Keith Bedford / Reuters

Construction workers and guests watch as the final steel beam to be installed on 4 World Trade Center is raised during a ceremony in New York, June 25.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Construction workers sign the last steel beam before it is hoisted 977 feet to the top of Four World Trade Center on June 25, in New York City.

Andrew Gombert / EPA

The last steel beam is lifted to the top of 4 World Trade Center, June 25.

The final steel beam, signed by a group of construction workers was lifted by crane 977 feet in the air and placed atop 4 World Trade Center, which will be the first tower completed on the 16-acre World Trade Center site when it opens in the fall of 2013.  Full story.

Mark Lennihan / AP

In a photo made Saturday, June 23, 2012, construction cranes perch on top of One World Trade Center, left, and Four World Trade Center in New York.

Ernesto Bazan / Courtesy the artist via LOOK3

This past weekend the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, welcomed the photography community for LOOK3: Festival of the Photograph. Hundreds of beautiful and moving photos were on display as part of over a dozen exhibits and presentations, providing nuggets of inspiration around every corner. Even the trees along Charlottesville’s downtown mall were transformed into open-air galleries, as giant prints by David Doubilet hung between their branches.

During interviews and presentations, images depicting powerful stories were given additional meaning when the photographers candidly spoke about their own experience working on their project. Lynsey Addario presented a collection of her work of more than a decade on women’s rights in Afghanistan, rape in Congo and closing with maternal mortality in Sierra Leone. Her touching stories of compassion for her subjects moved the audience to a standing ovation.

As the festival concluded its fifth installment, there was no doubt about the power of photography in telling stories. While those with storied careers were celebrated, there was also a refreshing reminder about the importance of the future of photography for those getting into the field. Two of the featured photographers touched on this in their presentations. On opening night, Stanley Greene was asked about the fact that he frequently recommends the work of upcoming photographers to his own editors, even those working on the same topic as him. Greene responded:

I believe in the community of photography. I believe in the idea of photography. I believe we have to give each other a helping hand. It’s like passing a baton or the handing off of the torch. I think it’s important to bring up photographers who have fallen through the cracks. It’s important for all of us, when we discover talent, to try and help them.

Stanley Greene/NOOR via LOOK3

Kabul, Afghanistan - July 2008 -- Russian Cultural Center

Stanley Greene / NOOR via LOOK3

Soukh ash-Shouyoukh, Northern Iraq -- April 2004 -- Road side bombing attack on a pipe-line.

The following day, photographer Ernesto Bazan echoed Greene’s comments when he eloquently encouraged budding photographers to follow their passion. Bazan followed his to Cuba, which had led to 14 years of working and living in the country. He said:

Be imaginative, be curious, be surreal, be yourself.

Do not ever lean on preconceived ideas or established schemes.

Let doubt always hover on in your soul: it's so wise and beautiful to change your mind. Find your voice. As I like to say: Keep the rest of your body still attached to the your heart and soul. You are the future, our future.

While the LOOK3 events ended this past weekend, all the exhibits are open to the public and will be up through the rest of June. For the complete list of exhibits and details, visit the LOOK3 website. For a play-by-play of the photographer interviews and presentations, visit the LOOK3 blog.

Ernesto Bazan / Courtesy the artist via LOOK3

Allison Joyce / Reuters

An airplane flies over head as a series of boats comprising of the Boatel are seen docked at a pier in New York, June 1, 2012.

Allison Joyce / Reuters

Guests share a laugh inside a boat at the Boatel, June 1, 2012.

Allison Joyce / Reuters

Guests dance in a common area along a pier at the Boatel in New York, June 1, 2012.

Allison Joyce / Reuters

Guests mingle at an outdoor area at the Boatel in New York, June 1, 2012.

Allison Joyce / Reuters

Guest enjoy their drinks while floating along the waters near the Boatel in New York, June 1, 2012.

Allison Joyce / Reuters

Guests sign-in at the reception desk of the Boatel located in a bait and tackle shop in New York, June 1, 2012.

Allison Joyce / Reuters

A neon sign hangs at the bait and tackle shop that houses the reception desk of the Boatel in New York June 1, 2012.

The Boatel, an artist-run hotel built out of more than a dozen discarded boats at Marina 59 in Far Rockaway, offers a sanctuary from nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport and the buzz of New York City. Since opening last year, the hotel has been booked most summer weekends. A one-night stay costs $55 to $100, and profits go to support a small but thriving art community.

