Out with Flickr Explore. In with FlickRiver

Nothing beats the internet for novel ways to waste time. One of the Flickr's most-popular time-wasting features has been their Explore/Interestingness page. Flickr E/I uses a "secret" and ever-changing algorithm to automatically identify photographs uploaded over the past seven days that exhibit the most "interestingness". Each time you reload the Flickr E/I page, the viewer is presented with nine "interestingness" photographs. After reloading the page ten or twelve times, you'll probably start seeing repeat images.

Flickr user Strange Quark recently introduced me to a Flickr mash-up that is a better (and more addictive) time-waster than Flickr's Explore. It's called FlickRiver. Developed by Alex Sirota, it has many improvements over Flickr Explore.

The first improvement is that Flickriver displays the photographs on a black background, which is much easier on the eyes than Flickr's white background.

The second improvement is that you don't have to keep reloading the Flickriver page. When you first visit Flickriver, you're presented with the top four interestingness photos. When you scroll down, it uploads four more photos. You can continue scrolling down until you've looked at all 500 photos in the current stream (the stream seems to update throughout the day). You can also hit the SPACE bar on your keyboard to advance through the photographs one-at-a-time.

(My most interesting photograph, according to Flickriver)

But, the most interesting improvement is that Flickriver lets you specify your own criteria for searching for interesting photos. You can specify only "night photography", or you can specify only specific Flickr users (such as "thelordofthemanor"), or specific groups ("nocturnes"), or by specific tags (which is a subset of the general search field). Would you like to know which of your own photographs rank highest on "interestingness"? Flickriver can do that. There are even links to switch between "Recent" and "Interesting".

(Flooded Trailer, by Troy Paiva. On Feb 29, 2008, this was ranked as the most Interesting photograph with the tag Nocturnes, according to Flickriver)

Now that you've spent a few hours playing with Flickriver, it's probably time to get back to work!

Amy Stein

Amy Stein is one of the most interesting up-and-coming photographers on the art scene, right now. She has recently added some new work to the Stranded series and her Domesticated series. The following image from the Domesticated series really struck me. Not only does it include that stark, film-noir lighting that I love so much, but how did she manage to get the wolf in there?

(Photo by Amy Stein)

I would give anything to get a shot like this. Does anyone know of any parking lots in the San Francisco Bay Area that are frequented by wolves? I'm willing be realistic about my expectations for the snow; the but the wolf will be non-negotiable. Maybe someone knows someone who owns a wolf? Maybe we could get a German Shepherd that looks like a wolf.

Brendan Austin

Brandan Austin is a London/Stockholm-based photographer who has done a number of night photography projects, including Darkspace which was shot inside tunnels.

(Tunnel, by Brendan Austin)

I find the most impressive aspect of Darkspace is the stark, black-and-white film-noir look of the images. His other NPy projects include Under a Clockwork Sky and Nightshift.

There's lots of good NPy work on his site. Take the time to check it all out.

Darkness, Darkness

Lance Keimig is curating "Darkness, Darkness", a huge exhibit of night photography at the Three Columns Gallery at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. The show will run from March 18 through April 30. The opening reception will be March 19, at5:30pm. The list of participating photographers is very impressive, and includes Tim Baskerville (of The Nocturnes), Troy Paiva (Lost America), Steve Harper, Joe Reifer, and many others (including myself).

When I was in high school in Danvers, just north of Boston, everybody wanted to get accepted to Harvard. I always knew that someday I would get into Harvard. I never imagined it would be through an art show.

(Dugout, by Andy Frazer)

My photograph "Dugout" (above) will be featured in this show. The print is 24"x18".

Orvar Borgeirsson

I saw this great aurora shot by Orvar Bergeirsson on the DP Challenge site. It was taken with a Canon 30D over Straumsvik, Iceland. Orvar goes by orvaratli on Flickr.

(Photo by Orvar Borgeirsson)

Orvar's Flickr site is definitely worth a look for anyone interested in night photography. There's quite a bit of great night work from Iceland. I especially like the Emergency Shelter.

New York City, by Michael Kenna

Via the Exposure Compensation Blog, who got it from the Gallery Hopper Blog...

The Robert Mann Gallery is featuring a show of Michael Kenna's newest work of, get this, New York City!:

Robert Mann Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new photographs of New York City by Michael Kenna. New York / New Work will be on view from November 29, 2007 through January 26, 2008. An opening reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, November 29 from 6-8pm.

(Photo by Michael Kenna)

There's more photographs of New York City on here on Kenna's webpage. Although I was a bit surprised to hear that Michael Kenna had been working on a New York City project, it turns out that he's been working on this project for the past thirty years! I guess I should have checked up on his site more often.

Unfortunately, as you may have gathered from the announcement, the show ends today. I'm surprised that none of us in the West Coast branch of the Michael Kenna Fan Club heard about this until now. Either way, I bet the photographs will be appearing in a book soon.

Lost America on ArtLand

I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I never felt like I was one to go along with the crowd.

Troy Paiva, owner of the popular Lost America brand name, is featured in a recent ArtLand video interview, which is now available on YouTube. Troy talks about his night photography and his thoughts about abandoned buildings.

(Trailer Moonrise, by Troy Paiva)

This is Troy's second video appearance. Three years ago he was featured in my night photography documentary film The Night of the Living Photographers, which is available on a competing video-sharing site. Troy is also the author of one of my favorite books: Lost America: The Abandoned Roadside West.