Like most of the population, I take a smartphone with me everywhere I go. This makes its built-in camera an obvious, and most available, option for taking photos quickly and easily. 

The smart autofocus and easy point-and-shoot style enables me to capture images even while walking. I can then edit or share the pictures on social media without having to lug my Fujifilm X-S10, along with the lenses, SD cards and batteries I would carry for more dedicated jobs. It’s really easy to use phone editing apps, like Photoshop, Gallery and Snapseed, to name a few – and many of these are free. 

• Check out the best camera phones around right now

I think the future for smartphone photography is exciting – particularly how many people are more than satisfied with the results. It has become a widely accessible way to have the thrill of taking photos but getting to the final results far quicker. 

Another benefit (especially when on the move) is that taking photos with a phone is more discreet than using a digital camera. In recent years, people all over the world have become used to seeing people using their phones to take photos and don’t pay attention any more. So you can pretty much go about your day without anyone wondering what you are up to.

Here are my top five tips for perfect phone photography…

1) Be mobile

Get out into your local towns or cities and start shooting. Grab yourself a coffee and start to explore the area, looking for potential image opportunities in new spots
that you might not usually venture into. Try not to rush around; a big part of camera phone photography is that it’s easy and enjoyable, and you don’t have to put too
much emphasis on the final images. 

2) Shoot in Portrait mode

Most of the time, but not always, I’ll use the Portrait mode setting. Designed for taking portraits, this option adds a little more blur to the background and foreground, therefore drawing the viewer’s attention to the areas that matter. 

Is phone photography REAL photography? A day in the life of pro shooter Mike Kus

3) Adjust the exposure 

When you offer up your phone to the scene, it will hazard a pretty good guess at the required overall exposure. If you’d like a little more control, however, just tap on the brightest area. You can also hold your finger on the screen and pull up or down.

4) Zoom in and out

Camera phones have fixed optical lenses, but you can zoom in or out digitally by pinching the screen. Zooming further will usually result in reduced image quality,
so use this functionality sparingly when trying to adjust the composition to your advantage.

5) Edit your images

Snapseed is installed on my phone, so I don’t need to wait until I’m at home to edit. In the basic ‘Tune Image’ tab, I can experiment with brightness, contrast, saturation, ambience and so on. This is usually enough to take an image to the next level.

Check out the best lenses for iPhone and Android phones, be sure to look at the best flip phones & best fold phones, and here’s our reality check – nobody actually needs a 200MP camera phone!

Liam Brennan had a once-in-a-lifetime experience while kayaking near the University of British Columbia last Wednesday.

The 23-year-old headed out near Locarno Beach in the evening, a route he frequently paddles.

But this time, his routine route was far form ordinary.

As he lifted his paddle to turn around and head back in, he noticed an unusual sound about a kilometer in the distance.

“I heard the blow, which I suspected was a whale, but I immediately told myself, ‘there’s no way,’” said Brennan.

But his instincts were right.

“I looked over my shoulder and there was huge a dorsal fin on the horizon,” he said. “It was a mix of terror, but exhilaration like, ‘Oh my god this is actually happening?’”

Within a few minutes, a pod of orcas came within metres of his kayak.

“One male kind of did a circle around me, there was a female on one side of me. At one point I was just surrounded, which was just spectacular.”

The incredible moment happened within minutes, but he managed to pull out his DSLR camera to capture the experience.

“It raised its head right out of the water, must have been 15 or 20 meters from kayak, so unbelievable”

Fascinated by marine life, he posted the photos online in hopes of identifying the pod.

Researchers determined the three transient killer whales were a mother with her two sons.

“Scientists that spend a lot of time around these whales can ID the individuals based on their dorsal fin, the white patch above their eye and the grey area behind their dorsal fin,” said Dr. Beth Volpov with the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia.

“This is an extremely rare experience, seeing a transient killer whale from a kayak is like winning the lottery.”

There’s about 350 transient killer whales swimming in and out of Salish Sea. A male orca can grow up between six and nine metres long, more than triple the size of an average kayak.

“My images, especially of the male orca, right in front of the city skyline can be a pretty powerful symbol of ecological resilience,” said Brennan. “I think it’s a pretty cool juxtaposition to have this symbol of wild nature right in front of the city and I hope it conveys the message that we’re always connected to nature.”

The incredible moment was made even more special for Brennan, who now holds a UBC Environmental Science degree.

“For it to happen, just under a week before I was graduating was pretty amazing, I was pretty excited.”

His dream to paddle alongside orcas is what he says he’ll remember as a graduation gift–a memory he’ll never forget.

Wyoming lost one of its most passionate ambassadors May 15 when 89-year-old Randy Wagner — photographer, administrator, motorcycle enthusiast and Wyoming travel ambassador — died while in hospice care in Cheyenne. 

For more than 60 years, Wagner was a towering presence in the travel and rodeo industries in Wyoming — in more ways than one.

“Randy would describe himself as being ‘5-foot-19,’” said friend and colleague Gene Bryan. “He was 6-foot-7. I have a long history with ‘The Tall Guy,’ we shared a lot of experiences.”

Artist Chris Navarro, who befriended Wagner in the early 1990s, called Wagner a “gentle giant.”

“He was a great guy,” Navarro said. “I don’t know anybody who didn’t like him. He was just really generous.”

