finally….springtime…i do not know about you, but for me spring just does not come quite quick enough….spring brings hope and promise and well, just warmer weather is just fine with me….and spring is just the time to clean house….throw out all the junk one accumulates over the winter…both physical and psychological ….time for us to begin anew….this spring brings challenges for all of us….with the lovely green of spring , this year brings us to face a world where we might all just have to do with less….
wherever i go now photographers are flat out scared…fearful of the future….businesses are closing down everywhere…magazine circulations have dropped leaving little money for assignments, galleries are not selling as before, advertising agencies no longer have big budgets for photography, and newspapers are cutting their photo staffs drastically, if not going out of business entirely….i do not know one single professional photographer who is not affected by our global financial crises….
at the very same time i see amazing work being done…one way or another, the best will thrive in the long run….photographers and agencies who can move with stealth will move forward…those with too much overhead will have to do serious “spring cleaning” in order to survive….this is our new reality…
as i start now to look through the 1,029 entries that came in for the Emerging Photographer Fund grant, i am so so impressed with the high standard of work being done by so many….a truly staggering tour de force of worthy work was submitted to me here on BURN…..to choose only one seems right off the top somehow unfair, since i would so love to help so many more…..i am not the chooser, and i am pleased to not be the chooser of the recipient for this grant because i would be very hard pressed to make a decision among so many worthy photographers…i will do all i can to at least give those who do not receive this funding at least as much opportunity as i can give them with some solid exposure here on our forum in the coming months…
do i see a solid future for these emerging photographers as we go through these difficult times?? of course i do…hard times befall almost every generation…and harder times than these to be sure….now is just the time to share…band together…for mutual benefit and creative growth….and we must all throw away what we do not need which is historically what led the citizens of Valencia, Spain (above) to create the spring Fallas…
so many photographers and so few resources to finance them as professionals will lead many to search for other sources of income….however, the true visionaries will do just fine….and it has always been so…..
how do you see it?? bad times, or just time to clean house???
i think it’s what we make of it.. fee are disappearing from mags, as you say david, but there is stioll lots of opportunity for the right specialization and the right photographer..
there has always been a ruckus about competition in photography and it will always be like that.. diversifying business interests and living cheaply has always been the name of the game and those prepared to continue with that will win through.. disappointing as it is that even time magazine is perusing flickrs copyriught fee collections for free-bees there are still plenty of ways to get ahead.
i thought the digital / internet storm of change would have settled by now.. although perhaps it’s going to be a few decades of change in this young industry rather than a few years..
david
ps.
would love to see the EPF entries.. great that some of them will feature here..
I’m rather optimistic by nature (pheraps because I don’t have to make a living out of my photography ;): in general for media this is a time for exploring new way of doing/sharing things imo; content is king, but there are continuous leaps in how content can be put together and distributed. Burn is for sure a hell of an interesting experiment from this point of view. The tough part is that in general it’s still difficult to figure out who will pay for what…
Yesterday I was talking with two editors of local (small town in Northern Italy) newspapers: they just implemented an online version of their journals, but this was considered a NOT strategical development (since most of the revenues are still coming from the paper). They answered my doubts saying: “We know that in USA newspapers are closing but all that is so far away…”. The funny (sic) thing is that some ten years ago somebody was saying the same about the local core business (textile), China seemed so far away, and now my district’s economy has almost collapsed.
PS: here are my spingtime (grin) pictures from Moscow last week: http://www.abelequaregna.com/temp/moscow/
Posted this on my stupid blog a month ago:
Stupid Thought
The economy will weed out the photo market
and leave only the strong stalks standing.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/dgrq9m
….” the economy will weed out…etc”…
Woahhhhow..!
What a revelation!!!???!
Good morning y’all.. From ugly San jose once again..
I see no less photo opps.. out there..
In fact the opposite..!
I already quit the freaky towtruck for “pro” photography..
through recession times.. what.. Where is the problem?..
“spring” is on the way .. and of course the “BAD WEEDS”
should stay out of work..!
