Behind the scenes photo of the @jr piece we pasted for the cover of #nytimesmagazine with @joshuabgeyer
Check out “Beyond the Making of Our Walking New York Cover”:
http://nytimes.com/2015/04/26/magazine/behind-the-making-of-our-walking-new-york-cover.html
#walkingnewyork
(at Flatiron Building)
| THE MOMENT LIGHT BEGINS |
I started a new exciting project with @andrewmklein that entailed multiple 5 am call times to catch that magic morning light.
When you’re not a morning person but you’re willing to wake up at 4 am several days in a row for a project, something must be right.
We look forward to sharing more as we get geared up to tell unexpected stories in Africa this summer!
#morningslikethese
(at New York City)
I had a blast working on this JR piece about immigration that is on the cover of today’s New York Times Magazine, Walking New York.
“We pasted Elmar, 20 years old who came from Azerbaijan, on the floor of Flatiron Plaza in New York City. The image was 150 feet high. People walked on him all day and no one really noticed him. Today he is on the cover of NY Times Magazine while everyone else is in the shadow.”
Artwork by JR for The New York Times
(at New York, New York)
| HOW WAS ANTARCTICA? |
When people ask me, “How was Antarctica?” I usually struggle to find words to describe my experience. I do know that my experience in Antarctica transformed and forever changed me. Never in my entire life have I ever been in such close proximity to so much wildlife and such raw, untouched beauty. Penguins walked up to me and bit my fingers and my camera. Fur seals charged at me to the point where I would have to throw blows to fend them off (they were actually much more aggressive than the bulls I ran with in Pamplona, Spain). There was magic everywhere and so many choices when it came down to deciding what to photograph. Antarctica humbled me, taught me so much, gave me a better appreciation for our planet, and is truly unlike any other place on earth.
I’ve always dreamed of going to Antarctica ever since I was in 4th grade, and Antarctica made me feel like a kid in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, enthralled and captivated by pretty much everything I saw, felt, and experienced. Our expedition leader told me that I found my wings.
Thank you for following along and for allowing me to share some of my images and stories. I’m forever grateful to be able to share these stories and I hope I have inspired you in one way or another.
I will leave you with a quote about Antarctica that resonated with me:
“Take the rockies, the alps, and Mount Washington, cover them with thick, crusted snow that, like frosting spread by a giant’s hand, has spilled down over the land, to end in a jagged, uneven boarder where it meets the sea.
Imagine yourself on a spaceship in another world - a world that for 10 million years has been locked away behind ramparts of ice and where escape is blocked in all directions by a cruel, cold ocean.
Take all the adjectives in Mr. Roget’s thesaurus and you still haven’t got it, not even Mr. Roget’s best can convey one’s first impression of that vast, mysterious immensity of ice. It’s a lesson in humility, an unforgettable reminder of man’s immortality, and it is like no other place on earth.”
- Jenny Darlington
#antarcticaordie
(at Antarctica)
“Who gets up early to discover the moment light begins?” - Rumi
#antarcticaordie #earthday
(at Antarctica)
Happy Earth Day!
Scenes of the Gentoo penguin colony at Port Lockroy, the southernmost post office in the world located in Antarctica.
This year the Penguin Post Office received a record number of applicants for 4 jobs requiring a 5 month stint without running water or electricity.
There is so much beauty all around us and Antarctica has definitely given me a greater appreciation for our planet.
#antarcticaordie
(at Antarctica)
I’m so honored to have my first (and hopefully not my last) NY Times assignment published on page A16 of today’s paper. If you get a copy, check it out or click on this link to read the article and watch the video online:
My heart is full, absolutely grateful, and still a bit shocked.
#reubenhernandezforthenewyorktimes
(at The New York Times)
Despite this image that shows a large number of chinstrap penguins on Deception Island, Antarctica, 1/3 of this breeding colony has been lost in the past 20 years most likely due to a warming planet.
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
| PEEKABOO |
A portrait of a leopard seal
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
Some of the colors you see while exploring Antarctica
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
Porpoising Penguins II
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
Porpoising penguins are one of the most difficult things to photograph. Not only are they incredibly fast, but they’re also nearly impossible to track. 🐧🐧🐧
#antarcticaordie
(at Antarctica)
| I SEE COLORS |
I see colors when I hear your voice,
Grab your wings, they’re putting gravity on trial
I see colors, I don’t hear the noise
Because we’re only flying for a while
- Andrew McMahon
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
| FEEDING TIME |
A Gentoo penguin feeds it’s chick a large piece of krill to prepare it for winter, which is fast approaching.
It’s common to see parent Gentoo penguins leading their chicks on a feeding chase, forcing the chicks to exercise and learn how to become independent.
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
March of the Penguins
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
When that magical Antarctic light bounces off an iceberg
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
Exactly 5 years ago today, I reset my life and hopped on a plane bound for South Africa and Mozambique not really knowing what the future would hold.
I’m excited to return to South Africa and Tanzania this upcoming summer with @andrewmklein to hopefully see some big cats play ball, summit Kilimanjaro, and tell some unexpected stories.
South Africa was my first experience in the African wild and it holds a special place in my heart. Pictured here is a lion we encountered on a night drive a few meters from our open air vehicle at Kruger National Park.
These past 5 years have flown by and I look back with a grateful heart as I prepare to come full circle.
All My Best,
Reuben
#bigcatsplayball
(at South Africa)
| LAND OF FIRE |
One of my favorite images I captured in the Beagle Channel on the way to Antarctica. This is in Tierra del Fuego, which means “Land of Fire”, and is quite a fitting title for this image.
#antarcticaordie (at Tierra del Fuego, Argentina)
| PENGUIN BREAKFAST |
Leopard seals violently whip penguins back and forth to skin them. It was extraordinary to witness this first hand in Antarctica.
Check out Paul Nicklen’s leopard seal photo series to see some incredible images of these wild beasts.
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)
In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest,
Where no one sees you,
But sometimes I do,
And that sight becomes this art.
- Rumi
#antarcticaordie (at Antarctica)