I’ve been a longtime fan of photographer Brian Finke. The subject matter Brian chooses can be interpreted as hilarious, sexual or controversial by some. However, his distinct stylistic vision supersedes and shows the deeper nature and raw beauty of the subjects he photographs. The storytelling aspect he captures has defined Brian as a documentary photographer. Here are some photos from one of the many spectacular galleries on his site. This one is called ‘Most Muscular’.

Huge images of local women’s faces have been emblazoned across one of Brazil’s most dangerous shanty towns, Favela da Providencia. Renowned French photographer and street artist JR traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to meet women for who crime, violent loss of loved ones and arbitrary repression are part of everyday life.

Through a series of striking portraits the project named “Women Are Heroes”, JR aims to share the stories of these women who have led difficult lives by virtue of their surroundings. Coming from different origins and generations, you reach their stories and understand their vision of life in the context of conflict. In each photo you can see a different part of the women’s expression of life. This perspective unites hill and asphalt to give a face to the favela. Blown up and displayed on the facades of houses in the favela, the sheer size of the images will ensure that their presence is felt in the street.

Party madness this past Friday evening as my husband Lars DJ’d at his monthly residency at Moonshadows in Malibu. (Name sound familiar? Well, Moonshadows is the restaurant/bar where Mel Gibson was partying it up the night of his infamous run in with Malibu police a couple years ago.) This spot is always great times..outdoor deck lounge overlooking the pacific ocean, the crowd, amazing food, stiff drinks and of course the MUSIC.

We started by sitting outside at a table on the deck, overlooking the ocean, and enjoyed an incredible gourmet dinner from the Moonshadows restaurant. And then Lars got behind the DJ decks, dropping some sweet music to start out the beautiful early evening. Soon after his guest DJ for the evening, our very good friend Tony Watson and his lovely wife Angie showed up. Tony is one of my favorite DJ’s in LA and listening to him play is always a treat. Both Tony and Lars dropped some serious dope records throughout the night, never staying within a specific genre or style. As the night went on the place became more and more packed and soon the party was jumping and getting crazy. People were dancing, singing out loud and screaming. I’ve never seen Moonshadows get that nutty. All in all..although I was having a sober evening, (Lars drank plenty for the both of us… haha! ) I had a seriously good time and met some great new people.

Click on the image mosaic above and it will take you to my flickr set of all the photos both me and Lars took. Or you can view the slideshow.

Color Wars 2008 held a competition for people to submit a photo of themselves when they were young and another photo trying to recreate that moment as they are now. They have a gallery of all the submissions and some of them are just awesome.

Photographer Alec Soth received International honors in 2004 with his images of life on the Mississippi which became the hit of the Whitney Biennial in New York. That same year, his book, Sleeping by the Mississippi was published to widespread acclaim. “Shot over a period of five years, Sleeping by the Mississippi is a trip along America’s ‘Forgotten Coast’, the neglected bank’s of the country’s longest river.” Soth captures landscapes, interiors and portraits, alluding to religion, race crime, sex and death. He vividly exposes lost hope, loneliness and underlying dreams of the people he meets and photographs.

This series has been ranked with the greatest representations of the United States, including Walker Evan’s photos of the depression and Robert Frank’s harsh vision of the 1950’s.

Bonnie (with a photograph of an angel), Port Gibson, Mississippi 2000

Sugar’s, Davenport, Iowa 2002

During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a Japanese air attack. They covered it with camouflage netting and trompe l’oeil to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air.

BEFORE: