Explore Photography on Colossal https://www.thisiscolossal.com/category/photography/ The best of art, craft, and visual culture since 2010. Tue, 20 May 2025 13:58:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/icon-crow-150x150.png Explore Photography on Colossal https://www.thisiscolossal.com/category/photography/ 32 32 Constance Jaeggi Illuminates the Resilient Women of the Charrería in ‘Escaramuza, the Poetics of Home’ https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/05/constance-jaeggi-escaramuza/ Tue, 20 May 2025 13:52:37 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=455518 Constance Jaeggi Illuminates the Resilient Women of the Charrería in ‘Escaramuza, the Poetics of Home’Escaramuza is the only female event of the Mexican national sport charrería.

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Growing up in Switzerland, Constance Jaeggi’s journey from a suburban area of central Europe to the rural grasslands of Texas was guided by what she describes as an “unexplainable fascination” with horses. She moved to the U.S. to pursue a competitive riding career and attend university, eventually becoming a rancher and essentially revolving her entire life around the gentle giants.

“Throughout college, I was spending all my weekends and free time on horseback,” Jaeggi tells Colossal. Over time, she was drawn to exploring horse culture through visual means, picking up a camera and documenting the animals, people, and landscapes around her. “I was curious about the age-old human-horse relationship and how that impacts humans’ relationship with horses today,” she adds. “Photography was a way to lean into that curiosity and express myself differently.”

three women in colorful dresses and wide-brimmed hats stand in the desert, with a horse running in the background

While attending rodeos and traveling throughout the western community, Jaeggi became acquainted with the custom of escaramuza. It’s the only female event of the Mexican national sport charrería, and the activity combines equestrian and livestock competitions like roping and working with cattle.

Escaramuza, which translates to “skirmish,” was inspired by the women soldiers, or soldaderas, of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century and contemporary narratives like “La Adelita.” Teams traditionally consist of 16 women, with eight competing at a time for a maximum of eight minutes. Carrying out elaborately choreographed dances in vibrant, traditional, handmade Mexican dresses, escaramuzas ride sidesaddle and are judged on their synchronicity, precision, garments, and elegance.

“When the Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, approached me about creating a photo exhibition on the escaramuza tradition, I knew very little about it other than the beauty of the dresses and elegant performance aspect of it,” Jaeggi says. “As I started researching, I was captivated by the history of the tradition, the gender dynamics within charrería, how those are evolving, and the stories of the contemporary riders I spoke to.”

The oral histories of the women she met form the foundation for Jaeggi’s ongoing series, Escaramuza, the Poetics of Home, which is on view now at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago. “I wasn’t initially sure how, but I knew I needed to bring their voices back into the work somehow,” the artist says.

a portrait of a young woman in profile, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a red shirt

Jaeggi chronicled teams in Illinois, Colorado, Texas, Washington, Idaho, Georgia, California, Oregon, Iowa, and Arizona, interviewing riders as she went. During the journey, she met two poets, ire’ne lara silva and Angelina Sáenz, whose poems accompany the images and take inspiration from the women’s stories.

“Poetry felt like a good way to really emphasize some of the strong themes that came out of my conversations with the riders, and Angelina and ire’ne were in a good position to understand and relate to the cultural background of these women,” Jaeggi says.

Escaramuza, the Poetics of Home centers portraits of Mexican-American women in full regalia, highlighting colorful, coordinated dresses and their iconic wide-brimmed sombreros. Jaeggi portrays empowered, strong, and resilient individuals who balance numerous responsibilities. “A lot of the women I met are full time students or have full time jobs—sometimes multiple jobs—and are raising children,” Jaeggi says.

two women stand side-by-side in front of a yellow backdrop, wearing magenta and white skirts and wide-brimmed hats

The sport is also dangerous. Competitors perform intense and complicated maneuvers, criss-crossing one another at high speed, which riding side-saddle makes even more challenging because the person only has control of one side of the horse.

“There is a narrative around immigration and the role it plays in the development of the sport in the U.S.,” Jaeggi says, sharing that as she spoke to these women, learning about their work and lives, many shared experiences of “not feeling Mexican enough when traveling to Mexico but not feeling American enough at home either.” And as a gendered event governed by strict charrería rules, many experience frustration at the rigidity of the dress code they’re required to adhere to, which is not the case for male charros.

