After preheating the glass in a kiln, Bragg begins melting it with a torch capable of producing temperatures over 5,000 degrees. "There are a billion things that can go wrong," says Bragg. "Basically any large project is a bunch of small steps stacked on top of each other. You just have to know the right order."

Douglas Bragg- a 31 year old artist and craftsman from Eugene- has been heating, blowing and molding glass for over 8 years. He rents space at the Glass Menagerie on Blair Boulevard where he begins 1.5 hour process, using a torch and a blow tube to turn molten glass into a work of art.

Sebastes Pinniger
Coney Island Aquarium, New York


Immune Media's Questions for Chiara Goia:

Are you a zoo-goer?  How many have you been to and how did this project come about; incidentally or with intent?

I have been to about 10-12 zoos and to 3 or 4 aquariums so far. I hate zoos and I have never been a zoo-goer; I am in pain when I am in front of an animal kept in captivity. I cannot justify the existence of most zoos.
I had the idea to start the series after I found myself at the Coney Island Aquarium.  I had a very interesting experience and I took the very first picture of the project (the 2 fish swimming in the green pool). I got very fascinated by that and thought I should have gone back and visit zoos as well…trying to keep the same point of view and sort of surrealism. I wanted to say things without putting them right in front of the viewer. I wanted to suggest, hoping people would have second thoughts after seeing the images.
I did go to several zoos in the beginning, in order to shape up the project. Then for a few months after, I went to all the zoos in different cities I had to travel to for other reasons.  Those were working trips but there was also the “excuse” of having to continue and grow my project.

What's the first time you ever got paid for doing photography?

I think it was in 2005, before I went to school. An Italian magazine bought a picture of an Indian plastic surgeon I took and asked me to make a small article as well.  It ended up being so tiny…the picture at postage-stamp size and article trimmed to a quarter of it’s length, but I was very happy anyway!

How much Photoshop is too much?

If it’s a very strong image, Photoshop [can] kill it and put the attention to another element.  I mean when photographers use Photoshop too heavily to lighten up people's faces or darken skies for example…before doing that, and image often might be more natural and harmonious.


Now that everyone's a photographer, will professionals survive?

I think real professionals will survive…[Those] who work hard and have a stylistic and moral integrity, and make very high quality and consistent work; those who have a very personal point of view.
It’s not enough anymore to just “report” things, we must all have a specific point of view and immerse ourselves into what we do, not only technically and physically but also emotionally.

Would you rather have plain concrete walls in your cage, or have fake "environments" painted on the wall?

It’s a difficult question!  I think I would choose plain concrete and then make images in my mind, paint or draw them myself. At least I would have something to do during the day…

I would describe your work as "painterly"...particularly images like the "Living in Memory" series #3, 14, 18.   Also, all your images are square.  Can you provide us insight as to how this is achieved (technically) and what choices you’re making (photographically)?

I think it’s a mix of light, film and pre-visualization.
I am shooting film (medium format square cameras- Hasselblad and a Mamiya 6) and scanning. Scanning and then digitizing pictures is not a reason [to just shoot] the same things in digital. It is 2 totally different worlds and to me it is still worth shooting film. I love the feel to it, the way it looks and the whole process that's behind it. For me it contributes to make my photos unique.
Photoshop I think it’s an instrument to amalgamate these things and to give the last touch to it, but used very cautiously.  Of course shooting digital has its own advantages and I do use it....but rarely for my personal projects.

Dichoceros Bicornis
Bronx Zoo, New York

Chelodina Longicollis
Bronx Zoo, New York

Brenna owns three pet crabs. This one is named Holden Clawfield.

Peggy has two cats that are shy around strangers. She also owns a couple of parakeets.

erik miletich - union high school

megan pool - union high school

Immune Media's Questions for Sven Creutzmann:

The expressions of the field workers are very unique.  Were the portraits in the sugarcane
series "directed"?

