The photos were like huge portals into forests all over California, ready to be entered if a spell allowed it. On one wall, you could step into a six-foot-tall image of a tangle of manzanitas, shiny and ochre-red, at Henry W. Coe State Park. On another, you could surround yourself in a spring-green fairyscape at a Briones Regional Park oak woodland. Near it was a grove of sequoias, outbeefing all other living things. Occasionally a figure, like a deer or the photographer himself, popped up in the midground like a two-inch Waldo, confronting the viewer with the enormity of the scene. But most photos had no central subject—no hero tree. “He’s not telling you where to look,” said Leslie Howard, a friend who accompanied photographer Stefan Thuilot, a Berkeley-based landscape architect, on some of his forest trips. He is giving you a way in.

Thuilot has photographed some 800 scenes like this across the state, in what he has dubbed the California Forest Project, and is still trucking along. The seed of the project was planted when Thuilot was taking a class with the UC Berkeley forest ecologist Joe McBride, who expressed frustration at the lack of a decent set of photographs depicting all the types of California forests. Mind you, there are a lot. Twenty percent of the state is forested. California has the biggest trees (sequoias), the oldest ones (bristlecone pines), and arguably some of the weirdest ones (Joshua trees). Innocently, Thuilot set out to photograph all forty-odd forest types and make himself useful. That was in 2017. 

Forests are ridiculously hard to photograph. There’s always some tree in the way, and greens that are even a little bit off can look terribly wrong. But Thuilot likes a technical challenge, and he isn’t afraid to go big. The photographs’ locations are burned in his head, often because they were so hard to get to. At Calaveras Big Trees National Park’s south grove, which has not seen fire for 130 years, it was like mountaineering getting through the undergrowth, with chasms yawning amid piles of branches. Thuilot once fell seven feet into such a gap. All this effort impressed McBride, who had, in his classes, long used photos that he had taken from roadsides. “I should have followed his lead and gotten in there!” he said.

At each forest spot, Thuilot systematically shot a grid of 18–24 photographs by making precise adjustments to his tripod. Later, he stitched them together; making one image may take a day. The resulting images contained an extraordinary amount of information, and Thuilot brought his landscape architect’s precision to the printing, which he did himself. He was inspired by 19th-century landscapes, where the painters tried to fit everything into a single huge scene.

McBride told me, “I see so much more in his photographs than I see in Ansel Adams’ photographs of the redwoods.” Where Adams used shadows for drama, Thuilot sought out overcast days to maximize the detail in the flora. In a century, someone could come back and shoot Thuilot’s scenes on another cloudy day, and learn what had changed. You can laser-scan the forests from aircraft and get images that are more immediately quantifiable. But Thuilot’s photos can show forests’ interior structure, from the understory up—and “they are much more readable,” McBride says.

The photographs turned out to be useful a lot sooner than Thuilot expected, as California’s forests began to burn. Sometime in the past decade, they began changing on the scale of days instead of decades. Thuilot was among the first to re-enter Sequoia National Park after it burned in 2017, setting out for the spot he had photographed earlier. Seeing it charred, he surprised himself: he was in tears. “These trees have so much to say. They’re so big and ancient.” But he also realized he could do some useful repeat photography himself, instead of leaving it for the next generation. Now Thuilot is working with fire ecologists to document Sierra forests before and after controlled burns. “Those photos could document the change created by the prescribed fire in the grove,” wrote UC Berkeley professor Scott Stephens, in a terse mid-fire-season email. They “could complement field data taken from the same area.”

At the gallery, McBride stood in front of the Sequoia National Park before/after. His ecologist brain was busy decoding their “hundred little messages.” The fire had been very hot. “What caused these trees to burn up so high, when there’s no fuel under them? What allowed this one to survive?” (He meant the weenie white fir.) Another photo, from the Russian Wilderness up near the Oregon border, showed eight different kinds of conifers. “To my knowledge, this is the only photo that captures that many tree species,” McBride said. A rare place, where such different ranges overlapped. Firewise, though, it looked like “trouble in the long run,” dense with greenery close to the ground. McBride, now an emeritus professor, had seen our current problems coming a long way off and had tried to warn people about it. “A lot of us predicted the fire era,” he said, modestly.