Exacaramuza, the Poetics of Home continues in Chicago through August 23. Find more on Jaeggi’s website and Instagram.

a portrait of five women wearing blue-and-white dresses and wide-brimmed hats
women silhouetted in the late afternoon sun on horseback, wearing wide-brimmed hats
a woman in a dress holds small photographs in her hands
five vibrantly dressed women with wide-brimmed hats sit on some steps
a young woman is seen from the back in a pink dress, adjusting a wide-brimmed hat
a woman stands in front of a cactus, wearing a blue-and-white top and a wide-brimmed hat
a woman on horseback wears a blue-and-white dress with a wide-brimmed hat

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The Brilliant Milky Way Connects Photographers Around the Globe and Beyond in an Annual Contest https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/05/milky-way-photographer-2025/ Mon, 19 May 2025 20:10:48 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=455544 The Brilliant Milky Way Connects Photographers Around the Globe and Beyond in an Annual ContestStunning in its own right, our galaxy is ever more dazzling in the images topping the 2025 Milky Way Photographer of the Year contest.

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Each night, the Milky Way decorates darkened skies around the globe with a streak of glimmering stars and pink-orange dust. Stunning in its own right, our galaxy is ever more dazzling in the images topping the 2025 Milky Way Photographer of the Year contest.

The annual competition, hosted by Capture the Atlas, received more than 6,000 submissions in its eighth year. Winning shots are each from a different location, including amid the moai sculptures of Easter Island, atop Taiwan’s Hehuan Mountain, and Yemen’s remote Socotra Island. For the first time, there’s even a view of the Milky Way from aboard the International Space Station, which astronaut Don Pettit captured while Earth glitters below.

the milky way over easter island
Rositsa Dimitrova, “The Night Guardians,” Easter Island, Chile

While diverse in geography, approach, and technique, all of the photos are guided by the brilliant band of light in the distance. See all 25 winners on Capture the Atlas.

the milky way shot through baobab trees
Benjamin Barakat, “Bottle Tree Paradise,” Socotra, Yemen
a path leads to a pointed stone under the milky way
Marcin Rosadziński, “Stairway to Heaven,” Madeira Island, Portugal
a view of the milky way from space with earth below
Don Pettit, “One in a Billion,” International Space Station
the milky way above a rocky sea cove
Kavan Chay, “Evolution of Stars,” Otago, New Zealand
a person stands in a striped stone landscape with a light underneath the milky way
Luis Cajete, “The Wave,” Coyote Buttes, Utah, U.S.
the milky way above a field of pink and purple floewrs
Max Inwood, “A Sea of Lupines,” Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
lush pink flowers in a valley underneath the milky way
Ethan Su, “Blosoom,” Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park, Taiwan
the milky way seen through a rock arch
Anthony Lopez, “A Stellar View From The Cave,” Saint Raphael, France

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In His New Book, Photographer Zed Nelson Lifts the Veil on ‘The Anthropocene Illusion’ https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/05/zed-nelson-the-anthropocene-illusion/ Tue, 13 May 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=455160 In His New Book, Photographer Zed Nelson Lifts the Veil on ‘The Anthropocene Illusion’"While we destroy the natural world around us, we have become masters of a stage-managed, artificial ‘experience’ of nature—a reassuring spectacle, an illusion," Nelson says.

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In the 1985 film Out of Africa starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, a picturesque scene highlights the pair on a romantic picnic high above the sweeping Masai Mara National Reserve. Today, tourists are invited to recreate the iconic moment in a colonial-inspired, hillside champagne picnic experience for which “local Masaai tribesman are employed to provide picturesque authenticity to the experience,” photographer Zed Nelson says.

In his new book, The Anthropocene Illusion, Nelson takes us on a global journey that lifts the veil, so to speak, on what we think of as “wilderness” and our progressively uneasy relationship with the environment. “While we destroy the natural world around us, we have become masters of a stage-managed, artificial ‘experience’ of nature—a reassuring spectacle, an illusion,” he says.

a spread of a photography book with an image on the right showing urban architecture almost completely covered in vines

The Anthropocene defines the ever-evolving, rapid changes to the environment due to humans’ unyielding impact. Many scientists place the epoch’s origin during the Industrial Revolution, but some consider 1945—the year humans tested the atomic bomb—to be the true beginning. Yet others suggest that the Anthropocene was initiated even earlier, during the advent of agriculture.

