A Surfer Trapped Under One of the World’s Heaviest Waves Wins the Ocean Photographer of the Year

Image © Ben Thouard. All images courtesy of Oceanographic, shared with permission

The 2022 Ocean Photographer of the Year contest highlights the vast array of colors and textures within marine environments. More than 5,000 entrants from around the world submitted to this year’s competition, with winning images framing the iridescent, billowing membranes of creatures spotted during blackwater dives, the speckled tentacles of baby squid, and a school of baitfish swirling into a choreographed pattern. The top prize was awarded to photographer Ben Thouard for his disorienting image of a surfer trapped under one of Tahiti’s infamous Teahupo’o waves, which are among the heaviest swells in existence.

Selected photos are on view through November 7 next to Tower Bridge in London, and you can see the entire 2022 collection on the contest’s site. (via Peta Pixel)

 

Image © Katherine Lu

Image © Brook Peterson

Image © Matty Smith

Image © Brooke Pyke

Image © Ishino Shota

Image © Gergo Rugli

Image © Martin Broen

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One of the Largest Louisiana Glass Recyclers Was Founded by College Students Who Are Rebuilding a Vanishing Coastline

The Louisiana coastline has undergone significant erosion in the last century, and one method of restoration involves rebuilding landforms and protecting areas with sand. Unfortunately, the world is simultaneously experiencing a massive shortage of the material—it’s the most-extracted and second most-used resource in the world—so it’s essential to find new, innovative methods of procuring the substance.

Glass Half Full, one of the largest recyclers of the material in Louisiana, is working toward this goal by turning bottles and other waste back into their original, granular form. On a visit from Business Insider, Franziska Trautmann and Max Steitz, who co-founded the organization while in college, tour the facility that already processes an astounding 16 metric tons of glass per week. The substance is crushed and sorted into gravel-sized chunks, a fine powdery material, and a coarse grind, the latter of which is shipped to wetlands and habitats for use in restoration efforts. Thanks to a National Science Foundation, Glass Half Full even collaborated with Tulane University scientists to ensure that the reused material doesn’t leach harmful chemicals into the water and can sustain plant life.

Since launching in 2020, the organization has recycled more than two million pounds of waste, and you can find more about its work on its site. (via The Kids Should See This)

 

Restoration efforts with bags of recycled sand

Gravel-like material

Franziska Trautmann at the Glass Half Full facility

Super fine sand

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MPB Simplifies Buying, Selling, and Trading Used Photo and Video Gear

Image courtesy of MPB, shared with permission

Photography changes people. It expresses emotion in a way words cannot.

That’s why MPB strives to make photography more affordable and accessible for all. Founded by Matt Barker in 2011, MPB is the largest global platform to buy, sell, and trade used photo and video gear. Headquartered in Brighton, Brooklyn, and Berlin, MPB serves visual storytellers around the world.

The platform makes it easy to compare, filter, and shop thousands of items. MPB recirculates over 350,000 items annually and adds over 1,000 products to the website each week. This includes cameras, lenses, and accessories from leading brands such as Canon, Nikon, and Sony. Used items from MPB cost an average of 33 percent less than new products, and all gear comes with a free six-month warranty.

MPB is not a peer-to-peer marketplace and buys used gear directly from visual storytellers before reselling products, all carefully inspected and approved by their experts.

Need to get rid of gear? Start by filling out a free instant quote, select the model and condition of your gear, and they’ll put a price tag on it. MPB never adds hidden fees, so the number listed in your quote is always the amount you make.

Want to upgrade instead? Switch up your setup by trading in. Just add items to your cart at the start of the process, and you’re good to go.

While visual storytelling is at the heart of MPB, the platform is also committed to the bigger picture. Its business model is 100 percent circular, uses only plastic-free packaging and low-carbon data centers, and partners with couriers that invest in electric vehicles and sustainable fuels.

You can find answers and resolve issues through MPB’s Help Center FAQs and forums, or by chatting with an MPB expert directly via phone or email.

If you’re looking to save or make money on used camera gear, MPB is a premium place to start. Buy, sell, or trade at mpb.com. You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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Six Centuries, 700 Scientists, 300 Groundbreaking Milestones: A New Book Examines the Invaluable History of Science Illustrations

Sagittal section of the body of a male; An Atlas of Topographical Anatomy: After Plane Sections of Frozen Bodies, Christian Wilhelm Braune, Philadelphia, 1877 © Courtesy US National Library of Medicine. All images courtesy Taschen

From medicine and biology to chemistry and astronomy, a massive new book published by Taschen chronicles the unparalleled contributions of illustrations to scientific study. Compiling more than 300 distinct charts, renderings, and graphs within its 436 pages, the volume opens with early developments like Isaac Newton’s law of gravitation and Nicolaus Copernicus’s heliocentrism, which positioned the sun at the center of the solar system. It then travels throughout the following six centuries, capturing everything from the use of anesthesia and zoological studies to current-day renderings of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. In addition to the illustrations themselves, the book also details how such visuals continue to impact both the theories and principles that are the foundation for scientific discovery and the general public’s conceptions of how the world works.

Science Illustration. A History of Visual Knowledge from the 15th Century to Today is available now from Taschen and Bookshop.

