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@benlowy / benlowy.tumblr.com

This blog started as an iPhone project borne during my travels as a professional photojournalist. In the last few years this blog has morphed into a daily journal of my experiences around the world. As a modern day image-maker, social media has somewhat freed me from the constraints of a print-only career. I am able to create imagery, edit, and transmit all the images straight to this blog, creating a modern and efficient workflow for the most inefficient of pursuits - self expression. - Benjamin Lowy All Images are copyrighted @Benjamin Lowy

20 years ago I was in Camp Pennsylvania on the Kuwait/Iraq border waiting for 101st Airborne to cross and enter the war. It was the middle of the night and three successive blasts woke me. My tent was burning down around me and a scud middle alert went off. At the same time a British Tornado jet crashed at the outskirts of the camp. Half naked and wearing a gas mask I ran into the night. This was what confronted me. Army Sgt Asan Akbar threw grenades into his commander’s tents and mortally wounded Maj Gregory Stone. Years later I would be walking in Arlington Cemetery during Memorial Day and randomly came across Major Stone’s tombstone. I have never understood how I ended up there. #iraqwar #iraq #oif #kia https://www.instagram.com/p/CqYb08hOdtM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Surprise!!! Faces that don’t exist. All portraits made with midjourney AI imagery is scary and amazing at the same time. Is it another tool or an evil being intent on destroying all art? Time will tell. Unless Skynet gets here first. :) #aiart #aiportrait #portrait #midjourney https://www.instagram.com/p/CqJTRvfOa90/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

This is a lethal dose of Fentanyl. It’s a tiny amount. The next image is a lethal dose of heroin. Drug dealers use blenders to cut these powdered drugs together. Sometimes mixed with whey, or baby formula. Drug users never know when they will get a lethal chunk of fentanyl in the mix. Shot #onassignment for @mensjournal in a Massachusetts drug lab. #fentanylawareness #fentanylcrisis https://www.instagram.com/p/CpisD9COx37/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Diving under an oil platform, you never know what you are going to see. Yes they are artificial structures drilling for oil - but coral grows everywhere and they attract small fish and… bigger fish that eat small fish. Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. #gulfofmexico #sharks #marineconservation #sonypartner #sonyalpha https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQZFyuuoph/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Random fish photobomb. It happens more often than you think. Another image from one of my dive trips at the now permanently closed Isla Guadalupe. The island - part of Mexico - has always been closed - it’s used by the Mexican military and occasionally fishermen - but the waters around it were rife with Great White Sharks on migratory feeding runs across the Pacific. But now environmental concerns will allow the sharks to be sharks free from human observation and interaction. Which is probably for the best - while the Great White population recovers. #greatwhiteshark #marineconservation #underwaterphotography #onassignment https://www.instagram.com/p/CodSQSpuyJQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Gonna miss Guadalupe Island. The Mexican government closed access to the Island out of an abundance of caution to protect the endangered Great White Shark. One of the places and assignments that led me to fall in love with underwater photography and my genre switch. #onassignment #underwaterphotography #marineconservation #greatwhiteshark #islaguadalupe #sonyalpha https://www.instagram.com/p/CobEe_rMj6b/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Some drone work from this summer (doesn’t look like summer) in the Pacific North West - following @kiliiiyuyan and @chefmelissaking for the @natgeo @mazdausa and @hulu production of Tasting Wild #drone #onassignment #sonyartisan @sonyalpha @radleystudios @markleibowitzpictures (at Mount Baker, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoLxewVs_5n/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Well since everyone is doing the #lensa I thought I would jump onto some narcissistic AI art. #aiart https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl1MOXYMkyt/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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