We only smoke and need the good weed…!
Let the “bad weeds”, “bad newspaprz” and Expired Ideas fall
like bad teeth..
That is in fact a good thing..
There is no such a thing as recession ..
It’s just the Death of the Decadent and the Lazy
that smells so horribly bad…
And enough with the heartless the Emotional and the
Scared…
:))))))))
( people, leave your fears at home and home and go to work..
Please..)
Solid (for solids)…
Spring…
Optimistic!
Great work up here as usual….I am really enjoying a re-emergence of the critical eye. The craft is going to be what we make it, which suits me fine……
I believe in the future…
Tao Te Ching
32
The Way has no true shape,
And therefore none can control it.
If a ruler could control the Way
All things would follow
In harmony with his desire,
And sweet rain would fall,
Effortlessly slaking every thirst.
The Way is shaped by use,
But then the shape is lost.
Do not hold fast to shapes
But let sensation flow into the world
As a river courses down to the sea.
-Lao Tze
EVERYTHING is transformation David….bring it on! :))
running
b
Talking about Spring, APRIL IN PARIS is not a song, but my schedule this year. Leaving Monday morning…
And that’s the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOW0kWhUKDo
Revoir PARIS
Un ptit sejour d’ un mois
Revoir Paris
me retrouver chez moi……
people will always love stories, and good story telling will always be in high demand…
the way we best hear, see, learn, and feel may change and evolve with civilization and technology,
but it will never go away. bad times? maybe a little scary, certainly harder to make it full time…but rainy days are mixed with sun…
“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.”
In short, dont sweat it; these people arent, now that they’re not washed out anymore (I hope)
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/20111
The blossom, the nests, Sex, renewal, that colour new oak leaves are around now what’s not to like. I like the winter as well though.
It’s defiantly a tuff time to pay the rent taking pictures but then it’s a tuff time to be a structural engineer. Things change and technology forces changes on people. You don’t see many people getting paid to play the piano at the front of the cinema nowadays but plenty of people make a living playing the piano. I’m sure every thing will work out fine in the end…. touch wood.
THAT’S HOW WE SEE IT !!!
Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta (563-483 BC), the founder of Buddhism:
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.”
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
GOOD ENERGY TO US ALL.
CIVILIAN…
this is PANOS from VENICE BEACH..
I changed my name to protagoras for you..
Welcome back..
( and don’t forget to order my Venice book..:)))
Civilian… Also..
Have you noticed that many think I am you??
What an honor:))))
hello everyone
thank you for your inspiring thoughts, quotes and images.
i found out about this little thing earlier this year.
now addicted.
about our situation:
i am stoked to be alive in these times.
so much change
and such beautiful things…
but i am a realist too.
i am just finishing a 2 yr photo school
and am about to be pushed back into the working class
excited to bust my ass
because even if i cannot pay for things with my camera
i do other things; oh well
we will still make pictures!!
i feel lucky to have found a little niche within photography
fly fishing
there is competition
but the cream rises
and hard work is recognized
many thanks
PROTAGORAS AS PANOS SKOULIDAS,
You are me and I am you…I am DAVID, I am BOBBY BLACK, I am KATIE, I am GRACIE, I am DAVIDB, I am JIM,
I am DARIA ( I wish ,I wish I am Daria) I am ALL of you …and you are ME.
Ok, I might loose signal pretty soon…
I got your second burb book too. Any discounts for CIVILIANS? just asking
I fall in line with the majority here. I feel excitement instead of despair for the future. Maybe we’ll see a rebirth of photographic experimentation soon. I know I wouldn’t mind picking up a mainstream magazine and not seeing one of those generic lit portraits that dominate the printed media at the moment. And with the internet opening up and increasingly becoming a paying avenue for photography, things seem bright. Well, the glimmer may be dim now, but it’s brightening. Even more, with such a huge increase in visuals, I think we’re working on a golden age of visual sophistication in audiences (that statement’s got a nasty paternalistic tone to it; why should audiences ever be considered unsophisticated?) but with so many websites and magazines and other media devoting time and space not only to visuals but to their understanding and criticism as Andy said above (a brave new world where Fox News finds time to discuss sophisticated visual characteristics of a magazine’s cover treatment of Palin (nevermind that they came down on the side that the shot needed more photoshop fakery…)) I think we’ve got more than a little hope for the future.
