I read an interesting post on A Photo Editor the other day about wedding work. Key notes: do it, there could be value in admitting it, but find ways to market it separately from you other work while incorporating relevant elements in your editorial/commercial portfolio.

By now I have shot a few weddings myself and, to be honest, the experiences have given me a lot that I can take into my documentary work:  making quick decisions about lighting, location, lenses; dealing with clients and what they want while staying true to your own style; standing on your feet for 8 hours shooting; making sure you get all the key shots that they want to see (that ring exchange or cake in the face is only going to happen once); and making something unique and personal out of potential cheeze… There is some work I’ve shot that I really like and hope that similar conditions come up in my documentary photography…

- london, uk, 21 degrees this fine cloudy evening (!), listening to “Lola” by the Kinks

Another fave was work shown by Pablo Hare on Peruvian monuments in small town public squares where they have created their own heroes.

Rather than have a Q&A with each of the presenters, there were several breaks during the evening presumably so people could chat about the work shown, or photography, or their amusement over the election results. It would have been nice to have some more room for formal dialogue especially around some projects that were more experimental; for example, I would have wanted to talk a little about the work shown by Kim Thue, or rather, for him to talk a little bit more about it. The black and white images he showed of people in Freetown were mixed with an experimental layered audio, which I also found quite an interesting approach (you can see it on the Zimmer/117 site). The images were extremely beautiful, however, the work showed anonymous and suffering (Freetown) Africans with violent marks of physical pain and apparent disenchantment with their lives. There was no context as to how they received these marks, who they were or the project’s relevance, and it felt too much like the traditional and insensitive (white/western) portrayal of Africa; I left feeling like I knew less than I did before. Perhaps it was not trying to make a statement, perhaps it was an art project combining dramatic image and sound? And, if so, why in Freetown, why these people? As much as I love the photography and the innovative use of sound, I really dont like seeing work like this that lacks context.

[Two interesting articles worth mentioning here: How to Write about Africa, by Binyavanga Wainaina published in Granta 92, Winter 2005; and How To Take Photos Of Africa Or Where Intent And Ideas Collide by Asim Rafiqui on the Spinning Head Blog, March 2010.]

But I digress. It was a nice, diverse event and I hope that there will be more room for dialogue on some of these interesting approaches to storytelling in future slideslams, speaking of which, next one is on June 14.

- london, uk, cool 11 degree evening, listening to “Water No Get Enemy” by Fela Kuti

For a few weeks I was working with the Think Act Vote campaign photographing for the campaign’s book. Think Act Vote was using fashion as a way to engage younger audiences to vote in the election. What I liked about it was how it tried to get people to think about the election as more than just a one-off event but how political choices impact us on a daily basis. Amisha Ghadiali, a jeweller and Associate Director of the Ethical Fashion Forum launched the campaign by getting local fashion designers to ‘remake’ the campaign tshirt into one-off pieces. The other part of the campaign has been getting people to fill in their own answers to “The future I choose…” and setting up photobooths in various locations where everyone gets to have a professional shoot wearing the campaign t-shirt. The results will be published in a book to be presented to the Prime Minister later this year.

Ill share some images from the portrait shoots later but here are some images from the pre-election party at Camp London. Also, there is still time to fill in your own answer to “The future I choose…” and be included in the book–fill the form out online.

- london, uk, about 19 degrees on a bright sunny afternoon, listening to “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone

Im heading down to Bristol for the weekend to catch some shows at the Bristol Festival of Photography and go to the life.still exhibition where my friend Rebecca Harley is showing some of her work combining beautiful portraits and personal stories. The opening night (tonight!) is also featuring an ‘open democratic slideshow’ of submissions from all over the world, including my work in African immigrants in Almeria—Permanently Temporary.

