Flickr Find: The Destruction of Nagasaki

Posted on November 13, 2008 by Gary

Though most Americans learn about the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in standard history classes, very few actually seem to realize the significance of this event. Many dark moments in history are preserved and remembered by photographs of destruction and despair, but very few images of the atomic bomb's sheer power exist. As stated in this article on Design Observer, the U.S. Government imposed a strict code of censorship with regards to Japan's destruction just over a month after their surrender. This was obviously put in place to lessen the realization of America's pure destructive power, and to lessen the human side of the conflict. Fortunately, some photographs survived.

Flickr user afigallo posted a comment on the previously aforementioned article, bringing to light a series of photographs taken by the user's grandfather just after the bomb dropped. These photographs, found in this Flickr set, were "smuggled" via shoe boxes, as the images were not meant to be leaked at the time. And thanks to Flickr's services decades later, these photographs can be shown to the world.

Nagasaki, victim of the world's second atomic bomb attack, was destroyed on August 9, 1945 at 11:02am. The American strike resulted in 73,884 fatalities, as well as another 74,909 injured and several hundred thousand diseased and dying as a result of radiation. Another 140,000 were killed in the attack on Hiroshima. The vast majority of these deaths were civilian casualties, as well as Allied POWs, Korean and Chinese laborers, students, and Japanese American citizens. Though defenders of the attack claim that the death toll of the war would have been much higher had an invasion been planned, opponents consider this claim illogical and the attack inherently immoral.

The Big Picture: Storm-battered Yemen

Posted on November 11, 2008 by Gary

Silt and mud cover the land around damaged homes following two days of storms in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut on October 25, 2008. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images)

The Big Picture, by far the best blog for photojournalism geeks, posted some photographs of the recent flooding in the country of Yemen. In case you don't know, the Republic of Yemen (الجمهورية اليمنية) is an Arab country located on the south-west corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The floods started on October 23rd, and were a result of the 2008 Yemen Cyclone, aka Deep Depression ARB 02/2008. At least 1,700 homes were reported destroyed, along with 180 deaths and over $1 billion USD in damages.

The ancient city of Shibam is seen in this aerial photograph in the southeastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut, October 28, 2008. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)

The mystical city photographed here is the ancient city of Shibam (شبام‎), famous for its mud brick tower houses which are between 5 and 11 stories high. Known as the "Manhattan of the desert," the town was threatened by the major flooding, though it remains largely intact with the exception of a few houses which unfortunately toppled over.

Photographs courtesy of The Big Picture, posted without commercial intent.

Dubai’s Hidden Workforce

Posted on November 8, 2008 by Gary

One month ago, guardian.co.uk posted a story about the human labor behind the massive construction in the UAE's favorite larger-than-life province. Dubai is known as the home to many recently broken world records involving architecture. It also happens to host the most construction cranes in the world. Sandy deserts surrounding the main city have "forced" city planners to build upwards (and into the ocean, but that's a whole different story). While most tourists and travelers to the city awe at the architecture, nearly all fail to notice the sprawling labor camps set up on the city's outskirts. Kept away from the eyes of the public, these workers come from every corner of the Middle East and India. As The Guardian states, "Like hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, they each paid more than £1,000 to employment agents in India and Pakistan. They were promised double the wages they are actually getting, plus plane tickets to visit their families once a year, but none of the men in the room had actually read their contract. Only two of them knew how to read."

The profound photographs attached to The Guardian's investigative article open a portal into this unknown world, where countless individuals work for little pay in a world governed by the wealthy. Their passports are seized by the labor companies, and they are prevented access to even the most basic of healthcare. Though Dubai might host some of the world's most phenomenal sights, the untold story behind these wonders is one of sorrow and despair. Things may be changing, as conditions have actually improved in recent years, though not by much. You can read the entire article here.

Exploring The Hippie Trail on Flickr

Posted on November 7, 2008 by Gary

Sometimes I come across photos on Flickr that I just can't help but write about. These photographs, posted by Flickr user rorymac, were taken by traveler/photographer Daniel Smaller whilst traversing the Asia Overland Hippie Trail in 1977. The Hippie Trail, popular in the late Sixties and Seventies, was an overland route from Europe to Kathmandu which passed through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. The goal was to travel as cheaply as possible, often taking anywhere from a few months to a half a year to do so. Some even chose to settle in India and Nepal, living on a low budget for a matter of years. Travel was often by private (albeit run-down) private buses, hitchhiking, and trains.

Erik Pontoppidan has a great article about this overland route posted here. The sights and sounds encountered along this trail seem virtually unmatchable. Travelers, who at that time faced very little need for security, were presented with cultures that were still fairly unknown to the outside world. They found themselves traversing large expanses of desert, steep mountain passes, and snow covered hills. It was the golden age of backpack traveling, and helped to launch the movement so beloved by young folk today. This joy would be short lived, however, as American and Soviet fueled political tension in the Middle East quickly made the trail dangerous to navigate. Once peaceful and geographically gorgeous countries were turned into war zones overnight, and travel in the region all but disappeared. Though some pioneered routes that avoided areas of conflict, the trail would never quite be the same.

Though it was a hub for the adventuresome and new-age crowd, some operators did try to commercialize the trail in the mid-1970s. The most recent company to revitalize the trail is Ozbus, which navigates the route across 20 countries from London to Sydney in 13 weeks for a mere £3850. Though the service looks incredible, part of me would still rather do it the traditional way. Granted, I highly doubt I'll one day even get the opportunity to navigate this historic route. Regardless, I can still add it to my list.

