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Posts Tagged ‘George’

Case dismissed against George Steinmetz, whose drone was confiscated for documenting mass burials

18 Aug

Back in April, an award-winning National Geographic and New York Times photographer, George Steinmetz, had his DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone confiscated by the New York Police Department (NYPD) while documenting mass COVID-19 burials on Hart Island. Steinmetz was issued a desk ticket for violating NYC Administrative Code § 10–126, which prohibits the takeoff and landing of drones within New York City.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for early August. During that time, the NYPD held onto Steinmetz’ Phantom 4 Pro as ‘evidence.’ After an unsuccessful attempt to get it back, he went on to purchase two DJI Mavic 2 Pro drones. ‘I need to get back to work,’ Steinmetz explained. ‘The Mavic 2 Pro is in a real sweet spot for me. I prefer the optics and files from the big bird, the Inspire 2 with the X7 gimbal. But the Mav 2 flies really well, has a decent file…the compactness is quite revolutionary.’

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Preparing for burials of what appear to be more COVID-19 victims this morning on Hart Island, New York City. For over 150 years this island with no public access has been used to bury over a million souls who’s bodies were not claimed for private burial. With the morgues of NYC strained, the pace of burials on Hart Island has increased dramatically. I was cited by NYPD while taking this photo, and my drone was confiscated as evidence, for a court date tentatively scheduled for mid-August. #keepthememorycard

A post shared by George Steinmetz (@geosteinmetz) on

Steinmetz’ story has a happy ending, after all. ‘My case was spontaneously dismissed last week [the week of August 7th, 2020], so I went down to the Bronx Police HQ on Wednesday and recovered it. During the time it was confiscated I had to buy a replacement to keep working, and don’t know if I will pursue any further legal action,’ he tells DPReview.

We will keep you updated if any new developments come about.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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‘Kissing sailor’ George Mendonsa featured in iconic 1945 photo dies at 95

20 Feb

The kissing sailor featured in the iconic ‘V-J Day in Times Square’ photo, George Mendonsa, has died at the age of 95, according to his daughter. Mendonsa suffered a seizure at the Rhode Island assisted living facility where he resided and passed away two days before his 96th birthday.

The photo, which was first published by Life Magazine in 1945, was captured by photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt at the end of World War II. Mendosa, a sailor in the U.S. Navy, had been on a date with Rita Petrie, his eventual wife of 70 years, when he heard news of Japan’s surrender in August 1945. Overcome with excitement, he grabbed a stranger and kissed her.

The identities of the two people featured in the photo remained a mystery for decades, spurring multiple false claims from individuals who alleged they were the pictured subjects. The issue was laid to rest in 2012 when the U.S. Naval Institute Press published a book title ‘The Kissing Sailor’ by George Galdorisi and Lawrence Verria.

A combination of expert analysis and facial recognition technology confirmed the image features Mendosa and Greta Friedman, the woman in the nurse’s uniform. According to Verria, Mendonsa had been struck by the sight of nurses treating injured sailors during the war. When news of the war’s end arrived, Mendonsa saw Friedman in her uniform and pulled her into a kiss.

In a 2005 interview, Friedman explained the experience from her side, saying that she had been working that morning in a dental office when rumors of the war’s end began circulating. Later that day, Friedman walked to Times Square and saw a billboard confirming the news.

And so suddenly I was grabbed by a sailor, and it wasn’t that much of a kiss, it was more of a jubilant act that he didn’t have to go back, I found out later, he was so happy that he did not have to go back to the Pacific where they already had been through the war. And the reason he grabbed someone dressed like a nurse was that he just felt very grateful to nurses who took care of the wounded.

Photographer Eisenstaedt detailed the moment he captured the iconic photo in his book ‘Eisenstaedt on Eisenstaedt.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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NatGeo’s George Steinmetz on capturing Africa ‘from a flying lawn chair’

03 Feb

During a new 10-minute TED Talk, famed National Geographic aerial photographer George Steinmetz talks about his experiences photographing Africa while flying around in a motorized paraglider. This vantage point gives Steinmetz a unique look at the world below, including its various cultures and landscapes.

The motorized paraglider is composed of a wing in the style of a parachute and a backpack motor, holding 10 liters of fuel and offering a speed up to 30MPH / 48KPH. Steinmetz explains that he gets a flight time of about two hours, during which he gets an “unobstructed view both horizontally and vertically.”