At that point, we entered into an increasingly uneasy relationship with the natural world, relying on ever-more extractive processes, heavy manufacturing, plastics, and advancing technology—all of which depend on the earth’s resources. Our societies’ colonialist tendencies also apply to nature just as much as other human-occupied territories.

We’re depleting entire aquifurs, forever altering the composition of the land, and irretrievably damaging delicate ecosystems. All the while, Nelson shows, we subscribe to a nostalgic view of untamed wilderness while at the same time expecting it to mold to our lifestyles.

In Kenyan national parks like Masai Mara, wildlife is provided sanctuary, “but the animals living within them are allowed to survive essentially for human entertainment and reassurance,” Nelson says. “These animals become, in effect, performers for paying tourists eager to see a nostalgic picture book image of the natural world.”

a man stands beside a giant snow cannon throwing artificial snow in a snowy mountain scene
Snow cannon producing artificial snow at Val Gardena ski resort, Dolomites, Italy

Nelson’s illuminating series taps into the absurdities of the illusion that nature is still thriving as it once was. Artificial snow shot from a cannon in the Italian Dolomites, for example, nods to warmer winters. A result of the climate crisis, leading to little snow, the powder is manufactured so holidaymakers can ski.

From vine-draped brutalist buildings to overcrowded national park lookouts to half-tame lions walked out like entertainers during a safari, he shares moments that feel skewed and incongruous, indicating looming and ultimately inescapable problems behind the veneer.

The Anthropocene Illusion series took first place in the professional category of the 2025 Sony World Photography Awards, and the book, which comes out this month, is available for pre-order in the Guest Editions shop. Ten percent of profits will be donated to Friends of the Earth, an environmental justice nonprofit. See more on Nelson’s Instagram.

a spread of a photography book with an image on the right showing colorful coral underwater
a man stands on a dirt road next to two lions that have stopped for a drink in a couple of puddles
‘Walk with Lions’ tourist experience, South Africa
a spread of a photography book with an image on the right showing a group of tourists looking out over a mountain vista
the cover of a book titled 'The Anthropocene Illusion' by Zed Nelson with an image of a very green willow tree

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article In His New Book, Photographer Zed Nelson Lifts the Veil on ‘The Anthropocene Illusion’ appeared first on Colossal.

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Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze Documents Life at the Top of Hong Kong’s Soaring Architecture https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/05/romain-jacquet-lagreze-echoing-above/ Tue, 06 May 2025 21:16:24 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=454822 Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze Documents Life at the Top of Hong Kong’s Soaring ArchitectureUrban sprawl takes a different course in Hong Kong, where the city grows vertically.

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Amid the frenzied bustle that is city life, it can be difficult—and even dangerous—to stop and observe what happens above street level. For French photographer Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze, though, looking to the upper floors of residential buildings and commercial towers in Hong Kong has revealed an astonishing ecosystem.

In his new book, Echoing Above, Jacquet-Lagrèze documents the trees, birds, and men who occupy the city’s sky-high dimension. “Hong Kong’s unique density has made the city grow vertically, and I have been inspired by the different aspects that this density brings, from an architectural point of view and also how it has shaped the relationship between men and nature in this city,” he tells Colossal.

tall residential buildings in a u shape

With the South China Sea wrapping three sides and a vast territory devoted to public parks, the region has been largely immune to the horizontal sprawl that characterizes many urban areas. Instead, locals have built up and up, their residences soaring high above the ground.

As mentioned in PetaPixel, Jacquet-Lagrèze typically scouts locations on walks around Hong Kong, where he’s lived for nearly a decade. Kowloon—once home to the legendary walled enclave—is his favorite place to shoot as the vibrant architecture, laundry hanging from windows, and signs of wear bear traces of the people who have left their mark on the city. He’s especially drawn to workers who might dangle off a facade or drill holes amid bamboo scaffolding, in part because they require patience and focus to spot.

