Black + White Underwater Photography by Hengki Koentjoro
Black + White Underwater Photography by Hengki Koentjoro
May 16th, 2013 · 20 Comments · ART
Underwater photography of scuba divers, coral, or wildlife can sometimes seem commonplace regardless of the remote destination or subject, but Indonesian photographer Hengki Koentjoro (previously here and here) bucks the trend with his desaturated, dark, and often brooding images taken in and around Jakarta, Indonesia. While his landscape photography above ground is often dreamlike and mysterious, as soon as the blue is removed from the ocean it introduces a slightly menacing tone that while deeply beautiful, sets the viewer a little on edge. Oh and also the sharks. Koentjoro is one of my favorite photographers right now and you should get lost in his photos for a bit. Find him on 500px, Flickr, and Art Limited.
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Few buildings capture the public’s imagination quite like lighthouses. But as an increasing number of these towers become automated, the live-in lighthouse keeper may soon be a thing of the past. 
Many are now being converted into unique hotels. CNN brings you the top five from across the world, kicking off with St Anthony’s Lighthouse in south west England (pictured).
The lighthouse was also the backdrop for 1980s children’s TV show Fraggle Rock. Today, guests can stay in the Sally Port Cottage.
Closed in 1998, the historic lighthouse has now replaced its giant glass light with a table-for-two overlooking charming Harlingen Harbor. 
It’s hard to believe the secluded 19th century Suagerties Lighthouse is just two hours drive from Manhattan. But stay a night in the converted bed and breakfast guesthouse and you’ll soon forget the bustle of the city. 
Located on a spit of land halfway up New York’s Hudson River, Suagerties offers stunning views of the water and nearby nature trails. 
A koala checks out the view from Australia’s Cape Otway Lightstation. Built in 1848, the lighthouse on the treacherous south east coast, is the oldest in the country. 
Just 90 minutes by car from Cape Otway, is the dramatic Twelve Apostles. The rock formations attract thousands of visitors every year, but are slowly crumbling into the sea. 
Scattered between the twisting roots of the Cambodian jungle, this site dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu contains the remains of Khmer Empire capitals dating from the 9th to the 15th centuries. Among the most famous of its 100-strong group of monuments is the Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the sculptural Bayon Temple. In 2000, Cambodian authorities allowed action flick “Tomb Raider” to be filmed at the site on the proviso that no guns would be fired.
Looming over the city of Athens, this ancient Grecian citadel was built in the 5th century BC and continually beautified throughout the years by the city’s well-moneyed citizens. Despite being attacked and pillaged by everyone from the Byzantines, who converted the temples into churches, to the Venetians, who later shelled the area, the site still stands to provide an important insight into Greek mythology. 
OK, so it’s still on the tentative list of sites to officially be brought into the UNESCO fold. But as Myanmar finally opens up to tourism, the importance of protecting its monuments is greater than ever. The capital city of the first Myanmar Kingdom, this enormous Buddhist complex on the Irrawaddy River contains more than 2,500 intricate monuments dating to the 10th century.
Among the first sites to be listed by UNESCO in the 1970s, this otherworldly archipelago located in the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean was described by British naturalist Charles Darwin as “a little world within itself.” On top of its bevy of endemic species that have remained unchanged for centuries, the island groups’ location at the confluence of three ocean currents also attracts a diverse array of marine life.
Sculpted by erosion, Göreme valley and its surroundings contain rock-hewn sanctuaries that provide unique evidence of Byzantine art in the post-Iconoclastic period. Within the rugged natural landscape in and around a small triangle formed by Ürgüp, Avanos and Nevsehir, ancient villages and underground towns dating to the 4th century can also be observed. 
Composed of more than 3,000 individual reefs interspersed with more than 600 topical islands, the world’s most extensive coral reef system is so large it can be identified from space. While the region has been protected since 1981, a 2012 study found that the delicate ecosystem has lost more than half of its coral since 1985 due to a combination of factors including coral bleaching caused by climate change.
