Moscow, Ohio, 1997 © Andrew Borowiec/Courtesy of Sasha Wolf Gallery, NYC

With consistent formality—disciplined use of line, frame and subtle light—Andrew Borowiec transforms the banality of the Midwest industrial landscape into compelling black and white photographs that are powerful for their quiet contemplation and topographic rendering. Along The Ohio is a masterful series of photographs, on view through January 7 at Sasha Wolf Gallery in New York City.

© Cory Richards.

Cory Richards, a professional photographer and climber for The North Face athlete team, captured this image during the team’s 30-hour weather window which allowed them to summit Gasherbrum II, known as The Shining Mountain, an 8,000 meter (26,240 feet) peak in Pakistan that bridges the boarders of China and India. At 29, Richards was the youngest member and first American, to summit with his team members Simone Moro (Italy) and Denis Urubko (Kazakhstan). “The climb came after 26 years of failed attempts to climb one of the Pakistani 8,000 meter peaks in winter.”

Richards explains how he got the shot: “We were at about 24,270 feet, it was -45º, and we had been climbing since 3:00 am.  I knew the sunrise was coming and there wasn’t going to be another opportunity like this. Trying to anticipate that, I ran (or tried to run) ahead, and promptly vomited from the effort. As I collected myself and caught my breath, I turned and fired off maybe 10 frames…this was the only one that was sharp enough to pass. It was one of those very rare and special moments where everything aligned…or at least close enough…to tell a monumental story of human effort in a massive and beautiful environment…in a single frame. I don’t think these happen very often in a career…where we can actually see the whole of our efforts is greater than the sum of all the parts.”

© Michael Levin

Over ten years ago Michael Levin began his photographic journey in the Pacific Northwest and has since broadened his geographic horizons to include Japan, Iceland, France and beyond. Though Levin’s photographs are made at a wide range of locations, the individual images are not necessarily about the specific place, but rather a moment in time and the experience of arriving there. Instead of seeking out a predetermined location, Levin travels and waits for a location to speak to him in a process that he describes more intuitive than logical. Levin’s exhibition, “Continuum,” opens on Dec. 16, 2011 at the photo-eye Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It will be on display until February 4, 2012.

(more…)

All Photos © George Georgiou. Above: Seafront, Mersin, Turkey, 2007.
In his travels throughout Turkey in recent years, photographer George Georgiou has documented “the process of modernization, urbanization, and national identity that is happening in Turkey against a rising tide of nationalism and religion.” His compositions capture a country at a crossroads, caught between old and new, Europe and Asia, tradition and modernization. His series “Fault Lines” is currently being shown as part of the exhibition “New Photography 2011” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Also featured in the exhibition are Moyra Davey, Deana Lawson, Doug Rickard, Viviane Sassen and Zhang Dali.

(more…)

All photos © Betsy Pinover Schiff.

Photographer Betsy Pinover Schiff offers a new perspective on America’s greatest urban park –exclusively from windows and terraces of more than 100 private apartments and offices on all four sides of the 840-acre Park. She captures both the dramatic and lyric moods evoked by the grand vistas of the Park’s natural beauty in its changing seasons. “As a photographer of gardens and landscape architecture” she said, “my interest was the landscape of Central Park rather than the city skyline behind or the activity within it.” Her focus was the colors, textures shadows and architectural elements in the Park as they appear from above, from early morning to night. The five-year project resulted in the acclaimed book Windows on Central Park: the Landscape Revealed (Schiffer Publishing, Ltd, October, 2011), which followed on the heels of her book New York City Gardens (Hirmer Verlag, 2010). Read about Schiff’s encounters with the private residents surrounding Central Park in the NY Times City Room blog.

(more…)