Boston.com's Big Picture is publishing more entries from this year's National Geographic Traveler Photography contest. They are posting over three dozen of the people who have sent in photographs . The contest closes this June 30. Here are some of my favorites which have been submitted so far.
Count me as one of those people who love train travel. One of my biggest disappointments as an American is that we have yet embrace a network of high speed rail travel. There is no question that it is essential for future generations. China will soon be approaching over 15,000 miles of their high speed rail system. Spain and Japan has over 1,500 miles of high speed travel. The United States just has the corridor between Washington, D.C and Boston which is less than 400 miles. Even then a good deal of it is not at high speeds.
Boston.com's Big Picture this week has a photograph essay on train travel around the world Enjoy!
TO SEE MORE PHOTOGRAPHS, PHOTOGRAPHER CREDITS AND DESCRIPTIONS JUST CLICK HERE.
Hurricane Sandy was the biggest (in size) Atlantic hurricane ever to travel up the East Coast and it slammed into New York and New Jersey happen just six months ago. While others states were heavily impacted, areas around metropolitan New York City were devastated. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed along the coast. It was the worse weather disaster in the history of New York City. New Jersey had its worst hurricane in its history.
Over 250 people died in the path of the hurricane and it was the second most costly storm to every hit America. Only Katrina did more damage in its attack on the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Ike comes in at a close third. An estimated $70 billion was tallied by the all the impacted areas from storm Sandy.
Now Six months have passed and still the devastation is everywhere but progress is being made by the communities. Hospitals have reopened, transit systems are working, shelter is provided for everyone and New York city tunnels are no longer filled with water. However if you journey down to the sea the impact of Hurricane Sandy is still seen everywhere. There are glimmers of rebuilding taking place and some seaside cities will be fully operational by summer.
Boston.com's Big Picture this week did a photo essay on the area six months later.
YOU CAN SEE ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHS, CREDITS AND DESCRIPTINS BY CLICKING HERE>>>>>
Words simply fail us as we face another shocking lesson in the capacity of people to hurt and maim others. We don't know who committed the horrible crime in Boston but we all know it is the greatest of horrors. People who were filled with joy watching an exciting event with average citizens who had worked hard to excel for the pleasure of others becoming targets for some insane person(s).
Our hearts ached for the victims and their families.
Photographers for years, even more than film, has captured those moments so we don't ever forget the consequences of anger and hate. Boston.com's Big Picture continues to be the photojournalism site in the world.
While my instincts tell me it is domestic generated, America still doesn't know. What matters is that this inhumane act never ever changes us as a people. In the end, love is the answer.
Today we all are in Boston.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOGRAPHS AND PHOTOGRAPHER CREDITS...
Boston.com is running a stark video of the explosion as it happened from the ground level as it happened.
The Syrian Civil War has now entered into its second year. Unfortunately the conflict will be recorded in history as one of the great civil wars of our time. Over 75,000 Syrians are dead and hundreds of thousands have been made homeless. In just March, 6,000 Syrians were killed in the most deadly month so far! The refugee crisis in Turkey and Jordan could rapidly claim thousands more civilians because of health issues.
The physical devastation is unbelievable with entire towns and small cities reduced to rubble.
Boston.com's Big Picture has featured near three dozen photographs from the Associated Press wire of the conflict.
An extraordinary photograph essay called A Soldier's Eye is in Boston.com's Big Picture. Charles Haughey was a soldier in the Vietnam War and recently rediscovered some photographs from that war. The site reports and asks for assistance with Haughey's project:
Charlie Haughey was drafted into the US Army in October of 1967. He was 24, and had been in college in Michigan before running out of money and quitting school to work in a sheet metal factory. The draft notice meant that he was to serve a tour of duty in Vietnam, designated a rifleman, the basic field position in the Army. After 63 days in Vietnam, he was made a photographer, shooting photographs for the Army and US newspapers, with these instructions from the Colonel: “You are not a combat photographer. This is a morale operation. If I see pictures of my guys in papers, doing their jobs with honor, then you can do what you like in Vietnam.” He shot nearly 2,000 images between March 1968 and May 1969 before taking the negatives home. And there they sat, out of sight, but not out of mind, for 45 years, until a chance meeting brought them out of dormancy and into a digital scanner. At first, it was very difficult for Haughey to view the images and talk about them, especially not knowing the fates of many of the subjects of his photos. When the digitization hit 1,700 negative scans, Haughey put them on a slideshow and viewed them all at once, and didn’t sleep for three days after. He’s slowly getting better at dealing with the emotional impact of seeing the images for the first time in decades. A team of volunteers has worked with Haughey to plan a 28-image show, titled A Weather Walked In, which opens April 5th in the ADX art gallery in Portland, Oregon. The difficulty of keeping notes in a war zone along with the passage of decades has faded the details behind many of the images, and the captions reflect this fact, with many shots of unknown people in forgotten locations at unspecified times. It is hoped that publication of the pictures can yield more information. More images from the collection will be released as the project progresses. You can follow the progress on facebook and Tumblr. Thanks to Chieu Hoi project volunteer Kris Regentin for preparing much of this introduction and the accompanying captions. -- Lane Turner
Here are some of my favorites from these over four dozen photographs:
The Smithsonian Magazine has selected fifty finalists in their annual reader's choice photography contest. Over 35,000 entries were received from 112 nations. Boston.com's Big Picture says there will be a Grand Prize winner and winners in five categories. People can vote until March 29 (Friday). Here are some of my favorites:
New Zealand photojournalist Amos Chapple provided Boston.com's Big Picture with over two dozen images from inside Iran. The photographer gives us rare glimpses of everyday life in the nation. Big Picture reports:
"Chapple "was amazed by the difference in western perceptions of the country and what I saw on the ground…" He goes on to say that every traveller he met inside Iran had the same sense of surprise. The government continues its anti-western campaign, but Chapple explains what was once a popular sentiment has long since faded with Iranians. Chapple describes this as a "constant embarrassment for ordinary Iranians. In the time I spent there, I never received anything but goodwill and decency, which stands in clear contrast to my experience in other middle eastern countries."
To see descriptions of Chapple's work and more images just click here.... all photographs are copyrighted by Chapple.
Boston.com's Big Picture has posted a photography essay consisting of the works of photojournalists who are under twenty-five years old. If you ever had any doubts about the future of photojournalism capturing the human spirit and breaking events, these photographs should put your mind at rest. Click here to see the all important photographer credits, the photo descriptions and the all forty of these amazing images.
Here are some of my favorites.
Subscribe
