around 30,000 years ago the descendants of the Navajo and Apache tribes of New Mexico crossed the Bering Sea from Siberia and became nomadic tribes hunting freely in the fecund mountains and desert where the trendy town of Santa Fe now sits….
Europeans whose culture was far more "advanced" by the 16th century and were looking for "expansion", religious freedom and gold, rather quickly conquered with horses and guns… they killed and dispersed the indigenous tribes of the American West….precious few remain now on reservations and some sell "traditional" Indian handcrafts to the upscale tourists who now stroll the streets of Santa Fe…now Cowboy and Indian culture exist side by side happily trading with each other and both mostly forgetting the rather bloody and often sordid past…
Carlan Tapp (above right) has not forgotten….he documents the current plight of the Navajo tribe with the modern day incursion by the "white man" … this time armed with oil and gas rigs and dynamite often destroying the land and lives of modern day Native Americans …..Carlan is a Native American from the Wicomico tribe of Virginia, but has spent his life here in the Southwest using his camera as a weapon to fight back….his powerful black and white imagery is a testament to the once dominant culture of this region…
every existing world culture today has, at one time or another, "replaced" another existing culture….it is the way of mankind…a part of human nature that has moved us all "forward" ….in the "big picture", war and conquering has given us tools and science and "advances" that would not have happened otherwise…but men and women like Carlan who write, paint, and photograph also recognize the loss, the sadness and the poignant nature of what seem to be historical inevitabilities…
Carlan, Jerry Courvoisier (yes, Mike’s father) and i are now in Santa Fe teaching students how to think about photography…ways to use their cameras for something other than documenting their family vacation….photography as art, photography as reflection, and perhaps photography as a tool for social awareness….
i am curious where many of you "stand" with regard to photography as a "weapon"….there is a deep history in our craft of photographers who have devoted their lives to "saving the world"….what do you think??
since our species seems to move forward at a pace few of us can comprehend, does the work of Carlan and others have any effect, or are cultural events just pre-ordained and we all "saddle up and ride" ahead with no control of our fate???
hey herve, david
i have a question, but not so much a stumbling block (i think): right now i’m researching a story i want to tell… and it all started with a ‘feeling’ that i had, something i saw, something i want to tell…
because my knowledge about it is so limited i research as much as i possibly can, and network with the people involved as much as i can. but that means ‘describing’ to them what i want to do, what story i want to tell, in order to get their approval…
but i’m soo sure that my story will adjust “as i go along”, latching on to interesting “sub-plots” along the way, or maybe even turning entirely in a different direction in the middle of it all…
it’s like you ‘build in’ a certain amount of ‘uncertainty’, or ‘gut-following’, or well, at least it seems like a good thing to do…
should i try to stick to the “original plan”, or do the “gut-following” thing without any plan at all, or should i look for a balance in between the two… i’m wondering how one can ‘keep focused’ while shooting a story, if there are soo many “other ways” to tell the same story, AND you only first see them while you are actually shooting. follow the gut or stick to the plan?
(i think i would be a gut-follower)
a
So everyone here in our happy little burg is reminding me that it’s my birthday and saying congratulations and trying to get me out the funk I’ve been in about this damn number thing, and there’s even some that are telling me that your fifties are probably the best time of your life: you’re not a kid anymore and when you have something to say people just assume that you have the life experience to back up what you’re saying. So I know that turning fifty shouldn’t bother me; it just does, though. Being fifty is like being on the top of a steep hill in a gold 1958 Cadillac convertible: you see the great view, you can see where you’ve been and where you’re going, you can feel the wind in your hair (or what’s left of it), you can feel sunshine warm upon your face. The trouble here is that the Cadillac is starting to inch down from the top of the hill, slowly picking up speed as it goes, and on this particular 1958 model Cadillac, there’s no seatbelts and the brakes are shot. Somehow or other, I dont think this does not bode well for the future.
AKAKY… happy birthday…
the secret is to open the door and put your foot down on the ground before the cadillac gains too much speed. that way, foot on the ground, in the caddilac, on top of the hill forever :-)
well i’m still on my way up that hill so better not listen to me.
enjoy today
a
AKAKY….
as a way of wishing you HAPPY BIRTHDAY, i will only remind you of a physics truism: as your old Cadillac, with no seat
belts and no brakes heads “DOWNHILL” , you will pick up speed!!! yeeeeeha!!!
cheers, david
DAVID MCGOWAN…
i am low on film…i am heading in your direction…any camera shops in your area selling 220 film??? if you could pick up from 5 to 10 rolls of either b&w or color 220 i would be most appreciative and i would pay you immediately…the weekend is the problem…
if i can make it until monday , i can have Magnum fedex me some, so this is just a small “emergency” request….