Unfortunately, I am gloomy about the nature of mainstream journalism as a whole in the future. Less space and time devoted to investigating and reporting important stories in prominent places is a bad thing. With niche publications (and photography as David mentioned in the post above) comes a division of the audience among many disparate sources. The BIG stories will reach everyone, but smaller still important stories will find it harder to raise awareness. Journalism will find a way to survive, and there’s no question of that. But getting the story out to people who don’t realize they need to know about it, rather than to an audience that seeks out the story, is a major concern.
Why is it that some of the best art and music seem to come out of the “worst” times?
DAH and burn readers worldwide,
Down here in Australia it can be hard to find a)assignments b)funding (like everywhere) but I have to say that the hardest thing to find here is communication/critique/apraisal of work with others who have a personal and dedicated approach to their photography, as well as editors, art directors, curators etc…
We only have 20 million people in this country, and as you can probably imagine finding people you trust to talk about one’s work can be difficult. Thankfully the internet makes US based forums like Burn available to us all around the world. It really is an engaging and supportive of network of people here (director, helpers and readers alike). I really like the attitudes I read here of people continuing to work, regardless of assignments/finances being readily available.
Of course our work will continue and flourish. Just keep at it and keep up the reading, the discussion, the interaction, the support and most of all, keep the cameras in hand.
Sean.
Speaking of spring clean outs… One more thing.
To help out anyone who uses 6×6 format, I have 14 packs of 100% transparent KALME neg sleeves (I use 35mm and 6×7) that I will happily post if someone wants them.
Each pack has 25 sleeves. New.
Free, only pay postage. International okay (from Australia).
Cheers,
Sean.
Change is the only constant. How can you rise up if you don’t embrace it? Through change, we see good and bad times. If you put positive thoughts and energy out into the universe, it will find its way back to you. Energy and the power of thought have much more influence than some realize…it is the key to unlocking most people’s dreams. Dream big or go home. I see no other way. You can decide to succeed or to fail…how you utilize your talents and bag of tricks is up to you…but dwelling on the negative is putting up your own roadblock…rise above it, and it will happen. Edgar Allan Poe was wise to observe that “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” So keep striving towards your dreams…and you will hold to the key to its matching door. Luck is when opportunity meets preparation…are you prepared?
Above mentioned neg sleeves are 4 ring by the way….
Times of crisis? Sounds like collective whining to me. Outside of the West, the “crisis” is a daily status quo, but with a lower dose of opportunity and a higher level of danger. It’s been like that for decades. Yet photographers continue to help develop the journalistic grind and artistic need of their societies.
Ask yourself how many African photographers you know of. Then eliminate the those of North African and South African origin. You started with few and are left with almost none. Yet there are growing glimmers: emerging PR/marketing photographers in Angola, a growing artistic community in Namibia, emerging independent journals in Tanzania, expanding modeling firms in South Africa.
Latin America is crippled by decades of devalued currencies, high interest rates, organized crime that make owning a camera difficult and using it dangerous. Nonetheless most countries in the region have a deeply rooted attachment to photography and visual imagery at all levels. The Bienals of Mexico City and Sao Paulo, plus FotoArte and FotoSeptiembre are all examples of how photography is promoted at a NATIONAL level.
If photography is a growing field in these places, then surely in established countries it is in no real risk. If anything, I hope the “spring cleaning” will level the playing field and give those barbarians at the gates, a more legitimate place in Rome.
Photography is try to find your place at the right moment and… clic… not so easy but great!
Life? exactly the same exercice.
Bad times? Mayby yes mayby not so.
Just trying to enjoy life.
