Logan Mock-Bunting / Aurora Photos

Aurora photographer Logan Mock-Bunting spent five years documenting his mother’s journey with lung cancer. He wrote this about his work:

Mom called me a few years ago and asked me to come over – she specifically told me to bring my camera. I’d been a photojournalist for about five years, and she loved talking to me about story ideas, so I figured it was simply another idea, or maybe a pretty flower in the garden.

Instead, that afternoon she told my me and my father that she had a tumor in her lung. She asked if I wanted to photograph her journey. She didn’t want to call it a battle or a fight – those words were too violent for her. She considered it a journey because she wanted to survive, as well as embrace the joy of life with what time she had.

And so we began a project together. The next five years we spent documenting her life, loves, and ultimately her passing.

Sometimes it was very difficult to hit the shutter when it felt like I should be more in the “son” role than the “observer” role. Many times I didn’t make a photo because it didn’t feel right. Sometimes the only way I got through situations was being able to put the camera over my face like a mask, look through the barrier and think about light and composition instead of what was going on to my family around me. It ran the spectrum.

People ask how I had time to do this. I made the time. I made it a priority to be with Mom and Dad. I have just recently started to shift away from my hometown (I’m now working in Washington DC) but that wasn’t an option for me when Mom was sick – I wasn’t going to move away. It was not easy and it meant lots of driving to doctors appointments, lots of sitting, waiting and crying. But it was something I had to do.

Why did I make these photographs? What else was I going to do? I was physically helping my family as much as I could. I was emotionally doing all I could for them. There is still an amazing sense of helplessness when you are watching a family member die from within. Photography was a way to literally organize things: to process them, and have a little control over something. It was a therapy, a guard, a protection and a mission. When everything else is up in the air, it can be nice to have an purpose to guide your next action. I would love it if this work could help someone else get through the mourning process, or help someone feel less isolated by sharing the experience.

Logan is now making these photographs into a book. The project, called Details in Dying, will be “given to Hospices and Bereavement centers in the hope that others suffering through a major loss might possibly benefit through seeing a shared experience.” Logan has put out a personal appeal for funding for the book project. Contributions will be used in the book’s layout, design, image editing, printing and delivery.

If you’d like to contribute to the publication of Details in Dying, visit Logan Mock-Bunting’s Kickstarter page.

To see more work by Logan Mock-Bunting, visit Aurora Photos.

Polling Places in Philadelphia. Left: Bowling alley located in a Catholic church. South Philadelphia. April 19, 2009. Right: Mummer's Museum Ward 58, Division 27 May 18, 2010. Ryan Donnel / Aurora Photos

Aurora photographer Ryan Donnell documented unique and interesting polling places in Philadelphia in his project “Behind the Curtain.”

Aurora Photos: Where did your idea come from? How did you develop it?

Ryan Donnell: My wife, Catherine, and I are kind of political junkies, she even more so, given that she’s a political reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. So we we really get into Election Day. It’s always felt kind of like a holiday around our house.  Around the beginning of 2007 we moved into a house in South Philadelphia and our polling place was housed in a private Italian-American club. It had pictures of women clad in bikinis and Frank Sinatra posters adorning the walls and the staff was composed mostly of large, gruff men, who smoked a lot. I thought it was a bit strange given my Midwestern up-bringing, in which adults always voted in kind of antiseptic community buildings, like firehouses and community centers. The craziest it got was like the community room at the local Catholic Church.

My wife and I started asking around about other sections of the city and we soon discovered that places like bars, private residences, and stores were being used as polling centers all over the city. And leading up to the 2008 presidential election, I wasn’t getting any assignments and feeling a bit disconnected from my journalistic roots. So, and I have to really attribute it to Catherine pushing me and giving me the idea, I went out to document Philly’s unique polling stations. I didn’t have any plans for the project other than participating in an exciting election, talking to some interesting people and discovering a city that I was learning to love.

A.P.: While shooting in multiple locations, how did you pull the images into a cohesive whole?

R.D.: I think this is all about consistency in style and equipment. The style is inherent, I think. And by that I mean unconscious. As for the equipment, I simply love my Hasselblad camera. So I decided that since it was a personal project I was going to go with the equipment that made me the most comfortable and that was my old medium format camera. As it turned out, because most of the stations were in very small buildings I ended up using a 50mm lens (which on a MF camera is a fairly wide lens). This not a lens I use very often, but it worked well for this project. It gives every picture the feel of a little diorama.

A.P.: What were you looking for in each of the polling places?

R.D.: I really went into this project without any expectations. I was simply happy to be out witnessing democracy and talking to people. But if I was looking for anything, I was looking for juxtapositions. As in, back home this venue would NEVER have been used a polling place, but here in Philly, why WOULDN’T it be? As a transplant I understood the first part of that question and as someone falling in love with the city, I was beginning to understand the second part.

I was also just looking for humor. We take all this political stuff so seriously and we should, it’s vastly important. But, come on, some perspective. Democracy is a beautiful thing and it works, as much as we like to think it doesn’t. And it works in ways unique and individual to the people and places where it’s exercised. We should celebrate it and have some fun with it. I mean, really, people voting in a funeral home or a bakery? That’s funny.

A.P.: How did voters and poll workers react to you and the camera?

R.D.: I have gotten various reactions from the poll workers, from get out of here NOW, to yeah this is awesome go take pictures and have fun. In general, the reaction was very positive because most people enjoy the process of elections and think it should be celebrated and remembered. And, of course, they always think their precinct is the best. Voters general thought I was with a local TV station and either ignored me or asked what time the broadcast would be on TV.

A.P.: Why did you pursue this project? Why do you think it’s important?

