A new exhibit is now open for viewing on the campus of Emporia State University giving residents a great snapshot of Emporia’s history through the eyes of one of its native sons.

“The Big Picture: Connecting with the Walter M. Anderson Collection” exhibit opened to the public inside the ESU Special Collection and Archives Department Wednesday afternoon. The exhibit features approximately 12,000 photographs and 20,000 negatives all shot by Andersen, a native Emporian and well-known photographer whose collection has been recognized as a “valuable source for historical research.”

Director of Special Collections and Archives Rebekah Curry tells KVOE News the collection is unique in comparison to other exhibits as while it focuses on Andersen it also “jumps off into other collections.”

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Andersen’s passion for photography began after he was drafted into the US Army during World War II. While stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska, Andersen met professional photographer Malcolm Graney who provided instruction and helped Andersen set up his darkroom on the base.

Following his time in the Army, Andersen and his wife Viola Gertrude Towle settled back in his hometown of Emporia where he worked as a train inspector while continuing to pursue photography on the side. He began to dedicate more time to his photography following his retirement in 1972 becoming a well-known and recognized photographer within the community.

For his work, Andersen was twice recognized as the Emporia Gazette’s Man of the Week in 1976 and 1991 and received a historic preservation award from Emporia Main Street in 1998. Curry says the exhibit will be available for viewing from now through August.

Bringing together a vibrant array of perspectives on urban life, the Street Life exhibition is a celebration of one of photography’s most consistently popular genres. Featuring the work of 18 photographers at various stages in their careers, including award-winning and emerging artists, the exhibition is a testament to the dynamic storytelling power of photography. Curated by Framelines magazine, known for its dedication to street and documentary photography since 2020, the exhibition showcases talents from Brooklyn, Colorado, Mexico City, and beyond.

A Glimpse into the Artists’ Worlds

Among the featured photographers is Lisa Barlow, whose narrative storytelling is influenced by her studies under Larry Fink at Yale. Barlow’s career spans documentary work for public television and teaching in NYC private schools. Her upcoming publication, Waterbury, 1981, promises to offer a glimpse into her early work upon leaving college. Similarly, Mario Carnicelli, an award-winning Italian photographer, offers viewers a unique lens through which to view the American experience, influenced by New Wave cinema and recognized with awards like the Prix Viviane Esders. Brooklyn’s own Billy Dinh, with his dramatic, cinematic style, and Josh Edgoose, a London-based photographer drawn to color and coincidence, are among the other notable names bringing their unique visions to the exhibition.

Exploring Urban Narratives

Each photographer presents a distinct approach to capturing urban life, from Harold Feinstein’s intimate portraits of New York City to Marc Riboud’s powerful compositions earned during his travels to China and North Vietnam. John Simmons, renowned for his multifaceted artistic talents and Shane Taylor’s exploration of everyday city life through an empathetic lens, further enrich the exhibition’s narrative. The inclusion of works from photographers like Andre D. Wagner, who captures the poetic nuances of daily life in Bushwick, and Michelle Groskopf, known for her editorial and commercial photography, underscores the exhibition’s diversity and depth.

The Essence of Street Photography

From the streets of Brooklyn to the alleyways of Tokyo, Street Life offers a compelling journey through the heart of urban landscapes. This exhibition not only invites viewers to see the world through the eyes of its photographers but also highlights the beauty and complexity hidden within the bustling streets of our cities. By bringing together such a diverse group of photographers, Street Life celebrates the essence of belonging and the concept of ‘home’ that lies at the heart of urban photography.

As cities continue to evolve, the relationship between urban development and photography becomes ever more significant. Exhibitions like Street Life not only provide a platform for artists to share their visions but also offer insights into the symbiotic relationship that photography and cities share. This exhibition, through its diverse array of lenses, invites us to reflect on the ever-changing landscapes of our urban environments and the stories they hold.

