Photography, as a form of artistic expression, possesses a profound ability to capture fleeting moments, evoke powerful emotions, and transport viewers into the depths of imagination and contemplation. Likewise, Cristina Garcia Rodero’s staggering photographs left an indelible mark on the world of documentary photography and visual storytelling. With a keen eye for capturing the essence of human experiences and cultural traditions, Garcia Rodero’s photographs transport viewers into vibrant and often marginalized communities, offering a window into their unique rituals, beliefs and ways of life.

Through her distinctive style and sensitive approach, she delves deep into the human condition, exploring themes of identity, spirituality, and the resilience of the human spirit. Her evocative images not only serve as visual narratives but also challenge societal perceptions, fostering empathy and understanding across cultures. Her contributions to the field of photography have garnered numerous accolades, including being the first Spanish photographer to become a member of the renowned international photo agency Magnum.

During her visit to Istanbul for a conference titled “Journey to the Unknown,” organized by the collaboration of the Spanish Embassy in Türkiye and Cervantes Institute in Istanbul, I had a chance to interview this great artist, whose work engulfed me as I witnessed documentation of mythology in her works.

It is common for photo artists to capture the ritualistic moments of societies. They often encounter portraits, historical places or beautiful landscapes. Therefore, when asked what motivates Rodero to photograph these sacred moments, she said: “These moments are about breaking everyday life, the day-to-day, the work. It’s a moment to pause and change the rhythm, open up to everyone and desire to be happy. So it’s about making food, bringing music, drinking, dancing and doing things that are not done or not usually done throughout the year as a whole community. And these moments always break with the established order. They are moments like changing seasons or the end of a harvest or remembering a historical event.”

For Rodero, rituals have long played a significant role in the history of human beings and their communities. In certain instances, entire communities have come together to offer sacrifices and express gratitude in response to events such as epidemics, plagues or other momentous occurrences. These rituals serve as a commemoration of the community’s liberation from adversity, a gesture of thanks for the newfound freedom.

“Giving thanks for something that has happened most of the time, or they are supplications. ‘I want it to rain; let the water come, my God, let it rain.’ So some people go into the river with the image, with the religious part, with the sacred part. But they go into the river and sing, asking for rain,” she elaborated.

“I finished Fine Arts; I studied painting; I studied photography. So, after finishing Fine Arts, I had a scholarship in Italy. And in Italy, I was alone for three months. And there, I remembered Spain a lot because of the loneliness I felt. And I could also buy many photography books, which were scarce in Spain and the scholarship truly changed my life. Because I asked for it to work on the villages in Spain, but in general, their architecture, their landscape, their food, their jewelry, their traditional costumes, there are so many traditional costumes in Spain, incredibly beautiful,” she said.

“When I discovered the festivals, I said, I don’t want anything else, I don’t want anything more. This is rich enough, and it has everything. It has the cuisine, it has the costumes, it has the jewelry, but it has the history. Life. You discover the reasons behind many things, behind their manifestations. And it seemed so rich and beautiful that it fulfilled my life. It filled me and excited me because I had very little idea of what reportage was. I came from portraiture. I was always interested in human beings. But festivals are action. And I used to do posed studio portraits. Well, I had to change my mindset and stop doing portraits because the action was much more interesting than the perfection I was seeking,” Rodero added.

By doing so, Rodero embarks on a journey to discover her country’s sacred rituals and longstanding festivals, leaving almost no unexplored area in Spain.

“Wanting to get to know Spain, wanting to talk about Spain, realizing that Spain had a lot of popular wealth, a lot of history, because Spain, being a peninsula, has had many invasions. It has invaded, but before that, it was invaded by many peoples. So there is a tremendous variety of things. There were Jews; there were Arabs; with the Arabs, it was eight centuries, they left their culture, they left a lot of knowledge, especially about the use of water. The Jews left a lot of astronomy, banking, and the Arabs left culture because they were much more educated than the Christians, much more educated, and they lived very normally. Everyone was fine, very integrated. Until the Catholic monarchs came, and they wanted to be unique, the only country, only Christianity, but for interests, more economic interests than spiritual interests,” she explained.

As Rodero photographed the most sacred moments of the people who are practicing the rituals, the whole process requires mutual trust between the subject and the photographer.

“It usually depends on the type of festival it is. Some are very intimate and some are very open. So, I think being a woman has made it easier for me to connect with people. Because when I started, which was in 1973 when I began, it wasn’t normal for a woman to travel alone to villages. People always thought I was there to sell things, carrying big bags with photographic equipment and a sleeping bag,” she said.

“On the other hand, Spanish people are very open and very trusting. I really like people; I participate in everything I can. I try to be as unobtrusive as possible. It’s about understanding the other person because if you’re chasing someone with a camera, it can be very aggressive. I try with my behavior to be as non-aggressive as possible and as affectionate as I can be. The camera helps you a lot. It can be very aggressive, but it can also be a bond. The camera is like an octopus, where one of its tentacles can caress people, or it can hold their hand with the camera, spiritually,” she said.

“In their own way, they create another portrait of you. This woman is nice; she is trustworthy. She’ll come back next year. Or she’ll be a bird of prey that comes and eats, flies away and doesn’t return. Like Attila’s horse. Because wherever he went, grass wouldn’t grow. I would climb; I don’t know how many kilometers carrying equipment and work for 10 consecutive hours. Maybe seven hours without eating and people observe you. And then they tell you. They create their own portrait of you and know if they can trust you. Again, it’s about respect for photography, for the pride of learning about their customs and traditions,” she added.

