Wayne Levin, Decompressing Divers and Galapagos Sharks, Laysan
Wayne Levin has added some work from the remote Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (North West Hawaiian Islands) to his website. While a fair amount of this new work is black and white underwater (the genre that he is most known for) he has also included black and white above-water pictures and even a selection of color above-water pictures. The work is from this past summer, when he was invited to accompany a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) scientific expedition aboard the Hi'Ialakai.
I published a portfolio of Wayne's work in Photo Techniques a few circuits around the sun ago.
He also has two new books scheduled to come out next year. Akule, a book of his images of the amazing schooling fish, published by Editions Limited, with essays by Frank Stewart and Tom Farber, is set to come out in May of 2010. A new book of the Hansen's Disease Settlement of Kalaupapa, published by the Arizona Memorial Museum Association, with text by Anwei Skinsnes Law and Valerie Monson, is scheduled for later in 2010. I was pleased to discover that his previous book
Mother and Baby Spinner Dolphins and Sea Cucumbers
Mike
(Adapted from Wayne's press release)
Wayne's photos are extraordinary - amazing. Having spent a lot of time photographing underwater, I am really impressed.
But Mike - Hansen's disease settlement?! It was a leper colony - one of the problems with political correctness is that euphemising the forced removal of people with this disease removesw wider understanding that these people were banished from regular society for having a disease to which 95% of the population is naturally immune. Don't awful things deserve to retain awful labels?
Voltz
Posted by: v.i. voltz | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 04:45 PM
Gourgeus photography!!!
Posted by: Salvador Moreno | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 04:51 PM
Now this is a print offer I could get behind. Pleeeeeeeeze.
Posted by: Christopher Lane | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 08:03 PM
Voltz,
I just wrote what Wayne had in his press release, as I noted in the sig....
Mike
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 10:04 PM
Pretty amazing how a phenomenal (B&W) photograph excels underwater for much the same reasons it does on dry land.
Posted by: Stan B. | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 10:35 PM
Great photography.
Posted by: charlie | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 07:56 AM
I keep noticing on this site and others how much more acceptable noise is in black and white than it is in color. (Not only to me, but based on the lack of comments on it, acceptable to others as well.)
Terrific photos, particularly the divers with the subtle spotlighting.
Posted by: David Bostedo | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 09:39 AM
I keep noticing on this site and others how much more acceptable noise is in black and white than it is in color.
I've often found that this is a useful thing when poor lighting conditions lead me to use high ISOs and after-processing to bring the images out. In color, the noise is obnoxious; in black and white, it becomes an appealing graininess.
Levin's images are simply amazing. I wish I was even half as good on land.
Posted by: Rana | Thursday, 19 November 2009 at 11:20 PM
Agree with Rana. In black and white photography "noise" or "grain" becomes an aesthetically pleasing addition to the photographs. It is very much a distraction in color photography where the end goal is often sharp images and accurate color representation.
Of course, as in any other art form, this is dependent on the artist and the viewer.
Posted by: Damien Franco | Sunday, 22 November 2009 at 08:50 AM