Jake Marsico just wrote in to let us know about his new project “Blue Tram.” The pictures are interesting, and the presentation is especially worth a look. It reminds me a bit of some long photos we’ve featured previously. I asked Jake a bit about the photos and the project.

Jake Marsico: The Alexandria tram system runs the length of this city and is used extensively by the middle and lower classes. I’ve been living in/visiting Alexandria for the past four years and it has become one of my favorite cities on earth. Unlike Cairo, Alexandria is extremely laid back, especially during the winter (I’m guessing the constant sea breeze helps calm people’s nerves).

As for choosing the tram, i feel like it’s a good representation of the city as a whole; it has resisted change (still only about 5 cents a ride) and it’s in a state of a constant, but elegant decay. Most of all, it’s a window into the communal nature of alexandrians: this is a city that lives on the streets – everyone seems to know each other, even when they’ve just met. Unlike the States, it’s perfectly acceptable for an old man to sit next to you and rest his hand on your leg as a father would, and talk to you. There’s one frame in here that i particularly like, it’s of an old man speaking to a younger guy. It looks like a great story and the younger guy seems to be enjoying it greatly.

dvafoto: Why shoot it this way?
Jake Marsico: I had been experimenting with different ways to shoot the tram – from different angles, with natural light, with strobes. I ended up shooting this way for two reasons, for one it was the easiest way to be consistent: straight on, set up the camera and light and just wait for trams to pass. The other reason is that i wanted to present the tram in a unique way online. I’ve been in the process of learning basic html coding and i’ve seen horizontal scrolling before on several of my favorite photo websites, i thought this would be a great way to utilize horizontal scrolling in a unique way. I also like the dirty effect you get when using strobe on moving subjects.

In the end, it’s about getting a shot of someone in their most natural state. Alexandrians are so hospitable that natural, unintrusive street photography is nearly impossible. If they notice a camera is pointing at them, they’ll almost inevitably look straight at the camera and smile, then invite you for tea. It’s such a warm gesture but makes for boring, unnatural photos. These images also show the city’s residents in a rare down time between work life and home life. Most of them are just staring out the window, deep in thought.

The global media portrays Detroit as a post apocalyptic environment, showing picture after picture of modern ruins, buildings that were once the pride of our city. What’s absent from these images are the people. What we see instead are soulless photographs portraying Detroit as an abandoned city with little regard for the more than 850,000 people who still call it home. Decay is compelling and easy to document – and first time visitors are often fascinated by these exotic ruins. Nevertheless, Detroit’s fall from grace and its current state is not the last or only chapter in the story of this great city. “Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus”, Latin for “We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes”, is the motto written on Detroit’s seal. (introduction)

Romain Blanquart and Brian Widdis recently wrote us about their joint project Can’t Forget the Motor City. We want to share a small selection from the project and Blanquart and Widdis’ answers to some of Scott’s questions about their work.

dvafoto: Why photograph a project together? How do you balance both of your styles and approaches against and with one another? Why approach the project the way you have (one focus on people, the other focus on landscape/surfaces)?

Brian Widdis (photographed landscapes in black and white): When I first started thinking about the project, it seemed too ambitious to tackle alone. Romain and I had the same frustrations about Detroit’s portrayal in the media, so the partnership made sense. I was aware of other two person collaborations, so I started thinking about how we could make it work. For many of us, life as a photographer is a solitary existence – it’s been nice to step beyond that with Romain.
In the beginning, I was concerned with establishing our individual voices. Our styles are not overly similar, but we were interested in telling a similar story about Detroit. So if there were no parameters about what to shoot, we would surely duplicate the same scene. Structuring the way we have was also a kind of ego insurance. If we were to photograph the same things, I was afraid he’d outshoot me all the time and would have all the good photos in the project. By varying our areas of emphasis, I guaranteed myself half of the photos.