i will call you today in any case…my cell is 202 413-1137
cheers, david
Ok, let me check…
HERVE/ALL :))))
ABOUT THE ASSIGNMENT :))))…I HAVE FINISHED SHOOTING IT! :)))….i’ve shot 10 rolls + 1 roll in NC (what prompted the idea) and 1 roll from Prince Edward county (of which i will use 1 picture)…im still in the middle of writing the essay (which sad to say is gonna be long)…
as i have written, i adhered to david’s framework of 4-6 weeks. Here is the breakdown of my shooting schedule:
1) April 6th (beginning in the morning): i shot 1 roll of film with Lomo camera. 3 of the images i posted here in May as a tease
2) I shot 9 rolls of film in June over a 3 week period: my son’s graduation, my son getting a haircut and the rest in the History Museum: with my son, other people, students, myself, etc. (35mm camera, Lomo and Holga)
3) 2 weeks later i shot 1 roll of film (water and museum and swans) with pinhole camera.
I developed 1 roll and then RAN OUT OF MONEY. (im not shittin’ you all, i’ve got a son who returned from florida, had to drive/rent a car etc twice and drive to buffalo to pick him up and Monday he leaves for Russia): As much as this project means to me (and i stopped the other 2 photo projects i was working on (korean students and water/toronto), when u use film and have a family, all that takes priority. But, i am finished the shooting.
Also, as I wrote Patricia, by week #2, i’d realized that my project was not only about my father/my son/time (bones/museums) but about something else, and this changed the idea of what and how i was shooting. It came as a revelation as my son was away and i was shooting a student in front of a stuffed tiger…i realized that while there will be ALOT OF PICTURES of bones, as part of it’s repetitive beat, i realized that what i was trying to express, or felt in NC (my father) and about my son and the passage of time, was really something else…this came as i was reading another book….so, i’ve had to go back and re-write…and now, i’m thinking about the editing and what i want to show…either way, i will develop the rest of the film in 2 weeks (when I get paid)….basically, i’ll have everything done by the end of August: as i’d promised David…
in fact, David and I (fingers crossed) and Marina will finally have our final face-to-face :)))…anyway…..
i have aheared to david’s “assignment” (4-6 weeks on a theme). It was thrilling AND FRUSTRATING…cause as soon as i understood what i was really “hunting for”, i’d run out of money and i’d run out of time…but, i realize that this is just part of all the work i do anyway, the bigger “theme” probably of all my work…but, i wanted, above all, to prove to myself, that i could shoot an “assignment” in a short period of time (without the time for reflection and work) that puts my own pointofview/reaction to something…
Like Erica, i too am a slow slow digester….I love to think and stare. when i was a painter, i did the same…long thoughts, long silence, long stares…(imagine when i get my fingers on a corn pipe ;)) )…and then things burst for me (i write the same)…i am never satisfied with my work (writing or photography), but i love to look at it and think about it and fight with it and then, i shoot in a state of fever, like a more feverish meditation…i tend to walk alot (we both do) and think and look and “shoot” without my camera…same is when im looking at people or listening to what people say, etc…
but, my assignment is (at least the 1st stage) complete: now comes the final part: the edit, the development, the exposure…my hope is that i will take a cd to David and sit down with him (not right away, but after a day of drinking/talking etc) and see what he things…if not, i will send him the pics via ftp and figure it out…i actually LOVE editing…though im not very tough ;))…
ok, that’s all of what has happened to me and how i have tackled this…just to let you know HOW SERIOUS i was/am about David’s assignment: Marina and I went on a road trip to “photograph” and I ended up not shooting, instead being her “assistant” (but i got ideas for next time we go back to that town), because i didnt want to shoot anything else ($$) until i finished the Bones ofTime shit…that’s for real…
ok, hope all that has shed some insight into how i worked/thought during june/july….
