Random Excellence: Michael Itkoff

Michael Itkoff, Perch on ice, Lake Wallenpaupak, Pennsylvania

From the series Between Two Lakes.

You know, print might be dying*, but it's still really nice for any photographer to get a good cover:

 

Photo courtesy The Orion Society

Michael graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. in Photography in 2004.

Mike

*I say this tongue-in-cheek. Print will be around for a few more years yet.

As always, "random" means randomly encountered.

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Comments

[Thomas D.]

Awesome! It's almost hard to explain. These shots could've been taken around my lodge. They inspire me to try, but I doubt they will have the same class. It's something about the compositions - he even centers the subjects, and still make great compositions. And his compositions, and the slightly more square 4:3 format, reminds me of square Hasselblad shots. Thanks for sharing your random finds!

[Tom]

Better watch these images or PETA's Fish Empathy Project will be after your ass.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Some lovely stuff, but then I noticed that he has shot a series "Wrecked" at the Pocono and Orange County Demolition Derbies. That's also Danny Lyon country. Itkoff stands back; you can see how the races work and what it's like to be in the stands. Lyon fits right in with the drivers and their friends. No contest.

scott

[charlie d]

Great stuff.

I dig all his work.

It's not a contest, Danny Lyon was crazy*

*SMIRK

[Dave]

Wonderful find! Thanks for posting. I tried a few ice fishing still life photos this past winter. It's tough. The bare gray ice, bright blood, and colorful fish offer a lot of possibilities for great photos. It's contrast on many levels: smooth fish vs crusty ice, unsaturated ice vs rich blood and colorful fish, living fish vs dead ice. And talk about drama -- the backdrop of the photograph is a membrane that separates the fish from their very lives. Imagine being a fish living in the dark, insulated depths of the lake for months on end and then getting dragged up to the surface by a hook through the lip. Above the ice it's so bright you can't see, you can't breath, and you live just long enough to feel your inner organs freeze solid.

[Bron Janulis]

Yum, lunch.

[John Camp]

Photoshopped the color.

[Colin Work]

Dave said ... Imagine being a fish living in the dark, insulated depths of the lake for months on end and then getting dragged up to the surface by a hook through the lip. Above the ice it's so bright you can't see, you can't breath, and you live just long enough to feel your inner organs freeze solid.

It was when I started thinking like that at the age 16 that I gave up fishing and took up photography!

Cheers,

Colin

[Rana]

Orion is a magazine I can recommend wholeheartedly, not just for the images, but for the quality of the writing and the content.

And, no, I'm not just saying that because some of my friends are involved in its production. ;)