All photos © Kyoko Hamada. Geiger counter, Iitate.

These photographs, taken by Kyoko Hamada, were originally commissioned by The New Yorker to illustrate Evan Osno’s piece, “Letter from Fukushima.” Hamada says she was struck by the natural richness of the Fukushima countryside when she first visited. “It was also heartbreaking knowing that it was polluted with radiation,” says the photographer, who was born in Tokyo but now lives in Brooklyn, New York. The New Yorker‘s Elissa Curtis observed that Hamada “captured the eerie feeling that permeated the towns she visited in Fukushima, and was able to accomplish the most difficult task of photographing what wasn’t there, or wasn’t necessarily visual: the immeasurable loss of life and livelihoods, and the looming threat of the nuclear fallout whose effects are still unknown.” Hamada will be speaking about her experience in Fukushima at a Lucid NYC event tonight, February 22, in New York City. Her work will also be part of the Dispatch from Tohoku group projection on March 11, featuring stories about the aftermath of the tsunami that struck northern Japan last year.

Kobayashi San, Iino

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All photos © Jason Larkin/Panos

Jason Larkin won the 2011 Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture, awarded to a winner in the PDN Photo Annual, for his series “Past Perfect.” It’s Larkin’s examination of Egypt’s museums, which preserve the country’s history and archaeology for tourists and also show in their architecture and design the continuing influence of British and French colonialism. In addition to a cash prize, Larkin won a three-month exhibition at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine. In the artist’s statement that accompanied the show, Larkin explained, “The open-air museums of ancient Egypt promoted the world’s first package holidays, drawing visitors to celebrate and interpret the country’s complex history.” Larkin, a British documentary photographer represented by Panos Pictures, told PDN that he’s interested in exploring “the stories behind the stories.”  All photos © Jason Larkin/Panos

Entries to the 2012 PDN Photo Annual are still being accepted through February 24.

Above: One of the many bowab’s (caretakers) for the Agricultural Museum in Cairo takes a rest in the natural history room.

Above: Two Egyptian women study a painting depicting a large battle in the Military Museum. Housed in the Citadel, it features weapons and costumes from Egyptian warfare as well as life-size simulations depicting several of Egypt’s key battles.

All photographs © Jim Alinder/Courtesy University of Texas Press. Above: Winter house.

Jim Alinder photographed houses designed by West Coast modernist architect Hank Schubart for Houses Made of Wood and Light, a new book from University of Texas Press that looks at Schubart’s life and work—in particular his contribution to British Columbia’s Salt Spring Island, where he built more than 230 residential, commercial, educational and religious projects. Schubart’s work was defined by his ability to integrate a structure’s design into the natural landscape, and by his use of wood and glass. (more…)

"Untitled Film Still #6." (1977) The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the generosity of Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder in memory of Eugene M. Schwartz © 2012 Cindy Sherman

It’s been 15 years since influential artist and photographer Cindy Sherman has had a major, comprehensive exhibit—and luckily fans of her work don’t have much longer to wait. Beginning February 26, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City is presenting a “retrospective survey” of her artwork, which will feature over 180 photographs made from the mid-1970s through the present.

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"Untitled (Kiss)," 2007. © Frank Yamrus

Originally inspired by the onset of a midlife crisis, “I Feel Lucky” is Frank Yamrus‘s highly personal series of self-portraits, revealing the joy and sorrow of passing through his 47th to 53rd years. The opening reception for “I Feel Lucky” will be tonight, February 16, from 6 to 8pm, at ClampArt in New York City. The exhibit will be on view until March 24.