Join the party tonight! 7-10pm, 62 Queens Road, Bristol

- london, uk, 20 degrees (really?) cloudy afternoon, listening to my neighbour’s kid play (horrible) piano

Filed under: musings Tagged: random, to do ]]> http://timeislivingme.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/to-do/feed/ 0 marcia flakes-1 http://timeislivingme.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/exploring-new-forms-of-humanitarian-communication-at-lidf/ http://timeislivingme.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/exploring-new-forms-of-humanitarian-communication-at-lidf/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:07:35 +0000 marcia http://timeislivingme.wordpress.com/?p=488 ]]> I went to an interesting talk on photography yesterday at the London International Documentary Festival. Interesting because it refused to get bogged down by the iterative debate on whether photojournalism is dead–and if and how to save it–and also because it featured a number of pieces of work that were might be considered more ‘art’ than ‘photojournalism’, an approach Alfredo Cramerotti has termed ‘aesthetic journalism‘. I feel I have been so focused on photography and photographers lately that I have been missing out on the layers where photography is really just a base for alternative storytelling.

The session focused on how multi-layered storytelling is being used creatively to share human rights stories in ways that are responsible to the subject as well as pedagogic in their approach. “Developing the Photographic: New approaches to humanitarian visual communication” was presented by Emma Boyd (Coordinator at Autograph), Jessica Crombie (Picture Editor at WaterAid) and Abbie Trayler-Smith (Photographer for Panos).

Emma Boyd presented work by Alfredo Jaar, Omer Fast and Marcelo Brodsky as critical artistic engagements with human rights issues. Although meant for an art gallery, Emma shares them as examples of thought provoking pieces that are meant to educate and engage the audience to contemplate. Alfredo Jaar, for example, explored the Rwandan Genocide through an installation consisting of millions of photographic slides of a victim’s eyes, representing the number of people that were murdered. The work of Omer Fast I particularly find interesting. I saw “The Casting” at the Barbican in 2009 and it has been on my mind lately as I have been thinking of ways to incorporate video (watch a short video of it); exploring issues of memory and trauma, it blends two narratives into one using still video scenes. Emma’s key point is that these type of artistic approaches can be extremely powerful, however, galleries need to find ways to engage the public outside of the gallery through communications campaigns, public talks, partnerships with schools, etc.; otherwise it is simply “preaching to the converted”.

Jessica Crombie focused on the work of Ursula Biemann, a very interesting video artist whose work focuses on migration, mobility, technology and gender and whose approach she herself has termed “visual intelligence.” Jessica showed clips from “The Sahara Cronicle” which explores the migration of people in Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe; one clip was taken from a remote sensing camera in a plane combing the Saharan desert for illegal migrants crossing. Ursula approached WaterAid to collaborate on a project about water and Jessica said that what interested her about Ursula’s approach is the way she gathers evidence and reports it as a document, providing the knowledge and letting the audience make something out of it, rather than making a statement about what she believes. Interesting coming from an editor of an NGO that is dependent on fundraising, but she notes that this approach isn’t necessarily about funding but about creating change.

Lastly, Abbie Trayler-Smith showed her work on refused asylum seekers in the UK “Still Human Still Here.” She noted that the decision to do a short film was necessary as she felt she couldn’t convey how the subjects felt through the photos; people needed to hear these voices. Multimedia, layered storytelling and publishing it widely on the internet are key, as well as sharing it in ways that media will be willing to pick up…

There wasn’t much time for discussion but Paul Lowe, Course Director at London College of Communication, brought up an interesting point on whether we should be concerned about preaching to the unconverted, who are least likely to be inspired into action, or finding ways instead to encourage the converted to take that step further and do something. I think its a valid point and the question really becomes then whether this concerned art actually reaches audiences that “matter.” Except for Abbie’s work, the others were all very intelligent artistic interventions meant for galleries. While Emma noted that this approach was already “preaching to the converted”, I would have to argue that gallery audiences are hardly the converted when it comes to human rights, they may be converted to the idea of political art but not necessarily to being political. It is important to make space for this type of work as they are extremely intelligent, sensitive and educational, sometimes far more than some work by photojournalists, but if they are to contribute to social change and knowledge they need to include concrete communications that go beyond the gallery. It should be interesting to see how WaterAid and Ursula Biemann can collaborate to create something that can work both ways.

