Hector Mediavilla March 31, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in DR Congo.Tags: Brazzaville, DR Congo, Hector Mediavilla
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The Congolese Sape. Brazzaville, Congo
Hector Medivilla is Spanish photographer based in Barcelona.. His work focuses on social issues in Africa and Latin America. His pictures have been published in Colors, New York Times, Business Week, Time, L’Internazionale, L’Espresso, Io Dona, Financial Times Germany, Magazine La Vanguardia and others. His work has received awards from Pictures of the Year International and Fotopres La Caixa. He is a founding member of the new Spanish collective Pandora.
Hector described the project saying “Africa has many many faces but we usually see the same kind of reality: war, hunger and so on. Realities like those exist and should be documented but it’s rich to see this part of the world through other perspectives. They might help us to rethink our beliefs about it”. Mediavilla has also documented the Sapeurs life in Paris. The complete essay can be seen at ZoneZero.
About The Photograph:
Sape is French slang for “dressing with class”. The French often use the expression “il est bien sape” to talk about a sharp dressed man. The term “sapeur” is a new African word that refers to someone that is dressed with great elegance. (more…)
Janet Jarman March 30, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Mexico.Tags: Documentary Photography, Janet Jarman, Mexico
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Day of the Revolution. Izamal, Mexico
Based in Mexico, Janet Jarman has worked extensively in Latin America and Asia. In addition to assignment work, Jarman has produced various documentary projects which explore immigration issues, globalization and the possibility for sustainable development. Her photographs have been published in Geo, Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, Newsweek and Fortune in addition to other publications. Her work has received awards from: Pictures of the Year International, PDN’s Photography Annual, Communication Arts Photography Annual & Best Of Photo Journalism.
About the Photograph:
I vividly remember taking this photo. I was on a travel assignment for the New York Times on UNESCO World Heritage sites in Mexico. Since I was basically street shooting in Izamal, I was quite happy and relieved to find a local parade going on once I drove into town. At the same time though, I was frustrated, since it was getting into the late morning, and the light was unfavorable. I walked with the parade for at least an hour, knowing that I had to keep pushing to find a creative or unusual angle. these types of events are full of the cliché. I had almost given up on the light, when magically, some light clouds rolled in to diffuse things and make colors pop better. Then, this group of girls in red skirts stopped in front of the yellow wall!
Dominick Tyler March 29, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Canada.add a comment
Stephanie, The Edge of Two Worlds. Labrador, Canada
Dominick Tyler is a concerned photographer from the United Kingdom. He has photographed feature stories for various magazines and newspapers and has traveled extensively. Dominick has also worked on collaborative projects such as “Foaie Verde”, a unique combination of music and photography commissioned by Opera North in 2005. He is currently finishing a book about wild swimming in the United Kingdom and beginning work on another book about the language of landscape as well as working on documentary projects in northern Russia.
About the Photograph:
His long-term project “The Edge of Two Worlds” documents a community of Innu, indigenous to northern Canada. It has won second place in the Observer Hodge award in 2004 and was awarded the Marty Forscher Fellowship Award for Humanistic Photography in 2005. I encourage you to read the story behind this image. (more…)
Matt Eich March 28, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Ohio University, United States.Tags: aevum, Matt Eich
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Dance or Die, The Union, Athens, Ohio
Matt Eich (b.1986) is a photographic force to reckon with. In 2006 he was named the 61st College Photographer of the Year. In 2007 he was one of American Photo’s 15 Emerging Photographers and was one of The Magenta Foundation’s Emerging Photographers. Most recently he was awarded the Alexia Foundation for World Peace student grant. His clients and publications include The FADER, Photo District News, GEO, Grazia, American Photo, HotShoe, The Sunday (London) Times, Bloomberg News, and Issue. He is represented by Aurora Photos and is a founding member of the exciting new photo collective Aevmun.
About the Photograph:
“The dance or die images are from a bi-weekly event that used to happen in Athens where I go to school. I was shooting it regularly for a class and ended up just pooling some images from various trips there in that essay. The focus was mostly on capturing the mood and chaos of the event. Most of the time there I felt less like a journalist and more just like an observer – a voyeur almost”.
Gabriela Bulisova March 27, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Syria.Tags: Gabriela Bulisova, Iraqi refugees, Syria
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Iraqi Architect in Damascus, Syria
Originally from the Czech Republic, Gabriela Bulisova received an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005. Her photo essays include: Chernobyl-accident contaminated areas of Ukraine and Belarus, women in Iran, and the aftermath of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Most recently she conducted a project entitled: “Guests”, featuring photographs of Iraqi refugees who fled the war and sectarian violence and relocated to Damascus, Syria. These photographs are currently on view at the Corcoran Corridor Gallery in Washington DC.
