Crystal Box: The Future of Las Vegas

Originally published May 22, 2018

A few weeks ago, I shared a collection of photographs of the newer glass box buildings on the Las Vegas strip. Living in Washington, D.C. area, I am no stranger to this architecture style, but while back home such buildings may appear unexciting and generic, in Vegas they felt remarkably refreshing and evoked a hopeful vision for the future of the city.

Every city is evolving, but on the Las Vegas strip this process is evident especially acutely. The themed hotel-casinos, like the enormous and grand Caesar’s Palace or particularly grotesque Excalibur, seem to be falling out of style, and the new trend are the sleek, glassy edifices like Aria, Wynn and Encore. The main features of these new casinos are the glass-clad exteriors, while the interiors feel especially airy, spacious and light-filled. The latter part was especially important for me, as I did have a strange feeling after spending time in the older casinos, where the only daylight is the painted sky on the ceiling. Of course, the gambling rooms are still dimly lit even in the newer casinos, but they tend to have higher cielings and feel less crowded and you can walk out to the windows, and in some cases even sit down!

Since these newer casinos lack obvious themes, their star attractions become the design itself and tastefully incorporated art works, like the famous Chihuly ceiling at Bellagio or Shards of Color by James Turrell, where you can even get inside the artwork itself.

These new hotels and casinos are creating the much needed public spaces on the Strip, where once can escape the oppressive heat and unbearable crowds on the sidewalks outside and the numbing madness of the gambling rooms inside, and I hope this trend will spill out from the buildings onto the Strip itself. Maybe one day the Strip will be closed to traffic, planted with more trees for shade, and have streetcars run in the middle of it to efficiently move people? Interestingly, Las Vegas only needs to look at its past to see the future: Fremont Street has not only been pedestrianized, but has also been covered by an ingenious roof to provide some relief from the sun. 

But even looking into the crystal ball, or rather crystal boxes, can tell us only so much about what the city would become. The future will always more exciting than our wildest predictions.

Goodbye, Box Camera! Hello, TLR!

Originally published May 14, 2018

I started my film experiments a few months ago with a box camera. It is about as basic as a camera can get: as the name implies, it is a box with a simple meniscus lens at one end and the film at the other. Box cameras have put photography in the hands of the masses starting with the late 19th century, as manufactures sold them for very cheap in an effort to drive up film sales. They were the original point-and-shoot cameras, and their reign came to an end only in the 1950s, when the 35mm format finally took over the consumer market. There are plenty of these cameras on the market, and a working one can easily be found for $20 or less. Most of the box cameras have a single shutter speed and aperture, although mine, Agfa Synchro Box, had two shutter speeds (regular and bulb), two apertures, a yellow filter, tripod sockets for landscape and portrait, film pressure plate, flash connection and metal body. It must have been a premium edition back when it was made in the 1950s.

Agfa Synchro Box

Agfa Synchro Box

This camera was an amazing introduction to the world of film for me. First, after opening the back cover and peeking inside, I realized why we call these things “cameras”. Camera means “room” in Latin, and after dealing solely with tightly-packed 35mm and digital cameras, the inside of a box camera indeed looks looks like a cavernous room. Another impression was how anticlimactic taking a film photo really is: you do not see the image after you click a shutter, so you have to delay the excitement of examining your results until you develop the film. That is true with any film camera, but with a box camera you have to do so little to take the photo, it feels really bizarre at first. Did I just take a picture? Yes!? Good, let me take another one! And one more! Oh wait, did I wind the film between the shots? There are only eight shots per roll, so I guess I need to think a little before I pull the shutter lever next time…

Unfortunately, the simplicity of a box camera is also its biggest drawback. The waist-level viewfinders are fairly unsophisticated by design and since most of these cameras are more than 70 years old, the mirrors in them have typically deteriorated to a point where you are only getting faint outlines of objects, especially with the lack of contrasting background. The parallax is pretty bad and has to be corrected by trial and error, so I found it very hard to compose the shots to my liking. More often than not, my subjects ended up in the corners or cut off. Also, the original shutter speeds in these cameras were at the very limit of being short enough for handheld photography, around 1/30 to 1/50, as films were much slower back then. Over time, the shutter springs in these cameras tend to loosen, so the actual shutter speed increases and motion blur becomes an issue. Interestingly, in my case, the latter problem particularly worsened as I got more excited in the afternoons and my hands must have started to shake a bit! Finally, the camera has a fixed focus, and it is somewhere between 10 feet (3 m) and infinity, which was certainly a disadvantage in my recent travels to the lands of grand vistas.

With some patience and practice, I probably could have overcome those problems, but I feel the skills learned would not be as applicable to other camera types, especially the viewfinder issue. In our day and age a box camera is, essentially, a special effects camera similar to the Holga, and while it may be useful in creating vintage-looking photographs, especially portraits, that is not the path that I want to take right now. So from eBay it cometh, and back to eBay it goeth. But, as an homage to this camera, let me share the best photographs I took with it.

