American Photo: NGOs To The Rescue

Is American Photography magazine finally getting serious and useful? I don't know if that's really the case but its website published another interesting article this month (yes, two in the same issue!) on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their growing influence and relationship with photographers. A similar article was published by PDN a year or so ago, but it was only available to subscribers.

My experience working for NGOs has been limited to a joint effort in Vietnam, and a handful of times photographing eye-clinics in India, so this article has given me a lot of information and guidance should I ever want to re-enter the field of NGO photography.

Social-documentary photographers interested in having a career working with NGOs will find this article a good starting point. As the article says, new opportunities have recently opened up, allowing photographers to make, exhibit, and publish work that has little chance of being seen in magazines. NGOs have increased in numbers during the past 20 years, and the internet enables NGOs to form coalitions easily and cheaply, enhancing their reach and providing photographers with a potentially vast audience.

Here's something I wasn't clued in to...the article advises photographers to explore the viability of establishing their own NGO: "Rather than partnering with an already existing NGO, many photographers create their own, which they target to a specific cause such as empowering poor communities through photography. When you create your own not-for-profit, you keep all the money you raise -- and it's tax-free."

Here's another interesting tidbit in the article: Phil Borges has found generosity within the photo industry: Getty Images donates office space to Borges's NGO Bridges to Understanding, while Hewlett Packard has printed an entire UN exhibition of his work for free. HP printing Phil's work for free makes a lot of commercial sense, since it probably gained publicity from the UN exhibition.

Click on NGOs To The Rescue for the full article.

Dana Romaroff: Wife of the God

Image Copyright © Dana Romaroff - All Rights Reserved
Since starting TTP blog, I've researched many photographers' projects and as a result, have learnt of new and intriguing practices, cultures and rituals. This is one of such projects.

Dana Romanoff's background in cultural studies is evident in her work. Her recent series, "Wife of the God", addresses a controversial religious practice among the Ewe people in West Africa. Families suffering misfortune bring their young girls to traditional shrines to "marry the god" in order to reconcile for crimes committed by ancestors. The women are called "Fiashidi," which means "wife of the god", The shrine serves as a moral and educational institution in the town that helps prevent premarital sex and crime.

These women are also known as Trokosi, and this religious practice involves a period of servitude lasting up to 3 years. A virgin girl, sometimes under the age of 10, but often in her teens, is given by her family to work and be trained in traditional religion at a fetish shrine for a period lasting between several weeks and 3 years as a means of atonement for an allegedly heinous crime committed by a member of the girl's family. The girl becomes the property of the shrine god, and undergoes instruction in the traditional indigenous religion. She helps with the upkeep of the shrine. The practice explicitly forbids a Trokosi or Fiashidi to engage in sexual activity or contact during her atonement period. In the past, there were reports that the priests subjected the girls to sexual abuse; however, while instances of abuse may occur on a case-by-case basis, there is no evidence that sexual or physical abuse is an ingrained or systematic part of the practice.

Although the "Wife of the God" project has the most riveting photographs, Dana's website has other interesting projects, which I encourage you to visit.

Here's Dana Romaroff website.

The Palaces of Calcutta

Image Copyright Stuart Isett/New York Times-All Rights Reserved
Here's an interesting feature from the New York Times on the decaying palaces of Kolkata by the Seattle-based photographer Stuart Isett, who also narrates.

Many of these palaces and regal mansions have been built at the zenith of Calcutta's (now Kolkata) golden age in the second half of the 1700s, when it became the administrative center of the famed East India Company, and was subsequently named the capital of Bengal. During Queen Victoria's reign as Empress of India, it became its imperial capital. It evolved in the following years into a beautiful city of palaces, with an accompanying period of wealth and culture. Once the opium trade (the center of Calcutta's economy) ended, the city went into an irreversible slow decline especially when the capital of India was moved to Delhi.

Most of the Calcutta's palaces are decaying and crumbling beyond repair. With countless of heirs quarreling over these properties, it's virtually impossible to save these structures. Others are sub-let to a variety of tenants, who resist being moved elsewhere by all means. With the chaotic state of the Calcutta's legal system and procedures, they are successful in remaining in these palaces over many generations.

Here's The Palaces of Calcutta. (you may need to resize your browser window.)

More of Stuart's photographs of Calcutta's palaces are here.

Lonely Planet Job

Have you ever dreamed of being a commissioning editor for Lonely Planet at their office in Oakland. Uh, they have a few qualifications for the job........

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/wri/318190785.html

American Photo: Heroes of Photography

American Photography has just published its Heroes of Photography feature on its website (link below). I was never a fan of this magazine, since it tries to imitate the French photography magazines (probably because it's owned by Hachette Filpacchi) in its features and layout, however on this occasion it attracted my attention.

This feature (which includes a mini-gallery of each photographer's work) is what American Photo subtitled " a tribute to ten photographers who inspire us", and I agree with that. Among the ten photographers are the incomparable Phil Borges, Fazal Sheikh (who inspired me with his work on Indian widows to work on my own project: White Shadows), Chris Hondros, and others. Surprisingly, James Nachtwey, John Stanmeyer and Gary Knight for example are not included in this list...and by the way, the list is mostly made up of American photographers.