Romain Blanquart (photographed people in color): This project started about a year and a half ago over a telephone conversation. We both had just seen more images of Detroit in a publication I can’ t remember now, the Independent newspaper I think. Decay, desolation, abandoned buildings, more of the same, not a person in sight; important but so misrepresentative of our city. It pissed me off. Not so much the photography itself but the way it was used, a superficial and misleading representation of Detroit that is constantly drilled into people’s heads. I think that there is a place for photographs of Detroit’s destruction but it has to be put into context and these same images cannot be solely or prominently used by the media when talking about the history, the present or future of Motown.
My background is photojournalism working at American newspapers for the past ten years. Our life, I mean the world, is about people first. And it does not mean that photographs need to be of people. This is what I think brought Brian and I to work together. His photography tends to shy away from people but IS about people. Quiet and subtle moments where the human imprint can be felt. Perfect combination with my way of photographing that tends to be of people in a pretty straightforward way. We have the desire to tell a similar story. We always photograph together for this project to experience the same spaces, moments, people… We do not think or overanalyze our styles and what we photograph. We photograph what and who we are naturally attracted to.

dvafoto: What sort of response have you gotten from editors? I imagine you’ve had some difficulty because the piece challenges contemporary visual expectations of Detroit so much. Is that true?

BW: People in general understand where we’re coming from, but in some respects, a vision of Detroit that is not the same old thing is a hard sell, especially in a general news sense. We’re not doing a documentary project, so in the end, that’s not really our concern. Our project is different in that it’s a documentary style project that is a reflection of our two perspectives. Not a definitive look at Detroit, but different than what most people have come to expect.

RB: The feedback so far as been very positive. You can only listen to the same story told the same way so many times, unless it’s your favorite story! Our challenge is to challenge visual expectations of Detroit. I also want to say that this project does not intend to be an ultimate, statistically correct portrayal of a city. It is more the representation of what someone would experience and see if they spent the time to crisscross this city for a few months with, I would like to think, an open mind.

dvafoto: Many photographers separate portrait-style photo essays from landscape essays from documentary essays, etc. You’ve mixed styles together in the presentation. What does that juxtaposition accomplish? Same question, but for color vs. black-and-white.

BW: Since we knew that the scale of this project would be large, it made sense to have these limitations – only people in color and only surfaces in black and white. It’s a way of focusing the energy, while playing to our individual strengths. Our goal is to create a rhythm using the back and forth of the two individual visions to create a combined third vision. We have been experimenting with ways of establishing that rhythm and the specific medium will play a large part in how that comes together – the book may look different than the website, and the prints on the wall etc.

RB: The mix of portraits and landscapes is simply due to the fact that this is what each one of us is primarily attracted to. So we made it the rule of this game, stick with what you are best at for now! Similar for the color and black-and-white. What attracts me about working this way is that you can look at the project and see two voices conversing using a different vocabulary that once combined generates a third and I believe more powerful voice. And lets face it, the more the merrier.
Working together has many more advantages. It’s a great way to have twice as many ideas and I like the conversation we can have about Detroit and photography. It is also safer.

dvafoto: How are the people of Detroit responding to your presence when you are out working on this? Are your subjects appreciative or apprehensive? Do many of the subjects bring up issues about Detroit’s usual portrayal in the media?

BW: People in general and Detroiters specifically understand exactly where we’re coming from when we describe the project. Most folks have seen the same stories and have the same reaction that we have. Detroit definitely has an image problem – and it’s understandable – the city is a mess. We aren’t trying to fix that image or describe Detroit in its entirety. Our goal is to show that there is a complexity in Detroit that’s not usually seen.

RB: The people we photograph have always been happy about the fact that we want to show something else than decay. Many of them are sick and tired of the way their city is often portrayed.

dvafoto: What’s the eventual plan for the project? Have you finished the photography? Where do you see it ending up?

BW: The photography is about half way done, I think. Our ultimate goal is to publish a book. Romain and I believe strongly in the photobook. We would also like to show the work in Detroit and elsewhere.

RB: The first phase of the project was photographed by walking around the city making random encounters. Now we are looking to get more intimate in the space and people we photograph. We are starting to explore Detroiters in their personal space, their home. The final presentation of this story will be in book form. We also want to share the work through exhibits in Detroit and other cities.

dvafoto: What photography/journalism/art/etc. is getting you excited right now?