Moment is launching its annual spring sale today. If you’ve been looking for a chance to save on new gear for your photography setup – whether you shoot on an iPhone or DSLR – Moment has your back. The deals cover everything from new camera bags and slings to lenses for both mirror cams and your smartphone, MagSafe grips, and so much more. Did we mention full cameras? Shipping is free across the board, and you’ll want to shop all of the deals right here. Or just go check out our favorites below.

Moment makes some of our favorite photography accessories on the market and partners with other popular brands for the categories they aren’t directly in. The conversation with its gear really does start with its signature smartphone lenses, which happen to be on sale. All of the now previous-generation M series lenses are on sale and detailed in the list below. These are made for anything before the iPhone 14, and I previously reviewed just how good these are for upgrading the glass built into your smartphone.

Moment Lens discounts:

Moment is also marking down the companion iPhone series cases to go alongside all of the lenses. We already covered what to expect from the deals there, with different styles hitting $40 each for all of Apple’s latest smartphones.

You can shop the rest of the Moment spring sale over on this landing page for deals on tons of other photography accessories and gadgets.

More on the Moment Macro 10x Lens:

The Macro M-series Lens captures life-sized images of the smallest objects. Different from traditional macro photography, this lens works less than an inch away from the subject to capture rich textures, materials, and living things that our phones were never before capable of seeing. With low distortion and the sharpest glass imaginable, the Moment Macro Lens is perfect for capturing the tiny details that your phone’s naked camera will never be able to focus on.

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SOUTHERN INDIANA — Before he ever picked up a camera, David Modica had a passion for music.

He would mainly listen to Rock ‘n’ Roll from the late 1960s and the 1970s. After wanting to know more about the origins of his favorite genre of music, he traveled five times to the Mississippi Delta to learn about the Blues.

The Blues is one of the significant genres that inspired Rock music.

Modica is also a photographer from New Albany, and these trips to the Delta combined his two passions, photography and music.

He will be displaying the photos he took during his trips in an exhibit called “Down To The Crossroads, Images from the Mississippi Delta” at Harrison County Arts, 113 East Beaver St., Corydon, from March 15-May 11. An artist talk and Cogburn Coffee tasting is April 6 at 11 a.m.

“(The trips) started with a curiosity of about where Blues music came from and the culture of the Southern Country Blues and how its evolved,” Modica said.

Not only was he curious about the origins of Rock music, he was intrigued by the culture and buildings of the area.

With this exhibit, Modica wants to tell a story through his pictures. He wants to give people a feel for area, landscape and culture of the Mississippi Delta.

He wants to convey both the musical impact the area has as well as the culture of the area itself.

“I think there’s a reality here that there’s a lot of poverty in the South and so much of it’s deep rooted in not only slavery, but post slavery and the cotton production,” Modica said. “I’m trying to tell a story about what the South looks like today as it relates to the people that wrote the Blues, who felt the Blues.”

The first time Modica went to Mississippi, he met a man named Willie Seaberry who goes by the nickname “Po’ Monkey.” He has this sharecropper’s home in the middle of a cotton field in Merigold, Mississippi.

Seaberry told him that the home was used as a Juke Joint called “Po’ Monkey’s” that was only open on Thursday nights where he played live music for people. Modica met with him and Seaberry showed him around the Juke Joint and they spoke for about an hour.

In an article by Mississippi Folklife, it was reported that Seaberry died on July 14, 2016 and the Juke Joint. has since closed.

“He was a grounded guy, he wasn’t hyped up about his image or anything else,” Modica said. “But people came from all around the world to see Po’ Monkey’s.”

On his most recent trip, Modica went to a town called Bentonia, Mississippi and met with Jimmy “Duck” Holmes who plays music at and owns Blue Front Café.

When they met, Modica and Holmes sat next to a wood stove and talked about the history of the café and town.

“He explained to me some of the differences between Gospel and Blues players and there was crossover, but genuinely if you were a Blues person you grew up playing the Blues and not necessarily Gospel,” Modica said. “The kindest guy you’d ever meet. He was happy in his life.”

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When the Apollo astronauts snapped some 18,000 photographs on the moon in the 1960s, they did so with some very 1960s camera technology. Lacking viewfinders, the astronauts had to attach their cameras to their spacesuits’ chests. Reliant on photographic film, the astronauts needed separate equipment entirely to capture video.