Journalism Background

Wagner grew up in Lander, and as a young man had two loves — motorcycles (he got his first at age 14), and photography. He had acquired a 1940s-era Super D Graflex camera, which he experimented with at night in his mother’s kitchen since he had no proper darkroom.

After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Wyoming with the intention of earning a degree in engineering. 

“I quickly decided that journalism was my calling,” Wagner wrote in a biography featured in artist Chris Navarro’s book “The Art of Rodeo.” “The ‘J’ Department had a real darkroom with enlargers and all the right chemicals. I got hooked on the magic of photography and photojournalism.” 

Wagner’s college career was interrupted in 1956, when he left to serve in the Army Corps of Engineers from 1956-58 as division photographer. After his return, he went on to graduate from UW in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in professional journalism, which he put to use right away, Bryan said.

“He was an alumnus of the Laramie Boomerang,” Bryan told Cowboy State Daily. “He was there before me, and I was there (as sports editor) from 1960-1964.”

Documenting Wyoming

Bryan called Wagner a “world-class photographer,” first becoming aware of his work as chief photographer for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in the early 1960s.

But it was when Bryan went to work for the state of Wyoming in 1967 that he began working directly with Wagner. 

“Randy and Pete McNiff were two of the first staffers at the Wyoming Recreation Commission, which now is known as the State Parks and Cultural Resources office,” said Bryan. “And while he was there, Randy did a documentary on the Oregon Trail. So in addition to everything else, he was probably one of the renowned authorities on our historic trails in Wyoming.”

When the staff photographer at the Travel Commission retired, then-director Frank Norris hired Wagner away from the Recreation Commission. 

“When he became our staff photographer for the travel commission, I got to work with him hand-in-glove,” said Bryan. 

Serving The State

But when Norris died in 1978, Wagner took a big step forward.

He was named the new director of the Wyoming Travel Commission, during which time he served on the board of directors of the Travel Industry Association of America and was named to that organization’s Executive Committee and Corporate Strategic Task Force. Additionally, Wagner was elected chairman of the National Council of State Travel Directors and named U.S. Travel Director of the Year in 1984. 

“He got Wyoming involved in the international marketing of tourism,” said Bryan. “He hired Chuck Box — C.J. Box — as his international marketing manager.”

In 1988, Bryan found himself once again following in Wagner’s footsteps, replacing Wagner as director of the Travel Commission when he stepped down that January.

But Bryan didn’t let Wagner stray too far from service to the state of Wyoming. Shortly after Bryan took the mantle of the Travel Commission, the devastating Yellowstone fires of 1988 became front-page news.

“The first thing I did is I hired Randy under contract to get to that park as soon as he could and start photographing,” said Bryan. “So we had documentation of the fire through that whole summer and fall, thanks to Randy.” 

Additionally, Bryan said Wagner was a “world-class” writer, when he put his mind to it.

“He wrote some articles for me when I was editing the monthly newsletter,” said Bryan. “They were just damn good. He had gone on a pack trip into the Wind Rivers with some folks, and that article still sticks in my mind as one of the finest pieces of writing I’ve ever read.”

Rodeo Photographer

Even while serving as the director of the Wyoming Travel Commission, Wagner couldn’t leave his beloved camera untouched.

Beginning in 1978, Bryan served as the executive director for Cheyenne Frontier Days, and Wagner was his go-to photographer.

“Randy was our unofficial staff photographer during that whole period,” said Bryan. “And he was not a trained rodeo photographer, but I can say without fear of contradiction that he was absolutely one of the best rodeo photographers that ever walked the arena.”

Wagner was inducted to the Cheyenne Frontier Days hall of fame in 2012, in large part because of his work as a photographer for the “Daddy Of ’Em All.” For 30 years he was the event’s official photographer, and even after retirement continued to take up-close-and-personal photographs of the action on a volunteer basis.

“He’s the one that developed that rodeo photography pit (at Cheyenne’s Frontier Park),” said artist Chris Navarro, who collaborated with Wagner on “The Art of Rodeo,” a history of Cheyenne Frontier Days. “But he designed it for him, and he was 6-7, so most average height people need a little stool to get (good shots).”

Lane Frost’s Last Ride

A memory that Wagner carried with him to the end was of a hot summer day in 1989, when a Frontier Park arena record was set, and a rising star came crashing to the ground. Wagner wrote about that day in Navarro’s “Art of Rodeo.”

“If there was one rodeo that will forever stand out in my memory, it would have to be the Sunday Finals in 1989. On that miserable rainy-day Marty Staneart rode the champion bull, Mr. T, to an arena record 93 score, winning the event. It was the first time in over 150 attempts that Mr. T had been ridden for the full eight seconds. It was the highlight of the day. Perhaps of the entire rodeo season. The low point would come minutes later when Lane Frost made an almost equally sensational ride followed by a bad dismount. The bull horned him in the back as he was trying to get to his feet. He was dead within minutes. It happened right in front of me and I will never be able to wipe it from my memory. I wish I could.”

Navarro first met Wagner while working on his bronze sculpture of Lane Frost at Frontier Park. At the time, Wagner was a volunteer photographer for the rodeo. 

“I always saw him carrying around a camera,” said Navarro. “So he helped me take some pictures of my Lane Frost monument. It was really helpful, and I asked him if I owed him anything, and he said no. And I said, ‘Wow, he’s a good guy.’”

