David Maisel takes beautiful photographs, and this is something wholly unremarkable. He stands apart and above by way of razor-sharp subjects and heady concepts: documenting “rusted-out urns of metal patients” all blooming with color and vitalic ooze, his inverse black and white aerials of “wide, wide Los Angeles”, x-ray-as-wraith reshoots…the work is arresting and provoking, you swoon and rescind, they tug and you run.

Maisel recently made available a video slideshow, with minimal music by Bjork collaborator Howie B, of his flyovers of Salt Lake; the effect is very near to finding what you want to see in the clouds. You can view the slideshow here.

Those in the San Francisco area can see Maisel’s work on display at SF Camerawork, where he is in Part II of the gallery’s 35th Anniversary show, “An Autobiography of the San Francisco Bay Area: The Future Lasts Forever.” Maisel is featured alongside some of our photography favorites: Todd Hido, Robert Mapplethorpe, and many more.