Images of Chernobyl

As a young person when this ‘accident’ happened, I only remember how it affected me. I don’t remember the details of the event, how it came to pass, how it affected others, none of that. Part of being young is you get to be selfish and self-centered. I know we’ve all seen memorials this past week as the 20th anniversary of the disaster has come to pass, but I wanted to share one with you that I found profoundly affecting.

A photo journalist has shared a few of the images he took right after the disaster and how it affected some of the local children. The page he has created also allows you to see a timeline of the event, and to possibly understand how the disaster came about. I think people spit on the lead-encased coffins of the people involved for a reason.

Sadly he has used Flash to make the page up, so please don’t take this as me supporting his technological choices. But his voice is an interesting one that exposes the human side of the disaster. It is worth listening to, and most importantly watching.

Less personally-touching was this series of images from the disaster – again using Flash. Certainly interesting to look through.

Happy 2006!

Alisa and I want to wish everyone reading this a Happy New Year. Here’s hoping 2006 is a landmark year full of good luck, wonderful moments of peace, quiet and reflection, and a few belly-laughs thrown in for good measure.

Anyone interested in seeing pictures from our Mexican holiday?

Guayabitos Picture

Here you go. Be warned – there are a few pictures of sunsets in there. Feel free to leave comments!

The Power Of Photography

World Press Photography has an annual award for photojournalists. They have put up a showcase of the winner from each year for the past 50 years. These photos are not “the best photos of the year” or “the most powerful photos of the last 50 years” – rather they are simply the winners of the award for the last 50 years. That being said, these pictures will affect you emotionally.

High-tech (and high resolution) Flash version is available here.

Low-tech version (with slightly more detailed descriptions) is available here.

Another image that I’ve found in this Ars Technica thread about the power of photography:

Sudan Famine “Pulitzer Prize” winner 1994: photo and photgrapher’s biography.

Photojournalism would be a hard, hard thing to do.

Alberta’s Storm

In the last week or so a number of cities in southern Alberta have been assailed by various storms and floods. You can read coverage at places like The Globe and Mail and The CBC, but my uncle George was passed some amazing photos of some of the clouds in the skies during these storms. If you liked the movie Twister you’ll love these photos. They’re simply stunning.

I don’t know who to attribute these images to – if you’re the photographer please let me know. I can take the images down or give you credit.

Click on the smaller version to see a larger version.

Storm 1

Continue reading Alberta’s Storm