For me the unwritten subtitle of the machetero essay is: "Don't move, stay right where you are!"  None
of the images is staged, directed or set up.  I walked among them, and when I saw something interesting,
I just told (actually I almost yelled ;-) at the worker: "No te muevas...Quédate así mismo," and so they
did, amazingly stoic.  I did not tell them what to do, how or where to look. This way we obtain an intimate
look into the faces and eyes that reflect reality.

Can you describe the first time you ever got paid for doing photography?

I was still an amateur and had a pro friend who couldn't cover an assignment for DPA (German press agency)
because he had a date with a girl he had been after for awhile. So I shot the assignment for him and gave
him the film the next morning. The pictures got widely published with his credit, because of course his bosses
at DPA couldn't know that he had not taken the photos. [My friend] paid me the corresponding money.

How much Photoshop is too much?

I am just referring to journalism now: Everything that was allowed to do in the darkroom, is okay to do in
Photoshop. Taking away or adding elements, though, is a no-no. I find the discussions nowadays a bit weird:
Editors ask for raw files and compare them with the Photoshopped image-

Did anybody ever ask Sebastiao Salgado to turn in his negatives?
Did anybody ever ask Nachtwey to print his black & white prints only on grade 3 paper?
Do we want to erase Eugene Smith's photos from our photographic memory because he did a lot of work in the
darkroom; would the pictures have had the impact they had if he had not done this?

So I think that these darkroom techniques, that we always have accepted back then (and still do), should be as
well accepted today for color / digital photography.

Everyone's a photographer these days.  Will photography survive as a profession?

A professional lives on their conceptual photography. He/she thinks, plans, and makes strategic moves to realize
his/her vision. He/she dedicates his/her brain, his/her heart and every fiber of the body to that vision.  The
amateur cannot and will not do that, and thus cannot do a story for Newsweek or Stern; no amateur will be
assigned to cover the President's inauguration.

But: Of course, any amateur can, on occasion, take better pictures than a pro.  It has always been like that.
In workshops I have often seen amateurs "outshoot" the pros.  But making good photos here and there does
not mean that one can make a living on it or do it "on demand."  Being a pro and surviving as such is not only
making good pictures, it's also about commitment to a lifestyle and it is, despite all the adventures we see and
live, a lot of sacrifice.

Would you rather the US lift its travel embargo to Cuba, or travel back in time to ride alongside Che
Guevara on his year-long 1951 motorcycle trip across South America?

Even though I love to ride motorbikes,  I'd rather have the US lift the embargo (not only the travel ban)...a much
more interesting story would develop.  It would mean substantially more income for Cuba...the government would
relax and lower its defenses...now in the position to have to prove to its people it's capable of dealing with the
difficult issues (since it can no longer blame the US embargo for every deficiency).

Plus, if I could travel back in time, I'd prefer for it to be so I could cover Castro's rebels fight in the very beginning
of the revolution, back in 1956.

What's one thing you've learned from your time in cuba, or, one thing you've learned from the Cuban
people?

Enjoy every moment of the Here and Now. Don't get stuck in thinking too much about the tomorrow.  (Though I
have to admit-  that even though I understand the benefits of this way of thinking, making it my own reality is a
rather hard piece of work).

Fr. Maro behind the altar.

A barricade at the end of an unfinished street in an unfinished development community called "The Reserve". It was scheduled to have houses built by
early 2008, but with the house market drying up and jobs leaving the area, the only thing to be seen here is street signs, paved curbs, utility boxes, and lamp posts. No homes. The promise of expansion is present, but when it will be fulfilled is hard to determine.

David Walker has been taking his dog Nakieta out to the fields to play near The Reserve far before it was even created. He enjoys the natural values of the
areas farmland and fields and doesn't want to see them go. "They didn't have to open this land up for development for another 10 to 15 years. It all comes down to greedy people," he said, "I'm not against growth. It's just got to be selective growth."

Piano Smiley by Kendyl Crawford, Age 18

Sidewalk Smiley by Alex Welch, Age 16

B entertains himself on the playground at the Vivian Olum Child Development Center.