Navarro was so impressed with Wagner that when he decided to publish a book about Cheyenne Frontier Days, he enlisted Randy’s help.

“When I started this idea of doing this book, I knew he had shot all the rodeo footage back in the ’60s up to the 2000s,” said Navarro. “He had thousands of photographs.”

Dangerous Perspective

But being a rodeo photographer was not without its dangers. In Navarro’s book, Wagner related the story of his own savage goring by a bull in 1985.

“Somehow, I managed to photograph over 400 CFD rodeos during 45 years in the arena without incident … except for 1985. That year I got careless on opening day and a bull picked me off the fence and turned me into a frisbee. Bobby Romer came to the rescue (just as the bull was trying to break my back) and the medics sent me to the hospital, along with the cowboy who was riding the bull. I spent the next five days there and left with a lot of stitches but still able to sing baritone. The major casualties of the wreck were two perfectly good Nikon cameras.”

But amazingly, Wagner managed to capture a photo of the bull that nearly ended his life, which was included in “The Art of Rodeo.”

Biker At Heart

Anyone who knew Wagner personally could attest to his lifelong love of motorcycles, beginning at age 14.

“Randy rode motorcycles from the time he was old enough to get his license,” said Bryan. “In fact, he had the first motorcycle license plate in Fremont County: 10-1. And he kept it right up to the end.” 

Starting in the early ’70s, Wagner and his wife, Betty, traveled with friends from the Rocky Mountains to Nova Scotia. According to his obituary, Wagner logged more than 700,000 miles on his bike, traveling to all the lower 48 states, and took tours of Europe, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada and Switzerland.

Wagner’s Legacy

Randy’s wife was by his side for 67 years, but died in January last year. The couple had four children – two of them, daughters Kary and Kriste, are married with their own families. Tragically, another daughter, Kelly, and their only son, Kraig, preceded both their parents in death.

Wagner’s legacy lives on, though, in his remaining children and grandchildren, as well as his collection of photographs and personal items that are being preserved at the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center in Laramie and the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum in Cheyenne. 

“He was just a giant in more ways than one,” said Bryan. “Physically, of course, and as a photographer, as a travel marketer, as a historian. And he was just one of those people that  didn’t seek accolades for it — he just liked doing the work.”

Getty Images is known to be one of the harshest photography sites as they do not use flattering angles or provide any post-editing of stars they capture. Many celebrities have been captured looking incredibly different from their own social media photos.

Over the years, Getty has taken photos of many K-Pop artists, including BLACKPINK‘s Jennie, who has beat harsh photography with her unedited visuals, like in these nine instances below!

1. 2023 Met Gala

Jennie looked every bit Chanel’s princess at this event.

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2. Coachella 2019

Jennie slayed not only the stage but also the photos taken of her!

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3. “La Raphia” Jacquemus Show

She looks good, even caught in motion.

Embed from Getty Images

4. Porsche Sonderwunsch Haus Event

Jennie introduced her special collaboration with the car brand at the event, but also looked gorgeous while posing for the media.

Embed from Getty Images

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5. Chanel Madmoiselle Prive Exhibition 2017

This image deserves to be in a magazine.

Embed from Getty Images

6. Chanel Paris Fashion Week F/W 2023

Her smile is everything.

Embed from Getty Images

7. 2023 Coachella Weekend 2

This look was everything on Jennie

Embed from Getty Images

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8. Jacquemus Hawaii Fashion Show

Absolutely stunning.

Embed from Getty Images

9. Chanel Paris Fashion Week Womenswear F/W 2020

She rocked this mature look, serving CEO energy.

Embed from Getty Images

BLACKPINK

BLACKPINK Makes An Unexpected Cameo In The K-Drama “Duty After School”

BLACKPINK’s Jennie Makes A “Friends” Reference, Showing She’s Just Like The Rest Of Us

Photographer Who Took The Alleged Video Of BTS’s V And BLACKPINK’s Jennie Together Clarifies The Timeline Of Events

BLACKPINK’s Jennie And “The Glory” Actress Song Hye Kyo Both Wore Skintight Lilac Dresses But Served Completely Different Vibes

See more BLACKPINK

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Wednesday, June 28

Cruise local waters with professional photographer Mike Leonard and learn techniques for that perfect image of, in this case, 17 windjammers, lighthouses, and did we mention the WINDJAMMERS?! Depart noon from Pier 8, Balmy Days Cruises.

According to some spiritual beliefs, an aura, sometimes called an energy field, is an atmosphere or quality surrounding something, often a person or other living thing.

Some people, primarily psychics, mediums, and other paranormal practitioners, claim that they can see a person’s aura, including its color, size, and “vibration.” These qualities of an aura hold some significance for certain people.

Beyond people who claim to be able to see and read auras, a company, Aura Imaging, makes a camera called the AuraCam that claims to be able to capture a “representation” of a person’s aura.

This guide will mostly sidestep the discussion surrounding the lack of scientific backing for auras, aura photography, and aura cameras. The focus will instead be on the history of aura photography, outline what aura photography is today, and discuss what different auras mean to people who believe in aura photography.

