Michael Eudenbach’s image of a paraglider flying at low altitude is in the “Notebook” section of the December 2008 issue of Men’s Journal.  Michael says, “I’ve been documenting the experience of flying a paraglider over dramatic landscapes for low altitude perspectives.  This photo was by far the most incredible flight I’ve been on.  I was in Canada shooting a winter kite-sailing competition, where I discovered this remote lighthouse frozen into the St. Lawrence River.”

Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.   Paragliding 200 feet above the St. Lawrence River, Michael Eudenbach looks down at ice floes broken by tankers pulling in and out of a shipping channel near Trois-Rivieres, 84 miles northeast of Montreal.  ”The ice is three to four feet thick,” says the photographer, 38, who fastened a camera to the gliders wing and used a remote trigger for this shot.  ”It’s stable enough to hike out to the lighthouse (top left), which is surrounded by water all summer.”  From December till March, kite- and windsurfers congregate to take advantage of the thick ice and high winds.  The biggest challenge is the temperature, says Eudenbach.  ”At 15 degrees I could fly for only 20 minutes before I got too damn cold.”

- Dacus Thompson, Men’s Journal, December 2008

To view more work by Michael Eudenbach, please visit Aurora Photos.

Aurora photographer Justin Maxon was awarded the gold medal in the spot news section of the College Photographer of the Year contest for the image of titled “Chester Fire.” The annual contest for college photographers has 16 categories including spot news, portrait, illustration, portfolio and multimedia project. Justin’s work, along with the other the winning images, can be scene at http://www.cpoy.org.

Aurora’s 15th Anniversary celebration concludes today, Wednesday, November 19, with this final shot of the Action:Reaction project.  For the past six months, Aurora photographers and guest editors have created an ever-evolving succession of images that showcases the diverse talent at Aurora, and demonstrates the story-telling power of photography. The project drew the attention of National Public Radio, which did a story on the Visual Arts section of their website, NPR.org.  You can read the article at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96169893

We at Aurora would like to thank the following guest editors who gave their time to thoughtfully choose the images that made Action:Reaction such a success:

• Susan Welchman, National Geographic
• Patrick Whalen, Former Aurora Editor
• Sacha Lecca, Rolling Stone
• Christina Lieberman, Life Magazine
• Leslie Evans, Leslie Evans Design Associates
• Miki Johnson, American Photo Magazine
• Rob Haggart, APhotoFolio.com
• Moya McAllister, Endless Vacation Magazine
• Daniella Nilva-Cunningham, VH1
• Madeline Yale, Houston Center for Photography
• Mark Rykoff, Time Magazine
• Sabine Meyer, National Geographic Adventure
• Sadie Quarrier, National Geographic
• Scott Wilson, The North Face
• Lori Walker, BSSP

Aurora would also like to thank our roster of photographers for taking up this challenge!  To see a list of photographers who contributed to the project, please visit http://www.aurora15.com/photographers.

To view the complete Action:Reaction project, please visit http://www.aurora15.com.  Now, on to the next 15 years!

Partnering with AboutTheImage.com, Aurora Photos selects editorial photographer Ariana Lindquist for this week’s feature. Living in China for the past three years, Lindquist eloquently blends anthropology and photojournalism to document her subjects.  “I continue to be fascinated by China. The country is a vast reservoir of history, ethnic diversity, culture, extreme wealth and dire poverty. The past half-century alone is a boggling saga of political upheaval, extreme isolation and hyper-modernization. This history is a powerful force that shapes present-day societal issues in mainland China,” reports Lindquist.  In the next few months, she will begin documenting life in Western China, as she explores how Chinese culture here blends with that of neighboring nations.

95-year-old Baibai remembers Communist soldiers traveling through her valley during the Long March in 1935. Unlike many families in this area of ethnically Tibetan western Sichuan, her family has not been able to take advantage of a recent tourist boom and continue to rely on traditional methods of subsistence, farming and raising livestock.

To view the entire article, visit AboutTheImage.com.  Ariana has recently signed with Aurora Photos, please check back soon to view her work.

Aurora Select photographer Todd Korol’s images are featured in a new ad campaign for Calgary’s premier jewelry store, JVair Anderson.  The campaign, which features model Jennifer McDonald, provided Todd with a unique opportunity to play the roles of creative director and lead designer as well as photographer. The store has given him full control for the look of this project, which will follow the seasons.  Todd is currently shooting the winter version.

To view more work by Todd Korol, visit Aurora Photos and Aurora Select.

Aurora Select photographer Corey Rich’s image of Sara Ballantyne riding her bike in Moab, Utah is featured in an ad for Perfect Pushup in the newest issue of Bicycling Magazine. The photograph was originally shot for Rich’s book, My Favorite Place.  Members of Rich’s team report that, “Thanks to Perfect Pushup, not only do we have a fun, new client – now, everyone in the office has amazing pecs!”

To view more work by Corey Rich, please visit Aurora Photos and Aurora Select.

The international photojournalism magazine “Days Japan” has selected Aurora to be featured in its November issue. Each month the Japanese magazine selects an agency to highlight. Images by Aurora photographers Matt Eich, Jean-Michel Clajot, Callie Shell and James Balog were chosen to represent Aurora in the magazine.

To shoot his first assignment for National Geographic, published in the September 2008 issue, Ivan Kashinsky traveled to El Alto, Bolivia to document the wrestling phenomenon of the Lucha Libre.  In Lucha Libre, women of the Ayamara Andean ethnic group participate in wrestling matches, sometimes even with male Lucha Libre wrestlers.  The Cholitas wear traditional outfits of large, colorful skirts and bowler hats during their matches and have stage names like “Amorous Yolanda” and “Evil Claudina”.  These women have become unlikely superstars in their largely “machista” society and have gained new respect and notoriety in their culture.

“What stood out the most about this assignment is how terribly difficult it was to gain access into the lives of these women.  It was a waiting game, in which patience played a key roll.  I spent days waiting for the Cholitas to give me permission to come visit them.  At one point I was told that I could come, but only if I didn’t bring my camera.  It was a slow process, and a bit nerve-racking. I know this seems like a humorous story, and it is.  But what makes this story important is the fact that it is about strong and courageous women, who have broken the mold of their traditional roles, and forged a new path for generations to come,” says Kashinsky.

To view more work by Ivan Kashinsky, visit Aurora Photos.

Aurora Photos, in partnership with AboutTheImage.com, selects emerging photographer, Ramsey de Give as a Featured New Artist. De Give, who found his calling as a photographer early in life, is most interested in photographing people as an expression of truth. “Photography is a voice: a means to express ones self, to translate what they see, and to communicate and educate via visual thoughts and emotions,” says de Give.

A woman screams for her remaining family members to evacuate during the School Canyon Fire in Ventura, Calif., on November 18th, 2005.  The fire, which started on School Canyon Road at 3:00 am, quickly spread by daylight hours, and threatened neighborhoods by 6:30 am.

See this photo and more from Ramsey de Give at www.abouttheimage.com.

Aurora photographer Callie Shell will be interviewed on CNN tonight during Anderson Cooper 360°.  Shell has been embedded with the Obama campaign for 2 years and had a unique perspective as the President Elect cast his ballot with his family on Election Day and later gave his victory speech at Grant Park in Chicago.  The episode will air live tonight, November 5th, 2008 at 10pm.  For more info, visit http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com.

To view more work by Callie Shell, visit Aurora Photos.