Jacquet-Lagrèze’s photos juxtapose balconies and window air-conditioning units with natural life, including the opportunistic Chinese Banyan that sprouts from many roofs. Birds typically eat its small figs and drop the seeds across the city, allowing the hardy trees to sprout amid even inhospitable concrete. “They can thrive and reach very large sizes until it becomes dangerous for the building and has to be taken down,” he says, noting that it seems there’s always one being rooted out.

Despite its ubiquity, this cycle of growth and transplanting happens so far overhead that, from street view, it can easily go unnoticed. “I find it beautiful to see how the presence of trees, men, and birds are taking turns above our heads, like an echo in a concrete canyon,” the photographer adds. His images also capture the interplay of light of shadow as entire sides of buildings are blanketed in darkness, reminding us of how little sunlight reaches the ground floor.

Echoing Above and other books are available on Jacquet-Lagrèze’s website, and some of this photo series will be on view this month at Blue Lotus Gallery in Hong Kong. Find much more on Instagram.

bamboo scaffolding around a building
a shadowy photo of tall buildings
a tree grows from an upper floor of a building
candy colored residential buildings
a tree grows from an upper floor of an orange building
a tree grows from an upper floor of a building
a tree grows from an upper floor of a building
a purple and white building viewed from the ground
a shadowy photo of tall buildings
tall residential buildings in white and red
a book with an architectural photo nested in plants

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Explore an Incredible 108-Gigapixel Scan of Johannes Vermeer’s Most Famous Painting https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/05/girl-with-a-pearl-earring-hirox-scan/ Mon, 05 May 2025 15:27:35 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=454727 Explore an Incredible 108-Gigapixel Scan of Johannes Vermeer’s Most Famous PaintingIn collaboration with Hirox, The Mauritshuis has documented its most famous acquisition in unprecedented detail.

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One of the inimitable joys of visiting an art museum is being able to view paintings up close—to see their textures, frames, and the way the surface interacts with the light. But even if you had the opportunity to step past security wires and get within inches of an original canvas, you’d still never be able to see the work quite like the new, 108-gigapixel scan of Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (1665).

The Mauritshuis has documented its most famous acquisition in unprecedented detail with the help of lens company Hirox, which has produced a video microscope capable of capturing the tiniest speck of paint with astonishing clarity. The outfit was also involved in an earlier reproduction of the same painting, creating an image composed of 10 billion pixels.

an extremely close-up detail of an oil painting with tiny daubs of paint and crackled texture

This high-tech collaboration brings a 17th-century masterpiece to life with an interactive site inviting visitors to examine every micro detail. The new image is more than ten times as large as its predecessor—108 gigapixels translates to 108 billion pixels. A standard computer screen ranges from around four to six million pixels in its entirety. As Kottke notes, the resolution is very high, too, at 1.3 microns per pixel. (A millimeter is 1,000 microns.)

Hirox, in tandem with a company called Tuur, produced a beautiful video and virtual tour. A three-dimensional tool for exploring the topography of the surface highlights Vermeer’s mastery of light, like reflections in the sitter’s eyes, the folds of her head scarf, and the minimal dabs of white paint on the titular pearl.

This virtual exploration offers art historians and enthusiasts alike a chance to experience “Girl with a Pearl Earring” like never before, regardless of where you are. But if you’re in The Hague, it’s also on view in the permanent collection of The Mauritshuis.

an extremely close-up detail of an oil painting of a woman's mouth
an extremely close-up detail of an oil painting within a black frame with software navigation buttons
an extremely close-up detail of an oil painting with a blue, crackled texture

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Explore an Incredible 108-Gigapixel Scan of Johannes Vermeer’s Most Famous Painting appeared first on Colossal.

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This Artist-Run Archive Preserves Endangered Photographic Negatives in a Celebration of Lagos https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/05/lagos-studio-archives/ Fri, 02 May 2025 15:06:53 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=454639 This Artist-Run Archive Preserves Endangered Photographic Negatives in a Celebration of LagosTwo artists are on a quest to preserve endangered photos of daily life and culture in Nigeria's biggest city.

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During a trip to Lagos in 2015, Karl Ohiri noticed something alarming. The British-Nigerian artist observed how long-running photography studios in the city were destroying their archives—sometimes incidentally, sometimes purposely—as they shuttered or moved out of the city into quieter village settings. And as a generation of photographers shifted to digital methods, film began to literally disappear.