For the many people who are entertained by, interested in, or outright convinced by horoscopes, astrology, tarot cards, mediums, and ghost hunting, aura photography may be right up their alley. People are interested in aura photography for a wide range of reasons, so this guide will help shed light on the topic.

Table of Contents

The Origins and History of Aura Photography

While the modern aura camera, AuraCam, is the result of work started by Guy Coggins in the 1970s, its roots are traced back much further.

Paranormalism experienced a massive uptick in popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries, leading to people making (and selling) a wide range of products and experiences to capitalize on the paranormal craze. Hypnotism, spiritualism, occultism, Mesmerism, and many other “ism’s” were everywhere.

Documented attempts to photograph energy fields surrounding a person began in the late 1800s. However, a breakthrough occurred in 1939 when Semyon Davidovich Kirlian discovered that by placing an object, or body part, on photographic paper and passing voltage through it, he could capture an image with a glowing edge surrounding the subject. This is “Kirlian photography.”

Regardless of Kirlian’s intentions, this photographic technique has been adopted by various parapsychologists to showcase people’s bioenergies and psychic powers. Studies have since shown that electricity produces gas ionization around an object depending upon the presence of moisture.

Fast forward to 1992, when Guy Coggins introduced Aura Imaging cameras and software that allegedly relies upon biofeedback data to create a color around a subject.

As of now, there’s no scientific evidence, at least none that stands up to rigorous peer review, that supports the notion that “auras” are psychic in origin. Study after study has concluded that the ability to see auras doesn’t exist.

Aura Photography Today

Despite lacking supporting evidence, many people find aura photography compelling and exciting in the modern age.

For example, Sarah Potter of Cosmopolitan writes that she “treats” herself to an aura portrait every year on her birthday. “It helps me reflect on my past year and set the stage for my next journey around the Sun. If I am home in NYC, then that means a trek downtown to my fave metaphysical store, Magic Jewelry in Chinatown, for an aura photo and analysis,” Potter writes.

Over at goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness and lifestyle brand, goop’s editors invited well-known aura photographer Christina Lonsdale of Radiant Human to visit their office and capture the team’s aura portraits.

Goop writes of aura photography, “The portraits are stunning, strange, and so cool — thanks to a double exposure that first takes a portrait and then the aura — and they happen thanks to silver-laced hand sensors that sit in your lap, sending a charge through the body.”

Some are more skeptical, even if they participate in aura photography. Marisa Meltzer of The New York Times had an aura portrait session with Ms. Lonsdale of Radiant Photo as well. She writes of aura portraits, “And perhaps they are best understood visually. One could interpret virtually anything from the colors, but taken as a series, it’s possible that I might be able to identify real patterns or change. At least I finally have a decent picture of myself.”

Whether for entertainment or insight, each year, many thousands of people get aura portraits done.

Lonsdale is far from the only aura photographer who has a studio and goes on tours around the country, capturing people’s aura portraits. Another is Detroit-based conceptual artist and energetics researcher Eileen Lee of Aura Aura. She’s captured tens of thousands of aura portraits around the United States since 2017.

And, of course, there’s the camera behind it all, AuraCam. Coggins’s latest version is the AuraCam 6000. “As a holistic health practitioner, yoga teacher, or energy worker, you know the value of being able to accurately interpret your client’s spiritual state of being. With the AuraCam 6000, you can do just that. This unique device uses a human-computer interface composed of both hardware and software to capture a representation of your aura thanks to our innovative technology,” explains AuraCam.

How Does an AuraCam Work?

Goop’s article about aura photography briefly explains how an aura camera works. There’s a double exposure that captures a portrait of a person and then their aura. Hand sensors on the subject’s lap send a charge through the body, which then changes depending on their aura or spirit.

“Our aura reading machine uses a hand sensor. A person would put their left (or right) hand onto the hand sensors. This, in turn, would allow a particular product to measure physiological parameters. The hand sensor itself has various contact points on them designed to maximize reading accuracy. The hand sensor is also sensitive to deviations in temperature, humidity, and static electricity in the environment and the person, allowing for greater precision in data gathering. These data parameters are then projected as a radiant, colored aura field around the body on an instant film photo or a computer monitor. In rapid time thereafter, a brilliant color photo or computer printout can be presented to the user to help them understand their own personal aura color interpretation,” explains AuraCam.

What’s happening is that a sensing device sends an electrical charge through a person, and that charge is then read by an aura camera, along with a more traditional portrait of the individual. Colors correlating in some way to the sensory readings are then exposed around the person, and some people believe these colors hold significance.

All About Colors: What Do the Colors in an Aura Portrait Represent?

The colors are at the heart of aura photography’s appeal and, for some, its value. What do the colors mean to the people who believe in the significance of auras?

Lee describes aura colors as follows: “Our aura colors can (and do) change with our life stories, emotions, and situations. This experience looks to capture and document these moments, empowering participants to understand their auric states, fostering deeper awareness as universal beings — all while expanding the individual and collective consciousness.”

Lonsdale of Radiant Human explains that there are eight colors: red, orange, tan, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white. Aura Aura says there are additional colors like pink, magenta, and indigo. Magic Jewelry NYC claims that there are red, orange, yellow, pink, green, indigo, blue, purple, and white auras.

Each color has its own meaning, and the location of colors is also essential. Aura Aura explains that “aura anomalies,” such as streaks, beams, channels, rays of light, and orbs, can further expand an aura’s significance.