These challenges have prompted me to look for another tool, and I focused my search on twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras. The main features of the TLR are two lenses: one is called the taking lens, and it has the shutter and projects the image onto the film, while the other is called the viewing lens. It sits just above the taking lens and in front of a 45º mirror, which projects the image onto the viewing screen. The focusing in both lenses is coupled, so while you use the viewing lens for composing and focusing, the taking lens gets (almost) the same image and focuses to the same distance as well. Most of TLRs are also full-fledged cameras, with controls for aperture and shutter speed and a few other bells and whistles. There is one for almost every budget, too, from under $100 for the more basic models or lesser known brands, to upwards of $1,500 for Rolleiflexes in pristine condition. I ended up buying a Yashica-Mat with a four-element Yashinon lens that was made some time between 1958 and 1970, and it was remarkably affordable.

From the moment I took it out of the box, I realized what an amazing device it is. First, it is fully mechanical and has no plastic parts. Holding something like this in my hands is like traveling in time; they just do not make things like this anymore. Then, there is the focusing screen. After looking at it, I wonder why we consider LiveView LCD screens on cameras an innovation: we already had something much, much better seventy years ago! And most importantly, this camera can consistently take sharp images while being handheld. Finally, I think I found the camera for film photography that I was looking for.

The two photographs below are from the test roll that I took with it, and I have cropped them to enhance the composition. Expect many more in the future!

Flickering Flickr

Originally published April 23, 2018

I had a busy weekend and was not paying attention to the news, but as I was hoping through my inbox this morning, I came across a note from Flickr announcing the acquisition by SmugMug.

I have been a user of Flickr for many years, and while I had few complaints about the platform until recently, I could not fail to notice its stagnation and decline, which became particularly painful and glaring after I have signed up for Instagram and other modern social media. After Verizon bought Yahoo!, an ominous cloud started to hang over the service: even though Flickr may have had value as a content-generating engine, its waining popularity turned it into a liability, and given how peripheral it is to Verizon’s core business and ambitions, I feared that the days of Flickr were numbered. 

In light of that, today’s news were very good, albeit bittersweet. The Flickr community has finally found what appears to be a welcoming corporate home, and probably one of the best ones they could have wished for. On the other hand, while no dramatic actions are planned imminently, I would not be surprised if Flickr will be slowly integrated and absorbed into SmugMug. So for Flickr, this is more of a retirement with honors rather than a beginning of a new era.

I am feeling a bit sentimental over this, as posting my photographs on Flickr was an important part of my life for many years. When I first decided to post the pictures I took online, it was in the dark ages, when Google was just another search engine and Facebook was still TheFacebook, among other things. I wrote Perl scripts and Photoshop macros to generate thumbnails, preview images and navigation links. Then came Fotki.com, which looked exactly like what I had in my mind when I created my home-brew tools, and I have used it for a few years. I do not remember why exactly I have signed up with Flickr, but it probably was for the exciting features like the easy upload, map, tagging, advanced album options, sleek interface and the fact that some of my friends were using it, too.

I could also go into details on why I have decided to move on from Flickr, but it hardly matters now. Suffice it to say, the returns from posting regular, quality updates on Flickr no longer justified the time investment for me. While I will do my best to keep my photo stream there flickering, my website and other social media will take priority. So, if you have not done already, I recommend that you start follow me on Instagram or Facebook,.

And, in honor of Flickr’s retirement, I would like to share a few of my favorite images that I have shared there.

Fun and Thinking in Las Vegas

Originally published April 17, 2018

I find it surprisingly hard to write about Las Vegas. It may be tempting to describe Vegas with some beaten cliches, but the city is multifaceted and is remarkably self-contradictory. Over the next few weeks, I will try to scribble a few thoughts relating to the photographs I post, exploring different facets of Vegas.  

Harrah’s Las Vegas

Harrah’s Las Vegas

I have been to Las Vegas twice: once just last month and once before fifteen years ago. The strongest impression I remember form that first time was how fake the city felt. The feeling was there this time, too. After all, how else can you feel about the city where the main attractions are the replicas of the main attractions from other cities all over the world? And, while some of these replicas claim to be quite accurate and built to scale, the only thing that matters is how they look on the outside. The Doge’s Palace is just a facade for casino and shops, as is the Trevi Fountain, and the Statue of Liberty and the sphinx are probably hollow inside. I guess Las Vegas is all about the looks, anyway.

Yet on this visit, I think I was better prepared in terms of expectations. Rather than just rolling my eyes at how not genuine everything looks, I learned to see the whimsical side of things. For what the visual landscape in Vegas lacks in taste, it makes up in absurdity. The papier-mâché tropes may be terrible by themselves, but when jumbled together in almost random arrangements, they acquire playful and fun qualities, like pieces in a kaleidoscope make a beautiful mosaic. The picture below, I feel, sums it the best: a giant statue of a stripper and a Mexican restaurant with an over-the-top sign in a Middle Eastern town under a fake sky. Sometimes, one needs to remember to take things less seriously.