 

“A Year in the Life of Earth’s CO2”, an ultra-high-resolution computer model gives scientists a look at how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere travels around the globe, Goddard Space Flight Center’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA, 2014. Image © NASA

A slice of the lower part of the root of horseradish cut transversely, An Idea of a Phytological History Propounded, Nehemiah Grew, London, 1673 © ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Rar 6191

Spectra of the stars and nebulae, ‘Spectrum Analysis,’ Henry E. Roscoe, London, 1885. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Libraries, Washington, D.C.

Application of anesthesia, ‘Illustrations of Strange Diseases and Their Surgical Treatments,’ Hanaoka Seishū, 1805, illustrated by Tangetsu. Image courtesy US National Library of Medicine

Montgolfier balloon carrying the Marquis d’Arlandes and M. Pilatre de Rozier, Paris, 1783 © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Tissandier Collection

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Evoking Coral, Grass Roots Are Grown into Compostable Garments and Functional Objects

All images © Zena Holloway, shared with permission

Fashion is notorious for its astounding impact on the planet. Clothes are discarded within a few months in favor of the latest trend, cheap, synthetic fibers send harmful microplastics into the oceans, and waste from wealthier nations is often shipped to countries without additional resources only to pollute the local environments. As some designers try to steer the industry toward a more ethical, sustainable future, materials are often front of mind, including for Zena Holloway, who recently released a collection of garments and objects grown from grass roots.

Inspired by the sprawling, delicate shape of coral, Holloway creates soft, textured dresses, collars, lamps, and mobiles from wheatgrass seed. The plant sprouts over the course of about two weeks in beeswax molds. As it grows, it produces its intricately woven root structure, which the designer guides into specific spaces or allows to expand into large, sheet-like forms. Entirely compostable, the material is “both reality and metaphor, aiming to expose the beauty and vulnerability of coral and to champion ocean conservation,” and has the potential to be sewn into clothing or shaped into other functional goods.

The project, known as Rootfull, is ongoing, and Holloway shares a glimpse of her process in the video below. Follow her latest designs on Instagram. (via designboom)

 

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Bordalo II Combines Salvaged Neon Tubes, Industrial Materials, and Other Waste into Lively Trash Animals in a New Retrospective

All images © Bordalo II, shared with permission

A seven-meter-tall squirrel made of railway dividers, decommissioned industrial hoses, and shopping carts in disrepair opens a massive retrospective from Portuguese artist Bordalo II (previously). Spanning ten years of his career, EVILUTION reflects the environmental themes the artist has been drawn to for at least the last decade that are reflected through his signature Trash Animals, creatures comprised of entirely salvaged materials. Spray-paint cans are slotted into an abstract mosaic of a raccoon, while neon tubing illuminates a range of sculptural creatures including a fox, spider, and even a snail strapped to an electric scooter.

EVILUTION, which opens this weekend at the Edu Hub of Lisbon, exposes the incredible array of material humans discard and how such waste affects the environment and biodiversity. The show also marks Bordalo II’s first foray into neon, which he describes in a statement:

It’s unbelievable what people throw away. Many of our sculptures use obvious household trash, but we want to show that there’s a whole ecosystem of junk laying around out there that is threatening nature. That includes things like generations of broken neon tubes, which most people wouldn’t ever think about…EVILUTION is a kind of retrospective of everything I’ve been doing over the last ten years, and also a way of looking towards the future.

Head to the artist’s Instagram for a preview of the exhibition, which runs from October 8 to December 11.

 

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Hyperrealistic Drawings by David Morrison Reflect the Fragile Ephemerality of Organic Life

“Magnolia Series No. 3,” colored pencil on paper, 20 x 20 inches. All images © David Morrison, courtesy of Garvey | Simon Gallery, New York, shared with permission

Artist David Morrison highlights the fragility and fleeting nature of life through fresh magnolia blooms or a parched maple seed pod. With underlying shadows that imply sunlight or an overhead lamp, Morrison’s drawings are deceptively realistic, appearing like three-dimensional organic matter resting atop blank sheets of paper.

Depicting burst pomegranates or an iris on the brink of opening, the colored pencil works reflect the relationship between the whole specimen and the delicate veins, stems, and fleshy material responsible for sustaining life. “I became obsessed with drawing branches and tree trunks by looking at them through magnifying glasses that allowed me to peer deeper into an astonishing world of abstract shapes and patterns. I then realized the complexity of nature and how magnificent it is,” the artist says in a statement. “Every time I start a new drawing the discovery process starts anew.”

For more of Morrison’s still lifes, visit his Instagram and Garvey | Simon Gallery, where he’s represented.

 

“Maple Seed Pods” (2022), colored pencil on paper, 23 x 30 inches

“Chinese Lantern Drawing” (2022), colored pencil on paper, 21 x 26 inches

“Pomegranate” (2021), colored pencil on paper, 18 x 28 inches

“Magnolia Blossom Series No. 1,” colored pencil on paper, 18 x 18 inches

Left: “Firewood Series No. 9” (2018), colored pencil on paper, 24.5 x 14 inches. Middle: “Iris Series No. 5” (2020), colored pencil on paper, 26 x 14 inches. Right: “Firewood Series No. 1” (2018), colored pencil on paper, 36 x 21 inches

The artist in his studio

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