Life on Earth through the eyes of its inhabitans

Photography is a tumor.

A long while ago, photography ceased to be a domain of Japanese tourists, who spend their vacations with an eye pressed against the viewfinder. Then they come home and, with a square imprint in their faces, they look at the photos to find out where they were. Contemporary civilized humans need to have cameras on them at all times – even in cell phones – so that they are able to make lasting memories of everything everywhere. (These lasting memories always last till they lose the phones.)

When digging deeper into the past of digital cameras, we should mention the fact that the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 – predecessor of currently reviewed G2 model – was in 2008 the first camera of the Micro 4/3 standard in the world. The design is basically the same, so let’s look at other features that come with this updated model.

Today, we’d like to introduce a photograph that has brought success to František Ortmann, winning 1st prize in the ‘People in the news’ category at this year’s Czech Press Photo competition. (WoL)

To people who live for photography, especially artistic photography, there is no need to introduce living legend of world photography, Jan Saudek. We strove for this interview while still putting together the first issue of the Week of Life magazine.But with Jan, it is like with a king. You need to wait patiently for his servants to let you know he is expecting you at a given time and place. Be five minutes late and the door is already closed. None other than Adolf Zika, who has filmed a successful feature length documentary film about Jan Saudek (awarded the Glass Eye Award in Montreal) did this interview, the founder of week of Life. The 75-year old charismatic and well-respected artist was in a good mood, enjoying life to the fullest. Rightfully so, since only a few days earlier, he found out that his incurable illness, feared by the doctors, had somehow disappeared. Perhaps it was frightened of Jan's athletic and well-built body, letting him enjoy life for some time to come. Jan Saudek is among the most significant Czech individuals whom the United States helped get to the top. Come and hear his thoughts and ideas regarding today's information age.

It’s never a cliché to say that dog is man’s best friend. Who else greets us in the morning whatever their mood is. This is something humans highly value and open their hearts to, no matter if it is a dog or any other being from the animal kingdom. They are ever grateful for endearment and a little bit of that attention. There are some of us who couldn’t imagine life without their animal friends, as well as ones who would never opt to own a pet at any kind of circumstance. So, we were eager to see which group you as members of WoL belong to and decided to browse through your weeks. The frequency with which you document your pets has pleasantly surprised us and we found ourselves in a tough spot when selecting only 50 out of so many wonderful pictures. We aimed for an easy photo topic this time and focused on your pets with all their spontaneity and sensuality, in order to try and put a smile on your face.

His first week was a clear favorite to be selected for the Editor’s Choice and after publishing his second one, we started to receive strong opinions in favor of his person to be included among the WoL Masters. There is no doubt that Kamil Kašpárek a.k.a. Kaspy belongs in this profound section. The way how he documents his life is an inspiration to all and despite capturing ordinary things and daily activities known to all of us, he manages to portray them in a new and original fashion. In the following interview, you can find out more about his photography beginnings, what he enjoys about it the most, and how he feels about revealing and documenting his privacy.

We would like to congratulate our long term member František Ortmann, for winning 1st place in the ‘People in the news’ category at the 16th annual Czech Press Photo awards, a prestigious journalistic competition.

Thanks to the constant increase of countries participating on WoL, we are able to meet new people along with their lifestyles. Not long ago have we witnessed the first Austrian set appear on the website and today, we have another reason to celebrate, as we welcome yet another new addition – the country of Mexico.

Current issue of Week of Life magazine is out now!

In one of the last reviews of WOL we have introduced you the latest camera of the Olympus PEN family, the E-PL1. There is no doubt, that our attention should be also drawn to the second PEN in a row, the E-P2, sold in black or silver versions. This all metal camera, with some parts made off stainless steel, looks like it has come back from the 60ś of the last century. If you happen not to notice the large LCD on the back of the camera, you will not be able to say, that this is a digital photographic masterpiece. The reason for this is very simple: PEN E-P2 continues in a long tradition of old analogue Pen cameras, which were for the very first time announced to the public 51 years ago.