100eyes - Haiti / William Coupon - Jacmel Portraits

For some cultural perspective on contemporary Haitian culture, 100eyes has a strong presentation of work by Alice Smeets, William Coupon, Edwine Seymour, Rex Curry, Jan Sochor, David Zentz, Aurora Photos, Polaris Images, and Andy Levin. Well worth a look.

By the way: Huffington Post has a huge round-up of ways to help the relief effort in Haiti.

Girls walk through a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti - December 2005.

“There is no one, nothing, no medicines,
no explanations for why my daughter is going to die.”
— Jeudy Francia, outside St. Esprit Hospital in Port-au-Prince, in the New York Times

Coverage of the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has been ramping up as responders have been able to get a perspective on the tragedy. Of particular interest, the New York Times’ Lede Blog has been compiling breaking news (1: huge amount of info, still being updated, 2, 3) in addition to what can be found on twitter and other sources for news on the ground beyond what the paper’s own reporters send back. Lens has photos from Tequila Minsky, who was in Haiti when the quake struck, and some historical perspective by Maggie Steber, who’s heading to Haiti on assignment for the Times. The Big Picture has a huge selection of photographs showing the devastation. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has a special report on Haiti, “Despite Years of Crushing Poverty, Hope Grows in Haiti“, produced last year. And Mother Jones has a piece about the problems caused by looking at Haiti only after disaster strikes, focusing particular blame on the Bush Administration’s relationship with the country (via dispatches).

Additionally: Here’s 6 ways you can help by donating (via Luceo).

Obama’s Burden from Christopher Morris on Vimeo.

You probably already know Christopher Morris‘ work. One of the founding members of VII, his conflict photography is unparalleled and his recent work on American politics, including the book “My America,” has redefined visual coverage of the White House. You might not know that Morris has been making videos in addition to his still coverage of American politics. Emotionally resonant and forceful, these videos look like none others produced in the 5DMarkII-fueled push toward moving images in photojournalism. The videos resemble Morris’ still work, but their use of music, black and white imagery, and tone make them something altogether different.  He’s released four videos, all worth watching:

Christopher Morris recently started a thread on lightstalkers to discuss his videos, and the response was varied. Make sure to read through that thread. The discussion there is interesting and touched on many aspects of Morris’ video work not covered in this interview (if you don’t have a lightstalkers account, email me), and I thought Morris’ videos would be a great subject for one of our periodic interviews here at dvafoto. I was delighted when Morris agreed to the interview. The discussion, conducted over email, is below. Our questions are in bold, followed by Morris’ full responses. If you’re reading on the front page, be sure to click through to the post to see the full interview.

dvafoto: What are you showing us with the videos? When “Dear Leader” first came out, the title (equating Bush with Kim Jong Il) and the tone and the video itself suggested to me a critical portrayal of the previous administration. Now seeing a similar tone in the Obama videos, it strikes me that you aren’t focusing directly on the man in the office, but the office itself and its theater and cultural baggage.

Christopher Morris: I’m showing you what I feel. Each one of these has a very distinct clear meaning for me. As for the viewer? That’s something I’m not quite sure of. This is the beauty of this whole process. They are whatever you want them to be.

I seem to remember you speaking or writing about what would become “My America” as appealing both to the Bush administration’s supporters and detractors. From the same photos, one side saw images of patriotism and strong leadership, while the other saw demagogy, jingoism, and blind, wrong-headed faith in a politician. Have you gotten the same reaction from your videos? From your coverage of Obama? How do you feel about this emotional ambiguity? is it your goal?

Each one of these short films has a distinct meaning for me. I know exactly what I’m trying to convey, what mood and emotion I’m trying to bring out of the viewer in each one of these… The exciting thing about the whole process though… is the emotion that I may want to convey… will actually with some, be the complete opposite or even something that I’ve never even thought of.

Your lightstalkers thread called your videos “experiments,” why are they experiments? Will they become more than an experiment for you? What got you started shooting video? How do you fit in the video shooting with the stills and deadlines? What influenced the style of your videos?

