LONDON – The first weekend of the Jazz Festival has seen its fair share of fireworks already. Robert Glasper brought youthful swagger onto the stage: body-popping and covering anything from Herbie Hancock to Nirvana. It was a glimpse into where jazz is headed.

Does street photography have to be taken on the street? What if you’re standing on the pavement, does that count? And what if you’re in a park where, technically, there are no streets, but you spot a guy dressed up in a canary-yellow bear suit taking pity on a distraught stranger on a bench. What if you take a photo of that?

There’s no disputing that Ricky Powell was there at the golden age of hip-hop – he’s got the photos to prove it, tons of them, and a few stories to tell as well. In the early 90s he earned himself a cable access show called Rappin’ With The Rickster. VHS recordings of the shows have been restored to DVD for this newly released Rappin’ With the Rickster DVD courtesy of NY connoisseurs, Five Day Weekend.

The always good Good turned us on to yet another iteration with our fascination with bike polo, the upcoming sport that makes us always think, “Of course! Why didn’t we think of that first?”

Jordan Wolczak is a Midwestern photographer and illustrator with scant experience but a prolific bent, turning out works at a pace belying his young age.

Boxing has kinda always been the rockstar music and art infused sport what with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Tyson, Warhol and Basquiat (classic boxing meets art poster show), iconic SA prez ‘Madiba, and even Miles Davis who chased his blues away in the ring (as seen above and in our boxing culture album ). [...]

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.

Ed Templeton latest exhibition, which opened February 26th at L.A.’s cutting-edge Roberts & Tilton Gallery and runs until April 3, 2010, exhibits images from the recent publication of his book The Seconds Pass, which takes a fresh, different tack from Templeton’s previous efforts, while continuing its vitality and sincere, raw point of view.

Terry Richardson, being one of the dopest photographers ever, does things in his own time. We told you about Terry’s crazy Pirelli calendar a minute ago (link appropriately), and now he’s gone all 2000s on us and started his own blog!

A ton of random stuff happened in the last year, from deaths of superstars and some pretty close friends. We got a new president, and a bunch more reality TV which started to mirror the scandalous lives of sports figures. 2009 may have been the most historical year for changes in many ages, but there’s still really not much else to say about these dramatic shifts — other than LET’S PARTY!

Photographer Ryan McGinley originally shot these photos for The New York Times, documenting the 2004 US Olympic Swim Team. His images of Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker, Aaron Peirsol, Diana Munz and Jenny Thompson were stunning examples of McGinley’s prowess behind the lens, capturing the team underwater in a variety of states of play.

It makes perfect sense for Terry Richardson to shoot the 2010 Pirelli Calendar. I mean who else but the lecherous but oh-so talented model photographer would be the first to be tapped to shoot a bunch of really hot women in the jungles of Malaysia (?).

Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer are two of the most legendary sports photographers. Their work has become part of the cultural lexicon, as well as inspiration for new generations of photographers as well as athletes aspiring to be captured so artistically. Iooss is best known for his portraits of famous athletes like Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Brett Favre, Joe Montana and Wayne Gretzky. In his career, he has covered virtually every major sports event, including all 43 Super Bowls.

People come to California, expecting a perpetual sunbathed beach front that glide right up to the Golden Gate bridge — a beautiful, exotic locale. However, there’s a big expanse between LA and SF, which is filled with some of the best agricultural and natural land in the world. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some incredible sights along the coast. However, there’s also one city, the equivalent of the flyover states for California, a town called Fresno. Nicknamed by many “the armpit of California”…

My trip into the dust and my adventures on the playa led me to taking a few photos on bona-fide cellulose film. The trip was my first time out, and truly amazing. I narrowed the stack of photos I took down to 12 and wrote a little about each one. Enjoy!

From Ian Curtis to Liam Gallagher to Morrissey, Manchester has produced its share of rock and roll legends, and photographer Kevin Cummins has been there to document them all. Indeed, Cummins’ shots have proven instrumental in forging the infamous, indelible personas of some of the most incredible Mancunian music icons…

Now, we know Khan is a creative genius – in addition to her incredible, evocative songwriting, she also thinks up and art directs many of her innovative videos and album covers, bringing high visual-art élan to everything she does. But we had no idea she was such a great landscape photographer until National Geographic recently published a series of Khan’s Polaroids documenting her travels through the American West.

Ari has been shooting the zeitgeist that is his life, from snowboarders and skateboards that he calls friends, and the obligatory downtown characters, for over 20 years. He came up alongside the Haring and Basquiat, and had deep connections to the art community that nourished his raw talent.

These particular young cyclists are bringing their own flavor to the singular tandem jumping on rooftops, strolling with their pets and promenading along Regents Canal.

It’s already that time of year where we get to see a year of shockingly cool pictures from our friends over at Vice Magazine. Beatles fame photographer Harry Benson took the cover shot featuring Terry Richardson…