In Rodero’s style of uniqueness, for me, there is an evoking of gothic and grotesque, maybe an origination from rituals’ very own nature. For example, Rodero explained one of the attention-catching festivals she witnessed: “Corpus Christi is the celebration of Christ, the way to worship Christ, is to communicate. It is also the celebration of the body of God. And there is a man who symbolizes the devil. And the procession goes through the streets. And the priest blesses them. Before the blessing, the devil jumps and it means that the devil leaves their bodies because God will bless them. Protection for children born in that year.”

“And the priest walks through the streets of the town and they place eight mattresses with the children born during the year. But I haven’t found anything like this anywhere else in the world. But I did find in Mexico that children were placed on the ground and a man walked over them. And in India, I have seen it too, but there are no children. There are people. Of all ages, women, men, and children. So this Indian priest walks on them. But the meaning is not about the devil leaving the body, but it is about protection. Stepping on those bodies does protect people,” she remarked.

In Rodero’s journey to explore the sacred rituals and longstanding festivals of her homeland in Spain, she discovers a world where everything is interconnected. These rituals, she realizes, serve as a profound way of connecting with the sacred and paying homage to the ancestors. From dramatic and unique moments that evoke powerful emotions to instances filled with a great sense of humor, tenderness and even the presence of peculiar characters, Rodero witnesses the diverse tapestry of human existence within these rituals.

Through this rich blend, she comes to appreciate the depth and complexity of humanity, finding moments that resonate deeply with her own spirit. With each new encounter, Rodero immerses herself in the captivating world of these rituals, where the boundaries between the spiritual realm and the human experience blur, revealing the inherent interconnectedness at the core of her culture’s traditions.

Mjaji, who started his photography company, Innovative Photography, in 2021 said the picture of his niece was an idea that started when he planned his “My Footprint” project.

“I wanted to capture the essence of South Africa and its love for children, as well as showcase the products that are popular in our country. I saw an opportunity to involve Albany, a well-known bread brand, and decided to incorporate it into the shoot,” he said.

To make it happen, he requested support from his mother, who has always been supportive of his artistic endeavours.

“She provided me with the necessary funds to buy Albany bread for the shoot. It is heartwarming to have her encouragement and willingness to help me, even if it means buying items specifically for my photography,” he said. 

During the shoot, he explained the concept and importance of the images to his niece. He shared with her the idea of going to Gauteng  with her, symbolising a journey of success and opportunity.

“Lethukukhanya understood the assignment and willingly participated, displaying her natural talent. Together, we created images that resonate with the South African audience and capture the spirit of the child and our country,” he said.

He said as he focuses on his future, he is committed to continuing with his studies at the Tshwane University of Technology and further expanding his skills and knowledge. He said he would keep shooting every day, driven by his belief that every day holds creative potential.

“Through my photography I hope to inspire others, challenge stereotypes and pave the way for the next generation of photographers. I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and grateful for the support I have received on this journey,” he said.

His TikTok video of the shoot with his niece was shared by the Love Albany Bread page on Facebook.

He confirmed Albany branch managers have reached out to him but were waiting for their bosses to respond.

ISTANBUL

İzzet Keribar, who has been recording the city and people for years, told about his adventure of becoming a master photographer.

“Compared to now, I think that I have photographed Istanbul very little. Because we could not predict that Istanbul would change so much. We thought that boats in Karaköy would always stay,” he said.

Keribar, one of the photography masters in Türkiye, grew up in Istanbul during World War II. He recorded the city and its people for years.

The master photographer, who still produces, brings together his favorite snapshots of Istanbul in a newsy opened exhibition, titled “Enchanted City” (Efsunlu Istanbul),  which opened at Üsküdar Nevmekan Sahil Gallery, curated by Erkan Doğanay.

Speaking about when he first met the camera and the change in Istanbul, Keribar said, “There was a Zeiss camera in the form of a black box at home. I used it for fun. But it was my older brother who changed my life. We used to explore Istanbul and take pictures with him every weekend. We would visit as many mosques and historical places as there were. I got a Leica machine that I wanted so much in high school. When I was 16-17 years old, I was taking pictures like crazy, never leaving the camera with me. However, when compared to now, I think I photographed Istanbul very little. This makes me feel so sad. Because we did not expect that Istanbul would change so much. We thought that the boats in Karaköy would always stay there.”

Stating that not everyone could take photography in the past, Keribar said, “It used to be a privilege to take photos. However, photography was not seen as a profession. Ara Güler, Sami Güler and a few journalists were the best-known photographers.”

Expressing how he has developed in the field of photography, Keribar said, “I became a reserve officer at the age of 20 and went to Korea as a volunteer translator. I had a desire to explore a terrifying world. When I went to Korea, I took my machine in my hand. Over time, my profession of photography came to the fore.”

Stating that he was not happy in his other jobs, Keribar said, “When I returned to Istanbul, I met my wife and got married. Of course, once we got married and started a family, priorities changed. First of all, I got into the decoration and textile business. I was making money, but I was not happy. However, after a long trip to the U.S. in the 1980s, I bought a camera again. Then I took incredible shots. I said, ‘I will continue taking photography’ and did so. Then came competitions, awards and exhibitions.”