Here I’ll give a short synopsis of each of the Obama works and how they really came about. The first one I did was “The New Leader“. I didn’t wake up and think oh I’m going to make a statement about the Presidency today. It really started as I was sitting in the balcony of Capitol Hill while the President was about to step out to address the Nation on his Health Care Reform. I had been loaned one of the new Canon 7d’ cameras to test the day before. So literally 5 minutes before he came out, I decided to attempt to shoot some video of him at the start. Still images from a balcony 100 feet away of someone walking down the center aisle really do not make for great photography. So why now shoot video instead.. Later the next day when I put the clips into my laptop. I was stunned, with the whole quality and the mood of the images. In the next few day’s the President left for Wall Street to make an address on the Economy in New York. Basically here is a man that is trying to sell the nation on Health Care, the Economy, the War. The urgency of everything. This is what I’ve attempted to convey in “The New Leader” short.

All of this was really just an experiment to test out the 7D. There were and still are many parts that should be edited out. This is why on returning to DC in November, my initial plan was to attempt to record some more clips of the President to re-edit into the film. Then on Veterans Day, Obama was to visit Arlington National Cemetery and deliver a speech. This time using the Canon 5D, I basically shot non-stop from the moment the motorcade left the White House until it returned. Right away during the drive I could sense how visually stunning the motorcade footage was, with the added historical importance of the President’s visit, and that this couldn’t be edited into my earlier video. It would stand on its own ["Obama's Burden"]. What struck me is that roughly 10 cars in front of me is the President in his limousine looking out at the constant and never ending tombstones of our war dead.

And then in December, Obama was to fly to West Point to address the nation on his decision regarding Afghanistan. Hence, “Obama’s War.” The choice of the music here is really interesting. What I do, is while playing one of the clips, I will cycle through some songs to see if anything fits the mood I’m attempting to convey. Having already downloaded some music files from pumpaudio.com, I had something in mind. By mistake I inadvertently played this Russian folklore song called Jolly Talk, by DrevA. For me it was perfect, here was this Russian voice taunting us with her simple words. Taunting us, for now it was our turn to send our young cadets to Afghanistan. The same thing Russian cadets were doing 30 years before. As for the images of the C5A cargo plane, they were shot the same night at an Air Force base near West Point. They are from the window of the helicopter as we taxied for take-off. For me they represented the planes that would carry the young cadets to war. They had almost this coffin like quality to them.
Read on »

Dubin at Work - The Kisseloff collection

Dubin at Work is a such a strange and unexpected set of photos, I almost don’t believe they exist. Harry Dubin took his teenage son around the streets of 1940s New York to take pictures of people working. Only, they didn’t photograph the workers. Instead, Dubin asked the workers if they’d be willing to lend him their uniforms and then posed as the workers. There’s Harry Dubin as a street sweeper, then as a hansom cab driver, then as a blind beggar on the street, then as a railroad worker. In each photo, he’s fully transformed as the worker and the results are a beautiful artifact of a time gone by.

The photos, 30 in all, are finding their way online by way of Jeff Kisseloff, a historian and writer, who met Dubin while researching a book on television. Dubin was the subject of a 10-page New Yorker profile (PDF) in 1947 (well worth a read) as one of the first families in the city to own a television set. Kisseloff was intrigued by the article and on a whim decided to look for Dubin in the NYC phonebook, thinking he might still be alive. Dubin agreed to an interview. When Kisseloff arrived for the interview, Dubin asked if he could reread the New Yorker piece and handed Kisseloff a small photo album titled “Dubin at Work” to look through while he waited. That happenstance turned into a 1996 special exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. Kisseloff also wrote an article about the photos for American Heritage (PDF).

