Given recent climate change reports, it can be argued that this series on Antarctica will serve as an archival moment of when there was ice. The unending cracks in our most frozen continent are beautiful — and disturbing.
—Kate Bubacz, deputy photo director, BuzzFeed News
Though the subject matter is undeniably dark, Natalie Keyssar’s images from the ganglands of San Salvador also have an unbelievable sense of hope to them. There are poetic juxtapositions between images of landscapes and activists, the accused, those in power, kids, and the elderly, all struggling to live in a beautiful and violent city.
—K.B.
It's 1977 and Studio 54's dance floor is smack-dab at the center of universe. How any photographer could keep their head straight in this celebrity-ridden orgy of drugs, sex, and disco is entirely mind-boggling. But iconic photographer Rose Hartman not only made it out alive, she walked away with an incredible archive of pictures that expertly capture the sights and spirit of an era too rowdy for its own good. In this conversation with Vanity Fair, Hartman shows no signs of slowing down as she discusses her current solo exhibition at Edelman Arts gallery in New York and an upcoming book release this March.
—Gabriel H. Sanchez, photo essay editor, BuzzFeed News
While every photo in this is beautifully shot and serves a role in telling the story, the one that I was fixated on was of the migrants crossing paths with a hiker. That juxtaposition puts things into perspective — that people from different walks of life might be traveling on the same path, but even that literal same path can be a more challenging journey for those unlike you.
—Anna Mendoza, photo editor, BuzzFeed Australia
Photography as a tool for posterity is one of its most valuable uses and photographer Jonathan Rentschler's documentary work at Love Park secures its place in skate history. Rentschler covered the park in the years leading up to its demolition and paints a portrait of a public space that was inexplicably shared by freestyle skateboarders and businessmen on lunch, a space that has been worn over time by rubber wheels and "renovated" to meet the needs of skate tricks. Most importantly though, Rentschler's work, and his first photo book Love, preserves the importance of the home that was created by a diverse group of city kids. Their love for Love Park didn't go unacknowledged.
—Laura Geiser, photo editor, BuzzFeed News
It’s the details in this series that makes it so poignant — Ryan Christopher Jones is able to convey to the viewer how the subject sees their world while battling with addiction. The grinding routines of resisting temptation and rebuilding worlds are beautifully depicted and keenly felt.
—K.B.
This week, as we celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., we're reminded of those iconic pictures of him that are seared permanently into our minds, each defining what strength, leadership, and hope looks like in the United States of America. Less often do we consider the people behind those lenses, who in an era of hate and bigotry chose to direct their attention toward this remarkable leader. Here, Artsy highlights the images of one Life magazine photographer, Steve Schapiro, and his incredible work in defining our vision of Martin Luther King Jr. that we hold so dear.
—G.H.S.
Photographer Peyton Fulford's series "Abandoned Love" is a colorful collection of crowdsourced, melancholic messages strung upon buildings that seem overlooked themselves. The slightly disjointed and at times overlapping letters hung simply on a string somehow manage to intensify the emotion behind the message. Seeing such intimate, personal thoughts put on public display starkly illustrate the vulnerability that comes along with being a human in love.
—L.G.
In this feature, Francois Prost explores hyperkulturema and how a country’s obsession with another culture manifests in big ways. As I looked through the series, mainly impressed that he was able to capture similar angles across the two cities, I was experiencing a version of the syndrome myself. By covering the photos on the right, any keen observer will immediately identify that these places are replicas of scenes in Paris. But what I found strange was when I tried looking only at the photos on right and couldn’t even tell whether those photos are truly, in fact, taken in Paris.
—A.M.
Here are the most moving and breathtaking pictures from the past week.
—G.H.S.