But this whimsical and kitschy side of Las Vegas is probably not long for this world. The themed casinos like Paris, Excalibur, the Venetian and Caesar’s Palace seem to be going out vogue. Some of the older ones are being torn down already, and I will not be surprised if half of the things you see in these photographs will be history in fifteen years. The spirit may survive on Fremont street, however, which always seems to be more “historic” relative to the Strip. It does not have the grandiosity and fake opulence of the strip, but there is no shortage of flashing casino signs and tacky street art. 

Holga Special Effects

Originally published April 10, 2018

My experiments in film photography continue, and today I would like to share a few photographs taken with a humble Holga camera, taken during my recent trip to Las Vegas.

Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park

I bought this camera on eBay for less than $20, and it proved to be an exceptional value. I have done my research beforehand and knew what to expect from its plastic lens and imprecise engineering: vignetting, blur around the edges, light leaks and a few other quirks are part of the game, so I tried to compensate for that with composition and some black tape. Still, I was very impressed by how good the photographs turned out and I am looking forward to using the Holga for more projects. While they may not be perfect technically and I may be too excited to pass a fair artistic judgement on them now, they are relatively consistent in how they come out. Given the price, the ease of use and the quality of the images, I can also see why it could be a great first camera for someone interested in working with film. 

Also, a Holga is very compact and rugged. It is very light and while it would not fit in the pocket, the lens does not protrude much, so it is not hard to find space for it in a purse or a camera bag. Because it is so lightweight and small, at east by medium format standards, I feel it could be a great asset both the city and the trail. And since it is mostly made out of plastic and it is so cheap, it can withstand a lot of abuse. In the future, I feel this could become my go-to tool for shooting outdoors in challenging conditions.

On the other hand, Holga is ultimately a special effects camera. While the “periscope” effect and multiple exposures it can produce may be refreshing at times, they also could get old pretty quickly in large quantities. As this camera makes it deceptively simple to take decent pictures, it is important not to forget about the photographer’s responsibility to think about what I shoot. And to remember to take off the lens cap before clicking the shutter.

Accidental Tribute to Kazimir Malevich

Accidental Tribute to Kazimir Malevich

Brutalism in Space

Originally published February 12, 2018

There was a lot of excitement about space this week with the launch of Falcon Heavy and the Starman in the sky. But for me, it started a bit earlier with the discovery of Frédéric Chaubin’s book CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed last weekend.

I grew up around many similar looking buildings in Moscow and now live next to some Brutalist masterpieces in Washington, D.C., but I always viewed them from an Earthly perspective. If anything, the raw, weathered concrete of these structures, their simple geometric building forms, sometimes recombined in whimsical arrangements evoked resemblance to the ruins of bygone civilizations. 

But after looking at Chaubin’s photographs, it dawned on me how Brutalism can be seen as a vision of the space and interplanetary future. After all, it came right at the heels of the Atomic Age and Space Age design. And These buildings exhibit many features of sci-fi and real space stations: massive scale, modularity in appearance, utilitarian design and use of durable materials. While Brutalist architecture often features plenty of pronounced angles, some buildings incorporate more rounded shapes, resembling flying saucers and other futuristic space structures. And some may, in fact, had a direct connection to space: I have read that Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C, was also envisioned as a future space port. 

So it may be an intesting project to try to capture the futuristic, intergalactic aspect of Brutalist architecture in Washington. Let us see where it takes me…

Space: The Final Frontier

Originally published February 7, 2018

I was fairly busy over the past few days, so I missed my self-imposed deadline of publishing a blog post on Monday. However, I feel compelled to write something after what has just happened today.

The photo below is of Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida that I have visited in December 2016. This one of the most important sites in the history of space exploration: from here, Apollo 11 and its crew boldly went where no man has gone before in 1969, followed by the first Space Shuttle mission in 1981. It is now leased by SpaceX, and today they made another historic launch from there with the Falcon Heavy and the Tesla Roadster.  After they have chased away the alligator in the picture.

I am really envious of the older generations who witnessed those space exploration milestones. I cannot imagine how exciting it was to see the black and white, low-resolution feed from the Moon, or to even hear about earlier launches on the radio. I remember listening to the live radio broadcast of Space Shuttle Discovery landing in 2005, the first Space Shuttle mission after the Columbia tragedy, and the first time I felt I am witnessing space history.

Unfortunately, I was not able to be at the Kennedy Space Center today and was not even able to tune in to the live cast of the Falcon Heavy Launch, but even watching it after the fact was amazing. If you have not watched it yet, I highly recommend that you do (the actual content starts at about 7:50 and T-60 before launch is at 28:53). My favorite parts were the two side boosters landing in sync and the surreal images of the “Starman” floating above the Earth in a Tesla Roadster.

By the way, there is still live feed going of the Starman and the final stage floating in space. It is absolutely captivating. 

Reykjanes Peninsula

Originally published January 30, 2018

Iceland has become a popular layover destination for Transatlantic travelers in recent years. Many first-time visitors follow the famous “Golden Circle” itinerary, connecting Þingvellir National Park, the geysers at Geyser and Gullfoss waterfall.  

