Anyone familiar with the Exposure section of Outside will instantly recognize the name Mark Fisher. The 36-year-old has earned a reputation as one of the best skiing and climbing photographers around. Photo District News added him to their 2012 list of photographers to watch, called the PDN 30. I called him to talk about his classic black and white ski images, but first wanted to learn a bit more about his background.
Fisher has taken a lot of pictures in a lot of wild places, a hobby that started at a young age. He took his first picture at the age of eight or nine in Dubai, where his father worked as a civil engineer. As a sophomore in high school, he got hooked on the craft when he took a photography class with an inspiring teacher named Jeff Grimm. In college at the University of Wisconsin, even though he studied German, international relations, and environmental studies, he always took time out for photos. “I was really into climbing, skiing, and mountaineering, “ he says. “So I would be traveling and taking all of those photos doing adventures with friends.”
Not long after school, he landed a job in Germany with a commercial photographer named Ramesh Amruth. Though Amruth exposed Fisher to studio work and the more commercial side of the craft—fashion, advertising, still life—he also planted a seed. “He was the first person that told me, Mark, I think you’d make a really good photographer. You’re good with people,” says Fisher. “And that year was the first time it sort of started to sink in: Oh wow, maybe I could make this a career.”
But to do that, he had to leave Germany and start shooting those things he loved most.
Not long after Usain Bolt won gold in the 200m, he grabbed the camera of photographer Jimmy Wextröm and started snapping pictures. The video above shows him in action, and at least one paper's photography editor has critiqued his ability behind the lens.
On May 13, 2011, two months after a tsunami had devastated the coast of Japan, professional photographic retoucher Becci Manson headed to the country to volunteer. She traveled there with All Hands to help with the clean up, intending to do everything from removing rotting fish from buildings to piling up debris. After a week doing drudge work, she noticed that people were bringing old, damaged photos to the public baths. She knew she had the skills to fix the pictures, and had a big idea.
There are more iPhone accessories on the market than we can count, but we've weeded through some of the newest ones and found three that you'll want to add to your quiver.
KOGETO DOT Do you wish you had seen the backside view on your last sky dive? The expressions on your friends’ faces when you did the backflip off the balcony at your birthday barbeque? Now you can. Kogeto’s Dot snaps onto your iPhone, and turns it into a 360-degree video camera.
Place your Dot-enabled iPhone flat—whether it's on top of a beer can at your next party or held in your hand—and it gives you a 360-degree scrollable video complete with everything going on in the room. On your phone, you swipe to scroll. It takes a few seconds to calibrate, and auto focuses as it’s shooting. Sound too cool to believe? Check out a tandem sky dive and other video shot with the Dot here. Available now, $49; kogeto.com.
Every Olympic year, a slew of newspapers, magazines, and websites put out photos of scantily clad or completely nude Olympians. Outside did it this year with pictures of Lolo Jones by Robert Maxwell and Trey Hardee by Carlos Serrao. Most publications do it tastefully, in a way that shows off the distinctly developed features of athletes who dedicate themselves to train for one event or sport. Here's a quick round-up of some of the best photos and videos of Olympic bodies taken before the 2012 London Olympics.
