David Walter Banks (previously interviewed) wrote in to tell us about the upcoming Luceo Images and MJR publication and one-night exhibition at 25CPW in New York City. The event will take place Thursday, Janaury 21, 2010, from 6-10pm at 25 Central Park West at the intersection of 62nd Street. The folks at Luceo and MJR are good friends of dva. The groups both have a ton of photo mojo, and it’s great to see their efforts combined. I asked Banks a few questions about the publication and event. His answers are excerpted below:

dvafoto: What got Luceo and MJR together? How long have you been working on this project?

David Walter Banks/Luceo: Various members of LUCEO and MJR have become friends over the past couple years, and had some time to spend together at LUCEO’s last two biannual meetings in NYC and then again at the LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville. The show and publication have been at least 6 months in the making that I can remember….

Why a publication?

Both groups have strong editorial ties as well as work that leans more toward the fine-art world, so the publication was a mix between the two. The idea was to create something tangible and lasting instead of just a one-night event. It’s also the concept of taking the idea of a magazine, and creating a limited edition collectible art piece out of it. A publication that in our eyes warrants large-scale reproduction and display space on a gallery wall. To this end, the focus is more on the print piece instead of the show itself, but the catch is that you have to attend to receive the publication.

Will we be seeing new work? Whose work will be in the show (all the photographers in each collective or just a selection?)?

The piece and show will feature work from each photographer involved in the two groups, as well as the craftsmanship of the designer and editor we had the good fortune of collaborating with. The show will feature some old work and some new, but certainly all in a different presentation than before.

The release says “Issue One” — will Issue Two also be Luceo and MJR, or is the first issue testing the waters for something bigger? When will we see #2?

We’re not ready to announce anything yet, but the door is open, and this will certainly not be the end of our collaborations with MJR, who have been the driving force behind the publication….

I wouldn’t say the show is just testing the waters, because I do believe it is an end and not just a means, but it is a sign of what’s to come. Both of these groups have similar feelings about collaborating and building bridges within the photographic community and beyond. I believe each group will build from this experience and take that forward into future endeavors.

Luceo is: David Walter Banks, Kendrick Brinson, Matt Eich, Kevin German, Tim Lytvinenko, Daryl Peveto, Matt Slaby
MJR is: Mustafah Abdulaziz, Ying Ang, Matthew Craig, Julius Metoyer, Gareth Phillips, Brandon Thibodeaux

Studio 360 interviewed Dva favorite and friend Jason Eskenazi about his life as a Metropolitan Museum of Art security guard and his relationship to the art all around him. It culminates in his experiences with the brilliant exhibition Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans (which is on view through January 3rd, and which I get to see in a couple days!).

You’ve got to listen, only 5 and a half minutes. Beautiful.
And he alludes to new work coming, cannot wait.

(h/t Tom Leininger)

Incredibly last minute announcement but I will be in New York City next week, December 21st through 23rd, for a quick visit with publications, editors and friends and to continue my project I See A Darkness. I will have new work and portfolios to share, including an under-wraps book project that will begin immediately upon my return to Serbia in January. (Did I even mention that I’m back in Seattle for the holidays? It’s been busy.)

If you are in the City and feel like meeting up to see work, see an exhibition (I’ve got Ballen, Frank, and Mosse on my schedule right now) or grab a beer, be in touch! It’ll be a crazy quick visit but it might be my only one this year.

A couple of months ago my friend Darko Stanimirović in Belgrade mentioned that he was hoping to organize some of his friends in town to create a Serbian street photography collective of sorts. Over the following weeks the groundwork for Belgrade Raw was developed through memorable nights full of Montenegrin wine and impassioned debates. I’m proud to present my friends’ efforts here and invite you to see some awesome work by six Belgrade photographers. I invited Darko to answer a few questions about the project:

What is Raw all about, who is involved, how do you know each other?
Well, one day I realized there are a couple of really good freelance street photographers in Belgrade. I especially admired how they capture those ordinary-extraordinary moments of Belgrade life. And they didn’t really care about using old films or front flash. I liked that rawness, it was way more honest and interesting than any boring touristic picture we can see all around. Not just in tourist guides, but basically everywhere – night-life/news magazines, websites, photo galleries etc. We’re all either Belgrade-born or we’ve been living here for long enough to know it shows nothing about Belgrade, but it’s all anyone can really get. So we’re here to try to change it, to show all those small & big things no one wants to publish, but things that really make this city.

We know each other mostly over some Internet forums and Flickr pools. One night in a park, drinking cheap but fine wine, I proposed this idea of a website that would showcase portfolios of some interesting Belgrade-based street photographers to Luka-Strika, one of our photographers. Over next few nights I designed simple layout and coded it in Wordpress. In some three weeks the whole crew was gathered and voila! It’s cool how everything was brought to life really quickly.

Why does the city and photo community need this group?
It’s not just that we as photographers “see” other side of our city. There is a whole community of people who’d love to see something really different and “honest”, without that ugly touristic taste in it. And I’m talking about both people living in Belgrade/Serbia and foreigners. You can learn much more about a city by looking at works of it’s street photographers, than looking at tourist guides or surfing the promo websites. And for the photographers themselves, Belgrade Raw is important because it gives them a context in which to work. It’s always easier to “fill-in” when you have that framework.

What is it about Belgrade that you are focusing on?
It’s hard to tell exactly what we focus on. In a joke, we usually say “that’s something for newspapers, not for Belgrade Raw.” That means we also publish photos which probably wouldn’t be published in traditional sensationalistic media. We like normal, ordinary people, personal stories and interpretations. Someone would think the city is too small for such a “focused” project, but it’s not. In fact, it’s incredible how many big and little stories are still waiting to be covered, while there are so many local newspapers, magazines, TV stations, websites…

Why street photography? Why this manner of photographing Belgrade?
Street photography is a concept that perfectly matches our idea of showing our own, honest view of Belgrade, because it involves photographers who “wander” all around, by day or night, covering everything that seems interesting or important. It’s the opposite of “beautiful sunny day panorama of Belgrade, commissioned by…” Also, street photographers are often freelancers, so you kinda get that true personal view. Speaking of Raw, we don’t care if a photograph was created using a cellphone camera, compact, film or digital. Prime or plastic lens. All we care about is strong personal storytelling. And if you look at the whole “industry” of documentary photography, that’s more or less the direction it takes.

What is next?
We’ve only just begun, but we do have plenty of ideas. Right now, it’s important for us to continue photographing our city, there’s so much more to show. But in the same time, we make plans for print too. We would also love to make some kind of cooperation with other photo-collectives, especially with those in the neighboring countries. There are also plans for guest photographers, so we’re not being limited to “Belgrade-born” or “Serbian” or such. (ed: check out the recap of a workshop with Donald Weber in Belgrade that members of Raw attended, and helped support, for an example of where this project might continue to grow).

And how does this reflect Belgrade/Serbia/Serbs?
For starters, we’re avoiding traditional cliches. But not the other extreme either (“we’re all beautiful, peaceful, awesome people”), so we’re trying to find the right balance. No, we’re not trying actually. We don’t even think about it much, I guess it just comes naturally. But about some other, deeper sync with Serbia/Serbs in general, we’ll have to wait.

The site is still developing and new projects are uploaded every week. One of my personal favorite series, and which sums up the Raw project so well, is “Wind” by Nemanja Knežević. A fresh, personal view of the city that is completely honest, and confounding to much of Serbia’s reputation. Great to see photographers, under their own motivation, creating their own work under their own voice, and finding ways to get it seen on their terms. I’m looking forward to spending more time with this crew when I’m back in Belgrade and maybe producing my own street work from town.
You can, and should, also follow these guys via Belgrade Raw’s Blog, their Flickr Feed, Twitter or become the 521st fan of theirs on Facebook.

Matt Slaby wrote in to tell us that our friends over at Luceo have just unveiled a new site. More cohesive than the old, the site feels much more like a cooperative whole than before. In the email, Slaby called it “a big step” for the group, something that “really gets beyond just being a collective and into something that’s a lot more cooperative and a lot more interesting.” Great to see these folks doing so well. And in case you missed it the first time around, here’s an old interview we did with two of Luceo, Matt Slaby and David Walter Banks.

Rich-Joseph Facun is a favorite of mine. His essays come from unexpected angles and work subtly until they punch you in the gut. There’s always an undeniable energy to his work, but the quiet poetry shines through. Though we’ve never met in person, we’ve got a little bit of shared photo history in NYC and Chicagoland. After a few years shooting for the Virginian-Pilot, he picked up stakes and moved to Abu Dhabi as a staff photographer for the startup publication, The National. He’s been doing great work there, some of which can be seen on his website and blog. I was excited when he sent an email telling us here at dvafoto about a new project on the streets of Varansai, India, and the conversation grew to include Facun’s thoughts about the importance of personal work.

When he first let us know about the project, the email started out: “I just returned from India and it was an amazing experience. Initially I went for a recharge but also to look into an idea I had for a book project. I ended up in Varanasi which is known as the Holy City to the Hindus. Each year millions of pilgrims travel from around India to bathe in the sacred river Ganga. Some travel to die in Varanasi in order to attain “moksha” which is essentially to be liberated from the cycle of reincarnation. It is believed by the Hindus that by being cremated at one of the burning ghats along the river will help them achieve this right. It was truly fascinating and beautiful…the trip has inspired me to work on an essay that will eventually take me from the birth of the river Ganga in the Himalayans 1500 miles south to the Bay of Bengal where the great river comes to rest. ”

dvafoto: Was this work done on assignment for the National or any other publication?
RJF: The work done in India was not done on assignment for The National or another publication. As I mentioned previously, this is a personal project. Working in the United Arab Emirates is very challenging for many reasons ranging from access to cultural differences. To say the least, it can deflate your passion and drive very quickly. Fortunately for me, my wife and muse Jasmine encouraged me to pick a country and go work on something personal. Rather than approach the work as a photojournalist she suggested that I get out and have fun by simply pursuing my first love with the camera, street photography.

India seemed like the obvious choice as it is only a three hour flight from Abu Dhabi and I could visit it regularly if I found something that interested me. After some very minor research I decided to visit Varanasi. It seemed like a perfect fit. I’ve always had a fascination with religious studies and Varanasi being recognized by Hindus as their Holy City felt right. Not to mention the Ganges is also considered a sacred river and is worshipped by the Hindus as the goddess Ganga. It was a no brainer. As soon as I landed in Varansai it was only a matter of minutes that I knew I made the right choice.

How was access during the shooting you’ve done so far? Easy to interact with people, get into their homes, the burning ghats, etc.?

Most of the people I met in Varanasi spoke some level of English and those who didn’t, well I got the feeling that we both shared an equal interests in each other so we made do with the small amount of communication we could share. I’m heavily tattooed so quite often the pilgrims visiting Varanasi came from small villages in India and were always curious about my stained skin. It was often an icebreaker. Others often asked me if I was Indian and when I replied no, they reacted with surprise and would comment that some of my facial features looked Indian. Sometimes, while sitting alone on one of the many ghats, groups of people would approach me to ask about my tattoos and where I was from. This opened up a few doors for some images to be made in a more photo-j approach rather than street photography.

The one place that I did face challenges was at the Manikarnika Ghat where cremations take place along the Ganga. You’re not allowed to take pictures at the burning ghats, it’s not unheard of, if you’re wiling to pay about 150-300 rupees a frame, roughly 3-6 USD a photograph. However, I found a local who introduced me to one of the untouchables who worked with the dead bodies and families at the ghat. Eventually I was allowed to take three photos but from a distance and at no charge. I could have shot more for a price but it just seemed forced and unnatural. This is something I’ll work on more when I return.

Do you plan on shooting more with the project?
I definitely plan on returning to India to further my work on this project, tentatively called Darshana Ganga. Roughly translated, “Darshana” comes from a verb meaning “to see,” and it conveys the understanding that any philosophy is one way of seeing a truth that can be viewed from different angles. “Ganga” is the Hindi word for the Ganges, the river, associated in myth and reality with the land and people of India. I hope that my work, when completed, will convey this title to some degree both literally and conceptually.

In January I’m planning to head to Kolkata where the Ganga breaks into several deltas before it finds rests in the Bay of Bengal. In March I hope to trek north to the Himalayans where the river is born. At that point I will have shot the locations that are considered the beginning, middle and end of the rivers flow. Afterwards, I’ll determine where to head next along the banks of the Ganga. Ideally I’ll end up in an another area that offers diversity in subject matter. Currently, I have a few towns and rural villages in mind. I’m in no rush to finish, I’m only in a hurry to get back to India to start shooting more on this body of work.

Why shoot this project now?

I’m shooting this project now because I can. When else will I live close enough to India that I can fly there so frequently for such a fair price? I never know what opportunity is going to come knocking on my door next so I want to make sure that I take full advantage of what is available to me today. As I mentioned earlier, shooting in the Emirates is very challenging. Photography is something I don’t choose to do, it’s something I have to do or else I get extremely manic. Ask my wife. But in doing photography I have to be shooting something that moves me. Something I feel connected to. But to get down to it, I’ve fallen in love again and her name is India. Don’t tell the misses, she might get jealous.

Any idea what the final project will look like?

This project started very much in the same manner as a previous body of work of mine entitled “Rollin’ Revival.” In the beginning I was shooting the resurgence of roller derby as an outlet outside of my daily photojournalism work. Later my wife and a friend suggested I consider investing more time with the topic in order to produce a book.

Well, three or four years later and I am finally working with the amazing former White House and National Geographic editor Mike Davis to finalize a selection of images for the book-in-progress. Point being, I didn’t know where I was going with the derby work, I didn’t have a purpose in the start, but in the end it is all coming together. I prefer the dynamics of this type of workflow.

All things aside, I hope the final outcome of my India work will ideally become a book. It’s really way too early to tell. It’s like proposing after going out on the first date (wait…I did that with my wife), it’s really too soon to logically know. In the end, I think it’ll simply be a love story.

The twenty finalists of the first Magnum Expression Award were just announced. This year’s theme was “Communities” and received submissions from over 170 countries and territories, and few of the finalists are ‘usual suspects’. There is a lot of interesting and fresh work in here by a lot of photographers I haven’t heard or seen work from before, which is always terrific. I think this is a great start for a very promising award. Tune in on October 23 when they announce the winner of the $10,000 grant and other prizes.

Though I like much of the work selected, I’m particularly enthralled with Andy Spyra’s work from Kashmir. I met Andy a couple of weeks ago as he traveled through Belgrade on assignment and he had interesting stories of how this work came together, his motivations and the process of making the story. The pictures will probably be divisive for many people, they’re full of motion and ambiguity, harsh shadows and exploited light, but they’re undeniably powerful.

Great to see a photographer taking huge chances and doing it his or her own way, something I’m really inspired by. These are risky photographs, an experimentation, and most work very well. Now to see how he can push it further, and where it’ll take his pictures and stories. Maybe soon we can get a little conversation up here with him.

I just came across a new short story by longtime friend of dva Bevis Fusha, who I actually just had the pleasure of meeting in person for the first time a month or two ago in Tirana. There have been many projects about the Albanian phenomenon of the Blood Feud (here is a good background piece from the New York Times) but none that are as affecting and touching to me as Fusha’s vision of it. It is nuanced, delicate and sensitive, far from the easily concocted exoticism and sensationalism. It is great to see an Albanian photographer focused on such an issue, and it provides terrific context for the perspectives we’ve seen before.

Speaking about the work on the site Enter World Press Photo he says:

I also did not want to make the story clichéd. So many photographers had gone down that route. I also did not want any invention, such as putting weapons in young people’s hands, as some foreign photographers had done.
The second problem was that the time was very short, just a few hours, during those four days. That would never be sufficient to achieve the proper visual sensitivity in each visited family.
So I decided to hold on to a naive and childish prospective. A photographic history filled with fences, flowers and other symbols, to point out the essence of the phenomenon.

Click on either of the photos to see more of this project on the website of the Metro Collective. Be sure too to look at Fusha’s website for more of his outstanding work. Lastly, if you are interested in this subject matter you really must find a copy of “Broken April” by Ismail Kadare. Harrowing and deep in thought inside the mind of a young man caught on both sides of his family’s blood feud early in the 20th century. A clash of Albanian cultures, changing times and the horror (and clarity) of knowing when your death will come. Written by one of the foremost contemporary Albanian authors.

Been very busy lately and haven’t been able to give all these interesting links their own little posts so I’ll just drop them here. As always, please send us your work and interesting things you see via our emails (or facebook, twitter) and we’ll try to share them here.

In the wake of Michael Jackson’s sudden death Vanity Fair has just published an interesting piece about the paparazzi who were following Jackson at the time of his demise and their ’special’ relationship to the star and his fans. They are the ones who took the “infamous final photograph” through the window of the ambulance. Actually, this is one of the more interesting looks at the lives and role of celebrity paparazzi photographers that I’ve seen.

Ziyah Gafic, a young Bosnian photographer who has just joined the VII Network, has finally released his website, which is probably the only place on the web to see so many of his projects in one place. www.ziyahgafic.ba. So much great work to see, I couldn’t begin with recommendations.

Velibor Bozovic has just put a small selection of a new project that he was telling me about in Sarajevo called Stone Sleepers about “the present state of Bosnian medieval cemeteries” (via his blog). A very interesting departure from his other work, which includes shooting the pictures for his friend (and favorite author of mine) Aleksandar Hemon’s latest novel The Lazarus Project.

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, representing and highlighting the work done through their program of grants, has a very interesting blog going called Untold Stories. Of particular interest are the series of posts by Marco Vernaschi about his Pulitzer Center project Guinea Bissau. Politics, assasinations, prostitution and drugs. Heavy stuff, written and photographed beautifully.

We have written here in the past (and here sorta) about self publishing and “doing it yourself” (speaking of which, don’t forget! Photography Book Now competition is due July 16) and this is an interesting and promising development from self publishing wunderkind Rob Hornstra. He and a writer are using a small newsprint piece to help raise independent funds for an eventual book documenting the changes coming to Sochi, Russia before the 2014 Olympics. Check out this link for more photos of the promo and information about “The Sochi Project”. I love the boldness of the page above. (Via Bint Photobooks Blog, who also reviewed Hornstra’s book 101 Billionaires).

Old friend Greg Ruffing is starting to post about a new personal project (and pt 2) he is working on about the Cuyahoga River which meanders through northeast Ohio and his own life.

I’ve been exploring the river more as a greater existential symbol of time and experience (both collective and personal) and its symbiosis with the cities and towns through which it flows. The Cuyahoga, as any other river, has historically served many functions for its surrounding lands in terms of ecology, industry, commerce, recreation and more.
My parents and their parents and further generations past grew up in various towns along the river’s meandering path from rural Geauga County south to Akron and back north to Cleveland where it empties into Lake Erie (the word Cuyahoga literally means “crooked river” in the Iroquois language).
The river has been a physical and spatial link between different periods of our lives, so for me it is also as much about certain aspects of personal journey. And I wonder to what extent (if any) this can be extrapolated to parallel larger, more universal, human experiences manifested throughout time in the people and places seen here.

I think they are beautiful photographs and a new take on revisiting one’s own past and tying that in to the integral landscape of one’s own home. That this landscape has ghosts and lives in infamy (the river caught fire forty years ago this week) adds an interesting weight and layering. I can’t wait to see more.