However, if you only have a few hours on your layover and you want a more low-key experience withou the crowds, you should consider exploring the Reykjanes Peninsula instead. Everything there is a very short drive from the airport, and there are some accommodations, too, so if you have an early morning flight, you can explore Reykjanes on your last day in Iceland and stay in Keflavík just minutes away from the airport. 

If you will be taking off or landing at Keflavík during daylight hours, make sure to get a window seat and keep your fingers crossed for clear weather. If you are not familiar with volcanic landscapes, like I was on my first visit to Iceland, you will be smitten by the stark beauty of Reykjanes before your airplane even touches down. The peninsula is essentially a giant lava field, and an overhead point of view is one of the best ways to appreciate its scale. The landscape looks alien, save for the airport and the minimalistic towns with an occasional touch of color. 

On the ground, the landscape is no less alien. Photography work wonders here: if you can leave out the rare signs of human activity outside of your frame, you can easily take pictures of an alien planet in a galaxy far, far away. 

But these “signs of human activity” are interesting in their own right. If you head north from the airport on Rt. 45 towards Gardur and then head south on Rts. 44 and 425, you will encounter a few lighthouses, a picturesque historic church, a monument to a shipwreck and some foundations of Cold War era radar or similar military device.

In fact, the area immediately west of the airport was off limits until about a decade ago, after the airport ceased to be a military base. Because of that, this part of the peninsula looks completely desolate. Depending on the weather and the season, it may be just you, the rocks, the sea and some birds. This may be a good place to watch the aurora, too. 

Further south, past Hafnir, the sights get a bit more touristy. The Bridge Between the Continents is a classic tourist trap: it is not even close to the actin tectonic plates boundary. But it is free, and a great place to have fun with forced perspective and entertain your companions if they get bored waiting for you to taking pictures of the rocks. 

At the very Southwestern tip of Reykjanes lies its star attraction, the Gunnuhver Geothermal Area, and if you are short on time, head straight there and skip everything else. The main steam vent there is so powerful it roars like a jet engine. Not too long ago, the area became unstable: new vents emerged and others shifted, tearing the old boardwalks apart. You can still see evidence of destruction there, a testament to the power of the natural forces pent up underground. And a futuristic-looking geothermal plant nearby, surrounded by the odd-colored ground and steam vents, looks like a human outpost on a distant planet. Yet on the other side of the field, a lighthouse on a hill looks decidedly Earthly. 

If you have a few more hours, you can drive through the Reykjanesfólkvangur National Park not too far away to enjoy the views of lake Kleifarvatn. The park has a geothermal area, too, called Krysuvik, but the activity there is more subdued compared to Gunnuhver. On the way, you can make a short detour to Hópsnesviti lighthouse near Grindavik and see several hulks of wrecked ships on the shore.

You may have noticed that I have yet not mentioned the most famous attraction of Reykjanes, the Blue Lagoon. For Iceland’s tourist industry, it has about the same significance as the Pyramids for Egypt or Eiffel Tower for Paris. Unfortunately, it suffers from many of the same problems: it is overpriced and overcrowded. They offer a discount 1-2 hours before closing and if you come at 8 am when it opens you may avoid the tour buses, but a better deal still is to photograph the milky pond next to the free parking lot and then soak in a hot tub at a pool in Grindavik, Keflavik or another nearby town for a fraction of the price and in the company of locals. 

I have created a map with the sights I mentioned here and featured in the galleries, plus a nice place to grab a bite in Keflavík. As with the map I shared before, all locations are approximate, but you should be able to find them easily enough in daylight.

How (Not) to Photograph Aurora Borealis

Originally published January 22, 2018

Last year, for the first time in my life, I saw the northern lights. It was an amazing experience and being a photographer I wanted to capture it. My photographs did not turn out that great, but I have learned a few things in the process, and that should allow me to to take better ones next time, if I ever have another chance at it.
The best way to take great aurora picture is to be prepared. Let us start with the basics. 

First, to see the best auroras, you need to be close to the Arctic or Antarctic circle (within a few degrees latitude is the best). Auroras occur in both hemispheres and are equally spectacular, but it is far more practical to see them the northern one. There are plenty of cities with airports and developed tourist infrastructure close to the Arctic circle, but only penguins live at equivalent latitudes in the Southern hemisphere. Next, you will need darkness to see the aurora, so you need to visit those places during mid to late fall and winter months. Come in the summer, and you will see midnight sun instead. You will also need to get away from light pollution of the cities, but, fortunately, the area around the Arctic circle is sparsely populated and cities are not big, so you can find great spots just outside of them. You will also need clear skies, so check the local forecast before heading out. And finally, you will need an aurora, and there are forecasts for them as well.

For me, the best location was Iceland. It is just south of the arctic circle, easy to get to from my home base and easy to travel around, and offers plenty of darkness as even its largest city is rather small by world standards. I have used the forecast from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. They have handy maps for different parts of the world and you can select them at the bottom of the page. I was also checking cloud forecast from the Icelandic Met Office.  