Here's an excerpt of the accompanying article which explains why the American Photo staff chose them to be 'heroes':

Some photographers are heroes simply because they show us how to overcome obstacles that would seem to be insurmountable. Fine-art photographer John Dugdale has continued to work at the highest level despite progressively losing his eyesight due to an HIV-related illness. Joseph Rodriguez, who rebuilt his life after getting into drugs and being arrested at a young age, is documenting the lives shattered by Hurricane Katrina. Phil Borges has been unshakable in his conviction that his fine-art portraiture can be a vital force for good in the world.

These ten photographers have and are still creating outstanding work, and certainly are among many leaders in the field of photography, but I wouldn't describe them as 'heroes'. Perhaps semantics but to me, heroism is more than being a trailblazer in the photography industry, or even for overcoming an adversity. Yes, these ten photographers are leaders, perhaps even role models to some, and to me (in the case of Phil Borges and Fazal Sheikh) inspirations...but I just wouldn't call them heroes.

Notwithstanding semantics and my strong antipathy for 'lists', the American Photo magazine's Heroes of Photography is a worthwhile feature.

What The Duck

POV: Clever Framing?

Image Copyright © 2006 Oded Balilty/Associated Press - All Rights Reserved
My POV post last week on digital alteration aroused the interest of some readers of TTP who shared with me their own views. Confirming what I wrote in the post, the general consensus is that removing or adding elements from/to the photograph is considered as unacceptable.

To illustrate my point that all photographs are in some way 'fixed', I chose this photograph by Oded Balilty of The Associated Press. It won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for best Breaking News Photography, and its caption reads:

"A lone Jewish settler challenges Israeli security officers during clashes that erupted as authorities cleared the West Bank settlement of Amona, east of the Palestinian town of Ramallah."

A really excellent 'decisive moment' photograph, which perfectly encapsulates the drama of the event. However, let's examine it with a more clinical eye. It appears at first glance that the woman is holding off a whole mass of security officers, but is she? Was there anyone behind her, but because of the photographer's clever framing, appears to be on her own? Is she pushing back or is she on the verge of giving up and fleeing the scene? Is she being pushed back down the slope, or is she pushing back? And all these questions...are they even relevant...or does this snapshot in time unequivocally convey the story that the photographer seeks to tell us?

Frankly, I don't know the answer. My gut tells me that the caption describing the settler as "A lone Jewish..." is editorializing. I -nor presumably anyone else but Mr. Balilty who took the photograph- can say if she's really alone or not...the frame's in-camera cropping makes it appear that she is. What I take from this photograph is that many illegal settlers were forcibly removed by the Israeli security forces, and this woman was of the many who resisted.

Is this photograph manipulated in the real sense of the word? The answer is of course not...but through camera positioning and careful framing, the photograph conveys its intended message that the woman settler was alone.

Luciana Cavalcanti: Brazil

Images Copyright © Luciana Cavalcanti - All Rights Reserved
Based in Sao Paulo, Brazilian photographer Luciana Cavalcanti, has an unusal style which is showcased in her Colors of Figures project, and which I'm happy to bring to the pages of TTP. Luciana worked as a freelance photographer, as well as working with Brazilian newspapers.

Her colorful, cropped and blurred images explore the popular traditional (a lot of dancing as befits Brazil) festivals of Recife and Olinda, using saturated color and long exposures. There are a number of superb images here, and while some are -in my opinion- perhaps too blurry, it's an interesting style designed to focus on the colors and movements rather than on details.

I read that Luciana is working on a Colors of Figures video project, which presumably will be available as a multimedia website when completed. It will be an interesting watch, since her photographs are so full of frenetic motion. I wish her photographs had a soundtrack of the festivals' music, and hope her video project gets to completion quickly...perhaps a flash-based multimedia slideshow?!

Although Luciana's website would benefit from a facelift, her photography is well worth visiting. Here it is: Colors of Figures

Canon EOS-1D Mark III: First Look

Rob Galbraith's website just posted a review of the Canon EOS-1D Mark III based on their experience of shooting a preproduction body, which includes several samples of reduced and full resolution image files.

Here's the link.

Beyond The Frame: Gondar Maiden

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy - All Rights Reserved
Having photographed the Timket festival and its processions in both Lalibela and Adwe, I stopped in the city of Gondar. Gondar was founded by the Ethiopian emperor Fasilidas around 1635, and is famous for its many medieval castles and the design and decoration of its churches.

The car stopped at the outskirts of the city for a minor repair, and I took this opportunity to stretch my legs and walk around, exploring the surroundings. I came across this young woman outside her home, sifting through teff, the grain used to make injera, the bread of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Injera is a pancake-like bread made out of the teff flour, which is mixed with water and allowed to ferment for a few days. As a result of this process, injera has a sour taste to it.

The woman was quite happy to be photographed, but when her mother suddenly peeked out of their front door, I was lucky enough to have grabbed the wonderful look on her face, as well the young woman's unsuccessful attempt at suppressing her laugh. When I finished photographing her, she finally laughed covering her mouth, as so many people do when they're shy.

I framed this Gondar maiden so that the white background of the wall was just above her shoulders, giving better definition to her face. By the way, this is not the photograph of the Ethiopian woman with the errant fly of my earlier post...so don't go hunting for traces of cloning! In fact, this photograph is 'pure'...no cropping, no cloning...just a touch of Level adjustments and Sharpening.

This photograph was published in The Digital Photographer, a British magazine.