A man peers through a telescope at the moon, Arizona, 2023. Viewfinder Looking Up By Tyler Austin Harper Photographs by Bieke Depoorter June 7, 2025, 8 AM ET Share Save
Walking through her neighborhood in Ghent, Belgium, in 2020, Bieke Depoorter came across a man named Henk, bent over a telescope, gaze trained on the moon. 'I realized that I never really look up,' she told me, describing the chance encounter. She found herself intrigued by this man, who was 'comforted by the cosmos.' The Magnum photographer's new book, Blinked Myself Awake, combines memoir and image in a series of eclectic riffs on the history of astronomy, the practice of stargazing—both amateur and professional—and the relationship between photography and objectivity. But more than anything, Depoorter is interested in observing others observing, animated by the conviction that looking up is intimately related to the practice of looking inward and backward.
In a diary entry written when she was 14, Depoorter mused on the moon, fascinated by the idea that people throughout history had all gazed at the same object. That evening, she took her first photograph of the moon. She reminded me that all of the stars we see in the sky are snapshots from the past: images of them not as they are, but as they were before their light traveled across the vacuum of space—memories played out in real time.
Her true subjects are not celestial bodies but people—a young man with his eye, moon-bright and glowing against the gray scale, fixed on his lens; a nightscape of Henk with his telescope, framed in the gateway of a chain-link fence; a laser pointer, aimed toward space, that neatly parallels the gable roof of a home; three stargazers readying their tripods in the shadow of a mountain. At a moment when ever more human activity is oriented toward looking down at our phones, fixated on screens that reflect ourselves back at us, Depoorter's subjects, with their monastic devotion to what lies above and beyond them, remind us that all knowledge begins first with wonder.
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Atlantic
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A man peers through a telescope at the moon, Arizona, 2023. Viewfinder Looking Up By Tyler Austin Harper Photographs by Bieke Depoorter June 7, 2025, 8 AM ET Share Save
Walking through her neighborhood in Ghent, Belgium, in 2020, Bieke Depoorter came across a man named Henk, bent over a telescope, gaze trained on the moon. 'I realized that I never really look up,' she told me, describing the chance encounter. She found herself intrigued by this man, who was 'comforted by the cosmos.' The Magnum photographer's new book, Blinked Myself Awake, combines memoir and image in a series of eclectic riffs on the history of astronomy, the practice of stargazing—both amateur and professional—and the relationship between photography and objectivity. But more than anything, Depoorter is interested in observing others observing, animated by the conviction that looking up is intimately related to the practice of looking inward and backward. In a diary entry written when she was 14, Depoorter mused on the moon, fascinated by the idea that people throughout history had all gazed at the same object. That evening, she took her first photograph of the moon. She reminded me that all of the stars we see in the sky are snapshots from the past: images of them not as they are, but as they were before their light traveled across the vacuum of space—memories played out in real time. Her true subjects are not celestial bodies but people—a young man with his eye, moon-bright and glowing against the gray scale, fixed on his lens; a nightscape of Henk with his telescope, framed in the gateway of a chain-link fence; a laser pointer, aimed toward space, that neatly parallels the gable roof of a home; three stargazers readying their tripods in the shadow of a mountain. At a moment when ever more human activity is oriented toward looking down at our phones, fixated on screens that reflect ourselves back at us, Depoorter's subjects, with their monastic devotion to what lies above and beyond them, remind us that all knowledge begins first with wonder.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
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Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado dead at 81
By Manuela Andreoni SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Sebastiao Salgado, the Brazilian photographer whose black-and-white images of workers, migrants, and humanity's conflicted relationship with nature captivated the world, has died at the age of 81, the nonprofit he founded said on Friday. Salgado was born in Aimores, a city in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil in 1944. An economist by training, he became a photographer in the 1970s while living in Paris, after fleeing the military regime that then ruled Brazil with his wife, Lelia Wanick Salgado. He traveled the world with his camera and quickly rose through the ranks of photo agencies, eventually becoming one of Magnum's star photographers. A 1987 photo essay of thousands of half-naked men digging through the immense mine of Serra Pelada, in northern Brazil, formed part of his landmark Workers series, in which he also documented oil workers in Kuwait and coal miners in India. 'It was madly ambitious, and I struggled to think how to even begin pitching the idea to editors in London,' his agent Neil Burgess wrote in a 2019 essay in the British Journal of Photography. And, yet, after seeing his work portraying gold miners, several of the world's top magazines wanted to fund it, he added. Salgado went on to publish a number of ambitious and epic projects. In Exodus, from the 2000s, he spent years photographing the grueling journeys of migrants around the world. In Genesis, in the 2010s, he captured monumental scenes of nature, animals, and Indigenous people. And in Amazonia, his most recent project, he spent years traveling through the world's largest rainforest to capture some of the planet's most remote treasures and the communities that protect them. His critics accused him of exploiting an 'aesthetic of misery' as he photographed some of the world's poorest in their most vulnerable moments. 'They say I was an 'aesthete of misery' and tried to impose beauty on the poor world. But why should the poor world be uglier than the rich world? The light here is the same as there. The dignity here is the same as there,' he told The Guardian in a 2024 interview. To Burgess, he did quite the opposite, by capturing the dignity of his subjects at their moment of need. 'This might well be enhanced by his use of black-and-white as a medium, but it's more to do with two other qualities that Salgado has in large measure: patience and curiosity,' he wrote. In 1998, Salgado and his wife founded a nonprofit, Instituto Terra, to restore the native Atlantic Forest, one of Brazil's most threatened, on their old family farm. On Friday, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gifted a Salgado photo to Angolan President Joao Lourenco, in Brasilia for a state visit. It was a coincidence, Lula said. "His discontent with the fact that the world is so unequal, and his unwavering talent in portraying the reality of the oppressed, has always served as a wake-up call to the conscience of all humanity," Lula said in a statement. "For this very reason, his work will continue to be a cry for solidarity. And a reminder that we are all equal in our diversity."
