Space Miner

"This is what we do, humans. We tinker, and change, and endlessly imagine a more perfect future. And..."

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:38:00 -0800

““This is what we do, humans. We tinker, and change, and endlessly imagine a more perfect future. And at the same time, we idealize the past. So we’re trapped. Progress’s constant companion is nostalgia for the way things used to be. … The thing we forget about progress: there is no master plan. It lurches forward, in the dark, accidentally, and you’re never sure where it’s taking you. There’s no going back, whether it wants to or not.””

- Ira Glass (speaking about factory farms) from s1e6 of This American Life, the television show.

At long last, I’ve had a chance to compile the hundreds of...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:50:05 -0800

At long last, I’ve had a chance to compile the hundreds of amazing photos that went into Phoot Camp. Check them out at phootcamp.com!

Untitled by Dan Busta For GPOYW (Gratuitous Picture of Yourself...

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:40:00 -0700

Untitled by Dan Busta

For GPOYW (Gratuitous Picture of Yourself Wednesday), this shot of me from Phoot Camp. (I love making s’mores) That backdrop behind me was held up with two knives stuck into trees.

Phoot Camp was amazing, meaningful, and fun, but it’s not...

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:50:07 -0700

Phoot Camp was amazing, meaningful, and fun, but it’s not what I’ve been working on for the last seven months. This is.

Phootree by Steph Goralnick Steph captured this great shot on...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:08:00 -0700

Phootree by Steph Goralnick

Steph captured this great shot on the last day of Phoot Camp when most folks had gone home. Click through to see the names/URLs of everyone in the photo. (Hint: I’m at the top.)

I’ve been invited to Phoot Camp by Steph Goralnick Phoot...

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:13:11 -0700

I’ve been invited to Phoot Camp by Steph Goralnick

Phoot Camp is on! I’m hosting this invite-only photography retreat this weekend, and yes, I’m living in spreadsheetland between now and then.

Check out the official Phoot Camp website for photo fun, now and after the camp. Also want to thank Arlo/Artists for providing the website platform the site is built on.

Lomokev's "I'm Beautiful" Gallery

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:44:18 -0700

Lomokev's "I'm Beautiful" Gallery:

Flickr’s gallery feature has in fact been a ton of fun for folks to play with. Here’s one of my favorites so far, a playfully vain gallery from Lomokev. Check out his other galleries too.

Untitled by Unknown (from the book Crooks Like Us by Peter...

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:02:00 -0700

Untitled by Unknown (from the book Crooks Like Us by Peter Doyle)

Neat collection of Australian mugshots from the early 20th century, dug up by the blog A Time to Get. (via @overheardatmoo)

I love how this guy is just smiling with half of his face.

Bear Glacier, Alaska by GeoEye/NASA I have such a weakness for...

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:43:00 -0700

Bear Glacier, Alaska by GeoEye/NASA

I have such a weakness for aerial photography of any kind, and this Wired Science gallery of glaciers from space is spectacular.

Fullframe: Grant Hamilton's Documentary about Polaroid Film

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:51:09 -0700

Fullframe: Grant Hamilton's Documentary about Polaroid Film:

I could not be more excited about Grant Hamilton’s documentary on the end of Polaroid film. Grant has an incredibly refined sense of quality to everything he does — I expect greatness.

Flickr Launches "Galleries" Empowering Members to Curate

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:18:45 -0700

Flickr Launches "Galleries" Empowering Members to Curate:

Very excited to see what the Flickr community makes of this.

Vans and the Places They Were by Joe Stevens A fun series of...

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:29:18 -0700

Vans and the Places They Were by Joe Stevens

A fun series of 50+ images of vans taken across California. Nothing quite like a good typology!

Catch Kevin Meredith While He's Stateside

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:30:34 -0700

Kevin “lomokev” Meredith teaches a course based on his excellent photo tutorial book Hot Shots.

There is only one reason that I have not yet blogged about Kevin Meredith here on Space Miner: Everyone already knows how awesome he is. Even if you don’t know you know, you probably would recognize his photo of Imogen Heap in London that graced the Flickr homepage for years. Or maybe you read the first Flickr blog interview with him, or saw the work he’s done for Doc Martens or the stuff he’s had published in JPG and other photo magazines.