BW: I have been really enjoying Mark Steinmetz’s three books South Central, South East and Greater Atlanta . He’s an outsider in the communities he photographs, and his encounters with his subjects are random and brief, but there is still a remarkable sensitivity that he gets to. I’m also really interested in how photographers navigate their personal space and relationships. Two books that I have been enjoying are Doug DuBois’ All the Days and Nights and Nigel Shafran’s Edited Photographs: 1992-2004. Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide to Getting Lost is a collection of essays about being lost and the unknown.

RB: Photography books that I have been liking lately are South Central by Mark Steinmetz, There Is Something In The Air by Cuny Janssen, I Am – Paradox Identity by Ilse French. I used to look at a lot of photography online; there are so many great photographers in this world but I realized that I should be doing my own work instead so I now avoid looking at photo blogs as much as possible! I also feel inspired by my friends from the photography department with whom I work at the Detroit Free Press.

You can learn more about Can’t Forget The Motor City, and stay in the loop for updates, on facebook and Tumblr.

“A Photo Student” James Pomerantz sits down with perennial Dvafoto favorite and inspiration Jason Eskenazi. Probably the best overview of his career and life I have come across outside of conversations with the man himself. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Thanks Jason and James for putting this out there!

Copies of his book Wonderland are still for sale direct from Eskenazi. Must have.

Oliver Weber wrote in to tell us about Michael Werner’s interesting interview project, Two-Way Lens. Weber wrote:

 

Two Way Lens is a project of interviews with international, contemporary photographers. Their answers to three simple questions about their career paths, presented in this project, should help, inspire and inform emerging photographers. The tips and advice provided will be of value to every young photographer. A new photographer/ interview is added to the project every month.

The interviews are short and sweet, but have some good information. Among those interviewed: Zoe Strauss, Richard Renaldi, Martin Parr, Lori Nix, Alec Soth, and Amy Stein.

I first met Jeremy M. Lange at a lecture we were both attending at ICP in 2006. We’d corresponded by email before, and he somehow recognized me in the crowd. I left New York later that year, and shared my last meal in the city with him. He continued freelancing in the city for a while before moving to North Carolina, producing along the way a strong and varied body of work, ranging from (legal) kidnappers for hire to Mexican presidential politics to barbershops to religious faith. His recent project, “The War At Home” is a wide-ranging piece covering the Iraq and Afghanistan wars from the perspective of those in the US. Do yourself a favor, and spend some time on his site. I asked Lange if he’d be willing to share his perspective on “The War at Home” over email. The discussion is below:

dvafoto: First, for our readers who might not be familiar with your work, where are you based and what publication do you work for? What sort of time on the job do you have to work on personal projects? How open is your publication to your story pitches?

Jeremy M. Lange: I am based in Durham, North Carolina, my hometown, which I returned to in 2007 after 3 years of school, 6 months in Mexico, and 3.5 years in New York City. I have a slightly odd arrangement in that I am a staff, or contract photographer, for the Independent Weekly, an alt weekly that covers the Research Triangle area of NC. I work 6 months a year guaranteed for them, one month on, one month off, and freelance the other 6, but I am able to take freelance jobs for all 12 months of the year, provided that I have all my responsibilities taken care of for the paper on the months I am on. The Indy is great in many ways, but especially in that me and the other photographer have almost complete artistic freedom in how we shoot the stories we are assigned and we get a little more time to invest in denser stories because it is a weekly. Deadlines do build up, but we have the ability to work our schedules out as we please as long as everything is done on time. Also, we can pitch stories at will and with a good argument, they tend to run them, as long as the story fits into the general guidelines of the paper, news, social justice, culture, it is pretty broad. Personal projects are much more easily blended into the paper than in others I have heard of. It can still be hard to find the time, and money, for personal projects, but that is always the case it seems. I think it falls more on you to make that time than anything else.

As a freelancer, I work a lot for the New York Times, who I have been working with since I lived in NYC and ran around for the Metro section, RIP, several days a week. They were the first real paper I worked for and have been great to me over the last few years. Thanks.

