© Micah Garen

A poppy farmer in Marja, from Marja’s Hearts and Minds, a photo essay published as a web exclusive for Vanity Fair.  Micah Garen traveled to the southern Afghan city of Marja, site of a major offensive this past February, with a Wisner 4×5 field camera to photograph the diverse cast of characters—soldiers, elders, farmers, even robots—whose actions will decide the mission’s outcome.  To learn more about his documentary,Pashtunistan, and see more of Micah’s work click here.

All Images © Dave Mead

Dave Mead’s Magnificent Specimens exhibit recently came to a close in New York City. Specimens is a collection of some of the World’s most elegant, most bizarre and most elaborate beards and mustaches. To see more work, click here.

(more…)

All Images © Reed Young

Sturgis, a prairie town on the westernmost edge of South Dakota, claims only 6,000 permanent residents… The town swells to nearly a half million for the first week of August every summer during the famous motorcycle rally. At the end of the 2008 rally, 66 marriage licenses had been issued, 3 rally-related deaths occurred, millions of t-shirts had been sold, the South Dakota economy claimed $10.5 million in rally-related sales, and 543 tons of garbage were hauled away. These are just a few faces of another Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in America’s heartland. To see more of Reed Young’s work click here.

(more…)

All Images © Olaf Heine.

Above: Anna Loos, Berlin, 2010.

Music has been a great source of inspiration for German photographer, Olaf Heine. I Love You but I’ve Chosen Rock is an intimate visual diary of international rock and pop celebrity portraits, and 15 years of  music memorabilia collected over the photographer’s career which will be published by Hatje Cantz in September 2010.

(more…)

All Images © Michael Gakuran

“Gunkanjima, or ‘Battleship Island’ in English, is the nickname for a tiny deserted island off the coast of Japan. Once used to mine coal, at its peak it had a thriving community and one of the largest population densities the world has ever seen. Nowadays it lies in ruins and visiting the island is strictly forbidden except via the designated tour routes which, unfortunately, do not allow travellers to explore deep inside.

I was fortunate enough to meet a fellow urban explorer who took me to the island in secret. We only had a few short hours of time to photograph the place, but I was overwhelmed by the mysterious beauty in the decaying concrete buildings and the curious objects left behind by the residents who were forced to leave their homes there some 30 years ago.”-Michael Gakuran

Michael Gakuran lives and works in Japan. To view more of his work and learn more about his exploration on Battleship Island click here.

(more…)