Agra’s Taj Mahal is undoubtedly India’s most famous World Heritage Site, but few visitors can deny the magic of lesser-known Hampi. Attractively nestled between emerald banana plantations in eastern Karnataka, the enormous group of monuments that comprise the former capital of the last great Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara date back to the 14th century. Highlights include the elephant stables, Kallina Ratha (Stone Chariot) and the towering Virupaksha Temple.
This spectacular semicircular waterfall that forms the border of Argentina and Brazil spans almost 300 meters in diameter and up to 80 meters in height. Home to an abundant array of wildlife from neon-winged butterflies to sly caiman, elusive jaguars and more curious coatis, the falls’ subtropical rainforest surroundings provide a serene backdrop to its cascading torrents of water. 
Encompassing the largest ice mantle outside of Antarctica, this picturesque southern Patagonian park bordering Chile is one of the best places in the world to observe glacial activity. Its most famous ice mass is the cool blue Perito Mereno Glacier, from which giant icebergs can be observed crashing into the milky turquoise waters of Lake Argentino. 
The sites that comprise Cusco’s Sacred City are spectacular in their own right, but nothing quite prepares a visitor for sunrise over the Incan city of Machu Picchu. At 2,430 meters above sea level, in the midst of a tropical mountain forest, the 15th-century settlement was among the few Inca sites that wasn’t plundered by Spanish invaders, and remains one of the world’s most-photographed sites to this day.
On a rocky islet on the coast of Normandy, this fortified village built in the shadow of a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey dedicated to the archangel St. Michael appears to float on the ocean if viewed from a particular angle at high tide. Despite its seemingly unstable sandbank foundations, the picturesque little village has survived since the 11th century. 
Strategically positioned between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, Petra acted as the capital of the Nabataean caravanning kingdom from around the 6th century BC. Later absorbed by the Roman Empire and finally abandoned in the 2nd century AD following a catastrophic earthquake that crippled its advanced water management system, the desert city carved from rose-red limestone remains one of the world’s most important archaeological sites. 
Comprising the Pyramid fields from Giza to Dahshur, including the majestic Great Sphinx, the Old Kingdom of Egypt was considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world in Hellenistic times, and remains the only inscription on the original list still in existence. Fantastically preserved, the dozens of tombs buried in the shadows of the famous pyramids have provided archaeologists a glimpse into one of the world’s most fascinating civilizations.
Easter Island, or Hanga Roa as it’s called in the local indigenous language, is the most remote inhabited island on the planet. Carved from solid basalt between the 13th and 16th centuries, the group of more than 800 massive stone monuments known as moai that are scattered across the volcanic landscape are the legacy of a Polynesian society who settled here around 300 AD.
Located in northern Tanzania and spilling into nearby Kenya, where the conservation area is known as the Masai Mara, this iconic savannah hosts the annual migration of 2 million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle followed by their predators, in search of pasture and water. The phenomenal natural spectacle is the largest remaining animal migration in the world.
Arguably the most breathtaking sight contained within the country’s so-called cultural triangle, this ancient Ceylon city has been inhabited since the 3rd century BC. Also known as Lion Mountain for the giant clawed feet carved into the granite alongside a staircase leading to the remains of a fortified palace built atop the 370-meter peak, the site also features a series of stunning frescoes and lashings of “Sigiri graffiti,” one of the most ancient texts in the Sinhalese language.
There are at least 30 Mayan ruinsscattered throughout Mexico and Central America. From Chichen Itza to Palenque, Calakmul to Tikal, few are less than awe-inspiring. Idyllically situated on a rocky cliff facing the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, Tulum was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Mayans, managing to survive around 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico in the early 16th century.
Ruled successively by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the Knights of St. John, the latter of which was responsible for building the city in the 16th century, Valletta is one of the world’s rare urban inhabited sites that has been preserved near perfectly. Crammed into a tiny fortified peninsula, the site comprises 320 monuments, making it one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.
Tipping the scales at a whopping 47, Italy boasts the most World Heritage Sites of any nation. Founded in the 5th century and spread over 118 small islands, Venice is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece in which even the smallest buildings contain works by some of the world’s greatest artists such as Giorgione, Tintoretto, Titian and Veronese. With gondola boats providing canal transport, Venice remains the world’s only pedestrian city. 