Worth a listen is Alfredo Cramerotti’s talk on Aesthetic Journalism at Autograph a few weeks ago:

- London, UK, 18 degrees (!) overcast afternoon, listening to good music on BBC’s Radio 6

The Renaissance Photography Prize exhibition opens tonight at 4pm and goes on until tomorrow (I would suggest avoiding tomorrow evening as the Celebrity Gala costs 60 quid!). The photographs (which include pieces by two friends – Marta Moreiras and Brett Van Ort) are being sold to raise money for the Lavender Trust at Breast Cancer Care. Im digging a lot of the images in the Peoples category. Check it out at the Gallery of The Hospital Private Members’ Club, 24 Endell Street, London. The exhibition will be open to the public from 4pm – 10pm on Tuesday 20 April and from 10am – 4pm on Wednesday 21 April.

Plastic by Brett van Ort

Finis terre #03 by Marta Moreiras

Ed Kashi‘s Prix Pictet commission on Madagascar is opening tonight at the Diemar/Noble gallery. The opening is by RSVP but the exhibition is open until May 1. I here that Ed won’t be there as planned due to volcanic ash… sounds stranger when you say it out loud.

from Madagascar, a land in balance by Ed Kashi

And this I’m excited about… Contact Editions Spring Slideshows! is happening tonight just down the road in E8. The night is featuring multimedia/video pieces from Seba Kurtis, Carmel King and David Dunnico, as well as rolling slideshows showing work from Ivor Prickett, Hin Chua, Laura Pannack and others… Starts at 7pm. See you there?

by Seba Kurtis

- London, UK, cool 12 degrees on a sunny afternoon, listening to CSS’ Alala

My friend sent me a link to this photographer from Amsterdam. I love a lot of the work she did in Africa, particularly her style of shooting in bright sunlight and using shadows to the maximum, but also for its comtemporary flavour rather than being overwhelmed by a Western nostalgia for ‘l’Afrique exotique’.

http://www.vivianesassen.com/

I really like Odessa/My Black Sea (Matthieu Raffard), Atomic Birds (Tim Georgeson), and Orchard Beach, The Bronx Riviera (Wayne Lawrence), among others. Also, my project on Almeria’s immigrants is up there as well as the beautiful Galician landscapes by my friend Marta Moreiras.

Odessa/My Black Sea © Raffard Matthieu

Eddie & Tiffany © Wayne Lawrence

Well, enough complaints, here is some interesting visual treats of Vancouver then and now… from the city of trade to the city of glass…

Some ridiculous, though comical, news about the Olympics: this guy is making a personal appeal because thundersticks have been banned. And this story about the ‘Pedobear’ mascot made me laugh out loud.

- London, UK, chilly 4 degrees Celsius on this grey grey day, listening to Broken Social Scene’s “Lover’s Spit”

Ueno tube station (c) Guergui Pinkhassov

Magnum’s newsletter this week featured this image by Gueorgiu Pinkhassov. After being overwhelmed by photos over the past year and a half, it is becoming rarer and rarer to find one that really strikes emotion. This image, I almost don’t care what it is about; the bright pastels, the cinematic feel… I love it and want it on my wall.

There is not much written about Gueorgiu, he seems to be slightly overlooked compared to other Magnum photographers. But I found this beautifully written analysis of his work by one CD Thacker, responding to a lively debate on photo.net in April 2004:

In my view Pinkhassov’s approach to photography is that of the true filmmaker: deeply personal and particularly cinematic. He brings a wide sweep to the small format. His pictures are for me like frames from an immense film, one which comes from a singular, intense vision of the world about us and the world within. Perhaps one of his closest aesthetic contemporaries is Fellini. But whereas much of the fun of Fellini lies in the surreality and absurdity of the real, Pinkhassov has much more in common with another grand auteur, Tarkovsky, from whom he obviously took much. Here is a quote from Tarkovsky that sounds like a prescription for a book like Pinkhassov’s Sightwalk.