More about the Boatel from The New York Times

Book your stay on their website: http://marina59.com/boatel.html

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Left: Sherry Vargson, who leased the mineral rights under a portion of her farm to the gas company Chesapeake Energy, illustrates her assertion that methane has leached into her well water by lighting the water on fire as it pours from her kitchen sink in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania, March 8.
Right: Ray Kimble shows the discoloration in a gallon of water he says came from his well in Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 8.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the extent of the water problems.

European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) reports:The gas rush in Pennsylvania, created by the controversial drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—which requires injecting huge amounts of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure thousands of feet beneath the Earth's surface to extract reserves of natural gas, has brought an economic boom to the state, generating 23,000 jobs, and billions of dollars in state and local tax revenues. It has caused complaints in Northeastern Pennsylvania that the drilling is polluting the water table with dangerous quantities of methane. Some residents now rely on outside water distribution, and are making their protests heard. Yet with the gas industry expected to keep drilling here—as many as 2,500 new wells are expected in Pennsylvania every year—residents opposed to fracking are bracing for a drawn-out fight.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Ray Kimble fills up a 500 gallon water tank, called a buffalo, with fresh water which he will then distribute daily to neighbors whose water is non-potable near Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 8.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Support trucks for hydraulic fracturing are seen in the reflection of a car's side mirror outside Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 9. Heavy gas drilling trucks have caused so much damage to local roads that communities are requiring gas companies to bond the roads, and thus reimburse the towns for asphalt repairs.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Anti-fracking protestors concerned about natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale gather outside the Marcellus Midstream Conference and Exhibition, which promotes the development of infrastructure needed to transport and process natural gas, at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa., March 20.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

A hydraulic fracturing drill rig at dusk near Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, March 9. The drilling practice requires injecting huge amounts of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure thousands of feet beneath the earth's surface to extract reserves of natural gas.

The Marcellus Shale formation that lies under parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia is believed to hold 84 trillion cubic feet (2.38 trillion cubic meters) of recoverable natural gas -- enough to supply the nation's gas-burning electrical plants for 11 years. But health concerns have risen over the drilling practice which many believe have caused air and groundwater pollution in other states where thousands of shale gas wells have been drilled — including Texas, Wyoming, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

• Here, in New York, a coalition has formed to fight fracking.
• In Wyoming, environmentalists are suing over the fluids during the process.
• More on the drilling practice in Pennsylvania on NPR.
• New York Times Magazine story on fracturing in Pennsylvania from Nov. 2011.
• More about hydraulic fracturing process and studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• FAQ from the Environmental Protection Agency on natural gas drlling in the Marcellus Shale (PDF)

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Mike Blake / Reuters

Mourners hold a candlelight vigil to remember Shaima Alawadi outside her home in El Cajon, California March 28, 2012.

Mike Blake / Reuters

Mourners hold a candlelight vigil to remember Shaima Alawadi outside her home in El Cajon, California March 28, 2012. Alawadi, a 32-year-old Iraqi-American woman, died of her wounds on Saturday after being severely beaten in her home by a killer who left a threatening note that prompted police to investigate the murder as a possible hate crime.

Reuters reports: Scores of mourners gathered in a California mosque on Tuesday to pay respects to an Iraqi-American woman who died after being severely beaten in her home by a killer who left a threatening note that prompted police to investigate the murder as a possible hate crime.

Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old stay-at-home mother of five, was found unconscious in the dining room of her rented home in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon on Wednesday by her 17-year-old daughter, police said. She died of her wounds on Saturday. Full story.

Bill Ingalls / NASA via EPA

Space shuttle Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, July 12, 2011. The Atlantis landing marked the end of the space shuttle era when its wheels touched down for the last time at the Kennedy Space Center. "After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history. It‘s come to a final stop," Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson said.

Pierre Ducharme / Reuters

Space shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 21, 2011. The space shuttle Atlantis glided home through a moonlit sky for its final landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, completing a 30-year odyssey for NASA's shuttle fleet.

David J. Phillip / AP

Johnson Space Center employees Shelley Stortz. lelft, and Jeremy Rea, right, hold hands as they watch space shuttle Atlantis land Thursday, July 21, 2011, in Houston.

It's hard to photograph something far away in darkness, but photographers still managed to make some beautiful images of the last landing of the shuttle this morning.

More shuttle photos on PhotoBlog

Full story