Recounting a memory about the late photographer Ara Güler, Keribar said, “We knew each other, but I fell in love with the Tarlabaşı demolitions in 1986. I was taking pictures in the dust, and there was only Ara Güler. He said, ‘There is no one else but you and me at such an important moment. You are the real photographer.’ I was doing other jobs, and he was a reporter.”

Stating that Istanbul has lost its unique texture, the master photographer said, “We can no longer tour Istanbul as before. Also, apart from some historical monuments and the Bosphorus, Istanbul has lost its unique texture. Abnormally ugly buildings have been built in the last 50 years. Unfortunately, the city turned into concrete. This aesthetic sense is killing me. I have to sort things out while taking photos. It is very difficult to take pictures in Istanbul without sorting things out anymore.”

Explaining the reason why he defines Istanbul as “enchanted” in his exhibition, Keribar said, “I always manage to discover something in this city. The word ‘enchanted’ comes from there. There are places that I like more in Istanbul, such as the Grand Bazaar, Tarlabaşı and the back streets of Beyoğlu. Despite everything, Istanbul still excites me. Historical monuments are being renewed, and new places are being opened. For example, something happened recently that made me happy: Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha Mosque was opened in Levent. I was one of the first to go and photograph there.

Explaining why the exhibition “The Enchanted City” was held in Üsküdar, Keribar said, “Üsküdar is one of the main places in Istanbul. I love Atik Valide Mosque and Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Tomb in this neighborhood. Both are good photography venues. There is also Kuzguncuk, of course. Üsküdar is important to me.”

The exhibition can be seen through Aug. 24.

One day in 1978, Janine Wiedel found hell a few streets south of Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham. “The noise was deafening. The heat was intense. I’d never seen anything like it,” she says. In her native US, she’d photographed Black Panthers and student protests at Berkeley in California, but neither prepared her for this industrial inferno, on which one-time West Midlands resident JRR Tolkien reputedly based Mordor.

Inside Smiths’ Drop Forgings were nine 35-hundredweight hammers worked by some of the filthiest men she’d ever seen. The forge had been in operation since 1910 and was typical of the small Birmingham firms that made the city proudly define itself not just as the workshop of the world but as the city of a thousand trades.

This particular forge made couplings for British articulated lorries. A piece of metal was heated in a furnace, then placed beneath one of the hammers. One of Wiedel’s portraits depicts Alan, the stamper, releasing the rope that dropped the hammer about nine feet with an ear-splitting smack. No wonder heavy metal originated in the West Midlands: Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi, who lived a few streets away, probably heard these hammers before they formed Black Sabbath.

Wiedel recalls that the hammers were referred to as Jim’s or Bob’s or Alan’s. “They belonged to the men, which showed how close they felt to their work. I remember they used to say, ‘Any child could work in the modern forges, but we are the real stampers.’ There was a pride and a camaraderie I suspect you don’t find much nowadays.”

That pride is evident in her photographs. “I don’t think there was one person who said they didn’t want to be photographed. They were just pleased, I think, by the fact that someone was taking an interest in their jobs.”

The New York-born photographer was in Birmingham thanks to a bursary from West Midlands Arts, which wanted her to document the local people. She was making a name for herself as a documentary photographer who spent time earning the trust of the close-knit, often threatened communities she photographed, such as the Inuit of Baffin Island in Canada and Travellers of western Ireland.

Her West Midlands project was trickier because she decided to document a diverse range of communities – the miners of North Staffordshire, the chainmakers of Cradley Heath, the metal stampers of Aston, the potters of Stoke, the blastfurnace workers of Bilston, the craftspeople of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The results of the project are due to appear in a book called Vulcan’s Forge.

In it, she documents ways of living and working that had existed in the Midlands for centuries. Some details also date-stamp her work: one chap in a woolly hat has a safety pin attached to his earring – this was the era of punk rock.

What Wiedel didn’t realise was that she was documenting end times. Many of the industries she photographed no longer exist: the steelworks and blast furnaces of Bilston closed before the 1970s were out. The colliery in Sedgley has become a country park, as if Mordor had mutated into Hobbiton. Today, Cradley Heath still makes chains, and there are artisans in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, but many fewer are employed in these trades than when Wiedel first visited. “It was the late 1970s, a time of economic crisis and underinvestment,” she recalls.

The coup de grace for many firms came after the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979; her chancellor of the exchequer Geoffrey Howe’s deflationary budgets sped up the region’s deindustrialisation. The later defeat of the miners’ strike effectively closed collieries like the Staffordshire one Wiedel photographed.

The photographer would travel the region in a VW camper van, in which she also lived. Each night she would develop her film to see what she had captured, like a movie director studying the day’s rushes. At weekends she’d return home to London and print her favourite pictures. Though she strove to spend time with her subjects to get beneath the cliches, the task was made trickier when an ATV film crew, fascinated by this American’s interest in heavy industry, shadowed her for a documentary on the project.

She capturedwhat now seems like a health and safety nightmare. In nearly every photograph from Smiths’ Drop Forgings, cigarettes dangle from workers’ lips as they work surrounded by raging flames and molten metal. “There were lots of accidents,” recalls Wiedel. One group shot shows a man with a plaster across his nose next to another with a fresh cheek wound.

Several of her most charming images are of men from the forge quenching their thirsts at lunchtime with well-deserved pints. Were these men really going back to operate heavy machinery afterwards? They were. “Wouldn’t be allowed today, of course.”