But in the end, it came down to pure luck. We planned to drive out of Reykjavik one night to look for auroras, but we could not find a spot that was dark enough and the sky was overcast. Next day, after spending most of it exploring the waterfalls, glaciers and other sights near the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano, our rental car announced with an annoying chime that its engine was overheating just as we started heading back to Reykjavik. Fortunately, the rental company quickly dispatched a tow truck with a replacement, but it was well past sunset when we finally got into the new car and started heading back. At that time of night, the Ring Road in that part of Iceland is practically deserted, so we were in total darkness, save for the occasional lights from lonely farmhouses. And some strange light in the sky, which I thought was just light pollution from some town reflecting from the clouds. Fortunately, my wife thought differently and convinced me to pull over and get out of the car. As we got out, it was immediately obvious what we were looking at. Yes, it was the aurora! In reality, the northern lights look a lot different from the way they appear in photographs or on video. They are much fainter and paler, barely having any greenish tint at all, but they do “dance” and move through the sky. Honestly, I may have looked straight through them if I just randomly glanced at the sky and was not looking for them specifically. But the experience is mesmerizing, and we could have easily spent hours watching them have we not been tired, jet lagged and did not have a long drive a head of us. 

I quickly got out my camera, set up a tripod and started shooting. Actually, the technical aspects of photographing the aurora are not that difficult to master. With a digital camera, just put it on a tripod, set the ISO high (at least 400), set the aperture for capturing medium to deep depth of field (mine was set to 10, but 5.6 probably would have been just fine) and focus on infinity. Then, experiment with the exposure (using bulb setting is best) and check the results. It should probably be at least 5-10 seconds, but if you have your shutter opened for more than 15 seconds, you will start getting star trails, which you may or may not want. I used a remote shutter release, but if you do not have one you can just use the timer mode to eliminate camera shaking. Because of the long exposures required, you will not be able to take picture of the aurora with your phone. The best you can do is take a picture of your camera’s screen showing the photograph, like the one below that I have shared on my Instagram.  

Artistically, you should use a wide angle lens for best results and try to get some dramatic framing, foreground or background, like silhouettes of trees, buildings, mountains, etc. You can even paint the foreground with a flashlight if your exposure is long enough. I must have felt really tired and excited at the same time, so I was not thinking clearly, and never swapped my 50mm lens. And I thought that the gatepost of the farm driveway where we stopped was way more exciting than it really was. Because of that, I only got a small piece of the sky in my frame, and it does not show the aurora shapes very well, it just looks like the sky is glowing green. Because we were standing on the side of the road, that gatepost got painted by the headlights of the passing car during one of the long exposures. And I used exposures of 30 seconds or more, so the stars appear as trails, but of the distracting kind. When we got back to Reykjavik, the auroras were bright enough to see from the city, and I shot a few more pictures from our balcony before going to bed. As I said, I am not particularly proud of these photographs, but it was a learning experience and I hope next time I will do better. And seeing the aurora again is now definitely on my bucket list. 

I have marked a couple of places on this map that are close to Reykjavik and the airport in Keflavik and may be good places to watch and photograph the auroras. These are very approximate locations, and I would strongly recommend visiting them in daylight first, to familiarize yourself with the area and find a safe place to park your car off the road. My first choice would probably be Hvitanes, on the shores of Hvalfjörður, as it is fairly remote and the views are spectacular. Also, make sure that you dress warmly since you will be standing outside in cold weather for a long time, and learn how to operate your camera in the dark and with your gloves on. And having a thermos with your favorite warming beverage on hand can significantly improve your northern lights viewing and photographing experience! 

Hvalfjörður: A Journey Back in Time

Originally published January 15, 2018

After I posted photographs from Reykjanesfólkvangur National Park in Iceland a couple of weeks ago, one of my Facebook followers noted that it has changed quite a bit since the last time she has been there a few years ago. The road is now paved, there is a parking lot near the Krýsuvík geothermal area and there are a lot more tourists. And similar changes are very noticeable throughout Iceland. For my part, when I first visited the country in the summer of 2011, there were hardly any tour buses at Þingvellir. 

While technological progress and infrastructure development may benefit the locals financially, the tourism industry has a darker side as well. Out of the way charming places turn into merciless tourist tourist traps, lined with soulless chain hotels and tacky souvenir shops. It is an uneasy feeling to realize that what you see and love about a place today may not be there next time you visit in just a few years. Kauai, for instance, escaped the overdevelopment of Oahu in large part due to its unique geography, which made it prohibitively expensive to complete the circle of the “ring road” over the cliffs of the Na Pali Coast and Alakai swamp. As a result, the Western part of the island remained remarkably remote, only accessible through a difficult hike or by boat from the beaches. But now there is a new threat: as the sugar mills on the island closed down in the past couple of decades, the land of the former sugar plantations may be re-zoned for other uses. Some locals are trying to find creative uses for that land, like growing coffee or distilling rum, to prevent it from turning into more condos or resorts. During my last few days on the island, I tried to imagine what it was like to visit Hawaii at the very beginning of jet age, when the islands had a tiny fraction of the visitors they receive today.  