“It dawned on me that this crazy little aircraft I was flying would open up a new way of seeing remote parts of the African landscape in a way that had never really been possible before,” Steinmetz explains in the video, pointing out that a typical airplane moves too fast for this type of photography, and a helicopter is too loud with too much downdraft.

He goes on to introduce a video of how the paraglider works before highlighting some of the most striking aerial footage and photos taken from it.

For most of us, a drone presents photographers with the closest we can get to Steinmetz style of capture, but that’s still not quite the same as a paraglider. As Steinmetz explains in the video, the motorized paraglider’s long flight time and capabilities makes it possible to not just photograph the immediate landscape, but explore the wider world around it.

Check out the full video above for a dose of Friday inspiration.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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House of Eternal Return: Trippy Exhibit Owned by George RR Martin

19 Apr

[ By Steph in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

Meow Wolf House of Eternal Return

Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin purchased a sprawling abandoned bowling alley in Santa Fe, New Mexico so an art collective called Meow Wolf could transform it into a bizarre and colorful immersive environment called The House of Eternal Return. Step inside to find 20,000 square feet of trippy black-lit spaces you can literally get lost within, crawling into a fireplace to find an expansive new space full of surreal wonders like neon forests, alien plants and twenty-foot rabbits.

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Unlike most art installations, it’s made to be experienced physically, with strange new sights around every corner waiting for you to touch, climb, squeeze and swing your way through all of their secrets. The result of a collaboration between over 100 artists, the House of Eternal Return is a “wild new form of non-linear storytelling which unfolds through exploration, discovery and 21st century interactivity. The premise: Something has happened inside a mysterious Victorian house that has dissolved the nature of time and space. Venture through the house of the Selig family, and discover secret passageways into fantastic dimensions!”

 

Meow Wolf House of Eternal Return

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Meow Wolf House of Eternal Return

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There are no guides, maps or pathways, and you could have a different experience in the space no matter how many times you explore it. At the center of the massive facility is a full-sized Victorian house where everything’s a little bit off: floors ripple, lights come streaming out of drains, refrigerators lead to secret tunnels and even the toilets contain unexpected surprises. You may enter through the front door, but you don’t leave that way. In fact, it’s hard to tell whether you’ll ever leave.

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Meow Wolf House of Eternal Return

Meow Wolf House of Eternal Return

Meow Wolf House of Eternal Return

A team of six writers created the story elements, taking cues from the objects the various participating artists produced for the installation. In addition to this art exhibit turned fantasy world, there’s a jungle gym, a children’s museum and a music venue hosting such acts as CocoRosie and Mykki Blanco. Martin has granted Meow Wolf with a ten-year lease to do whatever they want with the space, so there’s plenty of time to plan a road trip to check it out. In the meantime, check out all the photos on Meow World’s Instagram.

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[ By Steph in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

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Royal Family expresses concerns over alarming measures used by paparazzi seeking photos of Prince George

15 Aug

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have expressed concerns with some of the recent tactics used by paparazzi trying to photograph their two-year-old son. The letter details some of the methods photographers have used to try and get their shots, including hiding in sand dunes and using other children to lure Prince George into view at playgrounds. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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George W. Bush Beheaded, Condition One’s VR Video App – 06.14.12

23 Nov

First up, did HBO’s runaway success Game of Thrones commit treason with one of last year’s episodes? One reddit user claims to have spotted the 43rd President’s severed head on a spike during a scene where evil king Joffrey makes his bride-to-be look at Sean Bean’s impaled head. That claim was backed up by the show’s creators themselves on DVD commentary for the episode. So what happened? Well, apparently, to keep to their budget, the show’s producers had to use whatever prop heads they could get, reiterating that the decision wasn’t political, but financial. In any case, the showrunners and HBO have issued an apology and promised to alter the offending scene in future DVD releases. What do you guys think? Did Game of Thrones cross the line? Let us know. www.hollywoodreporter.com Next up, after spending years photographing the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, acclaimed photographer and video journalist Danfung Dennis sought a better way to communicate the reality of war through video. So he teamed up with a group of engineers to create Condition One, an immersive, 360-degree, virtual reality app for the iPhone and iPad. By shooting footage through a convex lens and linking it to the iPad’s gyroscope and accelerometer, Condition One creates a unique experience for viewers who can look around the videos by swiping or moving their iPad. With major deals already in place with companies like Mercedes, The Guardian, Discovery and investor Mark Cuban, expect this type of video to soon …
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
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