Obama ordered spy/intel agencies to plan responses to cyber threats from Russia before leaving office. After 2016 election U.S officials suggested ways to counter Kremlin propaganda machine including options for CIA to “zap,” or neutralize Russian websites. Trump has refused to implement any of those responses. Source; Washington Post
Be yourself.
We’ll be ourselves.
Mt. Fuji, Japan.
British travel photographer Jordan Hammond may only be in his early twenties, but he’s already well on his way toward leaving his mark in the industry. His gorgeous photographs spark an immediate wanderlust in viewers, as they follow along on his journey around the world. With a special emphasis on Asia, his bright, vibrant images are instantly recognizable.
Shockingly, Hammond is relatively new to photography, his creative passion ignited while living and working in China a few years ago. A scroll through his highly followed Instagram will have you jetting from Chiang Mai to Abu Dhabi in an instant, each location captured in vivid detail. In fact, if you are a fan of his candy-coated colors, you can even purchase his set of Lightroom Filters.
Most recently, he and his partner—a frequent subject in his imagery—spent a month traveling through Europe. From the Swiss Alps to Germany’s national parks, the autumnal landscape is breathtaking, proving that Hammond is able to capture the majesty of any country he visits. Read on for our exclusive interview with the young photographer to learn more about what inspires him and what’s next.
Sri Lanka
What first interested you in travel photography?
I first became interested in travel photography whilst living and working in China. Myself and my partner took every opportunity to explore China on our days off and so I bought a camera and tried to capture China as best I could.
Shanghai, China
Though your travel brings you many places, you seem especially enamored with Asia. Why is that?
I guess I just feel at home in Asia. I lived in China for a year and my first trip abroad without my parents was a trip through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I love the visible difference in culture as you travel between Asian countries and of course, the food.
Old Bagan, Myanmar
Where did your love of travel come from?
My love for travel definitely came from my Dad, who always told stories of his travels and encouraged me to go and see the world. He came to visit me whilst living in China and we took a two-week trip through Tibetan China which was one of the best trips to date.
Inle Lake, Myanmar
As a travel photographer, what do you try to capture in each location where you shoot?
I try to capture the beauty of each place I visit and aim to tell a story through the photos. I love going to remote places that aren’t on the tourist path and portraying the place and the local people in my photos. I always try to use light and color in each location to encourage people to travel more.
Abu Dhabi
What do you hope to convey through your color choices?
I try to capture an almost fairytale atmosphere in my photos and to show that the world is a colorful place. So many people get stuck in the socially-normal routine and forget that there are beautiful things to be seen all around the world. It doesn’t have to be halfway across the world, it can be on your own front door. I hope that my use of color helps to show this. A lot of photographers these days focus on a desaturated, moody look to their photos, so I tried something that would be a little different.
Mt. Fuji, Japan.
What was your favorite place to shoot?
My favorite place to shoot has to be around Mt. Fuji in Japan. Fuji is one of those places that you have seen a hundred photos of, but nothing can prepare you for actually being there and seeing just how huge it really is in person. We spent sunrise one morning on the lake of Kawaguchiko, watching the local fishermen boating out on the lake and without another tourist in sight. It made me wonder whether the fishermen realized how incredible their surroundings were.
Dubai, UAE
What’s the next destination on your list and what are you most looking forward to capturing there?
My next destination is Dubai in the New Year. I’ve been to Dubai numerous times as my brother lives out there, but I’m really hoping to capture the low fog and the top of the skyscrapers which only happens a handful of times a year.
Bali, Indonesia
What do you find yourself shooting with most often?
It completely depends on where I am, but I am most drawn to shooting light-orientated landscapes. That being said, I also really enjoy shooting cities and street photography is beginning to shape the way I take photos.
Hong Kong, China.
Where do you see your photography going in the next 5 years?