Ohiri was moved to remedy this phenomenon, so he struck up relationships with local photographers and began acquiring endangered negatives “in an attempt to ensure that this precious cultural heritage was not lost over time,” he says in a statement. The Lagos Studio Archives project was born.

Abi Morocco Photos, “Aina Street, Shogunle, Lagos” (1974). © Abi Morocco Photos

“The initiative’s main aims are to collect, preserve, and present the imagery of a generation of photographers that captured the style, humour, and aspirations of everyday Lagosians,” a statement says. Its mission revolves around spotlighting otherwise hidden narratives in one of Africa’s biggest hubs, “whilst further expanding dialogues around West African photography, culture, and the legacies of the diaspora.”

Ohiri, along with his partner, Finnish-British artist Riikka Kassinen, conceive of Lagos Studio Archives as a means of preserving and showcasing the wealth of history, culture, style, and daily life in Nigeria’s former capital. Formally organized in 2016, the archive has developed and exhibited images internationally at venues like the Museum of Modern Art in New York and South London Gallery

“The project was initiated out of a growing concern that on a long enough timeline, a void would be created where large sections of Lagosian history would be lost and unable to be retrieved,” Ohiri and Kassinen say. “This vacuum could lead to gaps in representation within mainstream Nigerian culture that could have serious repercussions for present and future generations of Nigerians trying to gain a deeper understanding of their heritage and culture.”

To date, the archive houses negatives saved from more than twenty studios, consisting of thousands of images. “Through conversations with
photographers from the analogue era, the project has engaged in dialogues that explore the importance of preserving photographic archives as an integral part of shaping collective identity,” the artists say.

Anonymous, “Untitled, Lagos” from the series ‘Archive of Becoming’ (c. 1990s)

Currently based in Helsinki, Ohiri and Kassinen’s individual practices explore relationships between lived experiences within contemporary society and socially engaged dialogues around heritage and culture. As the pair develop images in the collection, distinct series and themes organically emerge.

The color images shown here are part of an initiative titled Archive of Becoming, which focuses on deteriorated negatives, primarily of studio portraits. As a result of humidity, mold, heat, and other elements, the photos develop with psychedelic colors, dissolved emulsion, and blank areas.

Karl Ohiri / Riikka Kassinen, “John Abe and Funmilayo Abe, Alagbado, Lagos” (2024)

“By resurrecting these images from negatives and displaying them in their new context, the works speak of the sad state of some of the negatives,” the duo says. “However, it also talks about a certain beauty that can be found in decay that expresses the passing of time and the unpredictable life of images.”

Another body of work focuses on a husband-and-wife team who ran Abi Morocco Photos, which operated between the 1970s and 2006. The studio captured a wide array of fashionable portraits in black-and-white that celebrate myriad nearly-lost visual narratives of Lagos around the turn of the 21st century.

Ohiri and Kassinen describe the archive as an intersection between an artist-run project and a social entity, centered around the “idea of collective responsibility in preserving heritage and culture as a form of activism that starts with the individual.” Explore much more on Instagram, where you can follow updates about exhibitions, newly developed photos, and a forthcoming book focused on the work of Abi Morocco Photos. (via WePresent)

Anonymous, “Untitled, Lagos” from the series ‘Archive of Becoming’ (c. 1990s)
Abi Morocco Photos, “Aina Street, Shogunle, Lagos” (1979). © Abi Morocco Photos
Anonymous, “Untitled, Lagos” from the series ‘Archive of Becoming’ (c. 1990s)
Abi Morocco Photos, “Aina Street, Shogunle, Lagos” (c. 1970s). © Abi Morocco Photos
Anonymous, “Untitled, Lagos” from the series ‘Archive of Becoming’ (c. 1990s)
Abi Morocco Photos, “Shogunle, Lagos” (c. 1970s). © Abi Morocco Photos

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Frank Kunert’s Uncanny Photos Chronicle a Surreal Miniature World https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/05/frank-kunert-uncanny-miniatures/ Thu, 01 May 2025 16:30:00 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=454550 Frank Kunert’s Uncanny Photos Chronicle a Surreal Miniature WorldKunert captures a range of structures and interiors that feel just a little bit "off."