Red

A red aura indicates strength, intensity, willpower, new beginnings, leadership, action, practicality, and passion. People with red auras are typically unafraid of birth, death, sensuality, and adventure.

As for the chakra, red is the color of the root chakra. This relates to the connection of an individual to the tangible world.

People with red auras are encouraged to be active and spend time in nature.

If a person’s red aura is heavy or dark, it’s believed they have low energy.

Orange

Orange is the color of the sacral chakra, which relates to creativity, sensuality, and subtle emotions. People with an orange aura are said to be creative, confident, independent, social, and enjoy challenges.

It’s important for people with orange auras to get into water or visit a river or ocean, as they can be aloof and must have their energies regularly revived.

People with orange auras are often entrepreneurs or those who are successful salespeople. Those with orange auras are said to work well with many other people.

Tan

Individuals with tan auras are detail-oriented, cautious, logical, strategic, and often intelligent.

These people work well within structured environments and can be meticulous planners.

Those with tan auras should be sure to expand their horizons often, as they can become mired in rigid thought patterns.

Yellow

Yellow auras indicate optimism, enthusiasm, open-mindedness, and generosity. People with yellow auras are often playful and whimsical.

These people foster an environment where others feel comfortable.

A yellow aura also indicates that a person has power and influence over others. It’s the color of the solar plexus chakra, which is the chakra responsible for self-esteem and personal power.

People with a yellow aura have a strong sense of self and radiate like the Sun.

Green

Green is the heart chakra’s color, which is essential for self-improvement and self-healing.

People with green auras emanate unconditional love and support for others, and anyone who encounters a person with a green aura feels empowered.

Individuals with green auras are often drawn to nature and animals. They are said to be the most balanced of all people across the spectrum and feel a strong sense of responsibility to themselves and others.

However, if a green aura is dark or murky, it may indicate that the person is “green with envy.” Sometimes people with a green aura perceive themselves as victims.

Blue

Blue comes in various shades, including cyan, turquoise, and royal blue. These different shades mean slightly different things. However, a blue aura is often associated with the ability to live authentically. Blue is the throat chakra’s color, which controls communication and expressiveness.

People with blue auras are often considered dreamers and place high significance on personal relationships. Honesty is vital to people with blue auras.

People with blue auras make great philosophers. The lighter the shade of blue a person has, the more peaceful they are.

If a blue aura individual feels left wanting, they should consider joining a choir, participating in theater, or doing a water-based activity.

Indigo

Indigo is the color of the third eye chakra, which correlates to inner knowledge and the ability to intuit.

An indigo aura indicates sensitivity and empathy. A brighter indigo shade relates to clarity, willpower, and the ability to help others.

People with this aura often operate more based on emotion than logic and enjoy thinking of themselves as a small part of a bigger whole.

Despite relying on emotional thinking, indigo auras indicate an ability to discern fact from fiction. However, a darker indigo aura, such as a navy blue, can mean that a person is experiencing self-doubt and a disconnect from their intuitive abilities.

Purple

The color of the crown chakra, purple relates to dreams. People with this aura are allegedly dynamic and charismatic. They have powerful personalities and often aim to inspire and lead others.

“Purples” are said to be visionaries and very idealistic. They are also described as empaths with the skills to be progressive and original.

A purple aura can emanate from unconventional, playful, and non-judgmental people.

Such original thinkers can feel overwhelmed, so they should share their vision with others or a journal to ensure they don’t hold too much inside themselves.

Pink

A pink aura is considered to be gentle and representative of loving energy. People with pink auras are considered tender, kind, and compassionate.

A brighter pink corresponds to curiosity and a strong desire for love and peace.

A lighter pink is apparently a rare color of aura; the more “bubblegum” a pink aura, the more gentle an individual is.

The heart chakra is represented by pink, and it’s often associated with feminine energy. People with a pink aura are said to be able to heal others with a simple smile or even just their presence.

Magenta

Someone with a magenta aura is said to be a very original individual. Magenta combines blue and red energies, so they have a strong understanding of the physical world, like a person with a red aura, while also being intuitive, like people with blue and indigo auras.

Someone with a magenta aura is well-suited to creative work and is said to march to the beat of their own drum.

They are independent and rarely swayed by outside influence and peer pressure. A person with a magenta aura often uses humor to diffuse situations and confront life’s challenges.

White

Connected to the soul chakra, a white aura is the mark of a person transcending the physical realm. It’s believed there are only a handful of people with pure white auras on the planet, and they are entirely free from personal issues and health problems.

A strong white frequency surrounding a person indicates unfettered receptiveness to the universe. A person with a white aura doesn’t have ambitions for their corporeal existence and is focused on objective truth and purity.

People with a cloudy or murky white aura may seek answers and feel confused instead.

If someone has a pure white aura, it’s said that they’ve reached a higher plane of existence.

Location of Colors and Aura Anomalies

Any aura above a person’s ears represents an individual’s consciousness.

Colors on the left-hand side of an aura portrait relate to the energy entering an individual and how a person perceives the world.

On the right-hand side, these auras represent the energy someone is pushing out or how the world perceives that individual.

An aura arch reflects a person’s goals or aspirations or something that they value greatly.

If a person’s aura portrait includes streaks, beams, channels, or rays of light, these can indicate a direct connection to the universe or a spiritual relationship.