Stunning Press Photographs From Afghanistan

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Gary

I absolutely love great photojournalism. I've always believed that photographs should tell a story, and photojournalists are often masters of this skill. Most individuals only know photojournalism as the photos that appear alongside news stories. In reality, a larger, and much deeper, world of phenomenal photography exists beyond this realm. Often times, truly remarkable photography is displayed by major magazines and news agencies in the form of photoessays. The Big Picture, however, brings to light wonderful works of photojournalistic art that otherwise might have gone unnoticed. I've written about The Big Picture before, and their content never fails to impress me.

A pair of ISAF soldiers stand on a hillside overlooking Kabul, Afghanistan on the night of January 11, 2008 (ISAF Photos)

In one of their most recent postings, The Big Picture highlights photographs taken by and of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is the UN Security Council's mission in Afghanistan that works separate from the United State's "Operation Enduring Freedom." The task force is "presently made up of over 53,000 troops from 43 different nations," which represents a large cross-section of world cultures. Living in the United States, one usually only hears about American troops overseas, which is a direct result of domestic ethnocentricity preached to the nation on both a local and national level. It is great to see these foreign troops appreciated, especially through these wonderful photographs. One thing that really jumped out at me in the image above is the landscape of the city at night. Anyone familiar with San Diego county knows that the climate and landscape of East County has much in common with the geography found in the Middle East. This photograph, complete with the illuminated antennas on the distant mountaintop, could have easily been taken in El Cajon or Santee.

German Bundeswehr army soldiers of the ISAF monitor a valley during a mission near Kunduz, Afghanistan on September 26, 2008. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)

Though I am not an advocate of war, and I strongly believe in peaceful diplomacy abroad, a large part of me wishes to become a war photographer. The emotional intensity involved with any conflict or war provides many opportunities for great photography and storytelling. As with any art form, I have seen many lackluster war photographs. But truly great photojournalists can take a simple subject--such as a soldier standing on a hillside--and create a feeling of wonder and awe. In addition to this, war photographers stand alone in their ability to truly capture the human side of war. Through their work, direct human emotion can be conveyed. Stories can be told, and lives can be touched. Photographs can inspire hope, and alternately fuel sadness and rage. The images I have posted here are only a sample of the truly great works of art found in The Big Picture's post on the ISAF efforts in Afghanistan, and I encourage everyone to click through explore this great photojournalism resource.

Photographs courtesy of The Big Picture, posted without commercial intent and solely for the purpose of increasing awareness of their blog.

Flickr Favorites: “Bastogne”

Posted on September 17, 2008 by Gary

Photo by Flickr user Bernard Schul

I came across this photograph by Flickr user Bernard Schul the other day, and felt the need to write about it. From what I can tell, this photo was taken during a reenactment of the attack on Bastogne, Belgium during World War II. The Siege of Bastogne lasted from mid-December 1944 to January 1945, and was a result of the German desire to control the crossroads where several main roads in the Ardennes met. Though this photograph was taken of a mere reenactment, it still captures the emotion of the moment in a fantastic manner. The depth of field and tonal range of this composition are also superb, and really reflect upon the dramatic undertones of the image. I'll be writing about more of my favorite photographs found on Flickr in upcoming posts.

The Big Picture: Hurricane Ike

Posted on September 15, 2008 by Gary

U.S. Air Force Pararescueman Staff Sgt. Lopaka Mounts, assigned to the 331st Air Expeditionary Group, receives a hug from a resident during search and rescue operations after Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas September 13, 2008. (via The Big Picture)

Today's post on The Big Picture features photographs of the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in the southern United States. I'm a sucker for great photojournalism shots, and the image above stood out as one of my favorites. The Big Picture is a great resource for anyone interested in photojournalism, as it showcases the best journalistic photography with image sizes much larger than most news agencies offer. It also makes the stories more personal, as the reader can actually get a better sense of the situation by viewing such stirring photographs.

Hurricane Ike, the fifth hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, formed on the first of September, and hit landfall in the United States on the night of 12 September near Galveston Bay, Texas. The storm then moved north into inland Texas towards Houston before finally losing strength as it swerved north-east and became a tropical depression on 14 September (source). Ike is estimated to be the third costliest hurricane in history with reported damages of $27 billion USD (source).

Color Photography of the 1940s

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Gary

Many individuals imagine old black and white images when they think of any time period before the advent of commonplace color photography in the mid-1960s. Let's face it: Our planet turned color right around the same time Technicolor was created (and I'm not referring to the dreamcoat, that came later). Mental_floss, however, reports on the addition of nearly two thousand color images to the Library of Congress Flickr page, all taken in the 1930s and 1940s.

These photographs were taken by Farm Security Administration photographers (famous for producing many iconic images from the Great Depression), as well as Office of War Information photographers. These passionate photographers traveled around the country photographing daily American life, something that most observers thought was a waste of money. Their creations, however, have spoken more about life during this time period than any text can communicate.

These photographs, due to the fact that they're in color, seem to make the time period come alive. I personally can't overcome how beautiful these images are, and the muted saturation that the color film used for these photographs creates makes these photographs even more unique. Though I recently had to sell off my film equipment for the money, I'd take a fifty-year-old rangefinder over a top-of-the-line DSLR any day.

The detail and clarity in these photographs is also worth noting. In a sense, these photographs are timeless. The photograph of the crane operator below, for example, looks just like something one would find over at Strobist. These images also speak wonders about the quality of the cameras and optics made during this time. Optics these days, even on the most expensive lenses, just don't seem to have quite the same personality that many classic lenses are known for.

These photographs ultimately paint a picture of wartime America that many Americans fail to appreciate and understand. The individuals in these photos weren't just distant grayscale ancestors. They were genuine human beings, just like everyone on our small planet. And though black and white photography has the ability to inspire, the degree of realism that color adds to these photographs creates depth beyond words.