Other than that, I fill out my schedule with other editorial jobs, band shoots, portraits, whatever comes down the pipe. I think in smaller markets we are all forced to generalize a bit, but it is fun in that I learn new things from shooting different types of stories all the time. My background is in news and documentary, but I really enjoy shooting just about anything, with a few exceptions. Challenges keep you on your toes and I like the idea of photographing James Taylor one day and Christmas tree farms the next.

What got you started on “War at Home”? When did you know you were on to a bigger story with so many different threads to follow?

I met a soldier named Kristian Hofeller when I lived in Bushwick, Brooklyn in 2006. A package was misdelivered to my apartment and I rode up the street to drop it off at the right house and while speaking to the lady who answered the door, she mentioned that her son had just gotten back from Iraq. I asked if he might want to talk to me about it and take some photos, and I gave her my number and he called me couple of days later. We met at his house and drank some coffee and talked a little but he seemed sort of uncomfortable in his mom’s house so we went out to his truck and he basically broke down the last 5 years of his life to me. 1st responder to the WTC, off to Afghanistan, got in some trouble there, back home, marital problems, divorce, back to Iraq, back home… it blew my mind. He must have talked for over an hour with me just sitting in his truck listening and saying nothing really, I mean what the hell did I know about that? He got in some legal trouble while back in the US and therefore could not get a job, or at least a decent one, so he was considering going back to the military fulltime, he was on Reserve, or with a private contractor. They, the contractors, were offering him big money, he came from a blue collar family, but he did not really want to go. He had lost his wife and friends because of the war, but he really had no other options. We smoked and sat in the truck and he talked and then I went home, saying we would get together soon and shoot some photos. I had no idea what to do with what he told me, so I wrote down as much as I could remember, this is why an art degree can be a disadvantage, I should have taken notes, but I got it down for the most part, I like to listen.

We met again a couple of weeks later and went all the way out in Long Island to shoot some guns with an Army buddy and an older guy from his neighborhood. He would not really let me make any photos of him, but I got a shot of an Osama bin Laden target in a sand pit that has stuck around through all the edits, as well as one of his truck with a backwards “American Hero” emblem in the windshield. So I shot some really cool guns and we talked a lot, Kristian, me and his Army buddy, and then they took me home. We never talked again, he did not return my calls after that, not sure why, but I heard he went back to Iraq not long after. It stuck with me but I was trying to hustle in NYC and that was it for a while.

Not long after I got back to NC I shot a NYT story about a private contractor killed in Iraq, Brent Gray. We went to the grave with his wife and sister and some friends and then to a bar where we met some other guys who had served with him. I was so interested in what they were talking about and how little I knew about it. This is 5 or 6 years after we invaded Afghanistan and 3 after Iraq and I knew next to nothing about what people here were going through. I am not from a military family, but I have always been interested in it, the guns, the adventure and was about one stamp away from Marine basic training after high school. So I started looking around to find stories related to returning soldiers and other aspects of the war’s affects on the country and realized I had a huge pile of ideas.

Your “War at Home” project is pretty far-reaching. What ties it all together? What’s it about?
Read on »

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

‘You must also ensure you show the effect of the NGO’s work rather than just the vulnerable members of society and their stories,’ [David Graham] says. ‘Providing such context is extremely important as otherwise you are just picturing misery without suggesting a solution – which in this case is the work of the NGO.’ -Telegraph “Common Goals“

The Telegraph has an interview/feature with David Graham, the photographer behind Changing Ideas, an organization which works with NGOs and photographers to develop communications strategies for the organizations. As we’ve mentioned previously photographers working with NGOs is relatively new and unexplored terrain. As NGOs fill the gap left by news media in funding and using photojournalism, Changing Ideas‘ mission will become more important.

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:

The Dear Leader

The New Leader

Obama’s Burden (embedded at the top of this post)

Obama’s War

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 »

I’m not a big fan of videos of photographers taking pictures, but if it involves two of my favorite photographers talking about their creative process, I won’t complain much. In the video, we see Trent Parke and Narelle Autio (and check out her previous agency Oculi for more down-under goodness) working together and on their own personal projects, as well as a glimpse into Autio’s less-glamorous assignments when she was at the Sydney Morning Herald. It’s a rare look into the way photographers work, and it’s well worth a watch.

(via Two Looks)

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.