I’m hoping to be able to move away from Instagram and start up photography tours, particularly in China. China is such a beautiful, vast and interesting country and it’s a shame to see that many people think only about smog and huge, dirty cities. I’d love to be able to change the perception people have of China.
Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Any upcoming projects you’d like to share?
I’ll be heading back to China in the Spring next year to begin working on a book which will hopefully open up people’s mindset on traveling to China. Watch this space!
Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany
Central Java, Indonesia
Peru
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Old Harry Rocks, Dorset, England
Empty Quarter, Abu Dhabi
Swiss Alps
Bali, Indonesia
Jordan Hammond: Instagram
Travel Photographer Captures Gorgeous Flowing Gowns Against Breathtaking Landscapes
Traveling Couple Exposes Similarities Around the World with Photo Mashups
Long-Distance Couple Traveling the World Apart Collaborate on Creative Split Photos
Travel Photographer Captures Gorgeous Flowing Gowns Against Breathtaking Landscapes
The post Interview: Beautifully Colorful Scenes Captured on a Voyage Around the World appeared first on My Modern Met.
Well, another year has gone by and it’s safe to say that it has been a memorable one. We’ve had a great year for photography with an abundance of images to fill us with uncontainable joy, laughter, heartache, anger, sorrow, exhilaration, and wanderlust. It’s only natural to want to feel it all again by taking a look back at the best photos of 2017.
As a year saturated with heated political discourse, shocking (but not-so-shocking) scandals, and devastating natural disasters across the globe, it’s especially important to take a look back and remember the bright spots of the past 12 months. Luckily, hope and lightness can always be tapped into through photography. Every photo is a moment frozen in time, with its own set of visual and emotional levels of value.
Often used as a medium to document life, photography serves as a modern-day time capsule. Instead of waiting decades to unlock this visual treasure trove, let’s take a look back at the remarkable images that have graced our consciousness over the past 365 days.
(For any photographers eagerly looking forward to getting their work discovered, published, and awarded in 2018, keep in mind that there are several photo competitions to submit your images to—this includes the Sony World Photo Awards which is free to enter and has an early January 2018 deadline.)
Photo: Fabio Zingg (Instagram)
Photo: Khalid Alsabat (Winner, Saudi Arabia National Award, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards)
Photo: Prelena Soma Owen (Facebook)
Photo: Leila Jeffreys (Website | Instagram | Olsen Gruin Gallery)
The post Best of 2017: Top 40 Photographs From Around the World appeared first on My Modern Met.
If you’re a fan of children’s books, prepare to lose hours browsing through the virtual UCLA Children’s Book Collection. The digital archive hosts over 1,800 children’s fiction, poems, and educational books dating from 1728 to 1999. From fairy tale classics such a Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, this collection will take you right back to your childhood.
During the 17th century, children’s books were practically non-existent. Instead, the only books available to the younger generation at the time were those made purely for their educational benefit—such as grammar texts and behavioral instruction books—rather than for their amusement. It wasn’t until the mid-18th century that the “notion of pleasure in learning was becoming more widely accepted,” claims UCLA. New markets (and minds) opened up that allowed writers, illustrators, and a stream of new publishers to work together to produce children’s books—some of which many people still know and love today.
Illustrations previously “consisting of small woodcut vignettes” began to evolve, due to innovative printing techniques founded during the Industrial Revolution. Even still, although the new manufacturing processes physically allowed more freedom when making art, many illustrators at the time chose to stay anonymous, and often only got to have their drawings printed on the books’ covers. The books may not have had many pictures, but the stories themselves sparked the imagination of the children who read them.
To start reading, head over to the UCLA Children’s Book Collection, where you can search their collection by popularity, title, date published, and creator.
UCLA Children’s Book Collection: Website
h/t: [Open Culture]
Enchanting Children’s Book Illustrations
100,000 Digitized Art History Books Are Now Freely Available Online to Any Art Lover
250+ Free Art Books You Can Get on Getty Museum’s Virtual Library
This Virtual Library Card Grants Free Access to 2,000+ Architecture Books
The post UCLA’s Virtual Library Hosts Over 1,800 Vintage Children’s Books for Free appeared first on My Modern Met.
