I stumbled on the works of nature conservation photographer Thomas Mangelsen and spent the last half of an hour staring mesmerized at my screen. This one (below) I had to show to everyone within a 5km radius. Mangelsen describes how he captured the incredible photo of a family of polar bears in Manitoba, and his description is just as a stirring as the photo.

Rise and Shine by Thomas Mangelsen

“… Tired from their journey, the cubs were snuggled into their mother’s body. After an hour or so one of the furry cubs stirred. While sleepily squirming into a more comfy niche, the wriggling cub woke her sibling, then promptly fell back to sleep. The newly roused cub climbed his mother’s side and tried to return to his nap, but soon gave up and slid to the soft snow near his mother’s head. Persistent licks to her chin from the small precocious bear evoked little response, and the cub’s attention then turned towards us watching from afar. In a human-like gesture he raised his paw as if to say, “How about you? Rise and shine!”

We watched them that afternoon until sunset. The following morning we found their tracks headed toward Hudson Bay where the winds would hopefully blow the ice to the Western shore allowing the mother to hunt and feed her family. For the eleventh year, I returned to the far north in search of the polar bear. Once again my soul swelled with great respect and awe for these great white bears and gratitude to have observed and photographed the intimacy of a polar bear family with tiny cubs.” -Source

Boston Globe’s Big Picture has posted some incredible, harrowing and heartbreaking photos from Japan in this past week. I admire the way photojournalists have been able to, in the wake of this tragedy, capture the fleeting, transient moments that make life and death.

Momoko Onodera prays at an evacuation center as she talks about her husband who died in the tsunami on March 18 in Kesennuma, Japan. A potential humanitarian crisis looms as nearly half a million people who have been displaced by the disaster continue to suffer a shortage of food and fuel as freezing weather conditions set in. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Reposted from my new scrapbook Pārsa:

All roads lead to Persepolis.

Via National Geographic (Photo by James Blair)

Spring has arrived and the McGill campus looks absolutely stunning…

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

- Albert Camus        

A friend shared this collection in Time a while back, but I stumbled upon them again today. The pictures are by photographer Peter Menzel and are part of the book “Hungry Planet: What the World Eats“.

Bhutan, Shingkhey Village — $5.0
Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork

Before coming to university, I never really thought about food beyond ‘what’s for dinner?’ but since coming here I have to admit my perspective on food has really begun to transform. Aside from learning that I will never make it as a chef, through friends I’ve become exposed to the politics of food, from the meat industry to global food production. I’ve had to research on the Green Revolution and learn in class about agricultural genomics. I’ve gotten to know about the current food crisis, food and women’s rights and even food and homelessness in lectures and conferences.

I am really fascinated by these pictures because they capture a truly colourful cross-section of cultures, juxtaposing some startling differences between what we eat, and how much we [are able to] spend on our food. But I think what is even more striking is the nuanced story that the foods set on the table tell about each family, painting a unifying narrative of the human condition and our basic needs– needs that make us human. It seems as though food ties into every aspect of health, environment, economics and justice in a very subtle yet important way. After all this, it has become a tiny bit harder for me to look at the dinner plate the same way.

*Picture source. The exhibition is on display at Montréal Science Centre until May 3^rd.

If you haven’t heard about this already you will definitely will within the next few days. The past few weeks Google has been unrolling new technology left and right. The most exciting debute, though, belongs to Street View, part of the Google maps suit, and something which will likely be integrated into Google Earth soon. The name of the feature is pretty self-explanatory. Essentially by selecting “street view” on the map, you are given the option to zoom in to one of several cities (currently the feature is available for five cities in the US) and take a ride in the streets, viewing a 360° view of your selected location.

This has been done in the past, both by private and governmental organizations and the pictures are readily available online if you look hard enough for them. Google itself, in fact, has contracted several companies specializing in street photography. (View some of their work) However, what I think is exciting about Google integerating this feature into their service is thier ability to take a currently existing technology, take it to the next level, and make it available to the mass population. Additionally, I think that being able to view the world on the street level in Google maps and Earth was an inevitable next step.
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As a means to keep track and share my many ventures around the world, including my numerous trips up mount Everest*, bungee jumping over Victoria falls*, crocodile safari with my mates Steve and Terri Irwin*, swimming in the Galápagos Islands*, parachuting down the Grand Canyon*… I’ve made a new gallery! (which can also be accessed from the photography section)

http://ghiasi.org/gallery/

*The author is not that cool.