About the Photograph:
“At first glance, Sayyida Zainab doesn’t seem much different from any other bustling, poor Damascus neighborhood, until one listens carefully: the Iraqi dialect spoken here transports one from Syria to Baghdad. This is where two million Iraqi refugees come to escape war and sectarian violence until they can return to their homes again. This Iraqi refugee, an upper middle class architect who entered Syria did not want to reveal his identity for safety reasons. He lives in fear of deportation and is left with no money and zero prospects for finding a job. He is desperate, facing an eviction from his apartment, and is unable to provide for his wife and two little children”.
To see more of the Guests project visit Gabriela’s affiliate photo agency, Metro Collective.
Eros Hoagland March 26, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in El Salvador.3 comments
Three generations of Salvadoran women, San Salvador 2005
Eros Hoagland began working as a photojournalist in 1993 covering the aftermath of El Salvador’s civil war. He has continued to work in countries stained with violence and un-rest across the globe including Iraq, Haiti, Mexico and Colombia. As well as documenting the political climate and social impact of conflict, Eros looks for an emotional narrative when approaching reportage projects. Themes are just as important as issues to Eros’ photography.
Hoagland is represented by Redux Pictures and is a member of Metro Collective.
About The Photograph:
“A typical street scene in the desperate colonias of San Salvador: A women in her 50’s sells sundries, a young girl close to her side, and a teenage gang member – probably a sister and niece to the others. The eldest woman will tell twenty-year-old tales of bodies left mutilated in the streets, an essential by-product of counterinsurgency war tactics. The middle girl is weary of assassins from rival gangs sneaking into her barrio looking to do a murder, or ski-masked police who haul off her homeboys in the back of double cabin pick-up trucks. And the youngest watches it all go down, quietly waiting her turn to make her own irreversible life decisions”.
Benjamin Lowy March 25, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Haiti.Tags: Benjamin Lowy, Haiti, Iraq, photography
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Revolution in Haiti, 2004
Benjamin Lowy (b 1979) is currently covering the Iraq war, the same place he began his career in 2003. Since then he has worked on major stories in Afghanistan, Haiti, Indonesia, Libya, Darfur, Vietnam and India. The list goes on… His photographs from Iraq were chosen by PDN as some of the most iconic of the 21st century.
A recent contributor to the VII Photo Agency Network, Lowy’s work is visually daring. He is a photographer’s photographer. In revisiting his extensive web site I was struck by the energy of his images. He is constantly pushing the limit and approaching his subjects in new ways.
Tim Gruber March 24, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Multimedia, Ohio University, United States.add a comment
Haircut, Snowbirds in Quartzsite, Arizona
Tim Gruber is currently a graduate student at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication. His photos have been published in the Washington Post and Smithsonian Magazine. They’ve been honored by Pictures of the Year International and the National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism.
About the Photograph:
“After a few weeks of research I came across the little community of Quartzsite and the more I read about it the more I knew it’d be a perfect environment for a project. It was part of my graduate work at Ohio University for a class called magazine and the basic premise was to propose, edit and produce a magazine. It could either be a 24 page print piece or online project. We had ten days to shoot and later edit , design and produce the package”.
Candace Feit March 23, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Darfur, Sudan.add a comment
Sudan People’s Liberation Army, Darfur, Sudan
Candace Feit is based in Dakar, Senegal and working throughout Africa. Her work spans documentary and news photography, focusing on conflicts and their aftermath along with the human dramas of everyday life. Her photographs have been published in Time Magazine, U.S. News and World Report and The New York Times.
About the Photograph:
I had been traveling in Darfur for about three weeks at this point, working mostly on my own, though filing photo’s to Reuters and EPA along with World Picture News. At the time (June 2006) the SLPA had broken off into two different factions and we were able to meet with both groups. I had been watching these guys around this truck and trying to get a sense of who made up most of these rebel groups, how they interact, and what they actually do. I worked with the African Union both times there. Even with their support it was incredibly difficult. Just getting our paperwork in order to do the bare minimum of work was really extraordinary.
Amy Thompson March 22, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Cambodia, Ohio University.Tags: Cambodia
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Mr. Lai, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Amy Thompson recently completed her masters in documentary photography from Ohio University and is currently teaching at the Massachusetts College of Art. Amy has freelanced for The New York Times and has been a featured photographer in National Geographic Magazine. Thompson has lived and worked in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. In 2003-2004, she received a Fulbright fellowship to photograph a project in Morocco titled Behind Walls .
