hammond Jr. Hailing Taxi 1965, NYC.

On October 12th, the Young Photographers Alliance (YPA) hosted their second annual award ceremony and benefit auction at New York’s Metropolitan Pavilion. Six young photography students were presented with cash scholarships by photography icons Barbara Bordnick, Timothy Greenfield Sanders, Ron Haviv, Eric Meola, Doug Menuez and Michel Tcherevkoff. The scholarship awards are one of the programs YPA runs with the aim of nurturing talented young photographers to emerge as tomorrow’s top visual artists and documenters of our world.
Nearly $10,000 was raised on the night of the event, yet many highly collectible prints, including the images featured here, are still available for purchase online. This important fundraiser supports YPA’s mission to inspire, educate and empower the next generation of professional image makers. To view and bid on any of the 140 available prints from industry greats, click here. Bidding will close at 9PM EDT, October 28th, 2010.

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© Becky Holladay. Above: Buffalo Ranch, Oklahoma, 2007

Nature Within showcases the recent works of eighteen photographers, all of whom are graduates of the International Center of Photography’s full time programs. The photographers are from diverse backgrounds and originate from 8 different countries. Their photographic genre ranges from documentary and photojournalism to conceptual. In a world and society faced with monumental environmental issues and crises, the concern for nature grows by the day. This concern and cognizance of the gravity of the problem are at odds with society’s needs to keep up with our increasing population and big businesses’ desire to increase the bottom line. Nature Within is an exhibit that attempts to rethink our relationship and existence within nature. The exhibit is up until October 28, 2010 at the CPW gallery.

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