In what has become an annually awaited photo-op in camera viewfinders and web browsers everywhere, Smithsonian has just announced the finalists in its 11th annual photography contest. In a contest that spanned across 132 countries and well over 50,000 entries, Smithsonian has gotten the finalists down to sixty photos in six categories: The Natural World, Travel, […]

Do you ever wish you could plant some magic beans and climb up the enchanted stalk to some remote and safe paradise in the sky (one not inhabited by hungry giants?) Rock the Shack, a new book from Gestalten, explores the architecture of such urges labeling them Cabins, Cocoons and Hide-Outs. Over a span of 240 full […]

For the almost any kid with a spine, having a tree house was the ultimate childhood fantasy. This birth of intrigue for these air-suspended dwellings dates back to ancient civilization, as the tree house’s lore can be chronicled throughout history in every part of the world where trees grew. Whether to keep shelter, or to see the world […]

For three years, Eric Valli lived with and photographed people who had decided to “live light off the earth” in the United States. A few photos capture what would seem to be day-to-day activities, and others are more intimate peek inside the subjects’ homes, yet all have the same objective: striving for harmony. Although the […]

Belgium-born artist Geert Goiris captures the emptiness and indelible essence of the natural world in his truly breathtaking Resonance series. The quietly beautiful still life and nature photographs that comprise the series are mostly devoid of humans — but not of life. The photographs contain nothing exciting: empty landscapes, a circle of green chairs, architectural […]

Israeli designer Ofra Lapid has created a series entitled Broken Houses that consists of small scale models of abandoned structures, barns and homes meticulously recreated to seem absolutely real. Using photographs found online as starting points, Lapid makes the scale models and photographs them, isolated in a studio with a grey background so the full […]

Artist Patricia Piccinini has set out to explore the concerns and issues surrounding today’s technologies, consumerism and the construct of nature. Compiling work she’s done from 1997 to present, her Hold Me Close to Your Heart exhibition at Instanbul’s ARTER gallery includes sculpture, installation, drawing and video to challenge the viewer. Conventional wisdom has given […]

From the deranged mind of Enrique Gomez de Molina we are treated to animals that look like malevolent pets plucked from the hellish fires of the underworld. The taxidermist stitches together a menagerie of animals into ones we could only dream of… or more likely, have sweat-inducing nightmares about. With names like “Sunday Morning”, “Crabby” […]