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In some Mediterranean towns, communal "cob" ovens — primitive, domed cooking devices made of mud, clay, stucco, and straw — act as centers of social gravity where friends and family meet, greet, and eat. Last summer, a group of culinary enthusiasts gathered in a shady backyard in Napa, CA to give the traditional cooking method a try. The case included bestselling food......read more
Over the last twenty-odd years, a new American food economy has emerged, and if you're reading this, there is a pretty good chance you are a part of it. The food shift is exemplified by the resurgence of farmers' markets and the rise of community-supported agriculture and sustainable farming. To date, however, the so-called "food movement" has yet to enter the fray of politics. That will change......read more
Bright, synthetic color meets natural materials in "Wake," a land art installation by Michigan artist Michael McGillis. The semi-subterranean piece transforms the relatively mundane sight of giant wood piles into a surprisingly beautiful and interactive work of art. Originally installed at Minnesota's Franconia Sculpture Park in 2006, the installation consists of a 95-foot......read more
Making waves internationally is Baltimore photographer Michael Northrup’s newly released third photo book, Dream Away, a tender documentation of the journey of his former marriage and family life. Spanning decades from the early ’70s to the ’90s, the 70-year-old’s latest publication gives proof that beauty and meaning are truly found in the......read more
Michael Poliza is a man of many hats. The former child actor juggles multiple roles as an expedition leader, tourism consultant, World Wildlife Fund Ambassador, and professional photographer. What remains constant is a thirst for adventure that informs all of his work, including these aerial photos he shot from a helicopter over the Rift Valley in Kenya and Ethiopia. The images are pulled from......read more
German photographer Michael Schmidt has died at the age of 68, just days after being awarded the fifth Prix Pictet for the theme of "Consumption." Schmidt won the 100,000 Swiss franc prize for his photographic series Lebensmittel, which examines the workings of the global food industry. The series was years in the making: Schmidt travelled the world to factory farms, slaughterhouses, and......read more
Los Angeles photographer Michael Wells has a mega-diverse body of work covering subjects ranging from landscapes to products to architecture to garbage. There's not a lot else we can tell you about him because, well, we don't know anything else about him. What we do know is that his "Scorched Earth" photo series, in which wildfire-ravaged landscapes are captured in all their......read more
You may or may not remember LA photographer Michael Wells from his Scorched Earth series which we featured back in SHFT's early days. Either way, here's another batch of juicy Wells photos, this time focusing on industrial subjects. For Bulk Landscapes, Wells trains his camera on spaces where goods are produced, stored, and shipped, providing some compelling commentary on the economy and its......read more
In three short years, the Prix Pictet has become the global prize for excellence in environmental photography, assembling some of the most powerful images of sustainability (or lack thereof) from around the world. The theme for this year's competition is Growth, which organizers call "one of the great conundrums facing humanity in the early decades of the 21st century." True enough. The winner......read more
For several years, San Francisco-based photographer Michael Light has been flying his own lightweight aircraft to document the American West from the air. His latest book, LA Day/LA Night, shows off the beauty and horror of the City of Angels in equal measure. Whereas the nighttime photos carry a celestial, almost heavenly feel, the daytime images -- a selection of which are shown here -- are......read more