Want an Aura Portrait?

Individuals that want an aura portrait of their own can seek out professional photographers with aura cameras, including Radiant Human, Aura Aura, and Magic Jewelry NYC.

A quick Google query for “aura photography near me” or “where to get an aura portrait” will also yield results for people with aura cameras in different locations.

People could also purchase an AuraCam 6000 or rent one. Prices vary, although a daily rental can cost more than $500.

An AuraCam 6000 also requires consumable “modules,” which cost $450 for 200 or $1,050 for $500.

Image credits: Illustrative images generated using artificial intelligence.

Voting with your wallet means buying products you believe in, supporting companies you want to see more of as well as products/practices you approve of. Buying one brand over another, buying locally rather than from a chain, or choosing not to buy from a certain industry at all would all be examples of voting with your wallet.

The other side of this is something I am very conscious of when deciding the direction I want to be taking with my output – in the same way I don’t buy products that don’t match up with my views and lifestyle, I don’t want to produce or sell a product that isn’t in line with the same.

It maybe sounds obvious; make something based on self-reflection instead of chasing trends, or copying what others are doing, but I understand how persuasive it can be to see others succeeding and want to just template their actions.

This is why even within a print-oriented workflow I am focused more towards books than individual wall pieces. This is because I personally find more value and enjoyment in sequenced books than in single frames.

I can fervently advocate for my work because my enthusiasm doesn’t begin at the point at which I want to make a sale; instead, I have the momentum from commitment and involvement at every step, which carries through into genuine passion when talking about what I’ve made, why I made, how I made it, and what someone else will gain from it.

How can anyone sell a product they don’t believe in? How can you sell a product you don’t personally value or find useful? These are the questions that inform where I draw a line in what mediums I can make sense of to sell my work. I have not spent money on purchasing digital photographs, and do not think I am the target audience of such work. I understand selling JPGs as part of a wider service when I make those files specifically for a client like when photographing a corporate event.

However, selling a JPG of a photograph I have not made specifically for that purpose does not feel like it offers much value. I doubt someone would buy a digitized photograph from me to place in a digital picture frame, so what is the use case? Desktop or mobile wallpaper? A profile picture? Background decoration? I simply can’t get excited about selling something I wouldn’t buy myself.

I’m working on my first prose book on photography theory/philosophy, and am more than comfortable offering it as an ebook because I have one myself and appreciate what it offers. An ebook has value as a digital file because I can actively use that file to derive the content. I just can’t say the same about a digital photograph image file.

Instead, I can focus my attention towards marketing towards those who are aligned with what I am working on, even if it means a slightly smaller audience than those who want to live and enjoy everything digitally.

Being fully behind your work and product in every sense means that some questions start to answer themselves. What makes your work actually special? What makes the medium or format or material you use special? What makes anything you’re offering appealing for someone to want to own? What do you offer that no one else does, or can? What is it about your photograph or book that will connect with someone to the extent that they need to have it on their wall, or bookshelf?

If you don’t have an answer to these, why would anyone else? If you wouldn’t be your own customer, why would anyone else?

About the author: Simon King is a London-based photographer and photojournalist, currently working on a number of long-term documentary and street photography projects. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can follow his work through his documentary collective, The New Exit Photography Group, and on Instagram.

Image credits: Photographs by Simon King

Alex Levac has left quite an imprint on Israeli society over the past half-century or so. More to the point, he informed the way we view ourselves through his insightful candid shots of everyday life here.

That gift and the quality of his photographic oeuvre have not escaped the attention of the folks over at Google Arts and Culture. The application and online platform contains images of tens of thousands of artworks stored at over 3,000 cultural repositories across the world, including the Israel Museum and the White House.

The new solo show goes by the name of Flaneur, which derives from a term adopted by Jewish German philosopher Walter Benjamin to describe a person who roams city streets with no clear purpose other than to observe urban life. The exhibition is a first-time collaboration between Google Arts and Culture and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and was compiled by the former curator of photography at the museum, Raz Samira.

All told, there are 22 works in the virtual spread dating from 1986-2022. The shots were snapped all over the country on Tel Aviv’s Allenby Street, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, Ramallah, the Gan Hashlosha resort and Nahal Oz, as well as right on the Tel Aviv Museum’s front porch.

How to interact with the exhibition 

The interactive exhibition allows us to wend our way through the display areas of the virtual museum, and enjoy the works in full-screen display views. Some of the pictures come with commentary by Levac himself who provides anecdotal and informational backdrops.

Woman holding camera (illustrative) (credit: PEXELS)

“The camera is my means of expression,” Levac states. “I see myself as a researcher, as a small-time historian, a collector of testimonies in the Israeli living space. I am a sort of anthropologist, observer, documenter – all these, by means of the camera, are proof of what exists and what existed here.”

The matchup between Levac and Google Arts and Culture was initiated by Moriah Royz, a product manager Google’s Crisis Response team. Serendipity played its part in the project. Royz and her husband, a keen amateur photographer, bumped into Levac and when Royz discovered Levac had no website of his own with images of his works, she decided to utilize the 20% free time Google allocates to its employees to engage in personal projects to create the virtual exhibition.

Royz says she was driven by a sense of mission to get Levac’s multifaceted incisive work out to the world and to help shed light on aspects of Israeli society that don’t generally make it into the mainstream media.”

Royz commends her colleagues in the artwork venture, and says, “It is thanks to them that tens of millions of people all over the world will be introduced to Israeli reality, with all its complexities, as seen through Alex’s eyes.”

The Google Arts and Culture application and content can be accessed at artsandculture.google.com and apps.apple.com/app/google-arts-culture/id1050970557.

Drones have revolutionized photography and videography at a consumer and commercial level and there are many options for many different purposes. However, if you want to walk the line between ludicrous fun and incredible imagery, perhaps you want to look at FPV drones.

I have spoken about drones a fair amount lately, and as a professional photographer with almost no call to own one whatsoever, I feel well-placed to preach. They are not only incredibly fun to use, but you can get shots so profoundly different from what you usually take that really no piece of equipment can have a bigger impact than your first drone.

Now, since getting my first drone, I have had an itch that I avoid scratching at all costs and it’s the topic of this video: FPV drones. FPV (short for First Person View) drones are essentially video games in real life, except you have some accountability and mistakes can be expensive. FPV drones are not only popular in the photography world, but they are raced and enjoyed for what they do, let alone what they capture.

In this video, Peter Lindgren walks you through some options for beginners, showing footage and thoughts about each FPV drone he has owned or used. Some of the footage in this piece is astoundingly good, so if you’re like me and debating the investment, you might want to throw your wallet out of reach.

Have certain photographs ever caused an indescribable feeling in you? If so, you’re not alone. For Roland Barthes, the best photographs were able to wound the onlooker. But what exactly is this ‘wounding’ mechanism? And why does Barthes believe it relates to death? In this article, we’re going to follow Barthes to the root of what makes photography a discipline in its own right.

For much of its short life, critics saw photography as a tool in service of its subject matter – as a means to an end. Criticism at this point focused on two main modes of analysis. Either, photography was analyzed in relation to the image it captured – be it a historical event, advertisement, or fashion – and its relevance to society. Alternatively, criticism focused on its technical aspects.

Critical discussions centered on historical trends such as pictorialism, or on genres, such as landscapes and photojournalism. Photography was thus never seen as a medium, or an end, in itself – unlike film or literature.

It was in this critical context that the French philosopher Roland Barthes published Camera Lucida in 1980, answering the very question that had not yet been properly asked:

In other words, what is the element that unites all photographs, and distinguishes the medium from related areas, such as cinema?

What Makes a Photograph Different?

Barthes began his investigation by finding out what photography was not – by seeing how it differed from related disciplines.

Photography as a Mechanical Process

Barthes’ investigation started in an earlier essay, ‘Rhetoric of the Image’ (1964), in which he made the crucial observation that:

‘[A photograph is] captured mechanically, not humanly.’

Take painting as an example. When a painter sits before a bowl of fruit and begins to put paint onto their canvas, the final image that comes out is a human interpretation of reality. The bowl of fruit is captured ‘humanly.’ The painter takes the real, and transforms it into the unreal, in the act of interpretation.

When the photographer, on the other hand, clicks the shutter-release, the process is purely mechanical. There is no artistic transformation of the real into the unreal, as the photograph is a literal reproduction of reality. Of course, there is an art to getting the composition of objects right, as well as in the editing process, in which light and color can be distorted for artistic effect. Yet, even if these elements can be influenced, the photographed object remains a real, fixed point of reference. And thus, the photograph continues to be a mechanical copy of reality.

In this sense, we can say: paintings represent, while photographs present.

With this in mind, Barthes (1964) made another observation:

‘Photography is a message without a code.’

This might look more complex at first, but the concept can be broken down.

Look at a novel, for example. In a novel, the text (the word choice, the structure) is the ‘signifier.’ And the objects, people, and events that the text describes are the ‘signified.’ The way the author represents (signifies) the people and events (the signified) in their novel is determined by their own creativity. In other words, they can influence the signified as they so desire. Therefore, we can say that there is an open relationship between the signifiers and the signified in a novel. And due to this open relationship between signified and signifier, there is room for various interpretations.

However, in photography, the relationship between signifier and signified is different. As we’ve already established, a photograph is ‘captured mechanically, not humanly.’ It’s an exact copy of the real. Thus, the signifier is the signified. In other words, this photo of an apple signifies this apple that was photographed. It doesn’t represent but rather presents. The gap between real and unreal, object and representation, from which we can posit various interpretations, doesn’t exist in photography. As the reality of the photographed object is fixed, so too is our interpretation of it.

Can a Photograph be Interpreted?

Now, if Barthes had left his analysis here, there would be a very damaging implication for photography.

If photography is simply a brute record of what is/what was, then the image is nothing more than a mirror of reality and has nothing to say – no interpretation to derive. Culture necessarily comes before interpretation. Thus, if photographs have nothing to say, then they are pre-cultural artifacts, as interpretation is culturally influenced.

Therefore, we can no longer interpret the meaning of photographs as to do this is to impose a cultural attitude, and thus misunderstand their very nature (i.e. as being pre-cultural).

This is indeed damaging for photography as an art form. Yet, this conclusion contradicts our own experiences of photography, and the intimate meaning we read into them. So what is to be done?