If all goes to plan, Artemis astronauts will soon be taking their own trips to the moon. As such, NASA plans to equip them with some very 2020s camera technology — and the space agency will do so with the help of Nikon. NASA recently signed a Space Act Agreement with the Japanese camera maker, outlining how the company will build a bespoke camera that astronauts can carry on their moonwalks.

Related: Astronauts test moon camera design for future Artemis missions

A joint effort between Nikon and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama recently created a prototype lunar camera that they call a Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC). The team began with a mirrorless Nikon Z9, which is a camera available on the Earth market for about $5,000, combined with NIKKOR lenses.

NASA wants to have a good photography setup for the moon‘s low-light conditions. But when astronauts have to handle a camera with spacesuit gloves in Artemis’ target region, the lunar south pole — a land of extreme temperatures that’s strewn with shards of moondust and battered with radiation — simply carting along a standard Earth camera is not ideal. 

So, the HULC incorporates a thermal blanket, intended to protect the camera from dust, and 

engineers have given it a custom grip with buttons specifically designed for pressing down on with spacesuit gloves. Additionally, the Nikon Z9’s electronics have undergone modifications to make them more resistant to radiation.

Now, NASA and its partner agencies ESA and JAXA have begun putting the camera through rigorous testing. Astronauts have used the HULC during geology training on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, and suited astronauts have taken the HULC on simulated moonwalks in Arizona.

Ultimately, NASA wants the HULC to go up with Artemis III when that mission departs — now scheduled for 2026 — as it will put the first humans on the moon since Apollo 17’s last camera-snaps in 1972.

Unveiling a world both fragile and resilient, the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 finalists have been announced, showcasing breathtaking images that span human vulnerability to nature’s precarious beauty. Among the standout entries, Eddo Hartmann captures Kazakhstan’s haunting nuclear legacy in The Sacrifice Zone, while Jonas Kakó explores environmental impacts in Albania, and Jasper Doest frames wildlife’s confrontation with urban expansion in Zambia. These powerful visuals not only challenge our perceptions but also underscore the pressing environmental issues facing our planet.

Visions of a Radiant Yet Resilient Earth

Each photograph tells a unique story of endurance amidst adversity. Hartmann’s infrared landscapes reveal the unseen scars of nuclear testing in Kazakhstan, offering a stark reminder of humanity’s capacity for destruction and the lingering effects on the environment. The vivid red hues in his images serve as a metaphor for radiation contamination, invisible to the eye yet palpable in its presence. Hartmann’s work, alongside local scientists using similar technology, highlights the ongoing efforts to monitor and understand the environmental health of such devastated areas.

Humanity Intersecting with Nature

In contrast, Kakó’s imagery from the Albanian village of Zharrëz presents a more direct interaction between humans and their environment. A girl climbing an old oil tank symbolizes the resilience of communities living amidst pollution and neglect. This powerful image, shortlisted in the Environment category, raises critical questions about the legacy of industrial exploitation and its impact on future generations. Meanwhile, Doest’s dynamic portrayal of elephants charging through Livingstone, Zambia, exemplifies the growing tensions between wildlife habitats and urban expansion, a pressing concern for conservationists worldwide.

A Platform for Environmental Advocacy

The Sony World Photography Awards not only celebrate artistic excellence but also serve as a vital platform for raising awareness about environmental and conservation issues. By bringing these striking images to a global audience, the awards encourage a deeper reflection on our relationship with the planet and the collective action needed to address the ecological crises we face. The winners will be revealed on 18 April, followed by an exhibition at Somerset House, London, from 19 April to 6 May, offering an opportunity for visitors to engage with these compelling narratives firsthand.

As the exhibition date approaches, these photographs invite us to ponder the delicate balance between human activity and the natural world. Through the lens of the world’s finest photographers, we are reminded of the urgent need to protect and preserve our planet for future generations. This year’s finalists not only capture moments of stark reality but also inspire hope and action towards a more sustainable and conscientious global community.