Yahoo
16-05-2025
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Charli xcx Crushes Cannes Convention at Magnum® Beach Party to Launch #CrackIntoPleasure Campaign
Last night, the iconic ice cream brand Magnum® partnered with Charli xcx to celebrate the launch of the global Crack Into Pleasure campaign and were joined by an eclectic lineup including Jamie xx, George Daniel and Yung France, May 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Magnum®, the world's authority on pleasure, broke away from the expected and brought real pleasure back to Cannes. In partnership with Grammy award-winning artist Charli xcx, Magnum® hosted an electrifying beach party on La Croisette to launch its 2025 global campaign Crack Into Pleasure. At a festival known for polished glamour and protocol, Magnum® delivered a bold counterpoint: a celebration of unfiltered self-expression and authentic indulgence. This year's appearance for the OG adult ice cream brand in the South of France wasn't about showing up and walking a red carpet—it was about owning the moment and cracking the conventions of pleasure. Charli xcx, known for her boundary-pushing style, curated the night's soundtrack with explosive DJ sets from genre-defying producer Jamie xx, DJ and producer George Daniel, and a performance by breakthrough Swedish rapper Yung Lean, igniting a high-energy atmosphere that reflected the campaign's disruptive spirit. Guests abandoned restraint and embraced freedom in style. Charli xcx led the way in a Vivienne Westwood Cafe Society ensemble. The stunt pays homage to the iconic 1994 convention-defying runway moment which featured models cracking into Magnum Classic sticks on the catwalk. Gabriette, making a dramatic entrance alongside Charli, broke away from the expected conservative dress code in a baby pink Y2K inspired two piece, embodying the campaign's fearless edge. Supermodel and creative Georgia May Jagger also made a statement in an ivory gown, while her iconic mother Jerry Hall commanded attention in a glittering black suit and satin red shirt. The party was anchored by the return of the Magnum® Dipping and Spray Bar experience, where Charli xcx set the tone, creating her signature Magnum® recipe to demonstrate how true pleasure comes from rejecting the expected and defining indulgence on your own terms. #CrackIntoPleasure marks a bold new chapter for Magnum®, inviting Pleasure Seekers around the globe to embark on an indulgent journey that pays homage to Magnum®'s original three ice cream flavour innovations: Magnum® Classic, Magnum® Almond, and Magnum® White. #CrackIntoPleasure#MagnumCannes About Magnum® Launched in 1989, Magnum® was the first handheld ice cream targeted as a premium adult offering. Today, Magnum® is one of the world's leading ice cream brands, selling over 1 billion units annually worldwide. About Charli xcxAvant-pop and electronic superstar Charli xcx has become an iconic figure in the arts, having helped expand the landscape of popular music over the last decade by seamlessly traversing the underground and mainstream with her artistic output. Over the course of a trailblazing career, the multi-hyphenate creative has earned critical acclaim for her innovative style and entrepreneurial spirit and seen her forward-thinking approach reshape pop culture in the process. She released her sixth album 'BRAT' last June which was the most critically acclaimed album of 2024 and landed at Number 1 on the UK Official Album Chart. 'BRAT' well and truly made its mark on the cultural zeitgeist; the audacious campaign caused roadblocks around the world with Charli's pop-up 'PARTYGIRL' DJ sets, broke the internet with viral videos and surprise collaborations with the likes of Billie Eilish, Lorde, Addison Rae, Julia Fox, Chloë Sevigny, and Rachel Sennott and introduced a new tone of green to the social lexicon. In October, Charli followed it up with 'Brat and it's completely different but also still brat' - a brand-new version of the critically acclaimed album featuring reimagined takes and innovative reworks of tracks from 'BRAT' featuring Julian Casablancas, Bon Iver, The 1975, Ariana Grande, Caroline Polachek and more. The global success of 'BRAT' saw Charli sweep award season, winning five BRIT Awards (Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Dance Act & Songwriter Of The Year) and three Grammy Awards (Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best Dance Pop Recording & Best Recording Package), not to mention being named Wall Street Journal's 'Music Innovator' in October and Variety's 'Hitmaker Of The Year' in December after winning the Powerhouse Award at Billboard's Women In Music ceremony last year. Charli has also been working on multiple film & TV projects; she is co-executive producing the score for the A24 film 'Mother Mary' with Jack Antonoff and producing original music for Benito Skinner's series 'Overcompensating'. Charli is also producing and starring in A24's 'The Moment', an original concept created by her and the first co-production venture from studio365. In addition, Charli will star in the Daniel Goldhaber remake of 1978 cult horror film 'Faces of Death', Greg Araki's erotic thriller 'I Want Your Sex', Cathy Yan's upcoming independent film 'The Gallerist', Julia Jackman's period fantasy '100 Nights Of Hero', Romain Gavras' satirical action 'Sacrifice' and Pete Ohs' intimate drama 'Erupcja'. Contact: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
