The Journal of Urban Typography has an amazing and growing collection of photos featuring typefaces found in NYC.

via quipsologies.

I first posted about New York-based photographer Phillip Toledano less than 2 weeks ago regarding his book PhoneSex.

Days With My Father is a photographic account of Toledano’s relationship with his father. In being motivated to capture the remaining time that they have together, he produced a poignant collection of images that lets us into the world of a man, who at 98 and with a short-term memory, is in the twilight of his years.

His images allow us to confront not only the frailties of the aged but also their thoughts on death and ambitions yet unfulfilled. While the tone is sombre, Toledano’s narrative reveals that there are lighter and heartwarming moments near the end of one’s life. And that with love, compassion and patience, they can be as rich and meaningful as any before.

via ChangeTheThought.

via ffffound.

Black Metal is a genre that I could and would never get into. But this photo essay by Peter Beste of the movement in its traditional home of Norway is both compelling and intriguing in equal measure. It sheds light on what is perhaps the darkest form of musical expression today.

“In the last two decades a bizarre and violent musical subculture called black metal has emerged in Norway. It’s roots stem from a heady blend of horror films, extreme heavy metal music, Satanism, pagan mythology, and adolescent angst. In the early-mid 1990’s, members of this extremist underground committed murder, burned down medieval wooden churches, and desecrated graveyards. What started as a juvenile frenzy came to symbolize the start of a war against Christianity, a return to the worship of the ancient Norse gods, and the complete rejection of mainstream society.  I have spent the last 7 years photographing in this insulated and secretive community.” - Peter Beste

“I never thought I would work in the phone sex industry. All those years doing customer service, my customers would comment on my sexy voice. I thought I was being professional, not sexy. This work is customer service. It’s just your customers leave with more than a smile.”

The allure of phone sex is rooted in the make believe world of fantasy. That perhaps one is actually talking to the woman in the ad or least one who looks as sexy as she sounds. But really, who are the women manning the phone lines? New York-based photographer Phillip Toledano lifts the veil on this in his book, PhoneSex. Indeed they aren’t the beauties callers expect but this is just testament to the power of (male) human imagination.

Images from the book and Interview with Toledano here.

Did Iran really conduct the missile tests as reported? Who knows. But what’s obvious is Iran sucks at Photoshop. The encircled portions are identical. Read more about it here.

A farmer’s creation to celebrate the passage of the Tour de France. By Anduze Traveller.

95th Tour de France. 5 - 27 July 2008.

via ffffound.

“Harri Palviranta cruises the night streets of Finland, armed with his Hasselblad camera and a big flash, looking for a fight to photograph, or the bloodied face of a drunken party-goer, or the scene of a recent brawl.”

Slide show of his work here.

via lens culture.

No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980 is a visual history by Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and veteran rock critic, Byron Coley of the cacophonous and nihilistic collision of punk and Dadaism. From the book’s description:

“This is the first book to visually chronicle the collision of art and punk in the New York underground of 1976 to 1980. This in-depth look at punk rock, new wave, experimental music, and the avant-garde art movement of the 70s and 80s focuses on the true architects No Wave from James Chance to Lydia Lunch to Glenn Branca, as well as the luminaries that intersected the scene, such as David Byrne, Debbie Harry, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, and Richard Hell. This rarely documented scene was the creative stomping ground of young artists and filmmakers from Jean-Michel Basquiat to Jim Jarmusch, as well as the musical genesis for the post-punk explosions of Sonic Youth. Thurston Moore and Byron Coley have selected 150 unforgettable images, most of which have never been published previously, and compiled hundreds of hours of personal interviews to create an oral history of the movement, providing a never-before-seen exploration and celebration of No Wave.”

You can buy it here.

Photographer and filmmaker Jamie Livingston took a photo (Polaroids) a day, every single day for 18 years from March 31, 1979 till October 25, 1997. The result is a breathtaking and poignant visual account of a man’s life that covered the casual miscellanea of everyday life to momentous events like his marriage and battle with cancer.

There is even a photo on the day he died, October 25, 1997, which ironically was his birthday. The sheer magnitude of his work was finally brought to light by friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid whose labor of love saw Hugh spending many nights scanning Jamie’s images which totaled 6,697 Polaroids.

The effort has paid off and Jamie’s story has been dugged more than 8000 times (and counting), and he now has a page on wikipedia. Traffic to the website of his project was so overwhelming it crashed. It’s still not up as I write this. Please leave a comment if you manage to log on to the site. You can, however, read more about Jamie on mentalfloss and Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn.

As posted on Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn, what makes Jamie’s Photo of The Day project so moving is best summed up by a comment on metafilter.

“I had to think a little bit about why this is so stirring. This is not a technical achievement, nor an endeavor that requires an inaccessible skill set. This is one thing, done once a day. Something so spare and ordinary, just taken to extraordinary lengths. A simple thing: whatever struck his fancy on a given day - just capture one thing on film. Simple.

“I know a lot of people try to do this on Flickr, but this is strikingly different in many respects. This isn’t a collection of forced poses or composed shots or juxtapositions, he isn’t looking for something funny, weird, or ironic. I find myself thinking I should try this, but give up within days because I’d try to wait until something interesting happened. That’s me not appreciating the ordinary, or trying to force it, and not having the discipline to just do something on principle. These photos are as simple as memories. They don’t always make sense, they don’t always fit into some grand theme or design. Here is a memory. Here is another. All you need to know is: this was then, on this date. This happened, I was there. Do you remember?

“Nothing seems framed here. You don’t feel as if he is trying to sell you anything about himself. I like to think that the people in his life probably questioned this hobby or wondered what purpose it could ever serve - especially in those days before such a scheme could bring you internet glory. There was no market for this kind of thing. Who would care? Why keep at it? No one will see it. That camera isn’t even portable. The resolution is terrible. Why bother?

“I think we react to this because it is so rare. A refreshingly simple thing, devoid of polish or fanfare, suddenly set in front of us by chance. It doesn’t ask anything of you. You take what you will.”

via chris glass.

Few experiences affect us as profoundly as death. Life Before Death - Portraits of the Dying is a bleak but poignant exhibition of people whose lives are coming to an end. The majority of them had their portraits taken as they were spending their last days at hospices in northern Germany. Photography by Walter Schels.

via swissmiss.