Roland Barthes offered a solution. The lack of a code, he argued, becomes the very code of photography. That is, the signified meaning of a photograph becomes objective, as the thing photographed is necessarily real. Unlike a painting, whose landscape could be imagined, the object of the photograph must necessarily exist. This superimposes reality and the past onto the photograph, contrary to cinema and literature.

This, Barthes concludes, is the unique element – the noeme, as he calls it – of photography: that it captures ‘that-has-been,’ and that what it signifies is necessarily real.

When we pose in front of a camera, Barthes (1980) says we experience ourselves in four different ways. At once, we are the person:

1. We think we are
2. We want others to think we are
3. The photographer thinks we are
4. The photographer uses for the purpose of his art

As a result, we tend to feel inauthentic when posing for a photograph. It is as if we experience a mini identity crisis every time before the lens. As described by Barthes (1980) himself:

‘I am neither subject nor object but a subject who feels he is becoming an object: I then experience a micro-version of death.’

This ‘micro-version of death’ is a key concept for Barthes. Death is a fundamental element of the photograph for both the subject and the spectator. This idea will be further analyzed later. For now, let’s turn to the experience of the spectator.

The Experience of the Spectator

When locating the essence of photography – ‘that-has-been’ – Barthes focused on the experiences of the ‘spectator.’ The spectator is the person viewing the photograph. For the spectator, there are two separate elements in a photograph:

1. The studium;
2. The punctum.

Let’s now look at these two Latin concepts.

The ‘Studium’

According to Barthes (1980):

‘The studium is that very wide field of unconcerned desire, of various interest, of inconsequential taste.’

Put simply, the experience of studium results from a certain cultural knowledge that allows us to identify:

1. The intentions of the photographer;
2. The implications of the photograph.

My education, as given to me by culture, allows me to see every photograph as an example of something.

For instance, a photograph depicting poverty and child labor may stimulate my broad interest in inequality, and indicate the intention of the photographer – such as that the economic system was/is in need of change. The photograph, in this sense, appeals to the studium – it requires a certain knowledge (the result of culture) and appeals to this knowledge as exemplifying a case of something.

The studium operates at two levels of meaning: the denoted and the connoted.

Denoted meaning is simply the very object it captures: this apple, that king, the poor.

Connoted meaning, on the other hand, is that which the photograph implies in its symbolism: for example, that the poor live under an oppressive regime, in need of change.

The studium is intentional. The photographer knows that by photographing a specific scene, with a specific composition of people and objects, they appeal to the studium.

A particular photograph that captures the injuries and plight of civilians in war serves as an example of the generalized notion of the brutality of war – a cultural notion. Here, the denoted and connoted meaning is obvious.

In contrast, the second element of a photograph is accidental – the photographer does not intend it to be there. This is known, according to Barthes, as the punctum.

‘Punctum’ in Latin refers to that which ‘stings,’ ‘cuts,’ or ‘wounds:’

‘A photograph’s punctum is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me).’
(P. 27)

In Camera Lucida, examples of the punctum range from a man’s unkempt fingernails, to a boy’s oversized collar. These are all incidental features that cause an unexpected reaction in the spectator.

The punctum is non-obvious, accidental, and evokes a deeper emotional response in the spectator. It is thus the very element that attracts us to certain photographs, and is beyond denoted and connoted meaning.

Very broadly, we could say that the studium appeals to the intellect, while the punctum appeals to the emotions.

On top of this, the punctum is:

‘What I add to the photograph and what is nonetheless already there’ (Barthes, 1980).

There is a paradox here. The punctum requires the spectator, yet it exists independently of them, as it is ‘already there’ to be discovered. So, is Barthes simply identifying his personal subjective experience of photographs as an element belonging to them, rather than one he brings to it?

The short answer is no. Barthes saved his problematic definition of punctum by arguing that we can relate back to photography’s essence – ‘that-has-been.’

In the second part of Camera Lucida, Barthes introduces a new variation of punctum, which is time itself:

‘This new punctum, which is no longer of form but of intensity, is Time […] its pure representation.’

The idea of time is present in every photograph. It is said that a photograph freezes time, but in reality, it’s a reflection of time’s constant, unrelenting nature.

When we look at a photograph of a relative, we know – given the essence of photography (‘that-has-been’) – that this person did indisputably exist. Yet, viewing this photograph in the present, we are reminded that this person will die or has already died. And further, we realize that this present, in which we view the photograph, will likewise become the past of the future, and that we, too, will die. Every photograph thus combines past, present, and future, embodying time and implying death:

‘Whether or not the subject is already dead, every photograph is this catastrophe’
(Barthes, 1980).

This variation of punctum – as time itself – transcends the subjective experience of the spectator.

On the one hand, it exists independent of the spectator: the photographed subject did exist, and will one day die. And on the other hand, it is what the spectator adds: they see the ‘imperious sign of [their] future death’ (p. 97) in this intersection of past, present, and future.

Thus, the punctum is the consequence of photography’s essence (‘that-has-been’), and is indeed what is already there, in addition to what the spectator brings.

Conclusion: Photographs are wounding. Their accidental details – those which are outside the intentional narrative – are the elements that capture our emotions. And beyond the subjectivity of our emotions, it’s the unifying theme of time, and its implication of death, that truly wounds us. So the next time you find yourself lost in a photograph, think back to Barthes, studium, and punctum, to better understand that indescribable feeling.