R.D.: As with every photographic project, it’s a simple record of the times we live in. But, one of the other reasons I began the project was because I’d heard the city was beginning to phase out some of the polling stations due to accessibility issues for people with disabilities. So I wanted to record these places for posterity before they were no longer used. And a final reason might be, as I said above, as a celebration of democracy and the uniquely American way of practicing it.

To view the whole project, visit Behind the Curtain.

To see more work by Ryan Donnell, visit his portfolio at Aurora Select or  his stock archive at Aurora Photos.

Aurora photographer Paula Lerner was recently recognized for her work on “Behind The Veil”, The Globe and Mail’s in-depth multimedia series on the plight of women in Kandahar. Reported by The Globe’s Jessica Leeder with photography by Lerner and produced by Christopher Manza and Jayson Taylor over the course of five weeks, the piece wove together a tale of women suffering and prevailing under the Taliban.

The EPpy Best Media awards, presented by news industry periodical Editor & Publisher, are considered among the highest honors for media-affiliated websites and blogs. “Behind The Veil” won Best Web Special Feature over entries from The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Newsweek and USA Today. Earlier this year “Behind The Veil” was also nominated for a prestigious Webby Award as Best Documentary Series.

You can view the piece here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/behind-the-veil/

To see more work by Paula Lerner, visit Aurora Photos.

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Aurora Photographer Blake Gordon was commissioned to shoot stills for an NPR short film documenting traumatic brain injury victims within the US military. The film tells the story of Sgt. Victor Medina, who suffered a traumatic brain injury during an IED explosion in Iraq in 2009. You can view the video online on NPR’s website here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127542820

To see more work by Blake Gordon, visit Aurora Photos.

The Lowepro-Aurora Photos Design Council has been featured on the Lowepro website including a video produced by Aurora Novus that showcases the design council’s activities during the 2009 Aurora Photographer’s Meeting.

Lowepro describes, “An inspiring meeting of minds! The Lowepro-Aurora Photos (LPAP) Design Council kicked off at Aurora Photos’ Photographer Meeting in Sebago, Maine in September. Notable pros and Lowepro partners tossed around ideas and tested new products. Check out a few of the highlights in the video below. The LPAP Design Council will take part in interactive design sessions, discuss emerging technologies, and share insights on the rigors and challenges faced by commercial, outdoor, adventure and sports photographers, and photojournalists.”

View Lowepro’s write-up at http://www.lowepro.com/community/aurora.

above: Eric Sandström with the chief nurse, Mary Ngatoluwa, the medical officer, Suleiman Choum, and a visitor (to the left). The medical personnel are taking part in the HIV vaccine trials.

Aurora photographer Åke Ericson’s latest work can viewed on The Digital Journalist in an online feature story depicting Swedish professor Eric Sandström’s medical research facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where his new HIV vaccine is being tested. Åke spent three years trying to persuade professor Sandström to allow him to photograph at the research facility, along with a medical reporter. To read the entire story on The Digital Journalist, click here.

To view more work by Åke Ericson, visit Aurora Photos.

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Aurora partner agency NOOR presents “Consequences“, a group project involving nine of their photojournalists on the social impact of climate change all over the world. Each photographer documented a unique story; Pep Bonet on Poland’s coal industry, Kadir Van Lohuizen on the deforestation of the Amazon for cattle, Yuri Kozyrev on pollution in Karabash, Russia, Francesco Zizola on the Maldives and the rising sea level, Philip Blenkinsop on burning coal fields in India, Jon Lowenstein on Alberta’s oil sands, Stanley Greene on Greenland’s melting ice, Jan Grarup on scarcity and conflict in Darfur, and Nina Berman on pine beetle infestation in British Columbia. The project will be presented in Copenhagen during ‘COP 15′, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, beginning December 7, 2009.

To learn more and view the images, visit the project website.

To read a full interview with Noor’s director, Claudia Hinterseer, on PDN, click here.

Aurora photographer and Vice President Corey Rich was recently interviewed by PDNedu, along with seven other leading photographers, to talk about his use of industry networks and social media to stay in touch with colleagues and attain industry information.

During the interview, Corey stated, “My photography friends are most valuable resource network, including college buddies, past instructors, colleagues, mentors, and even clients.” “I also rely heavily on my agency as a resource network. One of the things that we pride ourselves on at Aurora is that we are a family of photographers”, he said. “Many of us are connected through the typical social networking tools: LinkedIn, Facebook, Lightstalkers, Sportsshooter, and of course we exchange regular email”, he continued. To read Corey’s full response, click here.

To see more work by Corey Rich, visit Aurora Photos.

Aurora photographer Rhea Anna has recently shot a seven image ad campaign for Bethesda Row, a high end retail shopping center in Maryland. Each ad highlights two of Bethesda Row’s retail outlets, illustrating the ‘uncommon mix of life and style’. For example, in one of Rhea’s images the model is seen wearing make-up from Aveda and a sushi earring from Raku Sushi.

When asked about the assignment, Rhea said, “Since my work is a fusion of fashion and lifestyle that’s traditionally shot on location, this project was a unique opportunity for me to showcase some studio lighting and beauty work. It was so great to be able to explore the ideas of the art director with an amazing creative team in a controlled environment.” “My favorite aspect of this project was in how it came to me. I’ve known the art director for several years but we hadn’t had the chance to work on a project together. Over the years she remembered my work and said she was waiting for an opportunity to work together. I was so thankful that she called me for this project and was willing to take a leap of faith because the kind of photography it called for is not what I show in my book”, she continued.

To see more work by Rhea Anna, visit Aurora Photos.

The work of Aurora photographers Ben Moon (left – of a surfer diving under a wave) and Tom Bol (right – of a studio portrait of a dog) have both been used as full page ads for Nordic Naturals, a producer of award winning, high quality fish oils.

To view more work by Ben Moon or Tom Bol, visit Aurora Photos.