In one shot, which she called Waiting for Dad, a little boy weighed down by his school bag stands outside the mighty forge. That boy grew up to become Andy Conway, the prolific novelist and screenwriter. One of his Touchstone sequence of novels, Fade to Grey, is set in the forge and includes a nod to Wiedel’s project, which he praises for documenting a fast-disappearing working-class world in all its toil, squalor and occasional majesty.

One of Wiedel’s heroes is Dorothea Lange, famous for her US Depression-era photographs. Vulcan Forge has Lange-like integrity and evident fondness for the people she depicts. But Wiedel’s West Midlands project reminds me most of the work of another American, Janet Mendelsohn. When she was a Birmingham University photography student in the 1960s, Mendelsohn made a celebrated study of Varna Road in Balsall Heath, then a red-light district described as ‘The wickedest road in Britain’.

Both Wiedel and Mendelsohn shot in black and white; both achieved a non-judgmental intimacy with their subjects. But Wiedel went where women rarely trod. At Littleton Colliery, north of Cannock, Wiedelthinks she was the first woman allowed to descend to the coal face. “The miners were reluctant to let me go down the pit. They said: ‘You haven’t got the right footwear,’ which was nonsense. There was a prevailing idea that it wasn’t good luck to take a woman down the pit shaft.

“In the end they gave me a helmet and said, ‘Follow us’. I trotted after them with my tripod, but it was a nightmare. It was absolutely black and I couldn’t use flash. I managed to use the helmet light and paint the light that way.”

Away from the pit, many women did of course work in the industries. Some of the most compelling pictures in Vulcan’s Forge are of women making chains in Cradley Heath and gilding medals in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. “There was one woman, Florence Allen, who had the secret formula for gilding. Everybody was terrified that when she died she would take it with her.”

After her West Midlands project, Wiedel spent two years in the early 1980s with women anti-nuclear protesters at Greenham Common. She doubts my thought that she was going from a tough man’s world to a sympathetic women’s one. “For me, both communities were fighting for a certain lifestyle. When I look back on my work I think I’ve always been drawn to people who have the strength to survive despite the pressures of society. I often take pictures of people who protest and I’m interested in what it takes to get people out on the streets to stand up for things they really believe in.” That’s what impelled her to photograph the Black Panthers in the 1960s and what has inspired her most recent work, documenting Black Lives Matter protests and Iranian female demonstrators. “These people are fighting for their own identities. That never ceases to impress me.”

Last year, Wiedel went back to Birmingham for an exhibition of the pictures she’d taken 45 years earlier. “The best thing was that so many of the men I’d photographed back then showed up, older, greyer but still lovely.” During the intervening years, she has regularly been asked for photographs by family members. Only the other week, a family got in touch with her after their dad, whom she photographed, had died – they wanted one of her pictures of him at work for the funeral service booklet. “I was really pleased to be asked to do that because there is so little documentation of what it was like to work in these industries – so little for their kids and grandkids to see, to give them an insight into what their dad did.”

What she recorded is a time very different from our image-saturated 2023. “For many of these people this would have been the first time they had been photographed at work. There were no mobile phones, no selfies.”

Often the portraits she produced were a shock to the men’s families. “I remember one woman saying to me, ‘Couldn’t you have got him to wear a suit?’ In those days, you might be photographed at your wedding and that was about it. Women didn’t know what their men looked like at work because they’d never been inside the forge or down the pit.

“It was important to record these lives,” she concludes. “For me, it’s been great to give people back their history – that’s the best part of what I do.”

• Preorder a copy of Janine Wiedel’s Vulcan’s Forge on Kickstarter and also support the Bluecoat Press publication by buying limited-edition prints here

6 of 18Attribution: Dustin Patar

A dog team is pictured racing through pools of water that have formed on top of melting sea ice during an evening run outside of Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, in June 2022. Typically, from late December until June, much of the water in this area is frozen. But as temperatures rise, the snow covering the ice melts, creating large pools of water that reveal the turquoise-blue ice beneath it.

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2023 / Wildlife Habitat Council

Originally published on wildlifehc.org

We’ve all heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Science has even backed up the powerful impact of imagery, with research showing that people tend to remember ideas presented in pictures better than in words.

Professionals who work in sustainability often find themselves needing to make the case for conservation. Whether that’s championing an effort like composting waste scraps from the campus cafeteria, securing funds to plant a pollinator garden on-site or informing community members about a local threatened species, convincing the stakeholders involved in these decisions requires using all the tools available – and that’s where conservation photography comes in.

Like all forms of photography, conservation photography tells a story, often about the beauty and majesty of nature as well as the factors that threaten species’ or ecosystems’ survival. When it comes to getting buy-in from key decisionmakers, educating students or just inspiring the general public, conservation photography is a powerful way to demonstrate the far-reaching impact of conservation work. This blog will explore how corporate conservation professionals (or anyone!) can use photography to support their conservation goals.

Bring wildlife close to home

Photography literally provides a close-up look at species or environments that people might not encounter otherwise. It can be easy to focus only on the animals or plants we see every day, which means it can also be easy to forget about those that exist half a world away. Conservation photography is a helpful reminder of the sheer diversity of life on earth. It also provides perspective, serving as a reminder that even the ecosystems and species found at one’s own workplace or in the backyard are just as valuable as those in exotic locales.