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It’s hard to imagine a welcome mat being rolled out at the entrance to a Secret Service compound, let alone a table for two perched atop a diving platform in the middle of winter. But for Frank Kunert, these unsettling scenarios happen practically every day, albeit on a very small scale.

Kunert’s photographs (previously) capture a range of structures and interiors that for myriad reasons, feel just a little bit “off.” Whether it’s a racetrack’s snack stand interrupting one of the running lanes, a solo dining table stuck out in the snow, or an idyllic yet impossibly narrow apartment complex, the artist’s hand-built miniature sets explore where familiarity and the uncanny meet.

a photo of a miniature set showing an absurd scenario of a glass-fronted restaurant with snow outside, and a single chair and table are stuck outside, connected to the glass

Tapping into the absurdities of everyday life, Kunert plays with architecture, quotidian objects, customs, and our associations with home or public spaces. His elaborate models appear realistic enough at first glance, but upon closer inspection, we notice things that challenge our sense of scale and material, like chalk lines on a racetrack or powdered sugar-like snow.

Kunert meticulously designs the lighting, furniture, wall coverings, and outdoor settings to give the impression of a reality turned sideways—sometimes literally. His compositions possess a dark, ironic undertone, prompting us to pause and suspect, for example, whether what’s on the other side of the nondescript door labeled “FUN” is actually as advertised. People are never present, but we can imagine customers having just left a restaurant or a homeowner sitting just inside a closed door.

Kunert is currently working on a series titled Dreams Come True, some images from which are shown here, which will be compiled in a book or exhibitions down the line. And later this month, Hatje Cantz releases a new monograph, The Best of Frank Kunert, now available for pre-order. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

a photo of a miniature set showing a bland concrete building with a door, above which is a sign that reads "FUN" with a big yellow smiley-face sign on top of the roof
a photo of a miniature set showing a corner of a room with an L-shaped table, each with its own place setting and television
a photo of a miniature set with a desk inside of a room, on a steep tile roof
a photo of a miniature set showing the entrance to a building or house with another door tilted sideways and stuck under the stairwell as if it enters a parallel, sideways room
a photo of a miniature set showing a tall diving platform above a pool, covered in snow, with a table for two set up at the very top
a photo of a miniature set sharing a brutalist building that reads "secret service" on top, with a wide-open door and a "welcome" sign outside
a photo of a miniature set showing an uncanny, narrow apartment building with balconies but no space for rooms between the doors on either side
a photo of an uncanny miniature set showing a square building in an empty snow-covered landscape, with doors, windows, and garage doors on all sides
a photo of a miniature set or sculpture of an awards podium numbered 1, 2, and 3, with three crosses on top of each, as if merging an awards ceremony and a cemetery
a behind-the-scenes photo of a miniature set with a desk inside of a room, on a steep tile roof, with a camera in the foreground showing the composition on its screen

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Charles Brooks Photographs the Interiors of Musical and Scientific Instruments https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/04/charles-brooks-insturments/ Mon, 28 Apr 2025 19:00:00 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=454351 Charles Brooks Photographs the Interiors of Musical and Scientific InstrumentsThe formidable concept of capturing the unseen lies at the core of the photographer's work.

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A Synchrotron is one of several types of particle accelerators, speeding up electrons, protons, and various other subatomic particles along a cyclical path. The powerful machine serves as a circular speedway with a synchronized magnetic field, emitting high energy X-rays that allow researchers to render details at atomic and molecular levels—all of which would be impossible to view with more ordinary scientific tools and techniques.

This formidable concept of capturing the unseen lies at the core of Charles Brooks’ work, as he photographs the small but vast interiors of musical—and most recently scientific—instruments.

the interior of a Geminhardt Elkhardt Alto Flute
“Geminhardt Elkhardt Alto Flute”

Continuing his Architecture in Music series, one of the photographer’s latest highlights has been working with a 1717 Stradivarius violin. Describing the stringed subject as one of the most extraordinary instruments he’s captured so far, he shares, “it was a rare opportunity, and photographing it was both an honor and one of the most nerve-wracking shoots I’ve undertaken.”