Little did I know that my dream will soon come true, albeit in completely different part of the world. Sometimes, while the unrelenting progress brings more development and crowds to one place, it takes them away from another. And I have accidentally discovered one such place while in Iceland. When Reykjavik was connected by road with the North and West of the country, the route had to go around the long and wide Hvalfjörður fjord just north of the city. During World War II, the British have built a port there at Hvitanes, as the fjord offered both deep waters and protection from storms. It was a sizable town and it was teeming with activity. It was abandoned shortly after the war and only a few rusty ruins remain today, but the road only got busier, as Iceland grew more and more prosperous with each passing year. Then, in 1998, a tunnel under the fjord has opened, saving travelers about an hour, and all traffic on the formerly busy road had disappeared. If you drive there today, especially off season, you will have the entire fjord practically to yourself. After a couple of days of exploring Iceland’s more popular natural wonders, driving around Hvalfjörður felt like a trip way back in time, to an era before automobiles became popular. 

Unsustainable Architecture

Originally published January 9, 2018.

As a photographer of architecture, I often reflect on the nature of the built environment. One question I often ponder is what makes a building great. I find it interesting that some architectural works that are widely praised when initially proposed or build, later reveal some glaring flaws. It almost feels that their designers were unaware of the realities of the context of their works.  

In the past few weeks, the Apple store in Chicago, designed by Sir Norman Foster, was featured in the news because it became an avalanche hazard to the customers . And you may recall the story from a few years ago when a concave facade of the “Walkie Talkie Building” in London became a reflective parabolic mirror, concentrating sunlight with enough power to melt a car. Then there is Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York. To me, it is a beautiful building, with a wast, airy, light-filled public space that also adds much-need architectural boldness to the otherwise uninspiring new construction at the former World Trade Center site. But when I learned that it cost $4 billion to build, and that was entirely footed by taxpayers, I started to wonder if it was a wise investment.

Unfortunately, these are not just isolated cases. While Chicago has long been an architectural laboratory, its brutal climate does not seem to be considered a significant factor by the architects working there. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, one of the most welcoming religious building in my opinion, had to undergo a costly renovation in recent years to repair its crumbling concrete walls and roof. When Wright designed the building, he decided to skip the expansion joints in the concrete structure for aesthetic reasons, but that was a terrible design decision for the wild annual temperature fluctuations in the Windy City. Likewise, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s S.R. Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) had to undergo a controversial renovation at around the same time, one of the reasons for which was accumulated weather damage over fifty years of its existence. For example, the travertine marble on its steps had to be replaced because it has crumbled, while in   Italy the same materials holds up pretty well for millennia in a milder environment. And cost overruns are probably as old as architecture itself. The iconic Sydney Opera House is a classic example, not least due to the architectural design not being entirely finished when the construction started. 

But nothing is easier than making sweeping critical judgements about the work of others from the comfort of a couch while safely hiding behind a computer screen and having no professional expertise in field. To be fair, everyone makes mistakes, and innovation is impossible without experimentation, not all of which will be successful. Despite of all I have said above, I have the deepest respect for the hard work, groundbreaking vision and innovation that architects, engineers and their numerous teammates put into their projects.  

Yet I wonder if we, as a society, should formulate expectations for architecture that is sustainable not just in the environmental and energy saving sense, but from the perspective of practicality and realism as well. Would the proposed design last a century or more, or would it require costly emergency repairs in a few decades? What would it take to keep the building’s appearance as intended in the long run?Are there any issues that an architect failed to foresee? Have the innovative solutions and materials been tested by independent experts and in realistic circumstances? Would custom-made construction equipment be required to erect this building? This is especially critical for public and publicly-funded project, where the people at large are the ultimate clients, or for the ones built in the public context, like a city, where the general public is an important stakeholder. And I know these factors are already been considered by architects and their clients, all I am suggesting is that we look at them in greater depth. Would the aesthetic and emotional impacts of the buildings take a hit as a result? Possibly, but creativity also flourishes under constraints. As Lois Sullivan famously said, form ever follows function. We just need to define more broadly what function is, to include the building’s context in space and time as well. 

Happy New Year!

Originally published January 1, 2018

Happy new year! One of my new year’s resolutions is to restart this blog and update it regularly. But first, I would like to reflect on the past year. 

While I have been photographing for many years, this was the year when I have started treating it more seriously, both from artistic and business perspectives. It has been a challenging endeavor, but it was also an amazing learning experience. And there is still a lot more to learn in the coming year. One of the more unusual lessons is how the business and artistic side of photography are intertwined: while I have initally joined Instagram largely to promote my prints store, it ended up being a great way to explore the field. I am now addicted to my daily dose of inspiration. 