Tell a story

Like all artforms, conservation photography is storytelling at its core. Neuroscience confirms that stories impact the brain’s neurons, making them fire similarly to the person telling the story and creating a bond between the storyteller and the audience. This even leads to the release of dopamine, a feel-good chemical that helps people recall the story later. Using still images or video to illustrate the needs and experiences of a particular species reaches audiences on a visual, intellectual and emotional level.

Wildlife filmmaker and WHC Board member Chris Morgan is no stranger to the power of storytelling. Through his documentary projects like BEARTREK and Path of The Bear, Morgan’s own story and the stories of biologists and conservationists coincides with the bear species he is documenting. BEARTREK, for example, charts Morgan’s seven-year journey across three continents to understand the conservation efforts protecting species like the spectacled bear, polar bear and sun bear. By weaving human stories into the stories of rare species, conservation photographers and filmmakers build a strong bond with their audience.

Contribute to scientific research

Conservation photography provides visual data, especially when it comes to rare species. In addition to observing what a specific plant or animal looks like, photographers are incidentally also identifying its abundance, location, condition and behavior, which are all important data for understanding a population. Contributing to citizen or community science efforts allows anyone to be part of the study of a particular ecosystem or species. Amateur and professional photographers alike can submit photos and other data to initiatives like NestWatch, iNaturalist and other community science programs in order to contribute to the widespread understanding of a species.

Demonstrate a change over time

Nature is fluid, constantly evolving and adapting. Conservation photography illustrates both the harmful and beneficial changes that have occurred in an environment over time. Taking a photo of the same location at different times throughout the year – also called photo point monitoring – can show the effects of industrialization or habitat degradation; however, these repeat photographs can also showcase the positive effects of conservation efforts, from grassland restoration to the return of a species that had previously lost its habitat.

Get employees involved

One way to encourage conservation photography as well as employee engagement is through contests. Employee photography contests showcase the on-site biodiversity to a company’s entire employee base, explained Ann George, Senior Scientist at WHC member mining company Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), which has held an employee contest for over 10 years. “When people think of a mining company, they don’t think of wildlife,” George said, so a photography contest is a great way to educate employees and the broader community about how a company is managing and preserving biodiversity.

FCX develops a specific set of criteria for entries, including the exclusion of any invasive or ornamental species. The company’s biodiversity task force reviews the entries, of which they receive 400-500 each year, and the top choices are submitted to WHC’s annual calendar, printed and hung in the corporate office and showcased on computer lock screens across the company.

WHC member CEMEX also holds a photography contest for employees. “CEMEX’s ‘Nature Positive’ photo contest has helped us to connect with our employees around their positive experiences with nature on our sites, while demonstrating the important role that industry can play in halting and reversing biodiversity loss,” explained Jerae Carlson, Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Communications & Public Affairs at CEMEX USA. Not only does the contest raise awareness about on-site wildlife, but it also creates connections between coworkers. “Employees are often eager to share their positive experiences with nature and to see nature through the lens of their colleagues.”

For companies thinking about starting a photography contest, Carlson and George provided some tips. “Make it easy for everyone to participate,” said Carlson. CEMEX developed several submission options for employees, including a specific email address as well as a QR code that allowed employees without a company email to submit photos from their phones. Promoting the contest is also key: George recommended publicizing the contest thoroughly to employees and marketing it as an opportunity to hone photography skills while learning more about the company’s biodiversity projects.

You don’t have to be a professional photographer to have a positive impact on conservation with your photos. Armed with a smartphone, a keen sense of observation and a little bit of patience, anyone can capture moments in nature that support greater conservation goals.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Wildlife Habitat Council on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Wildlife Habitat Council
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/wildlife-habitat-council
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Wildlife Habitat Council

Unique Perspective 

Aerial photography offers a captivating and often unseen view of the world. It allows you to capture landscapes, cityscapes and natural wonders from a bird’s-eye perspective, revealing patterns, symmetry, and beauty that are not easily visible from the ground. This is where you’ll find your ‘voice’ and point of difference. 

As a commercial aerial photographer and videographer based in Byron Bay, Australia, I have always been spoilt for choice and inspiration – my family and I quite literally live in paradise – however, I regularly travel to work in challenging locations, from tight city spaces to hostile Arctic environments. I’m here to tell you, there’s always a way to safely and respectfully show a scene in a new light. Don’t be afraid to try.

Are we living in a post-truth era of photography, where the authenticity and reliability of images have become questionable? Given the rise in AI’s association with photography and the ease with which photos can be altered, it might be worth considering a return to the use of traditional film as a means to regain trust and ensure the integrity of photography.

Photography has long been regarded as a medium that documents the world around us, offering a glimpse into the reality of a specific place and time. However, with the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), concerns surrounding truth and authenticity in photography have become more pronounced. In this article, we explore the current evolving landscape of photography, delving into the impact of AI and its implications for truth, authenticity, and the future of the medium.

The advent of digital photography and image sharing on social media platforms have already significantly reshaped our understanding of authenticity in photography. In an era where filters and editing apps are readily available, the notion of viewing an unaltered image has become increasingly elusive. The pressure to present flawless images is leading to a loss of the perception of reality that photography once celebrated.  From portraits featuring poreless porcelain skin and perfect body ratios, to landscape images stitched together with moody skies and no blemishes on the land to create the perfect shot, we accept that some of what we see should be taken with a pinch of salt. But now that AI has entered the chat, where do we draw the line?