For sheer diversity, Yellowstone National Park has to be among the United States’ best natural wonders. Contained within a 9,000-kilometer-squared chunk of Wyoming, the world’s first national park contains half of the globe’s known geothermal features, and is home to an equally impressive array of wildlife including grizzlies, wolves and bison.
For centuries, fishing has not only been a source of food, but a treasured pastime offering a quiet space for reflection and bonding. But if you thought the joys of fishing were restricted to one man and his reel, think again.
CNN takes a look at the top five fishing expeditions from across the world. Here, a fisherman gets up close and personal with some lobsters, otherwise known as the “black gold” of the sea for their prized — and elusive — flesh.
Guests can hop aboard the North Wales Lobster Safari, where they’ll be taught the fine art of catching the crustaceans in huge traps, known as pots.
If oysters are more to your liking, you might be better off heading to Ireland’s Killary Harbour — home to one of the largest and cleanest collections of shellfish in Europe.
The pretty glacial fjord is surrounded by pristine mountains, with nearby 19th century Delphi Lodge offering day trips to the many oyster and mussel farms dotted along the water. 
The spectacular scenery continues at Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Luxury hotel Little Nell’s offers helicopter trips to a secluded lake, with fly-fishing showing guests the tricks of the trade.
More adventurous fishermen can cruise the Amazon River in a traditional three-deck riverboat, called the Black Water Explorer. “The boat is big and wide and fully air-conditioned — it’s like a floating hotel,” said expedition director Steve Townson.
This sustainably built tree-house is located within the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean coast.
Count on solar-generated electricity and hot water at the eco-friendly Playa Viva, north of Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. 
This two-story converted aviary at Wheatleigh in Lenox, Massachusetts, is located on 22 acres of parkland designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
When visiting Hinchinbrook, a 96-acre Australian national park with lush rainforests, there’s only one place to stay: the Island Resort.
Each tree-house suite at the Tsala Treetop Lodge at Plettenberg Bay in South Africa has floor-to-ceiling bedroom windows, a private deck and a pool.
Each of the six private tree-houses at Chewton Glen in the English countryside has two stately suites.
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Students doing it by the book in China 
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If you hike the 3/4 mile up the Gaylor Lakes trail in Yosemite National Park, your reward is an incredible view of middle Gaylor Lake.
Naturalist Beth Pratt always hopes to see the pika (in the same family as the rabbit) on her annual spring hike of Gaylor Lakes trail in Yosemite.
For a day in Yellowstone National Park, the Mount Washburn hike gives you the best bang for your wildlife, wildflower and scenery “buck.”
Bighorn sheep give birth to their lambs in May and June, and hikers on the Mount Washburn trail in Yellowstone can sometimes spot lambs along the way. 
The Great Smoky Mountains are known as the salamander capital of the world, home to 30 species.
The views in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located in North Carolina and Tennessee, are spectacular. 
Hiking the Lands End Coastal Trail, about 15 minutes from downtown San Francisco, you’ll have incredible views — and you might spot bottlenose dolphins and their calves. 
For wildlife, more than 200 species of resident and migratory birds have been sighted at Lands End, where a lovely trail will take you to Sutro Bath.
The late CBS news travel correspondent Charles Kuralt called the Beartooth Highway, which runs through Montana and Wyoming, the “most beautiful road in America.”
Drive the 67-mile Beartooth Highway to see the beautiful scenery, but don’t forget to get out of the car to find many magnificent views a short walk from the road.
Head to Kearney, Nebraska, to see the great Sandhill Crane migration. About 500,000 of these spectacular birds make a spring pit stop here before heading north. 
The sandhill crane spring migration, shown here in Nebraska, runs from February to April.
Beth Pratt explored nature as a child in Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. The Great Island Trail in Wellfleet is shown here. 
Enjoy the Province Lands dunes in Provincetown, part of Cape Cod National Seashore.
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