All Photos © Carsten Peter/National Geographic. Above: The lava at Nyiragongo is made of an alkali-rich volcanic rock; its unusual composition may be a factor in the lava’s fluidity.

Photographer Carsten Peter descended into the fiery center of Nyiragongo—an active volcano towering over a city of one million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—for the April issue of National Geographic magazine.  See Carsten and his team explore the depths of Nyiragongo in Man vs. Volcano on the National Geographic channel. To see more of Carsten Peter’s work click here.

(more…)

All photos © Ken Shung.

New York based photographer Ken Shung says he set out to make images that embody the idea of the “Pretty Picture.” He captures disjunction, viewing social spaces in search of a magical decisive moment that shows something ominous, paradoxical, or timeless. “In this collection of images, I ask the question of when is a photograph just a pretty picture?” he says. The work is on exhibit at the New York Public Library at  331 E. 10th street New York City until tomorrow. To see more of Shung’s work click here.
(more…)

© Logan White

The group photography exhibit The Pleasure Is All Mine recently opened in Chelsea to a packed house. Organized by the curatorial duo Finch & Ada, the show is a direct response to a scarcity of happiness the curators had observed in the contemporary fine art photography landscape.  “We felt that at its core, an emotion such as happiness was not viewed as a serious topic. We set out to find artists with artworks that would create a “happy place” and illustrate happiness and pleasure in a variety techniques.”

Two satellite events hosted this week add to the festive mix, Wednesday evening’s emerging collector’s symposium Instant Gratification – The Pleasures of Art Collecting and an Afternoon with the Artists on Saturday from 3 to 5 pm. Full details are available on the Finch & Ada Web site.  -Jill Waterman

(more…)

All photos ©  Quang-Tuan Luong

Quang-Tuan Luong’s new book,  Spectacular Yosemite, is a journey through one of the country’s most scenic national parks.  The San Jose, CA based photographer has explored Yosemite with his large format camera over the course of the last five years, capturing the park’s geology, ecology, and natural splendor.  His book was recently published by Universe a division of Rizzoli. To see more of Luong’s work click here.

(more…)

All photos © Dan Borris.

Once only thought to be a mysterious myth, Dan Borris has brought the Yoga Dogs out of the shadows and into the light.  After discovering early photographic evidence of the Yoga Dogs lineage, he has been inspired to seek out and continue photographing these amazing Yoga practicing canines.  The examples shown here are from the recently released book,  Yoga Dogs, published by Abrams. To see more of Borris’ work click here. – Abrams

(more…)