All images © Benjamin Lowy / VII Network

Tendrils and plumes of oil have covered the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, leaving a viscous mess in the open sea. The environmental disaster that was caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is horrible and will no doubt have a long lasting impact on the Gulf. While on assignment for GQ magazine covering the disaster, I was struck by how beautiful the congealed pockets of crude were. Floating on the sea, swirling with the seawater, they looked strangely like abstract paintings. These are close up images of the pools of oil that stagnate on the surface of the Gulf.

—Benjamin Lowy

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Woodchuck, 2005 © Jesse Burke/Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

Jesse Burke’s Intertidal will be on view though July 9th at ClampArt, New York City.

Ribs by Mónika Sziládi

Stranger Than Fiction is the 2010 Yale University School of Art MFA photography thesis show curated by Soraja Helac and Sabrina Wirth from Helac & Wirth Art Advisory. The show at 25CPW will feature a selection of photographs from each of the nine graduating MFA students: David Bush, Lucas Foglia, Kate Greene, Tatiana Grigorenko, Curran Hatleberg, Tiffani Hooper, Rory Mulligan, Hrvoje Slovenc, and Mónika Sziládi. Stranger Than Fiction will be on view June 4–June 14 at 25CPW in New York City, the opening reception will be held on Friday, June 4th, 6–9pm, suggested donation of $5.

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Beyond The View, No. 5, 2009 © Helen Sear/Courtesy of Klompching Gallery, New York

In Beyond The View, Helen Sear continues her photographic investigation into the sublime—and an engagement with the retinal and digital—through her innovative use of image superimposition and erasure. The dialogue between the artwork and viewer, as well as the labor of the artist’s hand, is enhanced by a shift in scale that emphasizes the artist’s concern with the viewer’s habits of looking. Helen Sear’s Beyond The View will be on exhibit through June 11th at Klompching Gallery, an artist reception will be on Thursday, May 13th, 6–8pm.

Voetganger No. 017, 2008 © Gus Powell

In 1609 Henry Hudson discovered Manhattan Island for the Dutch, founding their New World colony. To celebrate the 400th anniversary, New York photographers Joshua Lutz, Gus Powell, Richard Rothman and Carl Wooley were each commissioned last year to explore a different aspect of Amsterdam: the outskirts, the street, and the night. The photographers were not only struck by Amsterdam’s small scale and peacefulness—but also by more subtle things such as the transparency of the Dutch houses with their big windows, which give every passer-by a glimpse into the private world of the inhabitants. The resulting images reveal an unknown side of the Dutch capital. A selection of photographs by Lutz, Powell and Wooley will be exhibited in the New York City premier of NY Perspectives: Amsterdam discovered by NY Photographers on view at 25CPW, May 8–17. An artist reception will be held on Tuesday, May 11th, 6–9pm.