Satellite Photographs Showing the Rapid Spread of Humans Across the Earth
2008 marked the first time in history that more of Earth’s population lived in cities rather than in the countryside, and by 2050 nearly 70% of the world’s population will reside in large cities. A new series of satellite photographs captured decades apart by NASA’s Landsat department and the U.S. Geological Survey offers a striking...
Thoughts on What Professional Instagram Photography Will be Like
Comedian and musician Mike Falzone often records monologues on various subjects while going for walks. Here’s what he has to say about professional Instagram photography. Little does he know that one of his “farfetched” examples is v...
Stupid Things in Super Slow Motion
There’s a Danish TV show called “Dumt & Farligt” in which two guys are given a house and the task of doing stupid and dangerous things that come to mind. In addition to recording the experiments in real time, the show decided to also use a Phantom Flex high speed camera to capturing everything at...
Things Don’t Seem Wonderful If You’ve Seen Them All Your Life
Here’s a wonderful cartoon drawn by John T. McCutcheon back in 1912 that’s just as true today as it was back then. It’s a great explanation for why the “vintage film” look offered by the likes of Instagram has become so p...
North Korea From a Passing Train
An American tourist traveling from Beijing, China to Pyongyang, North Korea pointed his camera out the train window to capture this rare 1-hour-long look at what North Korea looks like on the interior. This was a propaganda tour that brings tourists to the country’s showcase cities and most fertile regions. [...] I was mostly allowed...
The Human Eye Can See in Ultraviolet When the Lens is Removed
You may have heard that digital cameras can be made sensitive to infrared light by removing the IR filter found inside, but did you now that something similar can be done with the human eye? People who have aphakia, or the absence of the lens on the eye, have reported the ability to see ultraviolet...
A Revolving Self Portrait Created in 1865
Here’s a revolving self-portrait created back in 1865 by French photographer Félix Nadar (real name Gaspard-Félix Tournachon). Nadar was the first person in history to take aerial photographs (he was a balloonist) and was one of the pioneers of artificial lighting (he photographed in the catacombs of Paris). Nadar also created an impressive collection of...
Wal-Mart Selling the Sony Mavica Floppy Disk Digital Camera for Just $269
Wal-Mart stores have so many items that occasionally an outdated one will remain on the shelves for years after they’re no longer relevant. Case in point: the Sony MVC-FD200 Mavica digital camera. The one above was recently found at a Wal-Mart in Illinois. The camera first hit the shelf back in 2002 and has remained...
3D Glass Plate Photos From the 1930s
Paris-based photo enthusiast Alexis was passing a thrift store near his home recently when he noticed some strange looking optical equipment. Upon entering the shop for a better view, he discovered that it was an old stereograph viewer with ground glass in the rear. The store owner informed him that the viewer came with a...
