If You Can't Say Anything Nice...

The other day I had posted a piece that mentioned W. Eugene Smith. Today I'm bringing to you photos of Chinese pollution that brought the photographer the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography. Just ignore the angry and racist comments at the end.

Labels: nature, photography, pollution

Years ago, W. Eugene Smith did a photo essay at a place in Japan called Minimata, the most famous photo of which is this one. For his efforts taking those photos, Smith was beaten to a pulp by company goons, the end result being his incapacitation and death.

Seeing photos of what The Big Picture is calling "Kazakhstan's radioactive legacy" reminds me of Minimata in so many ways, although without the goons, thank goodness.The shots are a horrible reminder of what we do to each other in so many incredible ways. That said, though, the shots are even more a reminder of the beauty of humanity and the great things we do for each other.

Labels: environment, human folly, photography, pollution

The IUCN releases their new Red List of Threatened Species, which is as unhappy a thing as you can possibly read. But an important thing to read, too, so don't avoid it because you want to pretend you're allowed to feel good about your own species (unless you're, say, a penguin who is reading this).

Labels: extinction, nature