Introducing ultra-thin LED panels

The new ultra-thin light panels are a marvel of LED technology. They are thin enough that we are able to use high quality wood and metal frames (not included) instead of the bulky, snap-together frames used with other light boxes.

In this example we worked with our custom framer to create beautiful, solid wood frames for the finished piece which allow room for an AC power cord. Finally, to make sure the presentation is perfect we face-mounted the transparencies to PlexiGlas for a beautiful glowing presentation.

The fluorescent bulbs often used with Duratrans™ tend to fade the image quickly. We have been testing light panels over the last several months and are excited about the durability and color integrity of transparencies with these new ultra-thin LED panels.

These panels can also be displayed without a frame for a more pronounced effect. The light panel not only illuminates the transparency but also creates a nice wash effect on the wall which the piece is displayed.

A Camera as Big as a New York Apartment

Imagine looking at a 24-foot photograph of your face, created with such detail that if you got up on a ladder with a magnifying glass you could inspect the angles at which your eyebrow hairs were growing. This is what photographer Dennis Manarchy wants to create. Manarchy is bucking the trend towards tiny, discrete digital cameras and Photoshopped perfection by creating a camera the size of a New York apartment.

The camera extends 35 feet in length—big enough for the photographer and his assistant to throw a tea party inside it.

This massive dream camera has not yet been completed—Manarchy is still raising money on Kickstarter, but in the meantime he has been playing with this far less mobile prototype:

This camera requires 4.5 x 6 feet negatives, which are viewed using an actual window as a lightbox. Developing them requires taking a shower in chemicals. But now that Manarchy has finally found film large enough for his purposes, he’s enjoying himself. (As you can see in the gallery above; for a while, he had to piece sheets together).

“Last night, we were down in the dark room, processing these huge sheets,” Manarchy tells me on the phone. “I’m entirely covered in chemicals, but I’m thinking I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

His excitement is evident in his voice throughout our interview. This man who has been making portraits for decades sounds like he’s just discovered a new superpower. And in a way, he has: the power of going very, very big.

“What motivated me was Chuck Close, the painter, whose photo-realistic paintings I almost found more striking than the photos that he was painting, because of the viewing size,” he tells me.

If you blow up a tiny negative that big, the resulting image looks clear and faithful, he says. But then you compare the eyelash in the photograph to an eyelash made with single brush stroke. “It’s like the difference between a paper airplane and a rocket ship and it brings the whole thing to another level.”

Of course, we are accustomed to seeing people blown up big—on the sides of buildings and on billboards. But using film of this magnitude—offering 1,000 times greater detail than the average digital photograph—gives it a different, rather surreal quality, Manarchy says.

“Stanley” by Chuck Close at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. (Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images.)

There’s another side to working at this scale (and price), of course. There’s no room for error or for retakes. He makes each person’s portrait exactly once, which requires extreme selectiveness when it comes to choosing subjects.

Who deserves to be photographed in such a way? Manarchy believes members of “vanishing cultures” do. This is the name he has given to the project, and his work with early prototypes has focused on members of groups on the verge of extinction—Holocaust survivors, the Tuskeegee airmen, tiny Native American tribes, remote rural communties. That said, he’s a photographer fascinated by faces, so he’s not opposed to just throwing some “fabulous people of character” in there, essentially because they’re  cool.

Manarchy hopes to raise enough money through his Kickstarter project to get the dream camera-RV rig built and then take it on the road. Right now, his prototype is not particularly mobile; to take pictures of remote groups, he’s had to build cameras on location. In a swamp in Louisiana, he turned an old fish house into a camera, after spending several days fishing and hanging out with the Cajun community. Surprisingly, perhaps, his slow, on-site method did not prompt any particular skepticism, he says. What would have left them truly alarmed, he believes, is if another photographer had suddenly arrived, snapped 1,000 quick photos and then sped away.

Via: http://www.slate.com

Judith Joy Ross

Judith Joy Ross taking a break from printing to photograph our resident fish Lola with her 8×10 camera.

New Exhibit at Mid-Town Manhattan Library for CEO (Center for Employment Opportunities)

Released Project Opens at Mid Manhattan Library from CEOWorks on Vimeo.

Great new papers from Awagam Ink Jet Paper (A.I.J.P)

Dear Friends, We are constantly reviewing and beta testing supports for digital printing. Mainstream manufacturers of high-end papers now offer a variety of papers for fine art usage, as well as high quality commercial options. At the present moment the highest quality papers are excellent, but also very similar.

These papers have a wonderful, organic look and feel that I am excited to share with you. We are offering free test prints on each support. You must be available to come in and discuss the papers and provide feedback.Please reply to this email by this Friday, December 9th. Include a one line description of what you would like to print and we will review and contact 10 people.For more information about Awagami: www.Awagami.com  I began researching papers that could offer something different and unique for fine art use. I found Awagami. They have 300 years of paper-making knowledge and have developed ECO friendly organic papers for digital printing. I selected five papers for testing: Kozo – thick, white, 110 GSM Inbe – thick, white, 125 GSM Unryu – thin, 55 GSM Bamboo – deckles, 220 GSM Bizan -thick, hand made, deckles, 300 GSM These papers have a wonderful, organic look and feel that I am excited to share with you. We are offering free test prints on each support. You must be available to come in and discuss the papers and provide feedback. Please reply to this email by this Friday, December 9th. Include a one line description of what you would like to print and we will review and contact 10 people. For more information about Awagami: www.Awagami.com Kozo thick has fantastic translucency for screen application

As always, new clients that want to test our printing are offered a free test on one of our standard high quality papers. Just call us to set up an appointment. Sincerely,

Ken Allen  Ken Allen Studios 718.384.3278

Terra Cibus – A commercial photographer turns to a laboratory in this collection of foodie art

Driven by recent concerns over the nature and origin of our daily bread, Caren Alpert set out to examine common foods on a more intimate level. Armed with a scanning electron microscope, the photographer undertook Terra Cibus, her largest project to date. Commenting on the equipment used to take her shots, Alpert explains, “This is not something you put on a counter at a lab and you look through an eyepiece. It’s the size of a small bedroom.” Without an academic background in science, Alpert spent the first three months researching the equipment that would be necessary to photograph the microscopic surfaces of foods.

The process was involved, and Alpert had to rely on the help of a technician in Arizona while she curated and sent samples from the Bay Area. Foods need to be dehydrated first and coated with different metals before they are ready, a process that can take 2-6 weeks. When the samples were ready to shoot, Alpert would travel to Arizona. The process of shooting didn’t look anything like a normal photo shoot, in which hundreds of shots can be rattled off in a few hours. It could take a day to get a dozen images, and traversing the surface of the food was painstakingly slow at high magnifications. The sensitivity of the machine was another matter. Situated at the far end of the building from the elevator, Alpert explains, “The slightest bit of movement can affect the machine during a capture.” Working within these constraints, Alpert was able to produce some of the most fascinating food photography in recent memory.

A commercial photographer by trade, Alpert makes her fine art debut with Terra Cibus. “Everything came out of this naturally,” she explains. “I had no idea what I was going to get when I started this project. I honestly had no idea what the scanning electron microscope could produce, so everything from the word ‘go’ was a surprise to me and very serendipitous.” The results are stunning, and often elicit a double-take from the viewer. With fortune cookies that resemble martian landscapes and shrimp tails that look like bird feathers, the images were often surprising to Alpert herself. “When I shot that shrimp tail, obviously I was flabbergasted by what I saw and couldn’t figure out why shrimp have feathers. I was so caught up in this question that I called up the Monterey Bay Aquarium.”

The name Terra Cibus roughly translates as “nurturing from the earth,” and so it’s appropriate that the photographs of sustenance resemble familiar terrains. Alpert recalls reading the children’s science magazine 3-2-1 Contact, which used to have abstracts of everyday life for children to identify with a guess. Her work has a similar effect, relying heavily of the viewer’s subjective experience. Looking at one of her pieces, it’s often hard to classify it as food, art, science or simply technological exploration.

A large portion of the work is on display at the James Beard Foundation in New York, and prints can be purchased by contacting the artist directly through her website.

More images from the show and a description of each of the works in the gallery after the jump

Via: http://www.coolhunting.com

Unpublished Photos Of Boxer Joe Frazier From ‘Life’

Boxer Joe Frazier, who infamously beat Muhammad Ali in the 1971 “Fight of the Century,” died Monday at 67.

In addition to photographing that legendary fight, 24-year-old John Shearer spent the months before it photographing both contenders for Life magazine. A handful of those photos were published, but most remained completely unseen until recently.

Our news blog has more info on Frazier’s death; and there’s a full gallery of Shearer’s unseen boxing photos over at Life. Here are just a few shots of Frazier in the months leading up to his big fight — and one immediately after.

Via: http://www.npr.org

I’m jealous of joseph egan & hunter thomson

Ok, so do you remember when I wrote about the work of Felice Varini? If you do, then these installations might look somewhat familiar. They were done by Joseph Egan and Hunter Thomson, students at theChelsea College of Art & Design. They wanted to create a body of work that explored a “possible relationship between graphic design and architecture”, and while doing so they “discovered the process of anamorphosis as used by the fine artist Felice Varini.” Well, I think it’s safe to say that they did, in fact, nail this assignment… A+!

Via: thejealouscurator.com

Exploring a New, But Cautious, Tripoli

Moises Saman returned to Libya on assignment for The New York Timesshortly after the fall of Tripoli at the end of August. Since then, Mr. Saman, a nominee for membership in Magnum Photos, has had the rare opportunity to photograph more freely. That was in stark contrast to the first leg of his Libyan assignment spent in a press pool covering the forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi — at times even confined to his hotel room. Lately he has been able to roam through a different, less familiar, side of the country that has captivated him.

“It’s probably one of the main stories of my generation,” said Mr. Saman. “It’s such a historic kind of event that I think the implications are still not understood, to what extent it’s going to change the region. I think I want to keep exploring it and trying to be a part of it.”

James Estrin, David Gonzalez and Kerri MacDonald spoke with Mr. Saman late Thursday evening. Their conversation has been edited and condensed.

