Shadow & Light Monthly #56

Shadow & Light is a list of curated photography stories, features, techniques, news and inspiration that I’ve come across this month.

In this edition we revisit the empty streets of New York during the COVID-19 pandemic and life in 1970s California. We look at how underwater drones are revolutionising storytelling and an art piece exploring an intimate collaboration between strangers.

So, with no further ado, I give you this month’s Shadow & Light Monthly. Go grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy this month’s selections below. Please let me know in the comments what you think.

Pick of the month – Photographer Captures New York at its ‘Worst and its Very Best’

It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since the world changed forever and the world came to a halt as the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Wandering the empty streets of New York during the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic, photographer Phil Penman captured the city at one of its lowest ebbs.

“This is New York at its worst and its very best,” says Penman. “The images take you on a journey. Quiet streets of New York like we have never seen before right through to the characters and personalities on the street that were less fortunate and had nowhere else to go.”

Phil Penman

Head over to PetaPixel to read the full feature and see more of Penman’s eerily beautiful images of New York at that time.

Additional reads

The Other California by Peter Turnley

Fifty years ago, Peter Turnley, just beginning his career as a photographer, was commissioned by the California Office of Economic Opportunity to make a four-month road trip through America’s largest agricultural and rural state to make a photo documentary about the working class and poor. At the time, California was often represented by a stereotypical image: its magnificent coastline, surfers, sunny beaches, beautiful convertibles and Hollywood movie sets. The Other California, 1975 is a stunning visual time capsule of the realities of life in California and the United States.

You can read more about the work, and see more of Turnley’s incredible images over at Blind Magazine.

Underwater Drones Are Revolutionising Visual Storytelling

We’ve all seen how drones have revolutionised aerial photography and videography but a new underwater drone is looking to do the same for aquatic photographers.

The Boxfish Luna is a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that captures 8K cinema-quality footage and 50-megapixel photos underwater. Although, unlike aerial drones, the Luna and other underwater drones must be tethered, specialised products like the Luna are enabling creators in new and exciting ways.

Watch the video below to discover more.

And Finally – Senta Simond’s Portraits Capture an Intimate Collaboration of Strangers

Titled Dissonance, the Senta Simond’s new Los Angeles show blends performances by Roísín Berkeley and Ness Uronich, an Irish harpist and Ukrainian dancer who never met.

“A lot of things happened by chance in this project,” says Simond. “I always wanted to work with a dancer and I knew I wanted to work with a musician. These people just arrived in my life at the same time.” Simond first heard Berkeley while listening to a radio show and was so struck by her music that she felt compelled to reach out to her. “She has a very specific way of playing which is almost deconstructed,” says the photographer. “She’s experimented a lot with her sound and I think it’s really beautiful.” Not long after, she met Uronich in a bar in Paris through a mutual friend. “At first, I didn’t think to pair them together, but sometimes you have to try things out intuitively,” she says. “It’s weird, the moment you’re open and curious, how things fall into place.”

You can read more about this work at AnOther Magazine.

Until next time…

I hope you enjoy the articles above. Don’t forget you can follow my Shadow & Light magazine over on Flipboard if you’d like to see more of what I’m reading if you like what you’ve seen here.