© Tom Mangelsen.

Renowned nature and wildlife photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen spent the majority of this spring and summer documenting two grizzly bear families in Grand Teton National Park. Known for raising her cubs near roadside habitat in 2007 and 2008, Grizzly 399 brought her second set of triplets to the roadside this year. Amazingly her daughter Grizzly 610, from the previous litter, appeared in the same area with twin cubs of her own. Here 610, on the hunt for calves, splits a herd of elk while keeping an eye on one of her tiny cubs barely visible above the tall grass.

Mangelsen will be sharing the stage with fellow greats Frans Lanting and Art Wolfe to discuss their illustrious careers and conservation-minded photography at PDN’s PhotoPlus Expo. They will present “Lanting, Mangelsen, Wolfe: A Force Of Nature” on Saturday, October 29th at 12PM.

© Chris Buck.  Above: David Cross.

Chris Buck made news this summer with his Michele Bachmann Newsweek cover but he’s been kicking around celebrities and other dogs for over twenty years. We’re excited that he’ll be speaking at PDN’s Photo Plus Expo on Friday October 28th at 1:30 PM, BUCK NAKED: The Secrets Behind Master Photographer Chris Buck.

Mr. Buck begin his photography career 23 years ago, but you probably didn’t notice him until fairly recently, which, he believes, is one of the central keys to his success. In this entertaining session he’ll take us back to those crucial early years, where his unorthodox decisions led him to the success and creative freedom he enjoys today. Buck keeps no professional secrets as he takes you through his colorful career.

And, even though he swears that he rarely bad-mouths clients on his new blog, he is proud of it nevertheless.

All Photos © Fred Mayer.

Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha is a major influence on Swiss photographer Fred Mayer’s life and work over a six-decade photographic career. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hesse’s death, Mayer traveled with his wife Ilse to Varanasi, India, to retrace in images the life of Hesse’s protagonist in the time of Buddha. Their personal, spiritual response to the novel features local subjects acting out scenes for the camera. With an endorsement from Hesse’s grandson Silver Hesse adding cachet, in September 2011 Mayer self-published a 280-page homage to Hesse in a jubilee edition with Blurb. Mayer’s work is one of twenty notable projects featured in the seventh annual Best of ASMP, a publication of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). From Thursday, October 27 to Saturday, October 29 ASMP will be an exhibitor at PDN’s PhotoPlus Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. Stop by booth #1276 to pick up the print edition of the Best of ASMP or read extended interviews with all twenty featured photographers here.

(more…)

© Douglas Kirkland

Renowned for his work in photojournalism, celebrity portraiture and film photography, Douglas Kirkland’s retrospective is a compelling look into a career in photography spanning over five decades. With just under 200 images, this exhibition features portraits of celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, ‘Coco’ Chanel, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson and other icons, alongside iconic stills taken on the sets of acclaimed films such as The Sound of Music (1965), Out of Africa (1985), Titanic (1997) and Australia (2008).

“I had imagined my life and then I had lived it. My images tell the story of a dreamer with a camera in his hands. I have always seized the day. For me, photography has always meant to imagine and interpret persons, sites and events. I understand the world better with a camera.” —Douglas Kirkland
[Interview by Moria De Zen, Bassano Fotografia, 2011]. Kirkland’s retrospective at the Southeast Museum of Photography will run from October 21, 2011 – February 19, 2012. On Thursday, Oct 27 Douglas Kirkland will present a special keynote seminar at PDN’s Photo Plus Expo.