“The image is tied to the concrete and the material, yet reaches out along mysterious paths to regions beyond the spirit…”

The new metro (c) Gueorgui Pinkhassov

Car park at shopping mall (c) Gueorgui Pinkhassov

- London, UK, 4 degrees Celsius on a cool, clear early evening, listening to Dave Matthews’ “Crash into me” (nostalgia today)

He published this blog post of his mother’s letter to him about his photography. I absolutely love my mother, but its true that she may not know me very well, or has a quite altered perception of who I am based on our relationship. So its very interesting to read Ian’s mother’s approach to his work, which he finds surprising and quite opposite to his intention. He writes:

In this response, it’s interesting to think about what comes from her struggles and our relationship and how she applies that to the images I’ve created. Or applies it to her image of me – is it an accurate depiction? I think that a lot more people see me as a goofy guy, not someone dark and broody. Those that know my attitude toward art are familiar with my fondness of visual jokes. Bitterness towards established visual trends is usually dealt with in dark humor, not necessarily dark spirits.

From the series "Gray Days" © Ian Aleksander Adams

From the series "Gray Days" © Ian Aleksander Adams

Made me think of my friend, Julian Lass’ work about his mother’s memory. And Jim Goldberg’s approach of having his subjects write on the picture he takes of them. The idea of having others engage with the photography rather than simply be ‘subjects’ is very intriguing. I had thought about doing something along these lines when I was in Almeria but at the time I was too focused on the project I was working on. Something I found interesting was how people wanted to appear in the portraits I took. Often, I gave very little direction because they would already have the perfect spot picked out, or I would have to wait for a bit while they got ready. It would have been so interesting to sit down with them after and talk about the image and the contradictions within and outside of it. Perhaps the next time I go back.

Combe, Roquetas de Mar © Marcia Chandra

Going back to Ian’s work, he recently wrote an essay for Ahorn Magazine on “Fear and Photography” where he talks about the innate fear of losing precious images and whether we, as photographers, do not really experience moments because we are so busy recording them. He does this interesting exercise with his beginner photography students: he asks them to use up a roll of film (which he gives them) and at the next class they develop the film together only to find that there is absolutely nothing on it. After he gets them to calm down, he gets them to talk about the images and “they learn from each other, they talk about the subject matter they photographed, their feelings of loss, whether the memories of those moments are more or less clear for this experience.” He goes on to talk about how his own lack of fear caused him to go back to film so he could experience excitement again, which is something I completely understand.

I make sure to live in the moment while photographing it, because I don’t know which memory will be more important to me as experienced or archived. And I am scared every time I drop off my film. I cringe when I pick it up and rejoice at the surprises that find me. I fear my mistakes and I embrace and love that fear. Even though I no longer think of uncaptured time as lost, since I know I was there without “proof,” it has helped me appreciate the moments, images of moments, that I have found.

See his website here.

- London, UK, a cool 7 degrees tonight, listening to The Cinematic Orchestra’s “Burn Out”

28 stories came down two weeks ago. It was such an intense but great experience, everything from planning it to partying after it was over. The LCC Gallery is huge and was such a great space to show our work. For me, it was just nice to have my work up on the wall (for the first time) and talk to people about it. I had the chance to engage with some very interesting people on the opening night who posed thoughtful questions about what Im going to do with the work and what Im going to work on next… hmm… answers I didnt quite have at the time… Important, though. I’ve got some ideas now and I’ll try to share them as they take shape. For now, some images of my exhibition (courtesy of Marta Moreiras and Francesco Stelitano).

- london, uk, 1 degrees Celsius, on a crisp evening, listening to Yelle “ACDG” Remix

- london, uk, 5 degress celsius on a cool evening, listening to the clickety clack of fingernails of keyboards

I finally had a chance to see ‘Open See’ at The Photographer’s Gallery this weekend. I really love Jim Goldberg’s work and his experimental approach to storytelling and I particularly wanted to see this exhibition because of the theme on migration in/to Europe, very relevant to my Almeria work.