About the Photograph:
This is Mr. Lai, one of my favorite people that I came to know in Cambodia. Maybe that’s why I felt comfortable making this photo. I wasn’t actively looking. It was right there beneath me one morning, as I was about to descend the stairs to the hotel lobby. Before dawn that day, Mr. Lai took care of a pack of tourists heading out to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Then he snuck in a nap. He lived in one of the rooms at the hotel along with other staff and would sometimes return to his village for a visit.
He invited me along once, to attend his sister’s wedding. We rode past rice fields for about an hour to get there, on a moped that he borrowed. When I offered money to cover gas, he threatened (smiling) to leave me out in between the fields on a narrow dirt path under the hot sun. We used to meet some evenings to go through his English homework together. The more his English improved, the more likely he might land a job in a fancier hotel with better pay.
Lisa Wiltse March 21, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Australia.add a comment
Aborigines, Western New South Wales, Australia
American born photo-journalist Lisa Wiltse has been based in Australia since 2005 and is a staff photographer with the Sydney Morning Herald. Wiltse began her career freelancing and generating self-funded projects focusing on humanitarian issues in Central America, Uganda, India, and most recently Bangladesh. Her work has been awarded several honors including first prize at PX3 Prix de la Photographie, the Paris Oxfam Humanitarian Award, the Gordon Parks International Photography Contest, and the Australian Walkley Award.
About the Photograph:
The Aboriginal population of Western New South Wales is growing for the first time since white settlement, despite persisting high mortality rates. Unfortunately, the social landscape Aborigines inhabit is a blighted one, worn out by multi-generational defeats, failures and neglect. The drought has made a hard land even harder. The biggest population explosion is among the young, with 54.8 per cent of Aborigines aged under 25. Thirty-four per cent of births are to unmarried mothers, double the non-indigenous figure. For some of these people, issues such as alcoholism, unemployment and access to education are still barriers. As with any new generation, there are often new challenges to overcome.
The above photograph is part of a audio slide presentation called Pay Day on Arunga Street
Davin Ellicson March 19, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Romania.Tags: Davin Ellicson, Documentary Photography, photography, Romania
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En route to a livestock market, Maramures, Romania
Davin Ellicson is a 30 year old American photographer based in Bucharest, Romania. Davin’s photographs of Romanian peasants will be featured in a forthcoming book called ‘East’ due out in May 2008 showcasing 17 photographers’ projects in Eastern Europe from the Anzenberger photography agency. His work from the Maramures series was chosen for American Photography 23 and screened in Arles, France at the Voices Off Fringe Festival.
About the Photograph:
“This photograph of peasants is from the village of Valeni in the Maramures region of northern Romania enroute to a livestock market in a neighboring town. Villagers meet on Thursdays to trade gossip, sell animals and enjoy themselves. I was 25, adventurous and in love with black and white film when I checked out of the modern world and lived with a family in Valeni, farming and photographing and savoring the last vestiges of European folk culture. I met the Nemes family in a field while they were making a haystack at the end of the summer and ended up staying for a year. Romania has since joined the European Union in 2007 and the youth from the villagers now spend most of the year abroad in Italy and Spain working itinerant jobs. The EU has strict agricultural regulations and the future of traditional life in Maramures is uncertain. There are now even plans to create commercial farms”.
Tatiana Cardeal March 17, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Brazil.add a comment
Cacique Nambikwara, Indigenous Meeting of Tribal People, Betioga, Brazil
Tatiana Cardeal is an immensely talented humanitarian photographer based in São Paulo. She has worked with numerous NGOS and publications internationally. In Tatiana’s words Cacique means the Indian tribal chief. He is the leader of the “People from the Ashes”, and he emphasized it to me when I asked permission before taking his portrait. They have a special ritual for this nose piercing. They do it to mark the puberty’s masculine passageway, where the boy should show courage, firmness and spiritual power. I looked to this photo more then a hundred times. First, I’m still asking why he was looking to me so deep. Second, I just can’t believe that I did this…
We should all be grateful that she did. Stay tuned for an extended interview with Tatiana to read more about her various projects and the ways that her life and work are linked.
Kevin German March 15, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Vietnam.Tags: Documentary Photography, Vietnam
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Vietnam, Kevin German
Former Sacramento Bee staff photographer Kevin German is off to Vietnam again. As is evident from looking at his site this young photographer shows exceptional promise. I especially liked his photo-essays about the truck stop in Sacramento and his time spent with Ben Underwood from the series “Echo’s in the Dark”.
Verve Photo- The New Breed of Documentary Photographers 