Q: The story has really changed in Libya since you returned.

A: It has, yeah. I think for everybody who has been following this conflict, it came as a surprise how quickly this came down. It’s been an intense month, with the fall of Tripoli and all the changes that are happening around here. Even though, as you know, there are still fronts — one in Surt and another one in Bani Walid.

Q: You mentioned before the changes kind of surprised you. How did that effect how you were working?

A: The first couple of weeks, it was very different to work. You kind of had to feel your way around on a daily basis, and obviously move with a lot of caution, especially around Tripoli. Because as I said, this was such a quick surprise that everybody thought that there were still a lot of loyalists around town and this was a strategic lull in the fighting.

Everybody was really scared and that made it very, very difficult to move around. Since then, things have quieted down a lot in Tripoli. Now you’re free to move around pretty much everywhere around town, even though at night there are still sporadic reports of attacks on rebel checkpoints around the city. But it’s become a lot easier.

Moises Saman for The New York Times

Hundreds of displaced people from Tawerga sheltered at an abandoned naval academy in Tripoli.

Q: This new freedom is a lot different from how you first started out in Libya, working with Qaddafi minders.

A: Still every time I think about it, it’s pretty surreal to see this town before and after Qaddafi, as far as all the restrictions that we had and what I spoke about in previous Lens posts, working under Qaddafi’s regime and working with minders. Right now, I’m actually even driving my own car here. (It’s one of the translators’, but I prefer to drive it myself.) Before, we were bused around and very much controlled 24 hours a day.

Q: What do you notice now that you didn’t before?

A: I guess one of the main things is the amount of dissent that was already here in Tripoli against Qaddafi. Before you couldn’t tap into that, because everybody was so scared of talking to foreigners, especially journalists. Overnight, the whole town raised the rebel flag and it was basically like turning a switch on and off. That’s probably what struck me the most in this month, as far as the changes.

Q: Are there any particular areas or themes or subjects that you’re most attracted to now?

A: Well, one subject that I’ve been trying to follow up a lot is the state of the African migrants, as well as other African communities — Libyans of African descent — that have taken a lot of the brunt of this conflict. There are more human stories, trying to find out what’s happening to people now that the rebels are in charge. It’s kind of an unclear situation, as far as where the country’s going to go.

Q: How have you been able to pursue that story now that you have more freedom?

A: This is something that David Kirkpatrick and I have been following even since the beginning. When we first arrived in Tripoli in February of this year, we saw those incredible scenes at the airport of all the migrants. There were thousands of people camped outside of the airport living in what looked like refugee camps.

It seems like not much has changed. They’re not in the airport anymore, but there are at least two or three camps around Tripoli. The rebels seem to think that every black man is either a mercenary or a Qaddafi supporter, so they’re in a lot of danger of being arrested for no reason.

Moises Saman for The New York Times

A worker inside the hull of a Syrian cargo ship delivering wheat in the port of Tripoli.

Q: One of your images is a photograph of a man dwarfed by the hull of a ship. What was going on?

A: That was a Syrian cargo ship that docked in the port here in Tripoli. It was a shipment of wheat they brought into Tripoli. I went to take pictures aboard the ship.

We went to the port because we heard reports that there were ships arriving with cargo, but that they didn’t have enough people to unload them and there was a shortage of workers. The city is not back to 100 percent. The workforce is not out in the street in full yet. There are still a lot of cautious people who feel like they can’t show up for work just yet.

Q: Now that you’ve spent some time in Libya, and this has been an extraordinary experience for photojournalists —

A: — Yes, and a very, very dangerous one, too, as you know —

Q: — Yes. Are there any lessons you take out from Libya?

A: Without sounding too corny, I guess it’s just how terrible war is for the people that are just trying to go on with their lives. And the amount of death and destruction and suffering that this conflict has brought for many people. I don’t know if there’s a lesson as far as my work and approach. But honestly, two good friends of mine died covering this conflict. You always want to keep that with you.

Q: When are you leaving?

A: I’m actually trying to get out of here soon. Maybe sometime next week, I hope. But I plan to continue covering the region. The first elections in Tunisia are coming up.

Q: What are your feelings about leaving Libya?

A: I’m ready for a break. I’m also really eager for some fall weather. I’ve been in this part of the world now for most of the year and the weather doesn’t change much.

Moises Saman for The New York Times

A fax sent from British Intelligence MI6 to their counterpart in the Libyan intelligence service found in a file at the Tripoli home and office of Musa Kusa, the former head of Libyan intelligence who defected to the United Kingdom in March of 2011.

Via: lens.blogs.nytimes.com

Joseph Rodriguez for New York

Fantastic series shot by Joseph Rodriguez for this weeks New York magazineWelcome to Newburgh, Murder Capitol of New York. Every once in a while I wonder if I should cancel my subscription but stories like this remind me of how much I need to see photos in print — especially when they are, deservingly, spreads and full pages. See the rest, here.

Joseph Rodriguez

Joseph Rodriguez

Joseph Rodriguez

Joseph Rodriguez