(For the love of) images

His presence accepted by a black-brown albatross in the Falkland Islands, photographer Frans Lanting waited for hours to capture a single frame that would represent the shared work of mates — nesting on shore, and foraging on the wing.





In a mixed New Zealand colony of grey-headed and Campbell albatross, chicks shelter under a guardian parent for the first three or four weeks of life. By the time they're left alone, bigger chicks can protect themselves from marauding skuas and other hazards.

(Safina, Carl.  "Wings of the Albatross."  Photo. Frans Lanting.  National Geographic Dec. 2007:  92, 115.)





A series of landscape photographs by Josef Hoflehner on display (until 29 February 2008) at Atlas Gallery.






Born in 1955, Josef Hoflehner lives in Austria and has worked in some of the remotest areas in locations such as Antarctica, Vietnam, China, Yemen and Iceland.





The works on display embody Hoflehner's fascination with secluded places.





The landscapes are stripped down to the barest elements of line and form.






The frames are often minmalist - featuring basic and fundemental structures such as fence posts in the snow and old abandoned huts.





The black and white images frequently show landscapes reduced to painterly shapes.





Human beings tend to be absent from Hoflehner's images - empty spaces taken with long exposures.





The result can be both peaceful and haunting.






This year, the IPA (International Photography Awards) voted Hoflehner Nature Photographer of the Year.