Hundreds of historical artefacts from the Cold war era are offered for sale at Julien’s Auctions. The lots will include a rare Soviet version of the Enigma encryption machine known as the Fialka, clandestine operative cameras, and radio transmitters and receivers
Continue reading...Category Archives: Photography
Myanmar coup protests grow – in pictures
Huge crowds of protesters have marched in towns and cities across Myanmar in the largest show of popular defiance so far following the military coup a week ago
Continue reading...New Orleans houses become Mardi Gras floats in Covid era – in pictures
Houses are being decorated as floats because the pandemic has resulted in the cancellation of the customary parades during the carnival season
Continue reading...Sahara sand covers European ski resorts and cities – in pictures
This exceptional meteorological phenomenon is linked to a powerful southerly airflow that brings spring temperatures – and a large concentration of Saharan dust suspended in the atmosphere
Continue reading...Myanmar coup protesters – in pictures
At least 30 people have been detained over pot-banging protests against a military coup as demonstrations gather pace
Continue reading...Confinement: photographic responses to the pandemic
Prix Pictet, the world’s leading prize for photography and sustainability, gathered responses to Covid-19 by 43 artists from 20 nations. A featured collaboration of four photographers with the Guardian, in the summer of 2020, draws on themes of isolation, confinement and political instability, and includes laureates and shortlisted photographers from the prize’s eight editions
Continue reading...‘I document America’s strange beauty’: the photography of My Name Is Earl’s Jason Lee
He played a redemption-seeking redneck on TV, but lately the actor has found solace off-screen, travelling with his camera. He talks about slackers, the Mallrats sequel and breezing into one-horse towns
Jason Lee knew he was in trouble when he stepped on the set. The year was 1992, Sonic Youth were at their peak and he was starring as a doomed skateboarder in their latest video. As a music obsessed, pro skateboarder with acting aspirations, he felt he had a point to prove. To add more pressure, it was for the song 100% – the band’s classic ode to a murdered Black Flag roadie – and the video was being co-directed by one of his skateboarding friends (some guy called Spike Jonze).
“I was really trying my hardest to focus,” says Lee. “I was like pretending to be Robert De Niro on the set, really trying to get into it and make it count and make it real and believable.”
Continue reading...Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano erupts – in pictures
The country’s most active volcano has unleashed a river of lava, searing gas and ash down its 3,000m slopes on Java island, threatening vulnerable villages
Continue reading...‘Black resistance endured’: paying tribute to civil war soldiers of color
In a new book, the often under-appreciated contribution that black soldiers made during the civil war is brought to light with a trove of unseen photos
A classic tintype photo from the 19th century showing a civil war soldier, whose garments are hand-colored in gold paint. The soldier, crowned by a gold frame, looks forward, holding a gun over his chest.
But rather than just any war portrait, it’s part of the overlooked history of African American soldiers who fought during the period. This one and more are featured in a new book called The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship.
Continue reading...India’s Republic Day and the Delhi farmers’ protest – in pictures
India’s annual 26 January Republic Day celebrations featured spectacular military and cultural pageantry, despite being curtailed by Covid restrictions, but in New Delhi thousands of protesting farmers threatened to overshadow the celebrations
Continue reading...Invasion Day protests across Australia – in pictures
Amid debates about abolishing the holiday, Australia Day honours and whether protests should go ahead at all, people have rallied in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra to mark the day
Continue reading...Israel’s ibex make the most of lockdown – in pictures
Nubian ibex have been roaming the empty streets of Mitzpe Ramon as Israel’s coronavirus lockdown extends to the end of the month
Continue reading...‘His work is a testament’: the ever-relevant photography of Gordon Parks
The groundbreaking work of the acclaimed photographer is being celebrated at a new two-part exhibition showcasing black American life
“Gordon Parks’s photographs are timeless,” said Peter W Kunhardt Jr, executive director of the Gordon Parks Foundation. “As we reflect on what has happened in recent months, his photographs remind us to stand up, speak out and demand justice. This exhibition does just that, highlighting images that inspire resilience and empathy that the photographer made over many years.”
