© Finn O’Hara

Pictured above is a film still from CHOP, a series of short films celebrating the collision between a Best Made Company axe and wood. It was shot with a Phantom HD Gold, and a series of ARRI Master prime lenses, at 1000 fps. Directed and shot by Finn O’Hara, a portrait and landscape photographer, who is based in Toronto, Canada, and London, England, the video emphasizes the impact of the blade through slow motion and dramatic audio.

Filmed at Sugino Studios, April 20th, 2010. Finished by Colr At Topix , Toronto, Canada. Edited by Bijou Editorial, Toronto, Canada. The music is by Nico Muhly. The series is being released next month at www.bestmadeco.com.

See more of Finn O’Hara’s work here.

© Blake Gordon

Building on his previous studies in landscape architecture, photographer and environmental artist Blake Gordon set out to explore the urban environment- at night. He initiated his Nightwalks project in 2007 while pursuing a graduate degree in Design at the University of Texas – Austin.

The project evolved from shorter outings to multi-night, self-supported, treks. Leaving behind a phone, ID, and money, he eventually went out on a continuous 5-night walk of more than 26 miles through Austin. He slept during the day, camping wherever he could.

“I’m interested in how we understand and relate to our environment through experience. I needed to construct an experience that was utterly different than my day-to-day relationship with the city. In a wilderness journey, that model is in place. So I took that model and applied it to my everyday environment. I was dropped off north of town and had enough supplies to walk for 5 nights.”

Letting the peculiarities of artificial light be the guide, the images act as architectural photographs of the spaces encountered along his  meandering nocturnal transect.  “When someone tells me the pictures don’t look like Austin, I know the experiment was successful. I set out to understand the city in a completely different light.” To see more of Blake Gordon’s work click here.

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© Samuel Portera. Above: Deer Peas New Orleans, LA, based photographer Sam Portera worked with Michaelyn Broussard, a wetland biologist, to identify and photograph indigenous wetland botanical species. The featured series, “Indicators” are specimens Portera has collected and photographed in his studio. Most of these plants are small and are simply lost in the abundance of life to the average viewer.  Working with Michaelyn he says, “I became aware of how little I knew of what we stand to loose in light of recent catastrophic events.” To see more of Portera’s work click here.

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© André Wagner

This photo, staged with artificial light, was taken by the surroundings where “Lord of the Rings” was filmed.  Included in André Wagner’s Authentic Nature series and book, the image is currently part of the group exhibition at the international contemporary photo gallery, Photo Edition Berlin, located in Prenzlauer Berg, Germany. The gallery showcases emerging and established artists. For more information about the gallery and the group exhibition, click here.

To see more of Wagner’s work click here.

© Susan Worsham

Destiny, Grandmother’s Roses, Va., pictured here, is from Susan Worsham’s series “By The Grace Of God”.  She says, “Growing up in Virginia, my childhood field trips were to cigarette factories and civil war battlegrounds, with a brown bag lunch in tow. This series takes me beyond the backyards and trails of my youth. It deals with the hospitality of strangers, and hits on a feeling that I have sometimes when taking portraits. The feeling that I was supposed to meet a particular person, or turn down a certain road.”

In 2010, Worsham was a Light Work Artist In Residence, the recipient of the first TMC/ Kodak Film Grant, and runner up in the Julia Margaret Cameron Award. To see more of Worsham’s work click here.