The exhibition was interesting, not only for the content, but for Goldberg’s unconventional approach to documentary photography. There is a mix of black and white, colour, large and medium format, and polaroid images. Many of the images have been drawn on in felt pen by the people he’s photographed–they write who they are, where they have been and how they feel, faces scratched out, coloured lines tracing bodies for no clear reason. Even the exhibition itself is unconventional with varied sizes, frames, and techniques, including a display case showing some pages of Goldberg’s journal notes along with ‘evidence’ he has collected.

I really like the way the whole project is put together, particularly in the way the project succeeds not in explaining migration in Europe but dynamically exploring its complicated, and often, contradictory, purpose, meaning and identity. It is partly what I was hoping to do with my own project and Im eager to explore this type of storytelling more.

In a recent interview in Huck Magazine, he mentioned he works with two Polaroid cameras, a Mamiya 7, a Leica, a 4×5 Linhof camera with a couple different backs (Polaroid and film), various types of digital cameras and a video camera! I like the idea of documentary projects being able to work using a variety of photographic tools. This makes more sense in an approach where photography is a tool rather than the purpose.

My biggest regret is not having bought the book when I had the chance in November. Back then it was 30 quid, now it is completely out of print and selling for over 100 pounds on Amazon. If Steidl ever has a reprint Ill be lining up. For now, Im planning to go see the exhibition again before it closes on the 17th.

- London, UK, 1 degree, cold overcast night, listening to Charlie Hunter Quartet f. Mos Def’s “Creole”

Short description:

This project explores dynamics and contradictions in the lives of African immigrants living and working in the plastic sea of greenhouses in Almeria, Spain. While looking for opportunities to help them achieve the dreams that led them to Europe, social, economic and legal barriers often force them to depend on the greenhouse industry for longer than they expect. Although they continue to believe in moving on, their lives slowly become more rooted as time passes.

Dawn in the 'plastic sea', Santa Maria de Aguila

I’ll be posting the book with more details soon…

- London, rainy evening, 9 degrees, listening to Miles Davis “So What”

Come check out the LCC MA Photojournalism & Documentary Photography exhibition tomorrow at the London College of Communication, Elephant & Castle, London!!

28 exciting works are up, including my work in Almeria this year, Permanently temporary (passing time in a plastic sea).

Looking forward to seeing you there! More info and details: www.28stories.co.uk.

- London, UK, rainy evening, 9 degrees, listening to Bob Dylan’s “Rock Me, Mama”

Cookie 1983 © Nan Goldin

My photography, in the end, didn’t do enough. It didn’t save Cookie. But over time, my photographs, and other photography about people with AIDS, has helped. It has definitely given a more human face to statistics. We need to keep putting images out there. But not ones that are digitally manipulated like almost everyone is doing now. In two years, there’ll be no more Cibachrome, supposedly. I hate digital images. We need to have reality instead of this believable-fiction crap that’s become so popular.

Nan Goldin, “Nan Goldin on Cookie Mueller” published on AmericansuburbX

- london, 8 degrees overcast night

Rhonda and Chantelle © Graham Miller

Trees and benches © Jeff Seltzer

(via Hey, Hot Shot! Blog)

- London, overcast and 9 degrees, listening to a song from ‘Amelie’ on this “catnip” video

Sorry I have been relatively silent but I have been back in Almeria, Spain, for almost 4 weeks now continuing on the project about African immigrants working in the greenhouse industry. I wrote about this earlier in April here. I have one more week left before heading back to London and trying to sort through everything to prepare for an exhibition in December.  Read on for a brief about the project…

Background

Almeria is a curious place for two key reasons: the ‘sea of plastic’ greenhouses that covers the landscape, and a complex economic system that feeds off the dreams of immigrants that hope it will be a stepping stone to their futures.

A desert wasteland, Almeria province historically was one of the poorest and unproductive parts of Spain. But over the past 40 years it has developed a resource intensive greenhouse industry that provides Europe with almost one-third of its winter vegetables. From the mountains to the sea, the landscape is covered in a “sea of plastic” from the intense number of greenhouses; look at Google Maps for an idea of what this looks like.

