The UK’s Daily Mail has some great photos taken during last night’s massive blackout in Brazil. The 2-hour outage was caused by problems with the power lines that carry electricity from the Itaipu dam  to points across Brazil. Paraguay (yes, the entire country) was also without power for about 20 minutes.

The photos give a rare glimpse of a city full of office buildings and skyscrapers standing mostly dark. The relatively feeble glow from random generators and the head- and taillights of passing cars are nearly the only light in many of these images; I especially love the eerie shot looking out over the rooftops of darkened buildings dotted with the tiny lights of rooftop antennae.

The Itaipu dam is the world’s second biggest hydroelectric producer, supplying 20 percent of Brazil’s electricity. China’s Three Gorges dam (photographed by Edward Burtynsky) is the largest.

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Gail Fischer’s photograph, “Rembrandt Puddle” has been selected by juror Susan Parker to appear in the 15th Annual Juried Exhibition at Zullo Gallery. The photograph is part of her “Not in Kansas” series and will be on display from November 14th through January 10, 2010.

Zullo Gallery Center for the Arts is located at 456A Main Street, Medfield, MA. Please join Gail and the other artists for the opening reception on November 21st from 7-9pm.

Photographer Chris Jordan’s devastating series “Midway: Message from the Gyre” shows exactly what happens to some of those bottle caps and other random bits of plastic garbage we so casually throw away. His photos of the carcasses of albatross hatchlings with stomachs full of plastic are shocking — so much so that a viewer may think the photos are set up. But Jordan anticipates this, and assures us in his project intro:

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent.

In addition to the photos on his site,  Jordan has produced a six-minute slideshow, embedded below and available in HD for download.

The images are beautiful and disturbing at the same time, and they’re a sobering reminder of the destructive effects of all the trash we’re piling the planet up with.

Peter Johansson recently caught the attention of film photography afficionnados (yes, there are a few of us left ;-) by building is own medium-format camera from scratch. It appears the camera isn’t finished yet (he’s not satisfied with the bellows he’s built, and apparently hasn’t tested the camera yet, or at least hasn’t posted any test images), but he’s documenting his work for those who’d like to follow along at home.

Seeing the photo of his Lego camera mount immediately reminded me of the medium-format pinhole camera built out of Lego a few years ago (a few monts later the same guy followed up with a 35mm Lego camera). Pretty cool stuff!

BPC Member Bob Ward’s photo documentary,
“Roslindale Revitalization Through Business to Business Partnerships,” shot for the BPC Neighborhoods Project, is on exhibit for the month of November at MJ’s Subs & Pizza, 330 Belgrade Avenue, Roslindale 02131.

Why not view the exhibit this weekend (Nov 7 & 8), then explore this great neighborhood while checking out the work of the nearly 100 other artists exhibiting during Roslindale Open Studios, 11am to 5pm each day (note that the location for Ward’s photos has changed since the Open Studios map was produced — he’s now at site #43).

A PDF download of the exhibit is also available for download from Ward’s web site — click the “Roslindale Open Studios 2009″ tab.

This announcement from the folks at The Impossible Project is a couple weeks old, but no less exciting:

We are pleased to herewith announce a history making cooperation between Polaroid and The Impossible Project:

As we have created quite some buzz about Analog Instant Photography over the past 12 months, the Polaroid licensee – The Summit Global Group – now can’t resist any longer and announced at a press conference on October 13th in Hongkong that they will re-launch some of the most famous Polaroid Instant Cameras.

Therefore they are commissioning The Impossible Project to develop and produce a limited edition of Polaroid branded Instant Films in the middle of 2010.

If you’re not familiar with The Impossible Project, they’re the group that’s dedicated to developing and producing a new instant Integral Film for vintage Polaroid cameras. They acquired Polaroid’s production equipment after that company ceased making analog film last year, and have established a factory and engaged a team of experts in Integral Film. If you really like this idea, you can buy a t-shirt from them and/or follow them on Twitter :-)

Thanks, Steve Dunwell! Check this out:

http://vimeo.com/7317888

There’s some beautiful work on view in the Winners’ Gallery for Photo District News’ Photographers’ Self-Promo Awards. Once you’ve launched the Gallery, be sure to check out the collateral links at the lower left of the window, especially “Website” and “About This Promo,” for additional info on the winning photographers and their entries.

Have a look, get inspired!

Photo by Valentina Oppezzo

Valentina Oppezzo is participating in October Heritage Month organized by Italia Unita. Please join her for her opening on October 29th from 6:30-8:30 at 80 Border Street, East Boston (Atlantic Works Building, which is close to the Maverick T station). You’ll see her work featuring toys and food, as well as landscape photos taken in Trieste, Italy, where Valentina lived for eight years. The exhibition is now on display through October 31st.

Photo by Jonathan Fine

Jonathan Fine has a solo exhibition starting on October 24th at JP Licks in Coolidge Corner. His work will be on display through November 30th. Please join him for a reception on November 4th from 7-9pm. JP Licks, 311 Harvard St. Brookline, MA

Three Girls Dancing

The Illuminations Gallery at Massachusetts General Hospital provides a welcome comfort to cancer patients and their families. Gail Fischer’s series, “Not In Kansas Anymore” will be displayed from October 27th through January 30, 2010. 7 of the 10 photographs featured have been hand embellished with oil pastels and lead pencils. Gail says she’s delighted to be part of Illuminations after accompanying friends during their cancer treatments.

Gail invites you to attend a public reception on October 27th from 5:30-7pm. Opening remarks at 6pm. 10th floor of the Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care at Massachusetts General Hospital Complex. Free parking and hors d’Oeuvres.