Cheers Alberto
JAN. There are countless amazing African photographers working.
mohamed camara
andrew dosunmu
doa aly
nontsikelelo
luis basto
omar d
fatou kande senghor
kay hassan
ali chraibi
zwelethu mthethwa
mamadou gomis
sada tangara
……… are just a few whose work you can check out.
Are they getting the coverage they deserve is another question entirely.
same goes for south america, cuba, korea and pretty much anywhere there are people.
Jan
“Latin America is crippled by decades of devalued currencies, high interest rates, organized crime that make owning a camera difficult and using it dangerous.”
YOU SAID IT!!! I disagree with one part of this statement, even disorganized crime makes using a camera dangerous. On one hapless Saturday i was “asaltado” twice in 20 minutes. They didn’t get my camera though. Unmarked camera bags, rangefinders (in spite of Jim saying they were killed off in the 50′s), walking briskly and knowingly, a good sense of humor, a sharp eye, not showing fear, very fast film and a steady hand all help too. And probably decent Karma doesn’t hurt.
Civilian mass Audience:
But are you the walrus?
DAH
i think every field has it’s share of ups and downs for all sort of reasons and as always, the highly talented, creative, hard working, dedicated, luckiest and most passionate about what they do will eek out a living until some, not all, will make it big. The rest will find something else that makes them happy and successful. The question is, can you see yourself doing anything else? Truly?
Nice photo, love the upstretched arms..i can really feel the emotion.
best
katie
VIVA AUSTRALIA , VIVA EUROPE, VIVA AFRICA, VIVA AMERICA, VIVA ANTARCTICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you CARRIE for the energy, “are you prepared”?…
Thank you SEAN… bring sleeves and cuffs, I am bringing ouzo!
Thank you PANOS and HERVE…Viva DARIA!!
“Beauty is a form of genius — is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.”
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet and dramatist.
KATHLEEN FONSECA wrote On “Times and Timing”:
” There is nobody like you.”
Babie Katie…o))
YES, THERE IS NOBODY LIKE YOU!!!!!!ALL OF You.!!!!!
Cause each one of us, we are the ENERGY ,we are the creators of the Universe, and we are Unique !!!
We COUNT on you.
P.S Where are you MGracie? Kibbutz party, New York Is BURNing…I am sending ouzo and keftedes:))))
PLATO no need to reply but with for your BIG heart there is no bra size to fit you. I already checked.
There’s not much we can do about this economic mess, but go out and shoot. Worrying about it does no good whatsoever.
Personally, I’m looking for internships at the moment (newspapers, before they all shrivel up and die). Short of that, I’m outfitting a van and saving a bunch of cash, ready to take to the road. Finishing up a photojournalism program and excited about having time to shoot in the future without the rigors and schedule of school.
Not feeling hindered in the slightest.
MY KATIE,
WARLUS…? Dunno?
You know what is PLATO’S fate…Don’t ya?
HIS key is awaiting moderation…
You don’t want that to happen? Don’t ya? ? Right?
Warlus no more for civilians!!!!
P.S KAT-SMART-ASS…Funniest today, Kiss our mommy…
CMA..cuddle my artichoke..
dammitman you make me laugh!
besos, abrazos and coothie-coos..
Jared:
not feeling hindered??? YOU GO! GOOD LUCK!!!!!
(I read your post real fast and thought you said “without the rigors and schedules of alcohol”..my eyes are tri-x’d..)
zzzzzzzzzzzz
(goodnight Gracie!)
katiesapphokatkathleen
Hi there;
There is also the theory that in general magazine & book sales go up in a recession. The reason being that people hunker down at home, they buy more books and mags and hire dvd’s instead of going out. Here in NZ that is happenning. Also, sales of “tightening your belt” type articles are up too!!
“Outside of the West, the “crisis” is a daily status quo”; how true!!! But even here, I semm to be broke most of the time too, and just say what recession? I had bugger all before and that hasn’t changed!!
I think it’s a time to think positive. When you wake up in the morning, check your pulse, and if it’s still there, how can it be a bad day?
Hopefully this will go through without be trashed as spam… again…
Cheers everyone.
