Marina Cano: A Woman In Love With The Wild

My photographer in light today is the award winning landscape and wildlife photographer, Marina Cano. 

One look through her exquisite portfolio, and we are convinced that the bounds of love are not bounds at all but rather a shared experience among beasts of all shapes and sizes, extending from the photographer herself to the very creatures who images she captures so beautifully. 

From the delicate portrait of a mountain gorilla gazing at her newborn infant to the intimate trunk nuzzling of African elephants, Cano’s animal photography elicits from its audience a sense that, in nature, love is the very core of existence. 

She said she has "a special commitment with the planet and their threatened wildlife and hope her work can touch people’s hearts. Photographers usually say that they ‘capture’ images, but for me the opposite is true. Animals have captured me.”

Marina’s comprehensive portfolio has been exposed close to master photographer Steve Bloom, and her brilliant photos had become a powerful environmentalism weapon.

Photos: by Marina Cano

For more of her work, you can visit her website here.

Have a breezy day,

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Africa through the Lenses of Nick Brandt

My photographer in light today is the wildlife Photographer, Nick Brandt, who photographs exclusively in Africa (Kenya and Tanzania). 

One of his goals is to record a visually poetic last testament to the wild animals and places there before they are gone at the hands of man.

He has captivated me with his serene, almost heavenly, look at the African jungle and its animals. With carefully thought out compositions and unusual aesthetics, it is impossible not to want to get to know more about the African continent and its wild life.

His first book, “On This Earth” (2005), was a vision of an Edenic paradise with lush landscapes and ethereal moments like a cloud of dust exploding over an elephant’s head while the scenes in his second book, “A Shadow Falls” (2009), become progressively emptier and drier. 

By the end, the trees have vanished and the water has evaporated...

You will not find action shots or telephoto lenses, the usual hallmarks of wildlife photography, in his work. He opts for tight and solitary portraits in sepia or black and white. The resulting photographs feel like artifacts from a bygone era.

“I’m waiting for the moment where the animal seems like they’re posing or where they’ve set themselves into a landscape like an Edward Curtis,” Mr. Brandt said.

He plans to release his third book in September 2013 and says the title will complete a sentence he started with his two earlier book titles, “On this earth a shadow falls…”

Photos: by Nick Brandt

For more of his work, you can visit his website here.

Have a breezy day,

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Animal Instincts by Lennette Newell

The photographer in light today is the talented Lennette Newell with her ani-human Photography. 

She created a bizarre exhibit featuring naked models being covered with body paint to look just like wild animals. 

Lennette's daring pictures show models posing covered in paint as zebras, elephants, baboons and cheetahs next to their real life counterparts. 

The San Francisco photographer's display, called "Anti-Human" was devised out of Lennette's childhood desire to become one of the animals her father used to treat as a vet. 

Her strikingly colourful set aims to mark the difference between humans and wild animals.

Here with the model Jasmina painted in snakeskin style print while Daisy the 12ft Burmese phython is wrapped around her.

The same model covers herself in a bronzed light brown paint with black spots while sat behind Tango the beautiful cheetah.

One of her eye-catching pictures shows Jasmina painted in black and white next to a zebra, complete with black and white hair to accurately mimmick the majestic animal.

Another image shows another willing model, Kaela, posing in grey and brown paint, with a trunk painted down the centre of her body to replicate the appearance of Susie the African elephant next to her.

Really striking images, don't you think?

Have a breezy day,

Photos: via Lennette Newell's website

Sunday Gateway: The Blue City of Morocco

Today, let's enjoy a nice trip in one of Morocco’s most popular tourist destinations: Chefchaouen. It is most known for its blue-rinsed buildings and alleys, an old tradition leftover from the city’s Jewish population.

The name Chefchaouen comes from “chauen”, which is Spanish for horns, and refers to the shape of the two mountains overlooking the settlement. But it is not its strange name, the beautiful and unique handicrafts sold by local craftsman, or the delicious goat cheese that attracts the majority of tourists to Chefchaouen.

It is the blue-painted houses and buildings of the city, a tradition inherited from the former Jewish inhabitants. In the Bible, Israelites are commanded to dye one of the threads in their tallit (prayer shawl) blue, with tekhelel. This was an old natural dye, processed from a species of shellfish, but in time its production collapsed and the Jewish people eventually forgot how to make it. But, in honor of the sacred commandment, the color blue was still woven into the cloth of their tallit. When they look at the dye, they will think of the blue sky, and the God above them in Heaven. 

While the Jewish population of Chefchoauen is not as numerous as it one was, practically everyone in the city still follows this old tradition and frequently renew the paint job on their homes. 

These incredible photos were taken by Maxim Kiryushin.

Wildlife Photography By Nikolai Zinoviev

My photographer in light today is the Russian photographer Nikolai Zinoviev, with his marvellous wildlife photos. He photographs for both companies and individuals who like to see wild nature and its inhabitants in their daily living and work environments.

Most of us live in places completely altered by civilization, territories of hundreds of square miles where there’s no place left for nature as it existed thousands years ago and for wild species, that once populated these vast territories. Nikolai’s mission is to bring wildlife into people’s homes and workplaces through his photographs, to make them feel the importance of preserving of what is left of it on Earth. 

He said: 'I dreamt a lot about taking a long trip in Africa to experience the savanna’s wild beauty'. Hmmmm I love that dream! 

Nikolai Zinoviev's website: www.nikzinoviev.com