“What I see is something really powerful,” gallery visitor Bill Anelli said, with a thump to his chest. “Stirring and beautiful.” Anelli, who teaches environmental ethics at Modesto’s community college, wished his college could house a chapel of such photographs for his students to sit with and decide, sans instruction, what they thought about them. Many of them had never visited forests outside the Central Valley, he said. “You’ve heard of No Child Left Inside? All of that.” It’s true, redwoods have been scientifically documented to have a kind of chapel effect. McBride said he once took decibel meters into Muir Woods, and found that people quieted down measurably when they got into Cathedral Grove, even without any signage or humans to hush them. At least two other gallery-goers suggested that Thuilot’s photos should be printed on billboards or tall buildings. If you can’t go see the forest, maybe the forest can come to you. 

Since late 2019, photography museum Fotografiska has played host to amazing photography, art and culture exhibits inside an exquisite building in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. Unfortunately, though, although the historic structure may wow from the outside, it doesn’t seem to be working for the kinds of expansive photography exhibitions museum leaders want to showcase.

That’s why Fotografiska is closing its doors on September 29 and looking for a new home in New York City, museum officials confirmed to Time Out New York today. The staff will mount two final exhibitions at 281 Park Avenue South—one featuring works by Vivian Maier and another of Bruce Gilden photographs. 

RECOMMENDED: The best museum exhibitions in NYC right now

The venue’s Verōnika restaurant and Chapel Bar will also close in mid-June. Although Fotografiska’s new location will include a food and beverage program, officials said in a press release, it is unclear whether the same destinations will re-open at the new premise. 

Over the past five years—even as a pandemic swept through the world—the museum saw strong ticket sales and a highly-engaged membership base when setting up 48 exhibitions. That’s hopefully going to stay the same, and more, with an expanded gallery space in response to ambitious visions from artists. 

It’s become clear that our current space is not conducive to this vision.

“At the core of Fotografiska is a dedication to inspiring new perspectives by amplifying some of the greatest artists of our time,” said Yoram Roth, Executive Chairman of the Fotografiska Board, in a press release. “As it’s become clear that our current space is not conducive to this vision, our commitment to the city’s art scene remains unwavering.”

The building’s walls are only nine feet high, as compared to 12-foot walls at Fotografiska’s sister sites in Berlin, Shanghai, Stockholm, and Tallinn, as Artnet reported. That limits what the museum can show, and it’s even halted some projects by big names, the site reported.

“Our focus moving forward will be museum operations, upcoming projects in our current and temporary locations, and managing our relocation,” a representative told Artnet. “Unfortunately, this does mean a reduction down to a core team over the next few months.”

As an institution, Fotografiska was founded in Stockholm in 2010, and it’s expanded from there. Its mission is to create “a destination to discover world-class photography, eclectic programming, elevated dining, and surprising new perspectives.”

Despite its limited space in New York City, it’s managed to achieve that goal here. The museum featured the first lifetime retrospective in the US of David LaChapelle’s work, introduced Daniel Arsham’s photography work, and premiered Andres Serrano’s Infamous series. The museum also mounted exhibitions of New York City based artists such as Kia LaBeija, Adrienne Raquel, Martin Schoeller, Pixy Liao, and Ethan James Green.

Plus, it celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with a sprawling exhibition in partnership with Mass Appeal. It also adorably featured more than 100 photos exploring the unbreakable bond between humans and their pets.

Before the museum closes its doors at this location, don’t miss its Vivian Maier show, running from  May 31 to September 29, and its show on legendary street photographer Bruce Gilden, running from June 21 to September 29. A new exhibition documenting 100 years of nightlife in New York City will be  presented in a temporary location following the closure of 281 Park Ave. South.

This news comes after The Rubin Museum of Art announced the closure of its physical space as of October 6, instead going for decentralized model. 

Santa Clarita homeschooled teens Andreya Garcia and twin brothers Eithan and Matthew Gaxiola were looking for enrichment programs to meet other students their age. On their own separate accounts, all three 10th graders joined the 12-week-long California Institute of the Arts Community Arts Partnership Photography Lab Program. 

Every Saturday, the three students along with 30 others from Los Angeles County high schools attended the CalArts campus to learn the technical procedures and explored how to photograph film and develop images in a dark room, a style that isn’t practiced much anymore.  

On May 11, the program ended with a special reception and an exhibition so students could showcase their original photographs with friends and family at the Old Town Newhall Library. 

The exhibit, titled “From the Sweet Flypaper of Life,” is available for viewing until July 16. The theme was to capture moments that depicted “home” to them. The still images were diverse, all completely different from one another.  

