National Geographic's Travel Photographer of the Year Contest has announced the 2017 winner, and the grand prize went to Sergio Tapiro Velasco for this otherworldly shot of Mexico's Colima volcano erupting at night. Read the rest
Photos above and below from a Sunday protest of the government shutdown, now in its second week. Shared by outtacontext in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool. Read the rest
"The Ancients," by Ben Leshchinsky. "The center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, crowns the ancient statues of Easter Island." Shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool.
Jen van der Meer snapped this wonderful photo of a nice man sharing power with strangers in NYC, after massive outages from Hurricane Sandy. Click for large. (thanks, @aileengraef!) Read the rest
Mobile Photo Group has a live curated feed of the #hurricanesandy Instagram tag, and photos of the storm's damage throughout the Eastern US. Related: Time's photogs covering the storm last night via Instagram. And below, one particularly striking image from @jesseandgreg on Instagram:
East Village swamped! #newyorkcity #nyc #ev #flood #avenuec
A wonderful photograph of one my favorite birds, just in time for the Goth season. Shared in the BB Flickr Pool by Nick Loven. Read the rest
Artist Christy Lee Rogers, who is based in Hawaii. Her "Reckless Unbound" series will be on display at Aesthesia Studios in LA in November. More at gupmagazine.com:
Read the restWithout the use of post-production manipulation, Rogers’ works are made in-camera, on the spot, in water and at night. She applies her technique to bodies submerged in water during tropical nights in Hawaii. Through a fragile process of experimentation, she builds elaborate scenes of coalesced colours and entangled bodies that exalt the human character as one of vigour and warmth, while also capturing the beauty and vulnerability of the tragic experience that is the human condition.
Boing Boing reader Ben Leshchinsky shares this wonderful photo in the Boing Boing Flickr pool and says, "About 10 km from the ancient city of Machu Picchu, we had the good fortune of seeing a magnificent rainbow over the Rio Urubamba in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Moments like this evoke remarkable feelings of introspection and wonder." Read the rest
My boyfriend Miles O'Brien lost his beloved little sister to breast cancer today. She was only 46 years old.
They both lost their mom to it a few weeks after I was diagnosed with the same disease.
There is so much to say about what a beautiful soul Aileen was, what a cruel and ugly and brutal disease breast cancer is, how torturous treatment is, how enraging it is that science and medicine have nothing better to offer us yet, how unjust the financial devastation a diagnosis brings to so many women is—and, most of all, what it means to those of us with cancer to have the kind of support in our lives that men like Miles provide, selflessly and heroically and with unconditional love.
But for now, I just want the world to see, respect, and remember this photograph Miles took of his sister this morning, shortly before her life ended. He brought her dog Jethro from her home to the hospice house so Jethro could also say goodbye.
Gone but still loved by all. RIP Aileen Crimmings O'Brien Graef - 10/30/64-8/21/2012
She is survived by two beautiful daughters, Katie and Aileen, whom she loved very much.
And, their dog Jethro.
Update: Miles and her daughters suggest that donations in honor of Aileen be sent to Visiting Nurses Association of the Treasure Coast (@vnatc), 1110 35th Lane. Vero Beach, FL 32960. This is the hospice center that cared for Aileen in her final days. Services at Strunk Funeral Home, 916 17th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960. Read the rest
Above, a NASA photo of astronaut Don Pettit, Expedition 31 flight engineer, posing with some sweet-ass digital cameras in the Cupola of the International Space Station. ISS031-E-112469 (10 June 2012).
I hereby propose that someone launch a tumblr with more photos like this, to be titled FUCK YEAH DON PETTIT.
Larger sizes at OnOrbit, via PetaPixel, via BB's sainted sysadmin Ken.
Update: FUCKYEAHDONPETTIT.tumblr.com is now a thing. Read the rest
André Kuipers, a Dutch physician and astronaut with the European Space Agency, was on board the ISS when the SpaceX Dragon vehicle berthed. He took this photograph, and wrote,
Inside of the Dragon module. Beautiful. Spacious, Modern. Blue LEDs. Feels a bit like a sci-fi filmset. Of course it is from Los Angeles.
He wrote more about the historic space milestone here, on his blog.
Last Friday was a special day on my mission. Don and I docked the SpaceX’s cargoship Dragon to the Space Station. Dragon brings new equipment for the crew. On the 31st of May it will return to Earth with supplies from the others and myself. The Dragon mission is the operational highlight of my mission. But it is also a milestone for international spaceflight. This is the first time that a commercial spacecraft has flown to the ISS and docked with the Station. You could say a new era of spaceflight has begun. Soon private companies will take people to and from space.
REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
German riot police carry a demonstrator fully covered in paint as police clears the camp of occupy protestors in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, May 16, 2012. Read the rest
Photo: REUTERS
A worker paints a single-seater submarine designed by Zhang Wuyi and his fellow engineers at a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province May 7, 2012. Zhang, a 37-year-old local farmer, who is interested in scientific inventions, has made six miniature submarines with several fellow engineers, one of which was sold to a businessman in Dalian at a price of 100,000 yuan ($15,855) last October. The submarines, mainly designed for harvesting aquatic products, such as sea cucumber, have a diving depth of 20-30 metres, and can travel for 10 hours, local media reported. Read the rest
Boing Boing reader Renee Rendler-Kaplan of Chicago, IL went to the National Restaurant Association's trade show, and shot this photograph of a terrified pizza pie. I don't really know what this is, actually. I just know that I will never look at pizza the same way again. And, the strange orange color reminds me of Tanning Mom. Or John Boehner. If you're in the area, the NRA expo continues through May 8. (via Boing Boing Flickr Pool) Read the rest