I have been incredibly blessed this year to have the time, resources, and company to explore the world like never before. When I just try to think of all the places I have visited this year, I end up pinching myself. It would probably be a long while before I match the travel level of 2017. Photographically, it was definitely a year of nature and landscape photography, so if the next year will turn out to be more low-key, I hope to catch up on another subject that fascinates me: architecture. 

Of all the places I have visited and photographed this year, one destination stands out, and that is Hawaii, specifically the Big Island. On my first day there, driving along the Kohala Coast, I thought I would have to de-staurate my photos, because nobody would believe those vivid colors are real. The natural diversity of the island is unbelievable, and I would say that if you can only visit one place in your lifetime, make it be the Big Island. You will not be disappointed. And Kauai, by the way, is close behind. 

I was also lucky to see several unique natural phenomena, and all in the space of less than six months. It was glowing caldera and active lava flows of the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island in Hawaii, aurora borealis over Iceland, and the total solar eclipse in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Witnessing each was a unique, stunning experience, and while I feel I did an OK job capturing them on camera, a lot was left outside of the frame. If I get a chance to witness such events again, I will try focus on capturing them in context. For example, I wish I had thought in advance of the setup to take a photo of my family all wearing the eclipse glasses and pointing excitedly at the sky.  

And even though many photos I took this year convey a joyous, festive mood, many of them are also a reminder of the fleeting nature of all things on Earth. Only a couple of minutes would separate the peaceful, snow-capped Hekla volcano in Iceland from turning into the active inferno like Kilauea. Likewise, only a few days separated the tropical Caribbean paradise on St. Martin and Anguilla, which I have visited earlier this year, from total destruction by hurricane Irma.

As I mentioned earlier, I hope that next year would be a little less hectic and will give me an opportunity to focus on photographing subtler things closer to home. Stay tuned and all the best to you in the coming year! 

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Na Pali Coast

Originally published October 22, 2017

Na Pali Coast is one of the most famous attractions on Kauai. In terms of scale, it is only about fifteen miles long, but it is remarkably isolated and pristine. 

Ancient Hawaiians lived in the valleys there, but the ridges are so rugged, the only way to get there would by by sea or  by a handful of vertiginous trails. And even in the summer, the seas could be rough. It is not uncommon for the tourists on boat tours today to get seasick and “travel by rail”, that is, bending over the rail of the boat. That fate has not escaped yours truly, and I was only able to capture a few views. 

But the views of the cliffs and valleys in the rays of the setting sun were stunning nonetheless. If many vistas on the Big Island evoked the thoghts of different planets, Na Pali Coast appeared very Earthly, but from a much earlier, primordial time. Perhaps it is why it is so popular with filmmakers, as you can recognize the scenery from the movies such as Jurassic Park, King Kong, and many others. And the challenges of accessing the land of Na Pali Coast must have required some skills from the crew! 

Hawaii Lava Fields

Originally Published September 22, 2017

If the summit of Mauna Kea looks like another planet, then Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, also on the Big Island, looks like the Earth turned inside out. 

The park covers the Kilauea volcano, which is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Many of the lava fields in these pictures are very recent, the oldest ones are from about five hundred years ago and the most recent ones are just a few years old.

I remember seeing the lava fields for the first time in Iceland. They have this unique look of viscous liquid that froze or solidified. But the Icelandic lava flows I have seen are much older and are covered with moss. The more recent flows on the Big Island are completely barren, and you can feel that the geological and the human scale converge here. 

Remarkably, people also manage to live on these brand new lava flows. There used to be a subdivision near the shore called Kalapana Gardens that got devoured by the lava flows in the 1990s. Those lots can still be bought, and the prices are bargains considering that you get an ocean view. And because many original owners live on the mainland and simply abandoned their properties, squatters settle in, too. Some of these houses are even listed own Airbnb. But living there is extremely tough: there is no electricity apart from what you can generate from wind or sun, no fresh water apart from what you can collect from the rain, and no soil apart from what you can haul in. And you are in constant danger of having your house destroyed by the next lava flow. 

Unfortunately, as we were passing through Kalpana Gardens on our way to see the active lava flows, I did not stop to take any pictures of this surreal community, as we were trying to get to the active flows by sunset and had to fight with our rickety rental bikes. But I found this 2012 article from Honolulu Magazine that has some pictures and profiles of people who live there, to convey some perspective of what the life there is like.  

Mauna Kea

Originally Published September 20, 2017

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The summit of Mauna Kea feels like another planet. The air is thin. Nothing grows there. The cinder cones, remnants of past eruptions, seem to float in the sea of clouds. The sterile white domes of the observatories look decidedly futuristsic. The only things detracting from this feeling are the tourists and the cars that brought them. 

But the summit of Mauna Kea does not just look like another planet. It is the closest you can get to the environment of another planet anywhere on Earth. In fact, the astronauts of the Apollo program trained there for their work on the surface of the Moon. And an experiment is currently under way near the summit of Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea’s sister mountain, simulating humans living on Mars.

