Posts tagged: lifestyle photography

At the time of this writing, Devin Graham of Devin Super Tramp has 779,244,531 views on YouTube and an astonishing 4,118,120 subscribers, but before he was a celebrity filmmaker, he was a kid making music videos with his siblings. Throughout his career, he’s kept that same childlike sense of adventure and wonder; he’s documented athletes who, inspired by the video game Assassin’s Creed, have developed insane parkour skills, jumping from one rooftop to the next in costume. He’s captured bike parkour and extreme pogo freestyle, which yes, incorporates the pogo stick, beloved by children worldwide. Graham hasn’t lost the playfulness and enthusiasm of his childhood; the only thing that’s changed is his equipment, and he’s upgraded big time with an LG UltraWide® 21:9 monitor.

Climbing over coastal rocks © Justine Knight / Offset

Getting splashed by waves © Justine Knight / Offset

In the spring of 1853, Lewis Carroll wrote the poem Solitude and ended it with the following stanza: “I’d give all wealth that years have piled / The slow result of Life’s decay / To be once more a little child / For one bright summer-day.” He was only twenty-one at the time, but he keenly felt the loss of his early years, their wonderment and tenderness.

Surfing on The Eisbach river, Munich © Alberto Bernasconi / Offset

BASE Jumping in Moab, Utah © Gabe Rogel / Aurora Photos / Offset

When we think of “vacationing” as a verb, our minds go to white sand beaches and days spent languidly basking in the sunshine, but over the past five years, a new trend has the tourism industry by storm. Cruises are out of vogue; base jumping, spelunking, and deep sea diving are in.

“Adventure travel” took off full force in 2009, and four years later, the marked departure from the typical family holiday caught the attentions of The George Washington University and prompted the 2013 Adventure Tourism Market Study. According to their research, the industry of adventure travel, which includes scheduled activities like extreme sporting and outdoor exploration, has grown at a rate of about 65% each year. This year, travelers are hungrier than ever for new, uncharted destinations and adrenaline-pumping experiences.

Just a decade ago, traveling to remote locations to participate in risky, physically taxing activities like free-diving, mountain climbing, or parachute jumping was the sole territory of daredevils and backpackers. The increased yearning for overseas adventure comes mostly from the younger generation, those who are waiting longer to get married and have kids, those who are devoting more time to exploring and finding themselves by experiencing different cultures firsthand. What was once alternative has become mainstream.

Now that people are more aware of the importance of sustainability and conservation, resorts and lodges have taken into consideration the ecosystems of some of the world’s most precious areas, and instead of wiping away local traditions, they’re starting to embrace the value of learning from others. In honor of the summer season, we’ve pulled together some of the most astounding extreme travel photographs we could find, all sourced from Offset’s collection of high-end editorial and commercial imagery.

Half Moon Motel, Culver City, California © The Licensing Project / Offset

 © Amanda Tipton / Offset

Half a century ago, photographers traversed the United States, capturing the elusive essence of the American Dream. They stayed mostly in roadside motels, where rooms were cheap and easy to find. Motels were the American wayfarer’s constant companion, their one and only refuge on long nights spent on the open road. Today, classic motels have mostly been replaced by brand-name hotel chains. For those free spirits and wayward souls who seek a slice of a bygone America, only a few survive as living relics of decades past. 

The town of Ouro Preto and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the Mina Gerais State in Brazil © Yadid Levy / Offset

People line up wearing animal masks in Northeast Bahia © Gabriel Boieras / SambaPhoto / Offset

The cultural diversity of Brazil, cultivated over 500 years of recorded history, has given rise to some of the most distinctive travel experiences in the world, from the five days of elaborate parade floats, cross-dressers, stolen kisses, and laughter that fills the streets during Carnival to the sleepy days spent sunbathing on 5,000 miles white sand beaches.

Only in Rio de Janeiro can you sip frozen drinks made with açaí berries fresh from the Amazon, join the locals playing footvolley–a cross between beach volleyball and soccer– between dips in the surf, or listen to the percussive music flowing from the spontaneous Samba circles that crop up throughout the Lapa neighborhood.

In honor of the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, we’ve selected some of our favorite images from Brazil, all curated from the remarkable Offset collection. These photographs capture the flavors Bahia, where seafood stew is cooked in a clay pot and served fragrant and spicy, and the colorful facades of old, colonial houses that line the oldest, most well-trodden streets of Salvador.

Victorious man sitting in achievement on top of Preikestolen in Norway. © Heather McGrath/Vault Archives

St. Gilgen, Balloon ride, Salzburg, Austria © C. Sattlberger/Anzenberger/Vault Archives

“Up! up!” begins William Wordsworth’s 1798 ballad The Tables Turned, in which the poet implores mankind to leave behind his daily drudgery for the outdoors and all its wonders. Ripping us from our books, our obligations, and our worries, he asks that we simply step outside, for the wilderness indeed “May teach you more of man / Than all the sages can.”

Snowy trees are reflected in a lake in Austria. © Andrei Duman/Vault Archives

The profile of a reindeer in Finland. © Michael Todd/Vault Archives

These days, winter announces itself with snow days, scheduling delays, and red Starbucks cups, but to those who love the season most, winter symbolizes so much more: a fresh start, or a period of baited breath that precedes the eventual arrival of springtime. As animals curl up in hibernation and pine trees are blanketed in a shroud of white, we have the rare opportunity to pause and reflect on a year gone by, to curl up with our loved ones beneath the covers or bundle ourselves in layers of sweaters and jackets before setting out to explore a frigid wonderland. Whether we’re staying indoors or venturing out into the untamed snowy wilderness, time seems to slow down, if only for just a few months.

© Noel Camardo/Vault Archives

© Peter Frank Edwards/Vault Archives

Thanksgiving always has a way of reminding us what’s most important in our lives. It’s also a good excuse to leave behind the cares and worries of every other day in the year to enjoy time with family and friends.

© William Woodward / ImageBrief.com

© Christopher Rubey / ImageBrief.com

For our newest group show, “Off The Grid,” we partnered with ImageBrief and put out a call for images that depict what living life “off the grid” means to photographers. The following collection, was curated by Chris Buda, Manager of Art Buying at BBDO and Isabelle Raphael, Head of Visual Content at ImageBrief and features 20 photos that encapsulate the ethos of the “off the grid” lifestyle. More images from the collection can be found on ImageBrief’s site.

Congratulations to the photographers featured here. Each will receive free Explorer Plus accounts from ImageBrief, which allow them to sell images in the ImageBrief Marketplace, get hired on assignment, and get contacted by ImageBrief’s network of thousands of buyers.

Didn’t make it in time to submit to Off The Grid? Don’t worry, ImageBrief has dozens of new briefs every day and it’s free to sign up and submit.