Dutch wildlife photographer Roeselien Raimond captures the beauty and joy in nature, particularly through her fantastic red fox photos. Having photographed these charming creatures since 2010, Raimond is now an expert at catching them during their most adorable moments. Her most recent images capture a range of resilient red foxes enjoying the winter snow.
“It has been years since I had the chance to photograph foxes in a blizzard,” says Raimond, who jumped at the chance to capture the fairytale foxes. “Foxes have fascinated me for as long as I can remember,” she told us in an interview. Over the years, she realized that no two foxes are the same, and they all have their own very unique personalities. The snow photos capture how each character copes with the cold conditions. From the weary to the brave, each one of the hearty animals take the conditions in stride. As Raimond shares, “No matter how cold it gets, how heavy the snow falls, they just sit, smile and just pridely undergo their fate, waiting for the warmth and sun to come by…”
Raimond hopes that her fox photos will change many people’s negative perception of the animal. “I’d like to show them foxes as seen through my eyes; not as unscrupulous chicken killers and sly thieves,” she explains. “If my photos can make one person realize that an animal is not a coat to wear, not an object to lock up in a cage, nor something you thoughtlessly cut in slices to eat…[my] mission would be accomplished.”
Roeselien Raimond: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Interview: Adorable Foxes Captured in Zen-Like State of Bliss
Photographer Captures Distinctive Fox Portraits to Reveal Their Vastly Different Personalities
Fantastic Red Fox Photos Captured in the Wild
21 Adorable Photos of Animals Surrounded by the Snow
The post Charming Photos of Wild Red Foxes Enjoying the Winter Snow appeared first on My Modern Met.
Good luck trying to put a star on top of this Christmas tree! 🎄 This time of the year, the towering trees at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are dressed in their winter best with a layer of snow. It is difficult to comprehend the immense size of the giant sequoias, but it is easy to let your mind and spirit rise as its trunk carries your gaze toward the skies. From all of us at Interior, Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Photo by Aaron Chen (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).
Photographer Annie Leibovitz has produced some of the world’s most famous portraits over the course of her four-decade-long career. Her list of accomplishments is long, but two of the most notable include being the first female chief photographer at Rolling Stone magazine, and the first woman to have an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. With these achievements, it’s no wonder that plenty of aspiring photographers (and even professionals) want insight into how she works her magic behind the lens. Well, now they can!
Leibovitz is teaching her first-ever photography class online through the education site MasterClass. Consisting of 14 video lessons, a class workbook, and office hours, this is a great opportunity to understand how Leibovitz thinks and approaches her subjects. You even get to virtually attend a magazine shoot with her, which will give a hands-on look at her inimitable process.
The subjects covered in the course include the following: researching your subject; sharpening your observation; coming up with photo concepts; establishing a rapport with your subject; creating effective lighting; developing your storytelling; approaching photography as both an art and craft; and improving your skills by taking family portraits.
If your New Year’s resolution is to better your photography skills, this is the perfect time to start Leibovitz’s class. It’s now available as a single class for $90, or you can pay a $180/year subscription that allows you to access other courses by people at the top of their field.
Annie Leibovitz: Facebook | MasterClass
h/t: [PetaPixel, Open Culture]
Annie Leibovitz Captures Striking Portraits of Strong and Inspiring Women
New Website Lets You Easily Find the Best Prices on Used Camera Gear
Annie Leibovitz Photographs the “Invisible Man” Who Camouflages into Anything
Free Photography Resources for Beginners and Pros to Hone Their Skills
The post Annie Leibovitz Is Teaching Her First Ever Photography Class, and Anyone Can Attend appeared first on My Modern Met.
Sig Nordal 