AI has revolutionized the field of photography, offering powerful tools designed for streamlining workflow, removing imperfections, and even creating entirely new visuals. While these advancements have undoubtedly opened up possibilities for photographers and artists, they have also raised significant questions about the authenticity and integrity of the images we see around us every day.

Okay, so my header image for this article is very clearly fake, but what if you opened an article discussing the dangers of fully opening windows in apartments where children live, and this article was accompanied by the image below?  As photographers, we have a trained eye and can scrutinize the image, but I showed this image to my 72-year-old mother, and she gasped, thinking it was real. 

One of the main concerns revolves around the ease with which AI can be used to manipulate and distort reality. Deepfake technology allows for the creation of highly convincing fake images and videos, making it difficult to tell what is real and what is not. This raises ethical questions, particularly in a photojournalistic context, where the truthfulness of visual evidence is of huge importance.

In an era where the authenticity of digital images can be easily compromised, film photography instills trust in the medium itself. Film photography, characterized by the use of light-sensitive film and chemical development processes, holds a closer position to truth and authenticity. Unlike digital photography, where images can be easily manipulated and altered, film captures a moment as it truly exists. As the lines between reality and digital manipulation continue to blur, shooting with film could serve as a reliable back up where negatives are available in the event that the authenticity of images is under scrutiny. 

It’s not all negative. AI can be a useful tool, enabling photographers to automate laborious tasks, leaving more time to focus on creating. However, AI algorithms can alter images in convincing ways, blurring the line between reality and fiction. This poses a threat to the credibility and trustworthiness of photojournalistic work, as viewers may be misled by digitally manipulated images that appear genuine. The authenticity and truthfulness that have long been associated with photojournalism are at risk in an era where AI can easily deceive the audience.

Film negatives serve as physical evidence of the captured moment, providing a connection to the truth which we can hold in our hands and see for ourselves. This transparency and tangibility offers confidence in the authenticity of the photograph, as it is difficult to dispute the reality of an image that exists, as captured, as a physical object. Returning to film photography would represent a commitment to preserving the art and craft of the medium. The process of shooting, developing, and printing film photographs requires a level of skill and craftsmanship that is distinct from the convenience of digital photography or AI algorithms. By embracing film, photographers can reconnect with traditional techniques, allowing their technical expertise to convey their artistic vision. 

It is important to recognize that authenticity in photography is a multifaceted concept. Of course, film can be digitized, and through that process becomes at risk of falling foul to AI in the same way that digital images are. One thing is for sure: AI continues to evolve and is here to stay. It is essential that AI systems are developed within a set of defined ethical standards, which don’t seem to exist in any meaningful way as yet. Perhaps any AI manipulation should be listed within image metadata as standard, which would be a good place to start.

Could a resurgence of film photography serve as an antidote to the concerns surrounding AI-driven image manipulation? To counteract concerns and re-establish photography as a medium of truth, it is worth exploring the unique qualities of film that foster authenticity and argue for its resurgence as a means of capturing genuine moments in an increasingly AI-driven world.  This post-truth problem challenges our ability to assess reality, and this leads to questions about the authenticity of photography. As we navigate this complex landscape, have we gone so far that “the truth” is now just a concept?

I have ended this article with the original apartment image, which I shot in early 2020 while leading a photography walkabout in Glasgow. Noticing a herd of photographers in the street, a decorator leaned out of a window and asked for a picture. After reading this article, can you trust this information or the content of the image?

Through the pandemic, I became passionate about photography. Although I’ve technically been doing “professional” product photography for articles featured on-line and in print for a couple of decades, it was only in the last few years that I stepped up my game. As much as I love my pro camera gear though, it’s not something you can carry around perpetually. As the old saying goes, “the best camera is the one that’s with you”, and like most of you, my smartphone camera is the one that’s almost always within reach. So, when presented with the opportunity to test a couple of the top smartphones for photography, I jumped at the chance.

The smartphones I’m referencing are the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. Both of these devices might be the current flagships for their respective manufacturers, but they couldn’t be any more different in terms of their rear “world facing” camera configurations (both cameras feature 12MP selfie cameras). The iPhone 14 Pro Max features a 48MP main camera, with a 24mm 7-element lens (ƒ/1.78 aperture), with sensor-shift optical image stabilization. That main camera is flanked by a 12MP Ultra Wide shooter, with a 13mm 6-element lens (ƒ/2.2 aperture) and a 120° field of view, and a 12MP Telephoto shooter, with a 77mm 6-element lens (ƒ/2.8 aperture), with 3x optical zoom (digital zoom up to 15x) and optical image stabilization.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra features a bleeding-edge 200MP main camera with a 24mm lens (ƒ/1.7 aperture) and optical image stabilization. Adjacent to the main camera, there’s also a 10 MP “periscope telephoto” shooter (ƒ/4.9 aperture), with OIS and 10x optical zoom, a 10 MP telephoto camera with a 70mm lens (ƒ/2.4 aperture), OIS and 3x optical zoom, and a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, with a 13mm lens (ƒ/2.2 aperture), 120˚ field of view, and Dual Pixel PDAF. The ultra-wide shooters on both the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max also do double-duty as Macro shooters.