Matthew and Eithan have moved homes a lot throughout their lives. In a photo titled “Got Time” Matthew captured a large clock that was hung up on a wall. The clock is the first thing he sees every morning and the object, which may seem insignificant to many people, has been a constant item throughout many moves, said Matthew. Matthew knows he’s home when he sees the clock every morning.  

Eithan captured a photo titled “The Boy’s Room” where he and his brother along with a friend were composing music for their newly established band. Recently it’s been one of their activities and they spend a lot of time with one another practicing their musical instruments and honing in on the creative endeavor.  

Garcia captured a photo of a friend at the Old Town Newhall Library, a place where she spends a lot of time and enjoys, she said.  

The program, open to all students with or without photography experience, aims to expose participants to different creative avenues. The program also provides bus transportation for inner-city students who may not have the resources for the commute up to the Santa Clarita Valley.  

Teachers Alejandro Sanchez and Evelyn Yin spent a lot of time helping the students develop their technical skills and confidence but the biggest reward for them as teachers was helping the students find their voice.  

“You start to talk about [the work]. They get to share their voice on different artworks. It’s not necessarily their work but we might show [them] professional artists or we will go to take a look at some of the CalArts students work exhibitions, and to hear them bring their voice and find their voice is huge,” he said. “Have them break out of that shell and blossom.”  

“That’s what’s great about putting a camera in the youth’s hand. Art is a language and if you cut off the art, you cut off the language. This is a form of language and it gives a voice to the students.”  

Eithan picked up a camera in junior high school and fell in love with photography. During the program, learning how long the process it took to develop one still image and the tedious process was a “completely different experience,” he said. A piece of advice he hopes future students will take if interested in the program is to “feel free to have your imagination go wild.”  

In a thought-provoking TED Talk, artist-photographer Felisa Tan takes us on a journey through her life and the profound lessons she has learned through photography. With over 15 years behind the camera, Tan’s insights offer a unique perspective on how photography can help us appreciate life’s beauty and complexity. Her poetic narrative, paired with captivating images, challenges our preconceptions about photography and invites us to explore universal truths often overlooked in our daily lives.

Tan begins by sharing her early struggles with understanding her place in the world, a feeling many of us can relate to. She discovered photography at the age of 14, which became more than just a hobby—it evolved into a way of life. Through the lens, she found joy in the ordinary and learned to see the extraordinary in everyday moments.

One of the key lessons Tan highlights is the importance of curiosity. Photography, she explains, encourages a spirit of inquiry and openness. This beginner’s mind, as it’s called in Zen Buddhism, allows us to see the world with fresh eyes and a sense of wonder. Tan’s careful image-making process is rooted in this slowed-down inner reality, which helps her capture the deeper essence of her subjects.

Honesty is another virtue Tan emphasizes. Being truthful about what sparks our interest requires courage, as it often reveals our inner hopes, fears, and desires. Tan’s work strives to conserve the soul of her subjects, reflecting her real-life experiences rather than just their physical appearance. This authenticity, she believes, allows her to communicate more effectively with her audience.

Tan also explores the themes of love and generosity. She views photography not as taking but as making—an act of giving attention, intelligence, and presence to create something new. This perspective shifts the focus from acquiring images to receiving them as gifts, fostering a sense of gratitude and appreciation for the world around us.

Lastly, Tan discusses the concept of impermanence. Photography, she says, teaches us to be present and appreciate each fleeting moment. This awareness of life’s transience helps us see beauty more fully and live more mindfully.

Tan’s TED Talk is a powerful reminder of the transformative potential of photography. By cultivating curiosity, honesty, love, generosity, and an awareness of impermanence, we can enrich our lives and deepen our understanding of the world. Through her lens, Felisa Tan invites us to slow down, look deeply, and find meaning in the simple act of seeing.

DULUTH, Minn. — A group of teen photographers are having their work showcased at an art gallery this weekend.

The nine aspiring photographers are with the Youth Photography Club through the Duluth Art Institute.

The photos range from various subjects such as nature, animals and buildings.

Here’s what some of the young photographers said about their favorite photo they are showcasing.

“It’s cool, because I didn’t know you could draw with just a flashlight and a camera, and it turns out to look super cool,” said teen photographer Owen Fisher.

“Probably the one of Zurich, Austria, the one with the lights and the river at night,” said teen photographer Thomas Sharpe.

“I like how vibrant the colors are in the sky, and I also like how it contrasts with the black buildings,” said teen photographer Joshua Paulson.

The Youth Photography Club meets monthly from September through May, for teens 13 and up.

The exhibit will be open this Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 4 p.m.