ben giles.

Ben Giles' vertiginous flights of colour woke me up better than a cup of coffee today.

Enjoy more of the prolific collage artists' whimsical turns here.

edward burtynsky: OIL.

Scorched earth and soured tires, Edward Burtynsky's OIL series is an exquisitely excruciating glimpse of oil production and the spectacles that flank it. Oil riggers, oil extractors, oil fields, oil spills, the systems we've built to move it, the cars we've built to consume it. We're a society with oil in it's veins.

An exhibit currently at the Photographer's Gallery showcases three sections from the Canadian photographer's series: Extraction and Refinement, Transportation and Motor Culture, and The End of Oil. Burtynsky gave this statement regarding the work on display:

"In 1997 I had what I refer to as my oil epiphany. It occurred to me that the vast, human-altered landscapes that I pursued and photographed for over twenty years were only made possible by the discovery of oil…”

Oh so eerie, and oh so engaging. Runs till 1st July. 

Burtynsky's website here. 

umit bektas: olympic diets.

Nur Tatar - Taekwondo

Elif Jale Yesilirmak - Wrestling

Faith Avan - Javelin

Mete Binay - Weightlifting

Merve Aydin - Track

Five Turkish athletes' daily diet laid out in all their calorific glory in this amusing, well presented series from photographer Umit Bektas. Such pleasingly concise arrangements neatly invoke the regimentation inherent in an athlete's lifestyle. From taekwondo to wrestling to track and field - you're wont to find spontaneous chili cheese fries here. Not necessarily jealous, but enthralled none-the-less.

Like the semi-guilty pleasure of poking through a stranger's fridge, it's fun to note consistencies like fruit, eggs and water, plus quirks like baklava, freakish amounts of milk and those things that look suspiciously like condoms (but are probably energy supplements....)

Umit Bektas' blog here.

nick brandt.

Nick Brant has been a toast of the world of wildlife photography since 2004, with his "haunting", "regal" and "mysterious" shots of African beasts delighting the critics of Conde Nast Traveler, Time Magazine and others, regularly topping annual photo-book awards lists. Even Jane Goodall is a fan.

And fair dues - though Mr. Brant is in no short supply of horn tooters, he's worth noting if only for the pleasureful stretch of time you're apt to spend lost in his sensuous, aphotic, highly accomplished portfolio of Africa-noir.

With a romanticist's spacial awareness, reverence for the subject and an uncanny knack for seemingly happening upon improbably perfect moments of Pride Rock-esque wildlife poignancy... well Brant, you got it going on.

Website here.

hiro.

New news! The Getty Museum in Los Angeles recently acquired 14 photographs from the Shanghai-born fashion photographer Hiro Wakabayashi, famed for the bold, elegant aesthetic he pushed while staff photographer at Harper's Bazaar from 1956 - 1975. What a joy to further familiarize with such exquisite juxtapositions and dramatic turns of fabric.

Great article on La Lettre de la Photographie here.

just a thought. [everything looks lovelier from a parachute]