(via MetaFilter)

Aaron Vincent Elkaim - Jewish Morocco

Photographing history is difficult. Photographing absence is even harder. When I first read Aaron Vincent Elkaim’s artist statement for his “Jewish Morocco” essay, I doubted a photo essay was the right approach to the subject. His approach is quite intriguing, combining moody set pieces of streets devoid of the stereotypical Moroccan hustle and bustle with straightforward images of documents/photos/worship areas left behind after cultural exodus, and I think it’s the beginning of a great story. Aaron says the project is inspired by his desire to discover his roots. From the statement:

This photographic project is an exploration of Jewish Morocco’s ghosts, artifacts, places and remaing lives. It is a study of the void that remains after this cultural exodus, a look at what has been left behind in the wak of Zionism as well as a retrospective of a time and place where Jews and Arabs lived peacefully as neighbours and as Moroccans.”

There’s been a significant Jewish community in Morocco for the past 2800 years, with as many as 300,000 in the 1940s. Now, fewer than 3,000 remain. Definitely an interesting subject, and a difficult one to photograph. Worth a look.

And just a reminder, if you’ve got a project you’re working on or recently completed, drop us a line here at dvafoto.

More in the realm of newly discovered images of war, Photography Prison (Pete Brook’s photo-centric blog) links to a Guardian feature with newly declassified aerial imagery from World War Two. They’re fascinating.

Be sure to visit the Aerial Reconnaissance Archive itself for access to millions of images, which are brilliantly linked to Google maps and tagged with geographic coordinates.

Many of these pictures are beautiful “document photography” versions (which Scott got me thinking about) of what photographer Sophie Ristelhueber has attempted with her work, namely documenting the physical scars left on earth by war. I first came across her a month or two ago when she was nominated for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, which led me to a great interview at Foto8. I cannot wait to find what seems to be a beautiful new edition of her famous and impossible-to-find book “Fait”, which is produced by the tremendous Errata Editions folks. Her work is unique and thoughtful, and an important alternate take on war photography. I’m diving in to her work and recommend the same, start with that interview.

I don’t remember where I found these or know much about them, other than that they’re really interesting: World War I Color Photo Archive.

Anyone know more? Are they published anywhere? Would be a great book if printed well (they’re pretty bad scans online).

It also makes me think of the fourth series of Blackadder.

Reporters without Borders is reporting this morning that twelve journalists were among those killed in a horrible election-related attack in the Philippines, in the Maguindanao province of the southern island of Mindanao. The New York Times has a broader report about the attack and context of other recent violence in the province. Our thoughts go out to the families of all of those killed and injured.

“Never in the history of journalism have the news media suffered such a heavy loss of life in one day,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We convey our condolences and sympathy to all journalists in the Philippines, who are in state of shock after this appalling massacre.”

The press freedom organisation added: “We have often condemned the culture of impunity and violence in the Philippines, especially Mindanao. This time, the frenzied violence of thugs working for corrupt politicians has resulted in an incomprehensible bloodbath. We call for a strong reaction from the local and national authorities.”

Unfortunately this attack is the latest in a province with a history of election-related violence, related to an institutionalized “gun culture” in the country. The Philippines’ President’s adviser on the island is reported as saying, “Everyone should be disarmed. Anything less will not work.”

From The New York Times: “Gates Blocks Photographs of Prisoners”

Federal courts had rejected the government’s arguments to block their release, so Congress gave Mr. Gates new powers to keep them private under a law signed last month by President Obama.

The promised/reneged release of new prisoner abuse photographs by the US Military has been an ongoing story but this, I believe, is the first use of this specific new power given to the Secretary of Defense by the Congress. He is now the final arbiter to decide what is released and what is not. End of discussion?

Black Archives

I knew something would arise out of Grazia Neri’s bankruptcy. There were simply too many pictures from too many talented photographers from too long a time period for the pictures to just disappear. Now, fourteen photographers have come together to form Black Archives. “All fields will be covered: from Art to Politics, from Celebrities to Travel, from News to Fashion to Sport, as well as a vast collection of historical pictures.” The founding photographers are: Fabio Massimo Aceto, Graziano Arici, Giovanbattista Brambilla, Gerald Bruneau, Basso Cannarsa, Remo Casilli, Leonardo Cendamo, Titti Fabi, Fulvia Farassino, Francesco Garufi, Grazia Ippolito, Daniele La Malfa, Marcello Mencarini and Roberto Ponti.

(via BJP)