Posts by Lou Lesko

A Brief History of Science Fiction

Posted on June 14th, 2012

Last week science fiction author Ray Bradbury passed away on the same day as the incredibly rare astronomical phenomenon the transit of Venus was taking place. The coincidence could not be more fitting nor more bizarre. A real life occurrence that played out like a scene from one of Bradbury’s own novels. Which is what makes science fiction stories so wonderful, the outlying possibility that what we are reading, or watching, could in fact happen one day. One only need to view an episode of the original Star Trek television series from the late 1960s to see that some of the TV props of yore have manifest in the technological wonders we use today. In these contemporary times science fiction is often associated with…

Categories: Feature Stories

Heather Perry - Water, Water Everywhere, Just The Way I Like It

Posted on April 12th, 2012

Heather Perry doesn’t know this, but when I called her to interview her about her latest underwater pictures, I was wearing a swim suit. It only felt right. Miss Perry seems to have spent more time in the water than on dry land, and I wanted to fit in. Photo Heather Perry It all started somewhat innocently for Perry. When she was in college, in spite of being prone to ear infections, she got herself on the swim team. Then, as part of her biology major she was required to get certified for scuba diving. It was the beginning of an obsession with the water that would become the foundation for the rest of her life. Soon after she graduated from college she landed…

Categories: Photography Spotlight

Sartore Counting the Wildlife

Posted on April 3rd, 2012

How would you feel about your existence if you knew that it was at the expense of other species. With the global population cresting at 7 billion people this year, human encroachment of land and consumption resources is threatening the wildlife of the world. Joel Sartore wants to raise awareness about this alarming reality through his Biodiversity Project.

For the last five years Sartore has been crisscrossing the United States, visiting the the zoos of the country. His goal is simple but daunting; photograph as many wild animal species as he can. Sartore wants us all to appreciate the beauty, complexity and diversity of the wildlife of the planet that exists as a result of millions of years of evolution.

Sartore’s method is strikingly simple. Photograph the animals on either a plain white or plain black backdrop. The effect is wonderfully egalitarian. Each animal, from the smallest beetle to biggest bear is seen in similar stature.

The Biodiversity Project compels us to consider species that we may not be aware of but that we have an absolute reliance on. Without realizing it we are destroying that which allows us to thrive, because if the planet were just made up of humans we too would soon become extinct.

Joel Sartore appears on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight, Tuesday April 3rd, to discuss the Biodiversity Project.

Categories: Photography Spotlight