In any case, the word is out. In fact, the US edition of his truly great photo instruction book Hot Shots has done so well that they’ve almost blown through the first edition already. I personally have gifted it several times to budding photographers among my friends and family. Just get one, $12 not wasted.

If you’re in the bay area this October, you’ll have an opportunity to meet Kevin (I’d like to take partial credit since he’s coming for my Phoot Camp) at a book signing or one of his Hot Shots courses.

Hot Shots Book Signing - October 12

Hot Shots Course in San Francisco - October 15/16 and October 17/18

Hot Shots General Course Info

Enjoying the View

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:46:01 -0700

Enjoying the View:

I’ll almost never post about my own photography on this site (mostly because it’s not as good as the other stuff I post) but I would like to share an iPhone photo series I took of people enjoying the view from a park bench at the top of Dolores Park. It’s a little slice of the culture of that specific place.

While you’re over there, click the link at the bottom of the page to check out my friend Dylan’s portfolio service site, Arlo. It’s neat!

Stereoscopik by Mathieu Hubert I was delighted to see this...

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:51:11 -0700

Stereoscopik by Mathieu Hubert

I was delighted to see this series of sixteen viewfinder portraits hit my inbox this morning. What fun!

ffffound: Domestic Bliss by photographer Steven...

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:46:30 -0700

ffffound: Domestic Bliss by photographer Steven Klein

—

This W photo spread from 4 years ago feels incredibly relevant now, with Mad Men all the rage and the Pitts a growing family. Very nicely done!

Untitled by Mario Anzuoni “Smoke rises and ashes glow on...

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:18:40 -0700

Untitled by Mario Anzuoni

“Smoke rises and ashes glow on hills that burned during the Station fire in the Acton area of Los Angeles, California August 30, 2009.”

(From the Big Picture feature on Wildfires in Southern California)

noahkalina : Adam Dedman for KALINA Magazine...

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:06:08 -0700

noahkalina : Adam Dedman for KALINA Magazine #3

—

I’ve been impressed with all the Kalina Magazines so far, but this one seems to really take the cake. Ordered!

Virb Photo Sweepstakes

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:17:00 -0700

Virb Photo Sweepstakes:

Ooh. Virb’s photo sweepstakes looks like fun and is (naturally) really well designed. Each day there is a photo winner, and there are prizes like Moo cards and a Leica camera. Check it out, those Virb folks are good people.

Phoot Camp!

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:05:00 -0700

Inspired by Foo Camp, I’m going to host an invite-only camping trip this fall for dozens of top emerging photographers.

I must be crazy. I just invited way more photo nerds than I can count on all my fingers and toes to come camp out in the woods with me.

It all started when I was putting together this interview with Paul Octavious Cribb. While editing it together, I thought, “Man, Paul is so creative. I bet he would really get along well with Steph Goralnick. I would about pee my pants to hang out with both of them at the same time.” And then I realized they would probably about pee their pants to hang out with each other, and the many other amazing photographers I know. Why not get a group together? I was pretty sure magic would occur, or at the very least bushels of fun.

So I floated the idea out to Paul and Steph, and Kevin “Lomokev” Meredith and Cody Austin (who deserves a special shout-out for his help), too. It’s a real testament to each of them how enthusiastic and supportive they’ve been of the idea. As I write this, Kevin has booked his flight from Brighton, England (and is planning a book signing and course while here, check it out!), Cody has booked his flight from Houston, Steph has booked her flight from Brooklyn, Paul has committed to being here, and I’ve booked the campground. And, I’ve started hearing back from the big group I emailed today: “Ummm… yeah this sounds amazing. 100% in!”

The campout isn’t until October, but keep an eye out afterwards for the results of the photo sessions, photo scavenger hunts, brainstorming sessions, and s’more-making contests that occur. We’ll definitely put together an online showing of the results.

NOTE: Didn’t get an invite? Don’t feel bad. Most people didn’t — I even turned down some of my closest friends! There’s a good chance this could become an annual event, so drop me a line if you’d really like to be considered for next year.

ANOTHER NOTE: This isn’t my big project, but expect to hear an update on that very soon. You can also sign up to be notified when it’s launched here.