The photographer’s recent exploration of the Australian Synchrotron may foreshadow an exciting shift into a new realm of instruments. In the meantime, you can find more on Brooks’ website and Instagram.

the interior of a 1717 Stradivarius violin
“1717 Stradivarius Violin”
the interior of a Larilee Elkhart Oboe
“Larilee Elkhart Oboe”
the interior of a 1770 Chappuy Violin
“1770 Chappuy Violin”
an artist at work in a studio with a photography setup

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The Pure Street Photography Competition Spotlights Humor and Chance Amid the Ordinary https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/04/pure-street-photography-competition/ Fri, 25 Apr 2025 13:30:24 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=454000 The Pure Street Photography Competition Spotlights Humor and Chance Amid the OrdinaryCoincidental timing, uncanny interactions, and moments that are stranger-than-fiction figure prominently in the inaugural contest.

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Founded in 2020, Pure Street Photography celebrates a diverse array of captivating sights and image-makers around the globe. Coincidental timing, uncanny interactions, and moments that are stranger-than-fiction figure prominently in the platforms’s curation.

To support their community, founders Dimpy Bhalotia and Kamal Kumaar Rao launched a grant competition earlier this year, with winners announced this week. Topping the contest is Ayanava Sil’s “Crown of Fire,” which captures the instantaneous chaos during a Diwali celebration as a child dashes with sparkling streaks trailing behind. “It’s a flash of magic caught in time, where light, joy, and imagination come together in one unforgettable frame,” Sil says.

a kid running with sparklers appearing to stream from his head
Ayanava Sil (India), “Crown of Fire”

Others include Amy Horowitz’s bizarre image of an older woman clutching her bag while an enormous snake slithers up to the window where she’s seated. Joanna M. similarly builds curiosity tinged with the absurd as she photographs a proud beagle posing for paparazzi.

See more of the contest’s winners below, and follow Pure Street Photography’s Instagram, a trove of visual wit and chance encounters.

a woman sitting with her back to the camera on the right side of the bench, while two feet dangle over the left side
Anna Marzia Soria (Italy), “Optical Illusion”
people surround a dog sitting on a velvet blue sofa at a table to take its photo
Joanna M. (United States), “Celebrity”
a person appears like a walking shadow
Holger Kunze (Belgium), “The Double”
a kid in the grass with his legs up is surrounded by dozens of figurative shadows
Valeria Ciardulli (Italy), “Spectators”
a cat walks through a hole in a drawn deity on a wall
Julachart Pleansanit (Thailand), “Rahu”
a black and white image of a child swinging with her shadow seeming to swing on the ground below
Mary Crnkovic Pilas (Croatia), “Sweet Bird of Youth”

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A Stunning Image of the Australian Desert Illuminates the Growing Problem of Satellite Pollution https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/04/joshua-rozells-light-pollution/ Fri, 18 Apr 2025 16:34:56 +0000 https://www.thisiscolossal.com/?p=453876 A Stunning Image of the Australian Desert Illuminates the Growing Problem of Satellite PollutionStitching together 343 distinct photos, Joshua Rozells illuminates a growing problem.

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In January 2021, Joshua Rozells ventured out into the Pinnacles Desert in Western Australia, intending to photograph a star trail. But after shooting for more than three hours and reviewing his images, he realized that the light patterns he captured weren’t what he had hoped for.

“There were satellite trails visible in almost every single photo,” he wrote on Instagram. “Instead of trying to get rid of them for a star trail, I decided to put the satellite trails together into a single image to show how polluted the night sky is becoming.”

Stitching together 343 distinct photos, Rozells illuminates a growing problem. When Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched Starlink in 2019, 60 satellites filled the skies, with a race from other companies to follow. That number has now topped 10,000, with tens of thousands more in the works. SpaceX alone plans to launch 40,000 more.

Rozells’ composite visually echoes pleas from astronomers, who warn that although satellites collect essential data, the staggering amount filling our skies will only worsen light pollution and our ability to study what lies beyond. Because this industry has little regulation, the problem could go unchecked.

“Thankfully, astronomers across the globe have taken notice of this growing issue and are starting to speak up,” Rozells adds. “Organisations such as the International Astronomical Union’s Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky are advocating for the regulation and protection of the night sky.” (via Kottke)

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