The two-part exhibition, on view at both Jack Shainman Gallery locations in New York, is called Gordon Parks: Half and the Whole and until 20 February, photos from Parks taken between 1942 and 1970 will be showcased.
Continue reading...The migrants Trump forced Mexico to stop: Ada Trillo’s best photograph
‘Trump had threatened Mexico with tariffs if it let in this caravan from Honduras. Two hours after crossing this river, many were teargassed then deported’
I had been following a migrant caravan north from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for around 10 days. It was 23 January 2020, and this was the moment the group crossed the Suchiate river, which divides Guatemala from Mexico.
The Mexican authorities had deployed the national guard to stop the caravan entering their country because Trump had threatened to increase tariffs on Mexican goods coming into the United States if they let migrants in. Previously, migrants had been allowed to traverse the length of Mexico with no problem.
Continue reading...‘Tree of life’: aerial photos reveal arboreal patterns at Lake Cakora in NSW – in pictures
Amateur photographer Derry Moroney lives on the mid-corth coast of New South Wales in the community of Brooms Head. For the past three years he has been photographing landscapes, animals and insects. ‘With our pristine beaches and Yuraygir national park on my doorstep, I really didn’t have to travel very far,’ he says.
In July 2020 Moroney followed the water upstream from the estuary at Brooms Head and stumbled on to Lake Cakora. Using his drone he captured stunning images of arboreal-like drainage channels in Lake Cakora. ‘The tea trees along the banks colour the water running off into the lake after a big storm,’ he says, describing the patterns as ‘like a tree of life’.
You can see more of his work on Instagram at @derry_moroney_photography
Philippines’ Taal volcano, one year on – in pictures
When Taal volcano, a popular tourist site in Batangas, erupted a year ago 5,000 people fled the island. It’s still considered dangerous. The government bans former residents from returning but some still live there in tents
Continue reading...Western Sahara’s diplomatic opening – in pictures
US plans to open a consulate in Western Sahara mark a turning point for the disputed territory. US recognition of Morocco’s authority over the land frustrates indigenous Sahrawis seeking independence but others see the future US consulate as a boost for Western Sahara cities like Dakhla
Continue reading...Coming of Age day in Japan under Covid – in pictures
Young adults gathered in Japan to celebrate reaching 20, the age at which they can drink alcohol, smoke and get married without parental approval, although many events were cancelled due to coronavirus fears
Continue reading...Kamala Harris and why politicians can’t resist Vogue (though it always ends in tears)
The latest row over a high-fashion magazine cover, involving the US vice-president-elect, illustrates the chaos than can ensue when alpha worlds collide
When Theresa May appeared in US Vogue in 2017, even her deliberately anodyne choice of a posh-end-of-the-high-street dress by British label LK Bennett did not prevent this newspaper calling the Annie Leibovitz shoot a “defining moment” which, “like Margaret Thatcher in the tank turret looking like a cross between Boudicca and Lawrence of Arabia … might easily become a signifier of all that is flawed in her prime ministerial style”. Michelle Obama’s bare upper arms appeared no fewer than three times on the cover of Vogue during her White House years, causing pearl-clutching uproar at the sight of her toned triceps.
Continue reading...Maradona lifts the World Cup: David Yarrow’s best photograph
‘I bribed a stadium guard with whisky and got dead close just as he was lifted on to another player’s shoulders. It was like a biblical scene. He looked magnificent’
On the final day of exams at Edinburgh University in the summer of 1986, most students partied, but I flew directly to Mexico City. I was 20 years old and studying business and economics while taking photos on the side. I’d never been to the Americas before, and I wasn’t at all a good photographer; in fact, I was incredibly average.
I arrived at the 1986 World Cup under the guise of being a freelance photojournalist, but I was a Scotland fan first and foremost – they always used to say that Scottish journalists are just fans with typewriters. I did have a press pass that I’d managed to blag off the Times, which granted me access to the media pen, but I was much more interested in watching football than taking photographs of it. There was a moment in the first round of a match with Uruguay when Scotland missed an open goal. Back at the Times they were watching the TV coverage of the game and could see the striker with his head in his hands, and in the background me with my head in my hands and with my camera nowhere near the moment. And they thought: “Well this guy, Yarrow, he’s not focused on the task at all.”
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