SIDNEY :)))…
heart-=breaking depressing story….Ironically, yesterday i just started reading THE FATHER OF ALL THINGS, Tom Bissel’s remarkable book about Vietnam and his father…MUST reading…as i’ve said before many times here and at LS, vietnam has been a personal obsession of mine since childhood (have read alot alot) and even started a photo project last year (then stopped)…and the lessons of ‘Nam are very interesting vis-a-vis Iraq….in other words, we’ve learned absolutely nothing…both governmentally and societally…here’s a personal example:
Bush invaded Iraq the DAY I WAS MARRIED. The day before my wedding, i was scared that I wouldn’t be able to fly from Florida to Toronto (the discussion was that air traffic would be haulted). Good fortune rained (for that day), i flew. Next day: wedding, watched the news before our wedding: invasion…..3 months later: in iraq, ABC reported that 2 soldiers had been killed in 15 civilians…1 hr later, BBC reported same story: 10 soldiers killed and more than 60 civilians…i was stunned (gullible me)…you canNOT imagine the amount of (forget censorship) false reporting that the american public has had access too…also had a person friend (russian wpp winner photographer sergie maximishin) tell me about what was happening there (prior to the invasion): again, his reality was remakably different than what i’d read about in the states….
though, in this day and age it is shameful for anyone to plead ignornance or subtefuge on the behalf of media…there is enough places to get info…
but, the “handling” of the war (words and pictures) is sadly depressing…i do not hold the writers/photographers responsibile (there are plenty of pics to see), i also blame the editors and the organizations….
re-reading about Vietnam, especially the role of the media, it isnt always so heroic: many of the photographers and writers there too were NOT as heroic as we believe….
war is a mess, a blight and a debasement and incurs the debasement of all of us, including the way often some of our heroes behave….
it is still sad to me that most of the states’ citizenry views the iraq quagmire as “our grief” (the dying soldiers) instead of “their grief”…the families and lives in Iraq who have suffered death and loss and dismantlement by a factor of 100 fold, 1000 fold compared to our losses…
we, the fortune ones, have much to be ashamed of….
thanks sidney for the link…
running
bob
AKAKY!
HAPPY FUCKING BIRTHDAY DAD! :)))))))))))))))))….
NOW GET YOUR ASS OFF THE COMPUTER AND GO TAKE THAT CADDY FOR A SPIN AND WHILE YOU’RE AT IT PICK UP SOMEONE AND FUCKING PAINT YOUR BURG GOD-DAMNED NEON RED! :))))))))))
You are only 50 once! ;)))))))
we love you you big young swilling cowboy!
hugs
bob
From anything I read, Anton, the art comes from the UNbalance between the 2, plan and not planning. Both need to exist, and then, it’s all idiosyncracy (you) and serendipity (you and others). Photographic essays are a cake with as many recipes as cooks! To sum up:
you are on your own, Anton :-)))
David, I read your reply. but surely, when you went to shoot the TGV story, you did not take 6 weeks.
ASSIGNMENT, you said, not just essay. And you said too that the path of evry photographer, great and less great is filled with excuses. Ultimately, most successes are accomplished, when excuses are not made anymore. Failing is part of the ultimate successes. Especially taking pictures!
This is no complaint I made, but a little poking to have the other story in the assignement: the failing or stumbling, fumbling, back-stepping, or whatnot. It’s as interesting as the final result, as long as we see it as part of the process of being a photographer, not just excusing away.
Bob, I had no idea you were doing an assignment. I thought you asked to be given one later…
And Akaky, Emperor Akaky (just for the sound of it), Happy Birthday, indeed, to you.
Norman Camera in Kalamazoo (on Westnedge Street) has 220 color in 160 and 400 speeds. They’re open until 6pm. If you’re coming as far as Grand Rapids, their store here has the same.
I can pick that up if you like. My cell is 616 799 1034.
HERVE :))
I gave myself an assignment after David announced his “call for ideas”…originally, i was going to photograph a photographer (chris anderson) giving a workshop at CONTACT THIS YEAR…and then all that changed when i went to see my father….
I didn’t CARE about my work being shown in the first round, or second or third or whatever, of assignments…but i told david (and the blog) that i would shoot the assignment…i just didnt care about being “published” first or second or whatever….it was totally fine to give anyone who WANTED to publish/do an assignment first shot….
but I am ALWAYS shooting, always at work on a project (before David’s announcement, 3: my cities project (toronto/moscow/lisbo), Koreans (begun last year for EPF), Faces and a new one with Tamara V on Water)…
the thing was to tell David if you had an idea and then shoot it (which i did)…now, as for when he shows it (september, december, next year), I totally dont care :)))))…
ok, running :)))
hugs
bob
AKAKY
Sending much love & happy birthday wishes. No, I won’t say that my life began in earnest after turning 50 (although it did). I won’t say that hitting that half century mark isn’t significant & a bit unsettling (because it is). I won’t say that I look back now and wonder why it took me so long to get my act together (because I do).
What I will say is that life is a flat out adventure with more twists in the road than you can ever imagine. Does chronological age matter? Only if you let it.
Patricia
herve
spot on description… yes, i am on my own… it’s strange feeling, that ‘making my own recipe’, but i’m loving it :)))
peace
anton
anton said
‘how does one use the art/gallery/publishing/media channels efficiently to get one’s work out there? i guess most of us out there would like to master this particular craft of “marksmanship” as well …’
i’m still thinking on this camera-to-do-good theme..
anton.. i think it depends upon what you are trying to achieve.
when i photographed the tibetan family over time i could not find a publisher for the work.. westernization was not something newspaper supplements were up for showing in the mid 90’s.. and i had good feedback from the guardian, times, independent and so on.. but the story of the village being a rough place.. of tibetan culture in india dissipating due to western and indian influences was not of interest at the time.. in the mid 90’s it’s not what people wanted to hear.. the best i could do to show the work was exhibit it in london.
on the other hand, with music work i have found it relatively easy to make changes to peoples perception – particularly when giving coverage to places which have recently suffered a war..
outsiders have a problem getting-over the negative coverage a place receives during a war, and most journalists move on once the war is over, leaving a population of youth who are just like us.. like the same music.. want to put on festivals.. want to forget the war and what has gone before.
weapon might not be the right word for this kind of work.. it’s more like a shoe horn perhaps.. easing people into viewing a place differently.
experiences in northern ireland, serbia, croatia.. the youth of these counties are always more ready to move on than people elsewhere give credit, and these places are safe to visit and enjoy.
the same was true of eastern europe in the early 90’s, where records were so expensive that people would DJ with tape to tape machines.. they still do in places (estonia, bulgaria.. and on)
the work of giving these places positive coverage is really easy to get published – and not just from music mags – because i think this is one area the media can be clear about and editors want to help out.. it’s easy to direct these bullets, as it were, and the effects can be astonishing.. helping a single event, a single musician.. in tern giving tourists a unique experience.. and a diffrent perception.
funny.. i have bought people over.. friends and more.. to places mentioned above..
in the case of croatia my coverage directly led to some people from my city in the u.k. visiting.. many of them DIDN”T EVEN KNOW THERE HAD BEEN A WAR THERE> they may be very ignorant, but even so.. it is easy to see this work having positive results..
after 4 years covering the recovery of derry ireland, into a thriving a beautiful city full of musical talent and passionate souls the mayor, lynn flemming, invited me to the council houses for afternoon whiskies..
i’ve now hooked up some derry musicians with promoters in croatia and serbia.. since the derry youth is a long way ahead of the balkans youth in heeling after war.. the derry family will help the serbian family.. and teh croatian family.. good things spinning around everywhere and while it is initiated on the back of a photo commission the positive effects can be far reaching and genuinely stable.
doing the photographs and getting them published is only a small part of how the media needs to help.
endlessly rewarding, as this work is, it is also entirely positive.. there are people who need help who cannot simply be helped by photographing the cause (war) or the symptoms (poverty, unemployment.. suffering high rates of youth suicide.. drugs and alcohol abuse..)
sometimes pointing our camera at the most obvious problems might be interesting photographically, and for the gallery and book buying public to mull over, but it may well NOT be the best way of actually helping the people at the heart of the story..
sometimes looking away from the problem and towards the positive ‘whats being done’ story can genuinely bring about perceivable result, can be easier to publish and can lead to free whiskey.
i think a photographers motives have to be critically viewed.. since it is the motives which will in tern lead to a client.
i think too often photographers think the only way to cut-their-teeth is buy seeing tough things.. proving themselves on the metaphorical battlefield is not necessary though, and might be doing harm.. you know.. there are still photographers visiting derry looking for wars and trouble.. a ‘my first war’ attitude is not welcome and does not see the problem through to the solution in this case. i’m sure the same is true of palastine and israel.. although there is trouble, it is not the only story.. and might not help the best.
so.. is a photographer working to genuinely help people or is a photographer working on a more selfish bent.
partying in the bogside for me, a protestant englishman, was hardly the safest place, nonetheless it worked out okay.. i have good contacts with both sides of ‘the troubles’ and i’m allowed to work unhindered.. sometimes shielded from those who react badly to my presence.
the work gets published everywhere and my friends.. their friends.. their friends friends.. want to visit once they see the coverage.. and then they support the place.. and so on.. good work is done.
this is all personal experiance.. of course there are obvious instances where photographing the causes and symptoms of a problem are needed..
still i would say – from the news reports it would seem afghanistan is awash with war in every corner.. but the fact is that the country is not.. it’s just that many of the photographers and journalists only go there looking for the war.. and so all we see is war..
rambling on a sunday.
i love sundays.
i exhibited some of my derry and belfast work at the void gallery in derry last month..
here it is now..
http://bophoto-mumblings.blogspot.com/2008/07/festival-exhibition-in-derry-ireland.html
Akaky,
Happy birthday! I hit the decade mark in December, but for some reason the year before that one is the bigger deal to me. The “0″ year is a beginning — a whole new decade to start. Go for it.
Joan
bob said
‘you canNOT imagine the amount of (forget censorship) false reporting that the american public has had access too…’
that is a fact, although i have to add that the u.k, although marginally better, is still lagging way behind much of europe. it’s right to say that there is always a way of getting information – it is out there, even if it can be a balancing act of reading right wing and then liberal reports to find some balance.
sidney..
thats was an interesting read.. i had been following zoriah’s blog regarding his own expulsion from the in-bed system.. i had no idea how common an occurrence what he experienced has become..
i shared emails with a photographer working iraq through lightstalkers once.. he believed that journalists outside the green zone in bagdad without protection had around 15 – 20 minuets before they would be kidnapped.
what this means for reporters is that they depend upon the army for any kind of access.. and the bias in the mind of the resistance groups in iraq becomes clear.. the reporters seem to work for the soldiers.. so the reporters become targets.. and so back to embeds.. the cyclic thing..
so, much of the reporting is done from hotel rooms – using footage and stills shot by fixers and iraqis hired for the purpose.. not only do these people have an extremely short life expectancy, (and little thanks for the task), they are also not trained journalists..
therefore even reports showing up on bbc news.. with footage.. are not dependable in their accuracy, since the accounts of events do not quote from witness experience of the journos..
the reluctance of the u.s. to want it’s population to see the mess which it’s colonial pursuits are causing is totally understandable, and it’s not the first time a population has been misled by government in these circumstances..
the british empire was built on the hard work and lives of englands working class, who were consistently lied to, misled and ill-informed of the real nature of our colonies, the purposes of them and the people we slaughtered maintaining them.
what i find more worrying than the lack of traditional reporting this time, is that most intelligent people know we were lied to.. know the case for war was false.. know the history of the u.s. in the region.. know it’s about the u.s. economy, colonialism… oil pipeline in afghan.. oil fields in iraq.. money..
there is now so much irrefutable evidence of what is going on that zoriah, snapping away at body parts, is hardly needed.
the daily slaughter is now common knowledge.. and what worries me is the precedent it sets.. politicians no long seem to care whether they are covering their tracks or not..
they know 24hour news is at the expense of depth of reporting.. and they know that if they lie to us.. kill 4000 u.s. soldiers.. more than 100 000 iraqi civilians (’human rights watch’).. no one will be held accountable.
in fact i believe blair and bush had an arrangement with the hague in which they could NOT be bought in for war crimes should the invasion it self prove the case for war was flawed.
while youtube shares war crimes caught on camera by soldiers or helicopter fixed cameras, (gunship killing farmers, tank running over a car for fun), and the absolute slaughter of civilians goes on and on… (dozens in afghanistan last week when 3 bombs were dropped on.. a wedding party.. crossing the hill into the next valley), how can this be ignored?
it cannot – and we don’t even need zoriahs photos of body parts to know the truth of it.. it is there.. in our faces.. the numbers on the news.. the words in the newspapers..
but.
how to stop it?
individually perhaps we cannot.. collectively we can.
and that leads to another post entirely… concerning the struggle promoters now have putting on interesting, non-commercial gatherings.
at youth events, dance parties and raves people talk.. exchange idea’s.. organize for protest and share information about what is going on..
in the u.s. you now have anti-rave laws.. there are tight restrictions on the gathering of young people, which are now also in force in england under the name, the ‘criminal justice bill’..
which states that any gathering of more than 4 people listening to music ‘characterized by a repetitive beats’, can be broken up by the police and equipment seized and impounded…
in short it is a sweeping-up bill which authorizes the dissolving of any gathering, for any reason.
it is not just the media which is being suffocated anymore.. it is our civil liberties and basic rights.. rights which could lead to change much more than the organized, commercial gatherings which are permitted.
what to do.. what to do..
have another cigarette,
and curse sir walter raleigh
for being such a stupid git.
i’m so tired
maybe it’s because i’m partial to photography but i’m inclined to agree – like your adventure into a Satmar Hasidic wedding, photographers often possess both the happy relationship with chance and the willingness to stick a lens in someone’s face (and, too, the skill to do it without actually being obtrusive) to reveal serious truths – truths people may never see otherwise. i do believe…