Jake Price November 28, 2011
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Mexico.Tags: Mexico
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Migrants in Lecheria, Mexico 2008
Jake Price (b. 1973, United States) saved up for his first camera with change he had scraped together when he was 17 and has been photographing ever since. He is currently working on a long term project in Haiti and Japan examining both countries response to their natural disasters. Jake’s work has taken him to Sierra Leone, Uganda, Kenya, China, Pakistan amongst other countries. His photographs have appeared in the New York Times, TIME, Rolling Stone, Orion and Newsweek, Le Monde II , BBC Online and in publications throughout the world.
About the Photograph:
“I took this photo in Lecheria, a rundown violent crossroads just outside of Mexico City. Migrants, mainly form Central America, ride freight trains to Lecheria and then wait for another train to take them to various points north along the US/Mexico border. I arrived at dawn and worked throughout the day. Upon arrival in the blue morning, the atmosphere felt ominous with billowing exhaust from nearby factories. By the time the migrants reach Lecheria they are destitute, most at that point have been robbed, the women sexually assaulted. Some die on the way and do not make it at all. This picture was taken in the afternoon as the sun was trying to make its way though a hazy sky which finally broke in the afternoon. Despite the warmth, the young who scavenged and slept along the tracks were cold shivering in the sunlight. While scavenging they searched for whatever might be of use to them—in this case the young guy found a tattered piece of plastic sheeting which could be used as a cover, a jacket, a tent along the way north. Because most had everything stripped from them just about anything they found was made use of in multiple ways.” (more…)
Gregg Segal November 24, 2011
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in United States.Tags: United States
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Bill and Carol Bates, Atlanta 2010
Gregg Segal (b.1964, United States) studied photography and film at the California Institute of the Arts. After detouring through film and an MFA from New York University in dramatic writing, Gregg returned to photography in 1994 with a writer’s sense of theme and irony. His photography has been recognized with awards from American Photography, Communication Arts, PDN and the Society of Publication Designers. Gregg’s portraiture is regularly featured in a wide array of publications including Time, Fortune, Esquire, ESPN, Dwell, German GQ, and Wired UK.
About the Photograph:
“This photograph of Bill and Carol Bates is from a series of portraits of people with Alzheimer’s. Each photograph combines a present-day portrait of a patient living with the illness and a projected image from his or her past. For people with Alzheimer’s, distant memories shift from background to foreground. To illustrate the past’s prominence, I’ve included it in each picture. The most wrenching part of witnessing the dissolution of a loved one is that you have them whole in the same moment that they’re gone. That simultaneity of having and losing, that nostalgia, is at the heart of Remembered. We have a tendency to look at an older person and forget who they once were. Often, we have a hard time picturing old people as ever being young. I want you to look at these pictures and be reminded that the people here loved, married, were vibrant, passionate; they lived life fully.” (more…)
Seamus Murphy Interview November 20, 2011
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Afghanistan, MediaStorm, Multimedia.Tags: Afghanistan, Multimedia
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A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan is one of the finest multimedia pieces I’ve seen recently. Over 30 minutes in length, the images, audio and editing weave a gripping and poetic story. Partially told in the first person by Seamus (the multiple points of view are what make it so effective), I was transported to Kabul. This is what multimedia is meant to do. Seamus has spent over 15 years covering Afghanistan. His book A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan was published in 2008.
Project Background: From the Soviet invasion and the Mujaheddin resistance to the Taliban and the American occupation, A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan examines thirty years of Afghan history. It is the story of ordinary citizens whose lives play out in the shadow of superpowers. There are tales of violence to be sure, but there is also love and even romance. Based on 14 trips to Afghanistan between 1994 and 2010, photojournalist Seamus Murphy (b.1959. Ireland) chronicles a people caught time and again in political turmoil, struggling to find their way. Outsiders often see Afghanistan as a problem in need of a solution: a conflict region that needs more troops or another election. But in seeing Afghanistan as a problem, the people of the country, and their desire for self-determination, are often overlooked.”
Seamus Murphy interview with Geoffrey Hiller : (more…)
Gaël Turine November 17, 2011
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Benin.Tags: Benin
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Abomey, Benin 2008
Gaël Turine (b. 1972 France) received a degree in photography in 1997 and shortly after began “Aveuglément” (Blindly) photographing the cooperatives for the blind in West Africa. This project was published in the Photo Poche series edited by Robert Delpire in 2001 and was also exhibited in five European capitals and awarded twice. In the same year, after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan he published the book “Being 20 in Kabul”. Gaël has received a grant from a private Belgian foundation to work in Eritrea and in 2004 received the first grant from the Aftermath Project to cover three more trips there. This body of work has been exhibited in 2007 at Visa Pour l’Image. His work has been published in Figaro, Paris Match, Libération, l’Express, Le Monde, Time, Der Spiegel, among others. Gaël is a member of the VU’ photo agency and is based in Paris and Brussels.
About the Photograph:
“This picture is from of my book project on Voodoo. It’s about the route of the Voodoo religion, from its African origins in Benin to Haiti and the United States. Benin is the heart of Voodoo because of the ancient beliefs and the link it has with the Dahomey Kingdom which developed through out Western Africa. In Benin, the cult is practiced all over the country and by all types of people- openly for some, quietly for others. Voodoo priests are very popular and maintain a natural connection with the politic and tribal authorities. During a ceremony that took place in a remote village in the region of Abomey, this man, who was in a trance, was acting the protective mask dance. This traditional voodoo dance will make the people living in the house protected from bad and negative spirits.”
Beth Yarnelle Edwards November 14, 2011
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Iceland.Tags: Iceland
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Suburban Dreams. Iceland 2009
Beth Yarnelle Edwards (b.1950, USA) has been making photographs in idyllic suburban middle-class settings in America and Europe since 1997. Her work as been exhibited and published extensively in the USA and Europe, and she has been the subject of solo museum exhibitions at Château D’Eau in Toulouse, France and the Museé de la Photographie å Charleroi in Belgium. The winner of Center’s 1999 Photography Project Competition, her photographs can be found in the collections of SFMOMA, LACMA, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and many other institutions. Edwards’ first monograph, Suburban Dreams, was published by Kehrer Verlag (Germany) in 2011. Her most recent exhibition was at KievFotoCom in Kiev, Ukraine.
About the Photograph:
“This photograph was made in June 2009, when I spent a month in a tiny fishing village in northwestern Iceland. Though intrigued by the stark, dramatic landscape and constant brightness, I was especially interested in the people I met and often surprised by them. Everyone I met there had mastered one or more handicrafts. Helga, a teacher and single mother, and her seventeen-year-old daughter Halla were especially gifted with yarns and textiles. Halla had decorated her room by herself and had also designed and sewn the pullover she’s wearing in the photograph. She had just finished high school a few weeks before and was eager to be on her way to study clothing design in Reykjavik, the country’s capital. Helga had knitted her own sweater and was an expert felter.
Corentin Fohlen November 10, 2011
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Thailand.Tags: Thailand
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Red Shirt Protesters, Bangkok 2010
Corentin Fohlen (b. 1981, France) studied illustration and comics in Belgium and shortly after discovered photography. Two years later, he began to shoot for Wostok Press, covering political and social news in Paris. After working with the agencies Gamma and Abaca Press, he began working as a freelancer for Fedephoto, which gave him the freedom to cover both his own interests and major international events. Corentin has worked with Stern, The New York Times, Le Monde, Paris Match, Le Figaro, France Soir, Libération, l’Express, among others. His photographers have been exhibited at VISA pour l’Image and at the Festival Du Scoop in France. He also won the World Press Photo Second Prize Spot News for his work in Thailand.
About the Photograph:
“I choose this photo of the Red Shirts in Bangkok during the conflict with the Thaï government. The Red Shirts mostly are mostly the rural poor of Thailand. They entered the capital and set up camp in the business district of Silom. I missed the beginning weeks of conflict being in Haiti but later flew into Bangkok to cover the end of the story. After four days of fighting in the streets, the Thai army finally surrendered. On 19 May, after troops in armored cars had stormed barricades around the demonstrators’ encampment the Red Shirt leaders ordered their supporters to end the protest. Even after the call to surrender, some demonstrators said they would continue to fight. By the time the unrest finally died down at the end of May, over 80 people had been killed and some 2,000 injured.”
Adriana Zehbrauskas November 7, 2011
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Brazil.Tags: Brazil
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Day Of Iemanjá. Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Adriana Zehbrauskas (b. 1968, Brazil) received a degree in Journalism and moved to Paris where she studied Linguistics and Phonetics at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. She worked as a staff photographer for Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil’s largest Newspaper) and contributes regularly to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Paris Match, Le Figaro, The World Health Organization among others. Her photos have also been featured in the books ’24 ‘In Search of Hope – The Global Diaries of Mariane Pearl’, PowerHouse Books and the ‘Nike Human Race’. She was a nominee for the New York Photo Awards in 2009 and 2010 and is an instructor with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshops. Adriana is based in Mexico City and is represented by Polaris Images.
About the Photograph:
“This photo was taken on the day of Iemanjá day in Bahia, Brazil. It’s part of a larger essay I am doing on faith in Brazil and Mexico. Yemanjá is the deity who represents the mother principle. She is the mother of the world, the lady of the waters and the queen of the seas in Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion brought by African slaves from Nigeria during the colonial period. During her day, hundreds of people, all dressed in white, come to the shore to pray and make her offerings: baskets with flowers, perfume, jewelry and soaps thrown into the water. The Orisha (as its called in Yoruba) is also the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. We live in a world where the progress of science, globalization and the ever growing speed of the media can trivialize the symbolic meaning of religious manifestations and rituals once preserved in small groups. But despite the efficiency of science and technology in the modern world, men and women still turn to the daily practice of faith to ease their suffering and anguish.”
Araminta de Clermont November 3, 2011
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in South Africa.Tags: South Africa
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Initiated Xhosa men. Cape Town 2010
Araminta de Clermont (b. 1971, England) is a documentary portrait photographer based in London. Having trained as an architect, her work is partly informed by the relationship between the built environment and its inhabitants. Her time as a photographer at the Sunday Times, South Africa, (working under picture editor Greg Marinovich of the Bang Bang club), exploring a country attempting to recover has also been a powerful influence on her work. Her photographs have appeared in The Guardian, The Times Magazine, and Spectrum, among others, and is in collections including The South African National Gallery. In 2010 she was one of the winners of Spier Contemporary, as well as recently having a portrait accepted by The Taylor Wessing Photo Prize at The National Portrait Gallery.
About the Photograph:
“This photograph is part of a series of recently initiated young Xhosa men living in the townships surrounding Cape Town. With their families being displaced from rural, historically beleaguered areas like The Eastern Cape, these young men, living in the marginalized sprawls of urban shack-lands, are holding tightly onto their own culture’s traditions. For the majority of these young men, the initiation process is a watershed, an opportunity to start new way of being. For up to six months after his time in the bush, a newly initiated man will wear clothing which denotes his new status, showing that he has left childhood behind, has gone through the circumcision process (with all the accompanying challenges) and has entered a new phase of life, maturity, and responsibility. This outward demonstration of an inner change is a hugely significant part of the process, and a great source of pride. Such outfits also serve to remind the wearer to behave befittingly and respectfully in this period of transition. Still, I was very much left with questions about the validity of a new start and new hope, when seen in the context of surroundings which have not changed as the man has?”
Verve Photo- The New Breed of Documentary Photographers 