@ John G – It is exactly my point, although I thing I rather muffled the message by noting new trends rather than some established names. There are “countless” and yet unknown. Precisely because there are “countless” there is ample proof that even in the toughest conditions, there is opportunity. And this crisis hardly counts as a real term of hardship. Thanks for the names, there are definitely some I will want to learn more about.
@ Kat….wish I were so lucky. Last time I was held at gun point I thought “I just never seem to get used to this…” and instantly realized you never are supposed to get used to having a gun against your head…
OUPS!!! VIVA ASIA too!!!
I am a dunno ,
I am a walrus,
I am a rainbow,
I am a cloud,
I am the CLASSIC BEEF around…
LOVE U ALL
SMILE to the universe and The universe will smile back
VIVA ouzo
Thinking back.. 1,029 entries?
Already summer!
Just had This guy http://www.singergallery.com/gallery.cfm?artistID=151 staying with us for a few days.
He came to do a portrait of bret. he seems to have got around the problem of looking for work by decking out a photo car and touring it all over europe, taking pictures, doing shows and getting drunk a lot.
On the subject of self portraits, i guess we have all tried it. I fail everytime as I cannot seem to get near this:- http://www.flickr.com/photos/brettwalker/3238408237/ Portrait of me .
potatoshopped to hell and back, but fully {IMO] in service of THE IMAGE.
JOHN GLADDY,
with your face the Universe definitely smiles on you.
There is no failure in the universe… check around you…
We are build to PERFECTION!!!!
Not running!!!
hahahaha.
this is the way to spring clean…
a blonde clean mop with a dose of bleached-may-become-dirty HUMOR!!
but seriously, i thought I HAD the biggest heart… 46GG.
but i guess, HE has the biggerest one.
(civilian checked – his word is gospel to me)
AKAKY: I notice that CMA isnt you.
AKAKY IRL: He isnt you too, which is more or less par for the course, I think. You dont want to be you, either.
AKAKY: Yeah, that’s true enough, I guess.
CMA: Yes, You guessed right. He can’t hold it anymore.
CMA IRL: Akaky is me and I am Akaky.
CMA: How does it feel?
CMA IRL: It sucks. F&^*K
Jan
Crap! The day they hold a gun to my head is the day i finally check out of Hotel Costa Rica. It has happened to 2 out of 4 members of my immediate family. The reason it took me so long to get serious about photography is because every camera i ever had was stolen. Finally i got extremely defensive and installed an iron closet door in my bedroom with a dead bolt. Only one other person knows where the key is hidden. I take only Bessa RF’s OR a Nikon FG OR a Yashicamat 124g to the street, dress inconspicuously, speak fluent Spanish, never ever wear any jewelry except for a good luck watch and i walk the walk. The M7 stays home..i don’t even know why i have it..it’s just asking for trouble. Even the Yashicamat is problematical because it attracts too much attention. Jan, i think the fact that i’m a woman helps. i doubt i could have shot the streets of San Jose as often or for as long as i have if i was a man. i have gotten in under the radar by being a woman and i take full advantage of my gender.
Two US photo-journalists sent by magazines recently to shoot the “Conquistador” 4 day bicycle race that attracts cyclists the world over had all their equipment (and photos) stolen on the third day of the race from an area restricted to just press and cyclists. A friend of mine who is a naturalist from Colorado lost $20,000 of equipment from the safe of a B&B while he was dining out with the owners. Another Costa Rican friend had all his equipment stolen out of the trunk of his car from his own driveway when he went home for lunch. This stuff happens constantly and breaks my heart. I am so very sorry that you were robbed so violently. We see these photo essays shot in the third world and often we have no concept of the personal risks and danger that is undertaken by the photographers. It’s always tense, dangerous and often terrifying shooting in these countries. But it is also thrilling and life affirming. Still, the day i see a gun pointed at me..i don’t know..i know it will happen eventually. It’s the law of numbers. But i can’t say what my reaction will be.. To be a working photographer here..wow..i think the least of the worries would be getting work. It’s far more urgent a concern to stay alive and make it back home with your camera.
best
kat~
2 from Beckett, and that’s it for the week….
NEITHER
to and fro in shadow from inner to outer shadow
from impenetrable self to impenetrable unself
by way of neither
as between two lit refuges whose doors once
neared gently close, once away turned from
gently part again
beckoned back and forth and turned away
heedless of the way, intent on the one gleam
or the other
unheard footfalls only sound
till at last halt for good, absent for good
from self and other
then no sound
then gently light unfading on that unheeded
neither
unspeakable home”
and from the end of The Unnamable:
It’s the last words, the true last. Or it’s the murmurs: the murmurs are coming, I know that well. No, not even that. You talk of murmurs, distant cries, as long as you can talk. You talk of them before and you talk of them after. More lies: it will be the silence (the one that doesn’t last) spent listening, spent waiting (for it to be broken, for the voice to break it). Perhaps there’s no other, I don’t know. It’s not worth having, that’s all I know. (It’s not I, that’s all I know.) It’s not mine. It’s the only one I ever had? That’s a lie: I must have had the other, the one that lasts – but it didn’t last. (I don’t understand.) That is to say it did: it still lasts. I’m still in it. I left myself behind in it. I’m waiting for me there. (No, there you don’t wait, you don’t listen.)
I don’t know: perhaps it’s a dream, all a dream. (That would surprise me.) I’ll wake, in the silence, and never sleep again. (It will be I?) Or dream (dream again), dream of a silence, a dream silence, full of murmurs (I don’t know, that’s all words), never wake (all words, there’s nothing else).
You must go on, that’s all I know.
They’re going to stop, I know that well: I can feel it. They’re going to abandon me. It will be the silence, for a moment (a good few moments). Or it will be mine? The lasting one, that didn’t last, that still lasts? It will be I?
You must go on.
I can’t go on.
You must go on.
I’ll go on. You must say words, as long as there are any – until they find me, until they say me. (Strange pain, strange sin!) You must go on. Perhaps it’s done already. Perhaps they have said me already. Perhaps they have carried me to the threshold of my story, before the door that opens on my story. (That would surprise me, if it opens.)
It will be I? It will be the silence, where I am? I don’t know, I’ll never know: in the silence you don’t know.
You must go on.
I can’t go on.
I’ll go on.
Goo-goo-ga-choob!
Kat,
Multiple thefts, a few rapes and half a dozen murders, so I left home for safer pastures for a while. But I found I miss the chaos and the urgent reality of it all. It is also not all Hell, there are plenty of moments of beauty and peace. Indeed, I feel no urgency or need in documenting all of this injustice, and instead challenge myself to find/create images that exist despite it.
Case in point: I was in Mauritania earlier last year. I went North to South overland via Morocco to Noudhibou, where there is an enormous ship graveyard. 400-500 ships in a bay, abandoned due to insurance fraud. Fascinating I thought, so I went to see this for myself. This is also where Senegalese immigrants illegally embark toward the Canary islands. They are employed in sub-human conditions in the fishing trade. Kilometers and Kilometers of huts where they cut up fish, dry shark fins and save enough money and salvage enough oil drums until they build themselves a raft. Mauritania abolished slavery in 1981 and then again a couple of years ago. So slaves are still a very strong reality—or at the very least indentured servants. The intersection of slaves, illegal immigrants and poverty is of course extremely volatile and a great PJ assignment.
Due to various mis-adventures I spent time in detention with the immigrants, slept in a mine-field, was threatened (and gun pointed) by the military police, accused of espionage and was let free by a generous guard. On the flip side I was given absolute protection and shelter by strangers who took me into their homes, fed me, clothed me, and made sure I had everything I could to complete my shoot of the boats. They introduced me to local dignitaries and artists, and we spent nights debating sex and Sufism while drinking tea and milk.
Despite corruption on a grand scale, theft was never an issue and my camera stayed with me the whole time. I had an opportunity most PJ photographers would dream for: Inside time and perspective with the issue of immigration and slavery. I took few pictures, of this. Mostly because this was my private story and adventure and exposing this intimacy was not my pictorial purpose. I was going to Noadhibou to see the boats, period. Honestly, I wasn’t shocked by the human suffering, because I’ve been around it most of my life in one form or another. I shared bread and water, contacted families upon my release, and tell the story, but to document it… To expose the slave/servants was partially dangerous to my well being, but mostly to theirs; in some cases it was unfair to my generous hosts, who were risking antagonizing the villainous military by taking me in. And yet it wasn’t unfair at all to not document–honor, beauty, safety, and politics each found its niche and was respected in ways that Mungo Park or Livingston would understand, but few today can appreciate. All of us knew this and respected this in each other.
The immigrants wanted help where I could concretely and immediately offer it–just like my needing food and water. They knew I would go free before them so they asked me to contact their families and convey messages, they did not want or need a political essay. The servant/slaves knew I could not do anything for them but knew that by being a foreigner I would personally treat them as men, and this meant a replenishing of base honor and humanity. My hosts gave protection and (without need to say so) expected respect to their customs. All of them were intrigued by my traveling so far to see dead boats.
I realize my behavior is criticized by many. “How could you not document it, so as to expose it?” It was a personal experience. Also, and perhaps I am deluding myself, but highlight the symmetry of the wrecks, and find anthropomorphic elements in them is also telling the unseen story. For every print I sell, the story is told (Hell, I am telling the basics of the story here too). And when the pictures are seen elsewhere, the owner will likely say “This is from Nouadhibou. I met the photographer”… And my story and that of all I met will be retold, without needing to show it….The horizon we see is as much made by what is present as by what remains veiled.
Peace
I love spring cleaning. I very much believe that in order for new energy to enter, there needs to be a pruning of that which no longer serves a purpose or is no longer appropriate to one’s growth. Sometimes the most powerful cleaning is of one’s psyche..
That’s a phenomenal number of entries. It will be great to see many of these works featured here in the coming months.
peace and goodness
Spring cleaning? Great! Pity we’re heading into winter way down here!!! The first frosts have hit, autumn has started..
TO ALL MY FELLOW CIVILIANS IN ITALY.
Greek RED CROSS is coming. We will be with you in few hours. Our hearts are with you. ITALY we are coming.
PLEASE, PLEASE,SEND GOOD ENERGY to our Civilians and Philosophers in ITALY …
SEE ya soon
The whole cosmos is with Italy right now
jan,
i have read your account many many times and i had it sit with me throughout the day today. it didnt sit well in my stomach but curled up in my throat and i lugged it around all day.
i wish we (in the US) could have more of bbc… realize there is more propaganda in what we see everyday… realize there is much too much misery beyond our four seas and inspite that people are surviving and faring rather well, not knowing any other choice, it does become easy.
so “how could you not document it, so as to expose it?” people ask you? i am just voicing out my own thoughts too if someone did ask me the same…
because this (or any photojournalistic venture) is not my story, it is not the photographer’s story. this is the responsibility on any PJs back that not all carry and respect. our subjects always will have that fear of being exposed, should they trust the journalist, the photographer to tell it how it is without any color or the addition of emotions or interpretation. even words should be kept at a minimum to avoid being misconstrued. there is always that risk. and if there is personal color to a story, then the journalist has the responsibility to keep his mouth shut. to uphold a promise, to keep the respect, not to break the trust.
i would be lying if i said i would not want fame. but it takes a stronger person to uphold principle and continue to respect what my subjects give me: complete trust that i will tell the truth. but when? it would not be for me to decide.
i wish i was more eloquent in supporting you in what you have done and what you continue to do. for me it is a paradox: dead boats, slavery, ghostly people in abandoned buildings, return to a previous joyous life, hope…
BBC & CNN sucks…
sorry Gracie…
L’Aquila………. hold on tight… you’ll be alright……
VIVA ITALIA…
IF i could pray… then i would pray for Italy tonight…
Going to San Francisco tomorrow morning……. another earthquake “party” town…..