Since the 1990s, the industry has been primarily supported through immigrant labour; primarily from Romania, Morocco and the west Africa region. It started with contracted migrant labourers, but over the years, as more and more “pateras” (boats that cross illegally from Morocco to Spain) began arriving with illegal immigrants from Africa, there has been a huge labour force available within Almeria. Spanish people have virtually given up working as labourers in the greenhouses in favour of better jobs. It is a difficult job requiring you to spend 9 hours on your feet, bending over constantly and often working in 30+ temperatures. The minimum wage is 44 EUR per day, although right now most get paid between 30 and 35 EUR (some as low as 20 EUR!), and the work is seasonal and unpredictable.

Aside from the landscape, it is also a space where dreams and reality collide. For African immigrants in Spain. Almeria is at once an opportunity, a refuge and a trap. It is an opportunity because Spain’s laws allow for an illegal immigrant to obtain residency papers after 3 years if they can manage to obtain a work contract, and, until the past 2 years, it has been easy to find work, with or without papers. It is a refuge as it is the only place in the country where the police don’t make it a habit to ask for papers and hand out deportations, the cost of living is low and it is easy to find a ‘brother’ who can help you. And it is a trap because until you get your papers, it is difficult to move anywhere else in Spain or go home.

And now this crisis. Spain hasn’t shown signs of recovering yet, and unemployment is almost at XX%. Immigrants who managed to get their papers and move on to better work in other parts of Spain have returned to the greenhouses after losing their jobs. With the surplus of experienced legal labour available, those without papers are finding it more difficult to find work. And its even harder for those that have spent the last 3 years waiting to be eligible for residency only to find themselves without possibilities of getting a work contract now.

Where Spain was once a land of opportunity, right now many feel that they are no better off here (in some cases, worse) than they were in Africa. There is no typical description of their lives; they are with and without papers,  living from shacks to apartments, recently arrived to recently returned. Yet the key story they have in common is a desire to do something other than work in the greenhouses. Whether they have been here for 3 months or 13 years, they feel their situation is temporary, a step to bigger dreams.

Project

In April I came here for a few days with the intent of exploring the situation and getting a feel for the issues. This time I am here for almost 5 weeks with a clearer idea of the story I want to tell and more time to really talk to people and understand this strange place of transit.

There have been some really good recent photographic work done in the area that describes well the intensive greenhouse industry and the poor working conditions of migrant labourers. But what I really feel seems to be missing from all these visuals is a sense of people actually living here – not just as labourers but people with purpose and existence outside of the greenhouses.

So this project is a fluid attempt to describe the dynamics of ‘living’ in this temporary space. Mostly working in Roquetas de Mar, Las Norias and San Isidro, I am attempting to photograph life as it unfolds in the spaces I am invited to. At times there is a performance acted for the camera and for the foreigner that I am, but this becomes equally as important in showing the idiosyncracies in how they would like their lives to look.

A second part of the story involves personal narratives from those that are willing to share their story from me. Rather than use my own words to describe the complicated legal and emotional status people find themselves in, I hope that their stories will help to give a sense of why they came, why they stay, and where they want to go.

Product

I feel the best format for this project is a book. I have a mix of types of images – life, portraits and written stories. I am also working on a series of multiples – for example, of people on bikes – that I hope will serve to demonstrate some of the repetitiveness and monotony in life and landscape here much better than one picture could. I really do not want captions for the pictures as I want the stories to carry the context  but it may be an option to put captions as reference on the last page.

At the end, I will include a written piece for those that are interested in understanding the issue of immigration and greenhouses in Spain.

For the exhibition, I will have to think about the best way to present it – either a careful selection of 8×10 images, or a series of multiples might work combined with blown-up quotes of people’s stories. The story really needs more than just a few photographs to be effective.

Future plans

It definitely is not a complete project yet, there is still much to learn and I would really like to be able to follow some of the people’s stories down the road and also see how things change once the economy in Spain starts to pick up again.

Once I have had time to debrief I will write some self-reflection. As usual, the experience was overwhelming and I learned a lot about myself, my approach and the photographic experience.