And the observatories on Mauna Kea are links to other planets as well. For example, significant time at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) is devoted to studying planets in our solar system, and the W. M. Keck Observatory, shown in the first picture on this page, has been used to discover many exoplanets.

Boeing 747 in Saint Martin

Originally Published September 19, 2017

You may have noticed that I have shared a few photographs from St. Martin* on social media lately. For my wife and me, it is one of our favorite destinations. We have been there several times and loved every minute of it, so it has been very hard to follow the recent news about the devastation hurricane Irma wrecked on this wonderful island. 

One quintessential St. Martin experience was to watch the airplanes land at Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM). The airport is large for such a small island, so it serves as a busy transportation hub for several nearby islands, handling everything from small island-hopping turboprops to private jets to large long-haul airliners. The best spot to watch the airplanes was Maho Beach, located just a few yards from the end of the runway. The bar there even posted flight schedule on a surfboard. But a special treat was the arrival of Boeing 747, the Queen of the Skies, appropriately adorned with a crown on its tail fin by its owner, the Dutch airline KLM. On our first visit, we were able to watch it land twice and I took pictures from different vantage points. It was an unforgettable experience.

Earlier this year, KLM’s Boeing 747 landed and took off from the island for the last time, following the worldwide trend of withdrawing 747s from service. It was bittersweet news: a passing of the past icon to give way to a technically superior but characterless replacement. I realized we were witnessing history when we watched those flights land in 2013, when I took the pictures above.

Then came hurricane Irma, Maho Beach was washed away, and Princess Juliana Airport suffered substantial damage, greatly hampering relief efforts. But as soon as basic repairs to the airport were made, KLM’s blue and gray Queen of the Skies was back in St. Martin, bringing in much needed relief supplies and taking back evacuees, and it may visit the island a few more times in the coming days. Apart from their enormous importance in the relief effort, these last 747 flights are fitting symbols of closing the glamorous jet age chapter in St. Martin’s history as a new one, terrifying but hopeful, begins.

* The island is commonly referred to by several names. The geographical island is called Saint Martin, but as it is split between France and the Netherlands, it is called Saint-Martin and Sint Maarten in the respective language. Here, I use St. Martin to refer to the whole island. 

Hawaii Waterfalls

Originally Published on September 7, 2017

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There is no shortage of waterfalls in Hawaii, and each of them is uniquely beautiful. There is not really much to add, I feel the pictures speak for themselves. Except I was extremely lucky to arrive at the Wailua Falls just at the right time to see the rainbow in the mist.

St. Augustine, Florida

Originally Published on August 31, 2017

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The last stop on my grand tour of Florida was the historic city of St. Augustine. It is one of the oldest cities in North America, and has a well-preserved late 17th century Spanish fort as well as some wonderful Spanish Revival architecture from the Gilded Age, courtesy of Henry M. Flagler, business partner of John D. Rockefeller.

Parts of the old town feel a bit like a tourist trap, but there is a lot of charm beyond the main drag and outside of holiday season. Alas, this visit was very short, but St. Augustine is definitely a place I will return to again for more inspiration.

Great American Solar Eclipse

Originally Published August 24, 2017

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August 21, 2017 was the first time in my life that I have witnessed a solar eclipse. From my viewing location in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, it was partially obscured by the clouds so the Sun’s corona was not visible during totality and a thunderstorm rolled in shortly thereafter. Nevertheless, this celestial spectacle was well worth seeing, even despite other inconveniences such as oppressive heat and humidity and hours spend in crawling traffic.

Even though I thought I have practiced taking pictures of the Sun with the solar filter, I was still not as prepared as I could have been. My tripod was not tall enough to point the camera high in the sky and to comfortably look into the viewfinder or at the screen. The clouds necessitated changing the camera settings frequently to adjust for lighting changes. All of this, unfortunately, precluded me from capturing a series of consistent images. Besides, those last few moments before totality when the Sun’s light was quite literally extinguished were so mesmerizing I was compelled to put the camera down and just watch in awe. 

I will definitely try my best to photograph another eclipse, such as the one in the U.S. in 2024. With the lessons learned and a bit of luck, the pictures may come out better.

Florida Space Coast

Originally Published July 27, 2017

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Another stop on the grand tour of Florida that I undertook at the end of last year was the John F. Kennedy Space Center. I do not consider myself a space geek, but touring the the actual launch pads from where humans took off to the Moon and later countless Space Shuttle missions were launched was a very moving experience. And the current state of the facility is a testament to the opening of yet another great chapter in space exploration saga, with the launches by private space ventures like Space X conducted from the same launch pads. One day, I will definitely return there to watch and capture an actual rocket launch.

Another memorable part of the visit was viewing the artifacts form the Moon missions, such as the enormous Saturn V rocket, one of the Apollo command modules and various implements used by the astronauts on the Moon. It was also very exciting to these those items, and I was envious that I did not live through that time. I cannot imagine how exciting and inspiring it was to witness those historic missions first hand. Hopefully, we will live long enough to see another comparable milestone in space exploration.