Those main camera specifications need some additional clarification, however. While many of today’s high-end smartphones boast ultra-high megapixel ratings, they also do something called “pixel-binning”. Pixel binning uses multiple pixels on the sensor to gather data that’s grouped, or “binned”, together to effectively act a single pixel of a certain color. For example, the iPhone’s 48MP main camera actually outputs 12MP images by default, because it is using quad-pixel binning. Users must shoot in RAW, which requires additional processing, to capture a 48MP image. The Galaxy S23 Ultra does the same thing; 200MP image captures are possible, but typical captures are 48MP. Pixel binning is one way to counter-balance the more limited light-gathering capabilities of the small pixels on densely-packed smartphone camera sensors. It results in more accurate color captures and less noise, but creates images that are only 25% of the maximum resolution of the sensor, when using quad-binning at least.

High-End Smartphone Camera Systems Require Massive Processing Power

Smartphones designed with high-quality photography in mind usually use complex image processing techniques, high-quality optics, and a multitude of computational photography technologies to capture and intelligently process as much image data as possible. As such, today’s smartphones require powerful image processors to not only produce high-quality images, but offer a good user experience.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max is powered by Apple’s own A16 Bionic chipset, which features a 16-Core Neural Engine capable of 17 TOPS and an advanced Image Signal Processor (ISP). The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is powered by the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform that features Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.’s first ever Cognitive ISP.

Sensor sizes and megapixel counts may be key differentiators that play a significant role in a smartphone camera system’s quality, but they are less relevant than most people think. Smartphones simply do not have the physical space to accommodate large camera sensors and a sensor’s pixel density can only be so high before image quality is negatively impacted, particularly in challenging lighting conditions. Although there are other things to consider, in general, smaller pixels on a camera sensor gather less light than larger pixels (all other things being equal), which can degrade image quality in sub-optimal lighting. Because of this, a smartphone image processing capabilities are immensely important.

There’s isn’t much data available on Apple’s proprietary ISP. The company consistently enhances the capability of its “Axx” mobile processors with each generation, but specifics are scarce. Qualcomm has also enhanced its Snapdragon platforms over the years with leading image processing and computational photography features. Although Qualcomm’s partners, like Samsung, don’t typically enable every possible photography or videography-related feature available in the latest Snapdragon mobile platforms, those that place a strong emphasis on photography often produce devices capable of capturing excellent photos and videos. In fact, according to DxOMark, many of the best smartphone cameras are powered by Snapdragon.

The Spectra Image Signal Processor featured in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has triple Cognitive ISPs, capable of processing 3.2 gigapixels per second. The trio of Cognitive ISPs gives devices like the Galaxy S23 Ultra the ability to leverage up to three independent cameras simultaneously and enables features like triple simultaneous image capture, seamless zooming between cameras, multi-capture HDR composites, and up to 200 Megapixel photo capture, among other things. The first of its kind Cognitive ISP in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, in conjunction with the chip’s Hexagon™ AI engine, also enables something called real-time “Semantic Segmentation”, which is enabled on the Galaxy S23’s selfie camera.

Semantic Segmentation leverages a neural network that was trained to identify many different objects, like people, faces, skies, grass, etc., and each of those objects can be segmented, and custom processing applied to them to enhance a captured image or video. If you’re familiar with image processing applications, you can think of the segments as layers, and each layer can be edited independently to produce a desired effect – bluer skies, smoother skin, greener grass – you get the idea. And since the segments can be altered independently, each segment can be properly exposed, saturated, or sharpened, without diminishing the quality of the other segments. As software support for Semantic Segmentation matures, it has the potential to be a real game changer.

Both the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Galaxy S23 Ultra use an array of computational photography techniques to produce images. Common computational photography features, like Night Mode, Portrait Mode, and HDR are available on both platforms. The Galaxy S23 Ultra also offers a feature called AI Zoom. AI Zoom is an experiential feature that gives users the ability to seamlessly zoom from the widest angle all the way to 100x zoom, spanning three different cameras, by simply pinching and zooming or using an on-screen slider. There’s no need to manually switch between the ultra-wide, standard, or telephoto camera, or to figure out which one is best to compose a particular shot.

The Mobile Photography Experience

Although I’m focusing on photography here, I should also note that both the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Galaxy S23 Ultra are high-performance devices, which offer quality user experiences in general. Both of the phones are fast, and have myriad of photo and video-related features. Specifically as it related to photos and videos, autofocus is quick and accurate on both devices, they capture realistic tones and textures, and noise performance is also very good. For general photography, I think anyone coming from a previous-gen device is likely to be quite pleased. But there are some major advantages to the Qualcomm-powered Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra worth pointing out.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera application features a number of customizations required to give users access to some of the device’s special photo features, like Hyperlapse, Single Take, and Expert Raw, to name but a few. Users of any skill level, however, should be able to navigate its menu system and manipulate camera settings or quickly switch between modes. Although there are many options available to tune image quality to a user’s liking, auto-mode takes phenomenal shots. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is capable of capturing excellent detail; perhaps one small criticism is that it can sometimes oversaturate images and perform a bit too much sharpening.

Without the right processing, handling wide dynamic range lighting situations can be challenging for the relatively small sensors in a smartphone, but even with strong backlighting with the sun shining brightly, the both the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s and Galaxy S23 Ultra’s cameras performed well. Colors and tones of the scene are well balanced, with crisp detail, when normally some objects would be silhouetted on lesser cameras that can’t handle this kind of lighting. That said, the Galaxy S23 Ultra better handled the exposure and was able to retain more blue in the sky.

The higher resolution 200MP sensor in the Galaxy S23 Ultra also captures more detail. When scaled and posted to social media, with minimal editing, the differences may be very difficult to suss out. But the massive resolution offered by the Galaxy S23 Ultra gives users much more flexibility to crop without sacrificing as much detail in the final image. These zoomed crops of the images captured on both phones shows just how much additional resolution is available on the Samsung device.

A 200MP capture on the Galaxy S23 Ultra is 16320×12240 pixels. A 48MP capture on the iPhone 14 Pro Max is 8064×6048 pixels. You could crop 50% from each dimension on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and still have a similar number of pixels to work with versus the full resolution on the iPhone.

Both phones handled Portrait mode well, though they offer different fields of view in this mode. The simulated blurred background bokeh is smooth, on both with surprisingly realistic looking transitions from in-focus to out-of-focus areas. Portrait Mode can often introduce unwanted artifacts in the fine details around a subject’s edges, but both phones do a pretty good job here. The Galaxy S23 Ultra does a slightly better job though, with smoother transition, and more detail in the subject.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra also stands out with close-up Macro photography. Even when its ultra-wide camera is nearly touching the subject, it is able to focus properly and capture fine detail.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max does a great job too if you don’t pixel peep, but zooming in shows more fine detail in the Samsung capture – you can actually make out individual bits of pollen, whereas on the iPhone the processing makes the internal part of the flower look like it has a rough, bumpy texture.

In terms of video recording, both devices are relatively full featured, but the edge yet again goes to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The iPhone 14 Pro Max tops out of 4K60 recording, while the Galaxy 23 Ultra can do 8K30 recording. Slow motion, normal, and time lapse recording are available on both devices as well. In practice I found the video quality on both devices to be quite good, though the Galaxy 23 Ultra seemed to handle sub-optimal, low-light conditions somewhat better.

Top camera performance continues to be paramount for flagship smartphone buyers, but whether evaluating specification or real-world results, it’s clear Qualcomm-powered Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra are a step ahead of the competition. Independent bodies like DxOMark show most of the top smartphone cameras are backed by Qualcomm processors.

CHICAGO (July 11, 2023) – U.S. Soccer today announced a new multi-year joint partnership with Getty Images (NYSE: GETY), a preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace, and International Sports Images (ISI), U.S. Soccer’s long-time photo partner, that will provide U.S. Soccer with expanded best-in-class service and photography excellence in coverage.

“We’re excited to add Getty Images to our existing partnership with ISI and have two of the world’s industry leaders in sports and soccer photography for our digital media needs,” said U.S. Soccer Vice President of Marketing Kay Bradley. “This relationship will further evolve our coverage, content creation and storytelling while providing us with the additional service and global reach of Getty Images’ platforms.”

Under the agreement, Getty Images and ISI will work closely with U.S. Soccer to cover a range of matches, programming and events, including the U.S. Women’s and Men’s National Teams, Youth National Teams and Extended National Teams, all to be distributed exclusively through gettyimages.com. 

“Sport imagery lies at the very foundation of Getty Images. For over 25 years, we pride ourselves in being a partner to all stakeholders in the sports industry and work hard to deliver outstanding service in the creation and distribution of world‑class sports content,” said Getty Images Global Head of Content Ken Mainardis. “With an elite roster of specialist and award‑winning sport photographers, Getty Images is thrilled to continue its history of highlighting the iconic moments and achievements of U.S. Soccer athletes to the widest possible audience via our unparalleled distribution platform, especially in the lead up to the Women’s World Cup.”

“Our relationship with U.S. Soccer has spanned over 30 years, capturing the most relevant and recognizable moments in American soccer history,” said John Todd, President and CEO of International Sports Images, Inc. “We look forward to continuing our exemplary photography services, in partnership with Getty Images, to promote and highlight the U.S. Soccer Federation, its sponsors, athletes and fans.”

The extended joint partnership will provide U.S. Soccer with the global scale, technology, innovation, and quality of service for which Getty Images and ISI are renown across the industry, while providing U.S. Soccer with ownership of its own photography copyright.

For over 25 years, Getty Images has partnered with many of the most significant sports leagues and governing bodies in the world. Today, Getty Images is the official photographer or photographic partner to over 120 of the world’s leading sport governing bodies, leagues, and clubs, including FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, NBA, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, UEFA, FA, UFC, NASCAR, Manchester United and FC Bayern Munich, covering over 50,000 sports events a year.

Since 1992, ISI has been at the forefront of soccer in the United States, serving as team photographer and image manager for the U.S. Soccer Federation and providing comprehensive and in-depth coverage of national team matches, teams, players, and events. ISI’s passion for covering the sport is unparalleled. Its archive holds over half a million soccer images and chronicles the growth of soccer in the United States during the modern era, starting with the 1994 World Cup, the very first MLS game in San Jose, the WUSA, the WPS, and the NWSL. ISI provides the highest quality imagery and service to its clients and partners.

Moving forward, all U.S. Soccer images will be accessible through Getty Images’ platform, eventually including the Federation’s historical catalog. U.S. Soccer will continue to work with ISI on sourcing its photographers as well as leverage Getty Images’ award-winning sports photographers from around the globe.